A few years ago I scanned all of Dave Sim's notebooks. He had filled 36 notebooks during the years he created the monthly Cerebus series, covering issues #20 to 300, plus the other side items -- like the Epic stories, posters and prints, convention speeches etc. A total of 3,281 notebook pages detailing his creative process. I never really got the time to study the notebooks when I had them. Just did a quick look, scanned them in and sent them back to Dave as soon as possible. So this regular column is a chance for me to look through those scans and highlight some of the more interesting pages.
The third of three "quickies" as when this gets posted I'll hopefully be all unpacked, and only a couple days away from getting FiOS installed. Have I mentioned how much I hate packaging? Because it sucks.
This week - some pages from Dave's notebook #10, which said it covers issues 112 / 113, but it also covers some of Jaka's Story. Like page #74, which shows us Jaka in bed perhaps writing something, with a lump beside her, whom I assume is Rick.
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| Notebook #10, page 74 |
It also has the name "Pat Withers" down at the bottom - whom would later transform into Pud Withers. I do like the quotes that Dave has jotted on the page:
"people are genuinely disappointed if you one is are both an artist and normal"
"No one wants to know where you came from. They just want to be where you are."
"I find it disappointing that most temptation is ordinary in the extreme."
The next page that piqued my interest was page 78. All it had on it was an outline of the different phonebooks from issue #1 to issue #200.
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| Notebook #10, page 78 |
While Jaka's Story did end with issue #136, Mothers & Daughters didn't start until issue #150 as we all know now. And along with missing Melmoth, Dave had only broken Mothers & Daughters into two books instead of the four we know now.
4 comments:
A few notes: Do we know when Dave wrote these notebook pages? Depending on when he did, it makes one wonder as to whether Melmoth was a late addition to the lineup because of Dave's cousin Ron having died of AIDS.
Secondly, on the reverse of the lineup page we can see the drawing of Jaka angrily brushing out her hair, while dressed in her slip, which would make it into Jaka's Story.
Oh, yeah. Thirdly, what the heck is FiOS?
FiOS is a Verizon internet/TV service. Notable upgrade to standard cabling as it is fiberoptic. When I was in Northern VA, around 2004 Verizon was rolling it out; I was lucky enough to be first in the ole neighborhood to get it. Having moved to Ohio, I quite miss it.
This is unless Margaret is referring to some other FiOS... :)
Jeff - This notebook mainly covers issues 112/113 which was July / Aug 1988 so I'm guessing this notebook is from early 1988. I'm not sure when Dave's cousin died from aids, do you have a date?
And Bill is right about the FiOS, that is what I'm getting. Well, what I've got now. w00T!
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