Thursday 17 October 2024

Notebook One: Cerebus #26 Part Six & Bits and Pieces

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.

Maybe instead of rewriting this opener every week, I’ll be a bit more efficient with my use of time and have this standard opening . . .though Boss Man saying I'm giving the notebook away for free, I see it as a way of advertising all the good stuff in the notebook, and wouldn't it be easier to have a hard copy to flip through and read at your own leisure? 

Have you got your copy of Albatross One? That is Dave Sim’s name for his first notebook used in the creation of Cerebus. If you want a copy of the notebook – and trust me, as someone who has held the actual Albatross One, it is a pretty close duplicate and looks great – you can check out this post right here. Well not this post. The one at this link. Go check it out, this post will still be here.

Please buy one so boss man stops yelling at me for "giving the store away for free". Perhaps if he sells one or two or all that he has left, he'll finally give me some PTO. Wait, why am I pushing this, boss man is on vacation. . .I should just take off. . .

And if you don’t want to buy one, you can wait as I release a couple of pages a week and check them out using the Notebook One tag. But trust me, the notebook is much much nicer then my silly little posts.

Okay, now that is done, on with this week’s Notebook One post.

~*~*~*~*~*~*

Last week we ended with page 147 from Dave Sim’s first notebook used in the creation of Cerebus, which was going over the plot for Cerebus #26. So what do we get on the next page of the notebook? How about the first take of a logo and name for the new phonebook? 

Notebook 1, page 148

What Dave has to say on this page: “Capt. Gill-Hodges when it was still a dialogue. Having him just read out the regulations helped compress the multi-page sequence into a couple of panels. At the bottom of the page, working out the story title logo and compositions of the splash page – still trying to come up with a reason that he would go to an expensive hotel like The Regency.

Though the hotel still hasn’t been named in the notebook. We do get a Suenteus Po quote as well “A healthy economy means a health military.

The next page of the notebook is Dave trying to come up with a reason for Cerebus to stay at the fancy pants hotel along with more sketches of Cerebus getting to the hotel with his sack of gold. And that sketch in the bottom right corner? According to Dave it is the first sketch of Astoria:

Cerebus button design that never got past the rough design stage. Cerebus slogging his way into the Regency and my last attempt at coming up with a reason for him to go to an expensive hotel. Lower right: first sketch of Astoria.

Notebook 1, page 149

On page 149 there is also a bit for Cerebus #27: “#27 (open with a kidnapping attempt from kidnapper’s point of view”.

The next page isn’t Cerebus #26, Cerebus #27, nor High Society but a Swords of Cerebus back-up story:

Notebook 1, page 150

I was surprised to see Dave said this about the above page: “This was really all the plotting I needed to do for the Swords volume 2 back-up story “The Morning After” which Joe Rubinstein would ink.











Wednesday 16 October 2024

Cerebus in AI Hell?: Dante and Virgil

Benjamin Hobbs:

David Birdsong and The AI render some images of Dante and Virgil:




Next Week: Maybe things will settle down here and I'll have time to scan some new art.

Tuesday 15 October 2024

SDoAR 2.41: New Dave Sim SDOAR Art? New Raffle? You Betcha!!

**BREAKING**

Dave has seen the SDOAR Giant-Size Ashcans, including No. 0 which features the blue pages from The Strange Death of Alex Raymond hardcover (technically "color holds"), and No. 1 which boasts the 21 mockups Dave did that come *after* the hardcover.

What was his reaction?

Huzzah! Fantastic work, Philip!

There's lots of work to get to a final version, Dave is meticulous after all, but two things to note.

1) There will only be one version published, the Remastered one, which Philip and I are relieved to hear.

2) Dave has decided to *draw* some of the panels that aren't reproducing as nicely as he would like. So yeah, new Dave Sim artwork on the way!

How cool is that?!?

What that also means is that I'll be able to update you on progress every single week from now on!

Unfortunately, fundraising has slowed to a bit of crawl, which means it's time for me to unveil items for the next raffle:
Cerebus #16, 17, 18, 19, 20 and Gold #0...
... and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles #8, The T8 Ashcan Preview book with wraparound Green Foil cover (limited to 120 copies)...
... and Cerebus/TMNT cards #87 and 88, and finally Comics Journal no. 66 with Cerebus Six Deadly Sin ad within.

All that can be yours for only $25 per raffle ticket!

Rules to win the October Raffle and Help Out SDoAR

Entries (or our equivalent of raffle tickets) cost $25 each and can be donated via lump sum to the Strange Death of Alex Raymond 2024 GoFundMe campaign through Monday, November 11, 2024 at midnight, PST.

I will then randomly assign numbers to each entry and have Dave pull one more Karnak, and I'll announce the winner on November 12, 2024.

Just the GoFundMe Facts, Ma'am

  • $15,137.00 raised to date from 261 donations
  • 79 new pages released as mocked up by Dave Sim from 11 June to 22 December 2021
  • 100 total pages available on Dropbox, including Dave's 2019 mocked-up pages
  • $63.00 away from unlocking page 101
  • If you have not donated > $5+ donation grants access to all 100 pages and all pages moving forward
  • If you have donated, thank you, but if you want to donate monthly, GoFundMe does not offer that option, so please do so as we are in the middle of month #10 of Year 2.

The Strange Death of Alex Raymond Preview, Part Forty

Okay, sports fans. The following are links to previous updates that featured pages from The Strange Death of Alex Raymond hardcover. If you click on the links in order, you can begin to devour the magnum opus that is the Strange Death of Alex Raymond...

This
Thisthis
Thisthisthis
Thisthisthisthis
Thisthisthisthisthis
Thisthisthisthisthisthis
Thisthisthisthisthisthisthis
Thisthisthisthisthisthis
Then...
Ciao!

Jen xx
SDOAR GoFundMe -->> https://www.gofundme.com/f/sdoar-2023 <<-- SDOAR GoFundMe

Monday 14 October 2024

LEGENDS OF INDIE COMICS: WORDS ONLY Kickstarter, NEW. CEREBUS. STORY. Buy two!

Hi, Everybody!

Next Week: More of this sort of thing!
____________________
Robert Jeschonek sent in:
Hi Matt,

Do you have any suggestions on ways to spread the word about the LEGENDS OF INDIE COMICS: WORDS ONLY Kickstarter project featuring a new Cerebus tale? Might you be able to guide me in some way regarding promotion of LEGENDS in the realm of Dave Sim fandom? In his most recent fax response, Dave said my best bet in spreading the word might be to contact you.

Any guidance you can provide will be much appreciated. The Kickstarter is now live and set to run through October 30.

All best wishes,
Robert Jeschonek
I can mention it, almost daily, on AMOC. 

Hey!

Didja hear there's a NEW CEREBUS STORY by DAVE in the LEGENDS OF INDIE COMICS: WORDS ONLY Kickstarter. Ends October 30th. $1,547 away from being funded.

C'mon. C'mon. C'mon. Ya know ya want to back it.

Sure ya do.

It's a text story, maybe like this one?:


Anyway, LEGENDS OF INDIE COMICS: WORDS ONLY Kickstarter, ends October 30th.

Ya can't say "nobody tol' me." 'cause I JUST DID...
___________________________
Rigamarole:
_______________
October 23-28.*
*Sale dates are not final and therefore subject to change.
_______________
The Cerebus Humble Bundle is over, you can STILL get all 16 volumes for $99CANADIAN at CerebusDownloads.com (More if you want the Remastered Cerebus Guide to Self-Publishing...)
_______________
Heritage ain't got $#!*, but that'll change... it ALWAYS does...
_______________
The Help Out Bill Messner-Loebs Go Fund Me, or buy Rodney Schroeter's book with proceeds going to Bill. 
_______________
The Last Day Without nothing.
   "      "     "        "  Dave's signature.
   "      "     "        "  an Old Cerebus Remarque
   "      "     "     Auction catalog for the Panoramic Remarques
_______________
Oliver' Simonsen's Cerebus movie: The Absurd, Surreal, Metaphysical, and Fractured Destiny of Cerebus the Aardvark it's currently available on "Plex", "Xumo", "Vimeo On Demand", "Tubi". If you're in Brazil..."Mometu", "Nuclear Home Video".
_______________
Next Time: Jen's update on the SDOAR GoFundMe, unless she's too busy "John Wick"ing it...

Sunday 13 October 2024

Advice: Marc Di Stefano & Cat Scratch. PLUS: New-ish Dave Art!

Hi, Everybody!

Dave checks in:
And these excerpts from Cat Scratch:







If these are too small, you can see them bigger by buying a copy.

New Dave Art!
9/5/2024:

9/26/2024:

10/3/2024: (Click for Bigger)

BIGGER:



Are these cards and/or postcards?

Rigamarole:
_______________
Dave Sim/Cerebus related Kickstarters:
Shannon Wheeler, totally funded. I'ma getting a copy because I bought the last collection, and remastered goodness is always cool.
Robert T. Jeschonek, launched. Features a new Cerebus story by Dave.
John and Scott Palochik, 12 days to go. Dave liked issue #1.
_______________
October 13, and 23-28.*
*Sale dates are not final and therefore subject to change.
_______________
The Cerebus Humble Bundle is over, you can STILL get all 16 volumes for $99CANADIAN at CerebusDownloads.com (More if you want the Remastered Cerebus Guide to Self-Publishing...)
_______________
Heritage ain't got $#!*, but that'll change... it ALWAYS does...
_______________
The Help Out Bill Messner-Loebs Go Fund Me, or buy Rodney Schroeter's book with proceeds going to Bill. 
_______________
The Last Day Without nothing.
   "      "     "        "  Dave's signature.
   "      "     "        "  an Old Cerebus Remarque
   "      "     "     Auction catalog for the Panoramic Remarques
_______________
Oliver' Simonsen's Cerebus movie: The Absurd, Surreal, Metaphysical, and Fractured Destiny of Cerebus the Aardvark it's currently available on "Plex", "Xumo", "Vimeo On Demand", "Tubi". If you're in Brazil..."Mometu", "Nuclear Home Video".
_______________
Next Time: The Monday Report and something else...

Saturday 12 October 2024

Dave Sim: Santos Sisters Fan: The Incredible Shrinking Fax Conversation

Hi, Everybody!

As Dave showed yesterday, he's a Santos Sisters fan.

But You. Have. NO! Idea.











Rigamarole:
_______________
Shannon Wheeler, totally funded. I'ma getting a copy because I bought the last collection, and remastered goodness is always cool.
John and Scott Palochik, 12 days to go. Dave liked issue #1.
_______________
October 12-13, and 23-28.*
*Sale dates are not final and therefore subject to change.
_______________
The Cerebus Humble Bundle is over, you can STILL get all 16 volumes for $99CANADIAN at CerebusDownloads.com (More if you want the Remastered Cerebus Guide to Self-Publishing...)
_______________
Heritage ain't got $#!*, but that'll change... it ALWAYS does...
_______________
The Help Out Bill Messner-Loebs Go Fund Me, or buy Rodney Schroeter's book with proceeds going to Bill. 
_______________
The Last Day Without nothing.
   "      "     "        "  Dave's signature.
   "      "     "        "  an Old Cerebus Remarque
   "      "     "     Auction catalog for the Panoramic Remarques
_______________
Oliver' Simonsen's Cerebus movie: The Absurd, Surreal, Metaphysical, and Fractured Destiny of Cerebus the Aardvark it's currently available on "Plex", "Xumo", "Vimeo On Demand", "Tubi". If you're in Brazil..."Mometu", "Nuclear Home Video".
_______________
Next Time: Dave's got a thing he wanted me to  post...