Notebook 27 Minds Rehearsal

MARGARET LISS:

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.

Notebook #27 is the smallest of the notebooks I scanned in it. It measures 5" x 3", one of those small notebooks that you could fit in your pocket:

Notebook #27 back and front cover

The cover says there are 100 pages in the notebook, but only 75 pages remain: 73 pages with material on them were scanned. Only four pages have sketches on them, the rest is text. What Dave thinks he is going to say to Cerebus during Minds, as Dave gets his say first. Some of it makes the final cut, but not all of it, like what he had to say about Prince Mick and Keef, Oscar, Lord Julius. . .

"The skirted the border-line between breathing fire and soiling themselves noisily. They were (and are) a linger petition to the superiors -- the lesser gods, unapologetic for their contrariness letting their words and deeds peak for themselves. They are restrained at times, lose sight of the untenable position emerging on the chessboard of their lives, they are dismissed as aberrations, explained away as self-promoting exhibitionists. Time is their ally. As their beloved contemporaries fad into foot-noted history or obscurity they are returned to over decades. The defy ready explication."

Notebook #27, pages 24 and 25

Notebook #27, pages 26 and 27

The small text like that is only on pages one to 46, and then the lettering changes style, we get a couple pages of sketches and some of this:

Notebook #27, pages 58 and 59

"Cerebus stands for just about anything if it'll make you buy his phonebooks." Looks like some text for a promotional campaign that Dave was formulating.