Cerebus

I am not much of a comic / graphic novel reader, nor have i ever been, but i must say that the Cerebus series is one of the finest stories i've ever read in any medium. This first volume is Dave still finding his true voice, and is more goofy than satirical and incisive, but if you're going to read Cerebus, it's well worth starting at the beginning and following from there. I don't agree with the people that say to start in the middle and then back-track... i think that the story is much more satisfying if you start at the beginning, becuase if you start at volume 1, you can see the artist and the story really staritng to "find themselves", which makes the following volumes even more satisfying. If you enjoy thoughtful, funny, ironic, and crazy stories about a silly aardvark with strange friends and a bizarre life, then you will not regret the time it takes to read all 15 volumes of Cerebus. Cerebus is one of those stories (like the Oddessy or the Illiad) that needs space for the tangent storylines to truly unfold. So if you've got (quite) a few hours to kill, start at the beginning and work your way through one of the finest comic book epics ever written... I doubt you'll be disappointed.

Cerebus was a lot of things in his 300 issues of comic life, but he started out as a parody of Robert E. Howard's Conan right about the time that low-grade sword & sorcery was hitting the big time. Ironically, with the possible exception of some of the Marvel Comics material, Cerebus was leagues better than most of the stuff from that era that was pawned off as Conan (such as the wretched pastiches that Carter and de Camp passed off alongside the REH stories in the paperbacks). Particularly ingenious is the character of Elrod of Melvinbone, a knockoff of Michael Moorcock's Elric of Melnibone who you sense is making fun of Elric's popularity more than the angsty character himself. From his sword Seersucker (which Cerebus smashes in their first fight) to his Foghorn Leghorn voice, Elrod's banter with Cerebus is a great source of comedy, and the alterations in their relationship as the book goes on are ever weirder and more intricate. Dave Sim developed his very distinctive style of drawing Cerebus across this volume, which means that the art improves by steps - and we get to watch as Sim turns into the most creative artist in comics. (You can't deny that the material where Cerebus was talking with Selentius Po was magnificent, for one thing.) We also see the comic starting to figure out what it is all about, as Cerebus' adventures make him a (failed) king, and then bring him into big-league politics, all while keeping up the oddball satire - like Lord Julius, a dictator who looks exactly like Groucho Marx. This coincides with the beginning of the lengthy storylines that Cerebus would become famous for. The first volume of Cerebus is parody, but a witty, fun parody. It's fun all around, but you'll get the most out of it if you've read a lot of sword & sorcery. I'm giving the first volume five stars because compared to most comics it's worth it - even though it's hard to say that it's five stars compared to later volumes.

Now that I have read the 300th and final issue of "Cerebus the Aardvark," it seems appropriate to go back and read the beginning again, knowing what the earth-pig's final fate (and word) will be. "Cerebus, Volume 1" reprints the first 25 issues in which Dave Sim figures out what he is doing with his cute and furry aardvark. The starting point, as Sim himself admitted in teh beginning, was to "Look as much like Barry Smith as possible," a point which is never more obvious than in issue #2 "Captive in Boreala," which the opening pages are basically Sim's version of Smith's "Frost Giant's Daughter." But by the end of these 25 issues "Cerebus" has been remarkably transformed, and by this I mean more than the fact that somewhere doing those two years of comics that Cerebus starts to look like Cerebus (it takes until issue #4 to actually start wearing clothing).In retrospect what is fascinating here is to reconsider these stories and see how a funny-animal comic book, that begins with Cerebus bouncing on top of a horse as he a city to engage in some Conan the Barbarian like thievery. After all, Cerebus is wearing Conan's helmet and has a necklace with large round things on it just link Conan in the beginning. But then in #3 "Song of Red Sophia" and #4 "Death's Dark Tread" two important things happen. The first is that Sim undertakes some parodies of some supporting characters from the Conan comic book: Robert E. Howard's Red Sonja becomes Red Sophia and Michael Moorcock's Elric of Melibone becomes Elrod the Albino who has a tall pointy hat and speaks exactly like Foghorn Leghorn. The second is that these two twisted characters become the first recurring characters in the "Cerebus" world, and from them Sim branched out in other directions for his targets.Sim did go back and have some fun with turning another of Howard's original characters into Bran Mak Mufin (#5), but ultimately what took "Cerebus" to the next level were three characters. The first was the original character of Jaka the dancing girl (#6), who was clearly intended as a one-shot character. But the pathos of her parting with Cerebus, who has forgotten her once he sobers up, suggested for the first time there could be some pathos in these tales. The second was the ultimate parody character, the Cockroach (#11), who would pop up from time to time in the series and embody whoever was the hot comic book character of the moment. Okay, that makes sense for the Wolveroach but not the Moon Roach, but you get the idea. The third character was Cerebus' greatest foil, Lord Julius, who was first introduced in "Silverspoon" in the "Buyer's Guide for Comic Fandom" (Lord Julius is the father of a spoiled Prince Valiant type son) and then took center stage in the Palnu Trilogy: "The Walls of Palnu" (#14), "A Day in the Pits" (#15), and "A Night at the Masque" (#16), at the end of which we learn that Jaka is Lord Julius's neice. However, what is important here is that Lord Julius looks and ta

Cerebus, originally to be titled Cerberus but for a printing error, is one of the most important comic books ever published. Begun in the late 1970s as a parody of Marvel Comic's version of Conan the Barbarian by an employee of Now and Then Comics in Kitchener, Ontario, Canada, it quickly grew into a unique entity. Filled with sophisticated plots, emotional depth and (not counting the earliest issues) exquisite artwork, Cerebus quickly became the standard against which all other titles were measured (that is, by people who had outgrown immature power fantasies about men in tights). Cerebus is of extreme historic importance. Sure, there were underground comix before, but nothing matching its scope in straightforward storytelling. The undergrounds were pretty much a dying breed and offered few titles representing the unique vision of one artist. Most were just anthologies with short stories whereas Cerebus became a projected 300 issue epic. Cerebus blazed the trail for the modern self-published, independent comics movement, and alternative publishers like Fantagraphics by encouraging increased creator control artistically and financially. Even the mainstream publishers couldn't ignore his influence, creating such imprints as D.C.'s Vertigo. Even Alan Moore's Swamp Thing couldn't have existed pre-Dave Sim. Cerebus was also important for introducing the concept of a comic epic with a beginning, middle and end with a complete creative vision, vs. a title taken over by whatever writer and artist is handy with the characters never aging or developing. Such ideas as Neil Gaiman's 75 issue Sandman story arch are built upon Sim's innovation.Unfortunately, the earliest issues in this collection (which are still important for introducing the characters) were poorly drawn and written before Sim turned the series into the serious-but-humourous epic it now is, but half-way through, his brilliance begins to show with more complex tales of political intrigue. If it weren't for people like Sim, I would have given up modern comic books many years ago. Sure, some fanboys who do not read novels try to pass off some books such as the Crow as real art, but trust me, even if you don't usually read comics, buy this. This is serious art and serious literature.