Dave Sim's Notebooks: The Overview

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.

There was a question in the comments of Dave's The Cerebus-Ending Crisis: Can We Keep Going? - Part 6 column last week from Benjamin Hobbs: "Margaret, the 3rd note book is the one you describe. (80 pages, blue Hilroy) The PDF didn't have a the back cover. It would be great if you could post it!"

So here it is:

Albatross Three, kind of, back cover

I've discussed the absence of Albatross Three, well, more specifically the lack of a notebook named 'Albatross Three', and I've gone over I think almost every notebook, but never gave the big picture of all the notebooks so I thought I'd put it in table form.

The 'notebook name' is what Dave had written on the cover, so if there was nothing written, it was left blank. The 'archive notebook number' is how I numbered it for the archive. Arbitrary at the time, now a bit confusing. Time for a renumbering - since they are just files in a folder, they are easily renamed to the # given in the first column.

#	Notebook Name (on cover)	Archive Notebook Number	starting issue		ending issue	# of pages
1	Albatross One	1	20		28	194
2	Albatross Too	2	28		37	196
3		2a	37		40	78
4	Albatross Four	2b	41		44	99
5	Albatross Five	2c	45		49	79
6		3	49		59	158
7	Albatross Encore Une Fois	4	59		69	160
8		5	70		79	86
9		6	80		86	118
10		7	87		95	115
11		8	96		102	129
12		9	102		111	133
13		10	112113			80
14		11	113		117	66
15		12	118		122	98
16		13	122		127	67
17		14	127		135	72
18		15	136		141	64
19		16	141		149	47
20		17	153		164	59
21		18	164		187	260
22		19	186		201	71
23		20	mothers & daughters			36
24		21	197	211		138
25		22	213	241		96
26		23	224	230		58
27		24	225			45
28		25	227			40
29		26	240	250		150
30		27	Minds rehearsal			74
31		28	256	265		67
32		29	255			18
33		30	251			32
34		31	289	290		4
35		32	Spore & Konigsberg			36
36		33	265	300		58

And a list of what has come thus far (with the updated notebook #s, far left hand column):

• Notebook 1
• Hunters & Gathers (June 2014): Front cover, page 86
• Albatross One, page one (Aug 2016): Front cover, page 1
• Beat the Hsiffies, buy bonds! (Sept 2016): page 25, 28
• Captain Cockroach and Bunky (Oct 2016): page 37, 47, 49
• Out of the Depths (Oct 2016): page 151
• Notebook 2
• Albatross,  Too (Aug 2016): Front cover, page 1, 138
• Notebook 3
• Do You Know Elrod? (Aug 2016): page 11, 58
• Notebook 2a, aka Albatross Three (Aug 2016): Front cover, page 10
• Notebook 4
• Albatross Four (Aug 2016): Front cover, 14, 20
• Notebook 5
• Albatross Five (June 2015): front cover, 5, 10
• Cerebus' New Republic (Nov 2016): 1, 8
• The Deciding Vote (Nov 2016): page 58, 59
• Notebook 6
• On Governing (Sept 2014): page 8, 11
• Cerebus Archive (Feb 2016): page 58, 157
• His First Fifth Notebook Notes (Dec 2015): page 95, 97, 98
• Boom (Jan 2015): page 132, 149, 150
• The First Time That Something Fell (April 2016): page 142, 146
• Notebook 7
• The Making of a Cover - Cerebus #60 (July 2014): page 27, 29, 38
• Selling Insurance (August 2014): page 58, 60, 61
• Mind Game III (May 2016): page 66, 67
• Cerebus Jam 2: Campaign Stop (July 2016): page 69, 70, 71
• Even More In 1984 or When He Was 27 (June 2016): page 106, 107
• A Plan for Church & State I (July 2015): page 108
• Notebook 8
• Cerebus vs The Spirit (March 2016): page 1, 3
• Sane As It Ever Was (Jan 2016): page 23, 28
• Naming Church & State (Jan 2016): page 31
• Dave's Sketches of People (Aug 2015): page 37, 62, 66
• Varying Reasons of Assorted Depths (Dec 2014): page 58, 59, 61
• Dave Sim and the Crack-of-Dawn Orchestra (Oct 2014): page 64, 67, 73
• Notebook 9
• Flick (April 2015): page 1, 3, 4
• Cover Thumbnails (Nov 2016): page 7, 57
• Touch Not The Priestess (July 2014): page 28, 32
• Boys! Dinner! (Oct 2015): page 51, 56
• Cerebus Feels So Good (July 2016): page 74, 75
• Fat Elvis Period (March 2015): page 114, 131, 135
• Notebook 10
• Out With the In Crowd (Nov 2015): page 15, 25
• An Edge In His Voice So Sharp He Could Plotz (Apr 2016): page 34, 35
• Assassin (April 2015): page 69, 71
• Lord Julius (July 2014): page 72, 73
• So. . .You already said that. (Oct 2014): Cover, 85, 87
• Odds and Ends (Jan 2015): pocket, 92, 113
• Odd Transformations... 4 (May 2016): page 109
• Odd Transformations... 4 part 2 (May 2016): page 110, 111
• Notebook 11
• Not The Trial (March 2016): page 12, 17
• The Sky is Falling (Sept 2015): page 32
• The Unknown Given (July 2016): page 35
• The Trial (Oct 2014): page 51, 53
• Endgame (Sept 2015): page 85
• Assorted Cerebus (Dec 2015): page 89
• The Final Ascension (Sept 2014): page 102, 103
• Notebook 12
• The Judge Before He Was The Judge (Sept 2016): front cover, page 32, 33
• D'King and the Actress (July 2015): page 10, 15
• Dave and the Direct Market (Dec 2014): page 21, 22, 23
• Jaka's Story Logo (Oct 2014): page 42, 43
• Walking on the Moon (April 2016): page 48, 49
• Extrusion Intrusion (June 2016): page 50, 69, 74
• Alone. Unloved. And Unmourned (August 2014): page 46, 82, 132, 139
• Notebook 13
• Vacation Sketches Part Deux (Oct 2016): 5, 7, 8
• Jaka's Story (June 2014): page 14, 17
• Jaka the Dancer (Jan 2016): page 29
• Vacation Time: San Jose (Nov 2014): page 57, 58, 59
• Jaka's Story II (July 2014): page 66, 72
• Bits (August 2015): page 74, 78
• Notebook 14
• Jaka and Missy (Sept 2015): page 1, 2
• A Gold Coin? (Feb 2015): page 46, 47, 50, 53
• Reprinting Cerebus Every Two Weeks (March 2016): page 60, 61
• Notebook 15
• Daughter of Palnu (Dec 2014): page 22, 23, 24
• Daughter of Palnu: Lessons (June 2016): page 25
• Oscar (April 2015): page 38, 39, 41
• What Is Cerebus About? (Feb 2016): page 98
• Notebook 16
• Outlines for the Poet (Aug 2015): page 9, 28
• The Waiting Dancer (Apr 2016): page 41, 45
• Jaka's Sweet old Aunt Victoria (Feb 2015): page 46, 56, 57
• Soul and Substance (Nov 2016): page 65, 31
• Notebook 17
• Mrs Thatcher (April 2015): page 12, 46, 49
• Bang Bang SMASH (March 2015): page 31, 35, 45
• Notebook 18
• Worm Merchant or Grand Lord of Palnu? (May 2015): page 27, 32, 35
• The Frustrations of normalroach (Jan 2016): page 54, 55
• Notebook 19
• Characters of Melmoth (June 2015): page 3, 17, 33
• Melmoth and Tiny Thumbnails (August 2014): 28, 29, 30
• Notebook 20
• The Good and Bad of Comics in the Early 90s (March 2015): page 18, 19, 20
• The Good and Bad of Comics in the Early 90s pt 2 (April 2015): page 21, 22, 23
• The Finale: Good and Bad of Comics in the Early 90s (April 2015): page 24, 25, 26
• Po's Monologue About Bran (Jan 2015): page 53, 54
• US Tour 1992 tour diary (July 2015): page 57, 58, 59, 60
• Notebook 21
• Alcohol Is Free and There Is No Last Call (Sept 2015): Front cover, 21, 31
• Ends & Odd Bits (Nov 2014): 19, 29, 30, 259
• Crossing Over (Oct 2014): page 25, 26, 64
• Campaign '93 Notes (July 2016): page 57, 58, 59, 60
• The Gathering (August 2014): page 102, 103, 104
• I Want To See Your Armpit (Feb 2015): page 118, 163, 164
• Down In A Minute, Sweetheart (Oct 2016): page 256, 257
• Notebook 22
• Talking With Your Creator (Dec 2014): page 27, 41
• The Origin of the Mothers (Dec 2014): page 46, 47, 48, 49
• Uncomfortable Truth (April 2015): page 54, 55
• A Creator Named Dave (July 2015): page 57, 58
• Notebook 23
• On Tour '92 (Feb 2015): page 1, 3, 5, 7, 9, 21
• Shredded Tissue of Lies (June 2015): page 42, 43, 57, 58
• Notebook 24
• Joanne and Fred (not that Fred) (Jan 2015): Page 3, 4, 5
• Talking With Dave (Dec 2015): page 25, 26, 27
• Talking With Dave Again (Dec 2015): 29, 30
• Calling Dave Sim (Aug 2015): page 34, 35
• Dreams Pt 1 (Nov 2015): page 37
• Notes for Dave's Chat with Neil (May 2016): page 93, 94, 95, 96
• Notebook 25
• Cerebus is Tired - Aye. Aye. (March 2015): page 24
• Thesbian Tavern Tramp Drunk (Sept 2014): page 36, 38, 39
• Only Demons Lie (March 2015): page 40
• Pleasure's Simple Life (April 2016): page 86, 87, 88, 89, 91, 92, 95
• Notebook 26
• Cool's Right (July 2015): page 44, 46, 47
• Notebook 27
• F. Stop is not an Aperture (April 2015): page 19, 20, 21
• Notebook 28
• Rick's Story (June 205): page 2, 5, 6
• Dreams Pt 1 (Nov 2015): page 36
• Notebook 29
• Fall And The River (Sept 2014): page 6, 15
• Going Home page 330 (Sept 2016): page 45, 
• Form & Void Shooting Script (July 2014): page 47, 51, 55
• The Destruction of Iest (Nov 2015): page 96, 156
• Dreams Part Deux (Nov 2015): page 157, 158
• They Give Us Those Nice Bright Colors (Sept 2015): page 208, 209
• Notebook 30
• Minds Rehearsal (Nov 2014): Back & Front cover, 24, 25, 26, 27, 58, 59
• Notebook 31
• To Ham & Ham Not (Jan 2015): page 6, 7
• Notebook 32
• A Movie Review: Julia (Feb 2016): Page 1
• Hunting Lodge Thespians (Feb 2016): Page 2, 3
• Notebook 33
• The Start of Form & Void (Oct 2015): front and back cover, 1, 2
• Notebook 34
• The Smallest Notebook (Oct 2015): front and back cover, 1, 2, 3, 4
• Notebook 35
• Spore & Konigsberg (Oct 2015): page 11, 25
• Notebook 36
• Listening to Dead Cirinists (Sept 2016): front cover, page 28
• Fred Hammer Wins the Jakirbee Cup (June 2016): page 6
• The Final Notebook (March 2015): Inside Front Cover, 43, 108
• Nyuk Nyuk Nyuk (Nov 2015): page 7, 23

So it looks like every notebook has had an article with some pages shown, but more have had more articles than other notebooks. It also looks like there are quite a few covers that could be shown.