Sunday 25 November 2012

"Barry - Go Nuts!"

Unused concept sketch for a Swords Of Cerebus cover (circa 1983)
Art by Dave Sim
BARRY WINDSOR-SMITH:
(from Following Cerebus #10, June 2007)
I didn't use Dave's suggestion, but I really liked his pencil and marker sketch. I had it framed years ago, and it is hanging on my office wall just five feet away as I write this. One of several charming things about this sketch is Dave's notation at the bottom. I knew what Dave meant, of course, but I've always been amused at the unintended double entendre of 'Go Nuts!' It reads like a climatic insult, 'You! GO NUTS!' Also a long term prediction about my mental health, 'Barry, go nuts.' Following with 'Y'r Friend Dave,' it's almost an invitation: 'Barry, if you go nuts, I'll go nuts too. Y'r Friend Dave.'

Barry Windsor-Smith ignored Dave's cover suggestion and drew his own version of Cerebus on the front and back cover to Swords Of Cerebus Vol 5, published in 1983. Between 1970 and 1973 Barry had drawn the Marvel Comics' version of Conan The Barbarian (currently available from Dark Horse Comics), which were to become the original inspiration for Dave Sim's Cerebus stories.

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