Tuesday 13 November 2012

Dave Sim: Conversations

Dave Sim: Conversations
Edited by Eric Hoffman & Dominick Grace
University Press of Mississippi
$40 / £25
On Sale: 1 April 2013
Diamond ID: JAN131405
Amazon.com / Amazon.co.uk

In 1977, Dave Sim (b. 1956) began to self-publish Cerebus, one of the earliest and most significant independent comics, which ran for 300 issues and ended, as Sim had planned from early on, in 2004. Over the run of the comic, Sim used it as a springboard to explore not only the potential of the comics medium but also many of the core assumptions of Western society. Through it he analyzed politics, the dynamics of love, religion, and, most controversially, the influence of feminism--which Sim believes has had a negative impact on society. Moreover, Sim inserted himself squarely into the comic as Cerebus's creator, thereby inviting criticism not only of the creation, but also of the creator. What few interviews Sim gave often pushed the limits of what an interview might be in much the same way that Cerebus pushed the limits of what a comic might be. In interviews Sim is generous, expansive, provocative, and sometimes even antagonistic. Regardless of mood, he is always insightful and fascinating. His discursive style is not conducive to the sound bite or to easy summary. Many of these interviews have been out of print for years. And, while the interviews range from very general, career-spanning explorations of his complex work and ideas, to tightly focused discussions on specific details of Cerebus, all the interviews contained herein are engaging and revealing. The featured interviews include:

A Talk With An Aardvark
Maggie Thompson - Comic Fandom's Forum (1982)

Dave Sim & Gerhard
Martin Skidmore - Fantasy Advertiser #115 (1989)

Cerebus: An Interview With Dave Sim
Stephen R. Bissette - Comics Interview #107 (1992)

Original Sim: The Dave Sim Interview
Jason Sacks - Amazing Heroes #201 (1992)

An Interview With Dave Sim & Gerhard
Adrian Reynolds - Cerebus Fan Girl Site (1993)

Sim Speaks
UK Convention Panel - Comics Forum #7 (1994)

A Close Up Look At Dave Sim’s Cerebus
Tom Spurgeon - The Comics Journal #184/192 (1996)

Whatever It Is, I’m Against It
Sandeep Atwal - Filler (1996)

Dave Sim: 20 Years Of Cerebus
Charles Brownstein - Feature #4 (1997)

Dave Sim
Tasha Robinson - A.V. Club (2004)

Cerebus Yahoo Group
Selections from Online Q&A (2004-06)

1 comment:

Igor said...

Ooh! That's quite enticing, 'cept for the whole worry of preordering anything with that release date...
-Craig Smith