A Victim of Laughing Chance

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.

It has been a while since we've looked at Dave's twenty-fifth notebook, back in April of 2016, Pleasure's Simple Life.  Covering Cerebus #213 through 241 with only 96 pages of this smaller notebook scanned, there is a bit on Rick Nash and his story.

On page 19 it looks like perhaps "Pleasure's Simple Little Lives" was originally going to be Rick's Story, and not F. Stop's.

Notebook #25, page 19

The quote under the issue number box is a quote from the Steely Dan song, Deacon Blues, which is also the name they want when they lose. The lines right before that line is "Drink Scotch whiskey all night long And die behind the wheel".  Good thing Cerebus can't drive and just wants some raw potatoes and ale with his scotch.

After a bit of stuff from Guys, we get another look at what an older Rick would look like:

Notebook #25, page 28

"If you're lucky there's a few good years at the end there."

Indeed.

Batvark #1-- Light, Frothy Hellfire, the Last Wednesday of Every Month...

JUN171076 BATVARK #1 Order from your Local Comics Shop now!

Chester Brown: "Daniel Read"

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9
(see also "Getting Riel" from 2003)

Paid For It (2016)

by 'Chesty Matt' aka Joe Matt

(being a satire of Chester Brown's "Paying For It")

Daniel Read

by Chester Brown

(first posted on Patreon, 27 May 2017)

In response to my Sex-Work Pride piece (April 15th, reposted on A Moment Of Cerebus on April 17th), Sean Michael Robinson posted (on A-M-O-C) an anti-prostitution article by Daniel Read. I posted a short assessment of the article on May 1st, which was reposted on A-M-O-C on May 2nd. Read saw it there and responded in the comments section.

I noted that one of his sources — Melissa Farley — has been discredited. Read half-heartedly defends Farley — who is an academic — by putting down the source I linked to: Maggie McNeill. Read tries to invalidate Maggie’s perspective by noting that she’s not an academic. That is correct; while Maggie did receive a university education (and worked for a while as a librarian), she is not an academic. She’s a sex-worker and has been one for many years. Thinking that Farley knows more about sex-work than Maggie is just ridiculous. Farley’s interviewed some sex-workers, but Maggie knows the business inside-out and has many sex-worker friends (and fans) all over the world. Maggie is obviously going to be much more knowledgable on the subject than Farley. As for my charge that Farley has been discredited: once the courts start to dismiss an academic's “research” as being too biased to be useful, I’d say it’s fair to say that that academic been discredited. (Here’s the link again to Maggie’s piece on Farley, which includes a quote from Justice Susan Himel of the Ontario Superior Court on why she considered Farley’s work to be of little substance.)

Apparently Read worships academics and doesn’t recognize that they’re humans who are capable of being biased, making mistakes, and even lying. Do academics know more about the professions they study than the people who are in those professions? If an academic claimed to understand cartooning better than I do, I’d be sceptical.

As for Read’s other sources: point-for-point, Read’s statistics are countered by Maggie’s. Anyone who thinks Read’s partisan stats are convincing really should look at the other side’s numbers.

“Vapid” and “semantic” are the words that Read uses to characterize the idea that there’s a difference between legalizing sex-work and decriminalizing it. It’s not a semantic matter to prostitutes.

All of the legalization systems that I’m aware of have required that prostitutes register with the government for a licence. All people engaged in the work without a licence would be breaking the law. In the 1960s homosexuality was decriminalized in Canada — one didn’t need a licence to engage in gay sex, one just needed the consent of an adult partner. What if, instead of decriminalizing homosexuality, the government had legalized it, requiring gay people to acquire licences to have gay sex. Homosexuality was heavily stigmatized. (It still is stigmatized, but the stigma was much more intense in the 60s.) A lot of gays would not have wanted to go to a government office to admit their private sex-life to some bureaucrat. Could they trust that the law wasn’t going to change? Could they trust that the information would be secure? No, if the Canadian government had legalized homosexuality in the 1960s, most gay people would not have registered for licences, and so they would have continued to be criminals for engaging in consensual sex.

Sex-work is as stigmatized now as homosexuality was back in the 1960s. In regions where governments have legalized sex-work, the majority of the workers have refused to register for licences. The result is that a few workers are legal and the majority are still working illegally and are subject to the dangers of working illegally, including the greater likelihood of encountering violence.

Many years ago I asked Denise if she would get a licence if sex-work was legalized. Of course she said no. And why should she? It’s none of the government’s business what she and I do in the privacy of her bedroom — we’re not hurting anyone. The negative consequences of requiring prostitutes to have licences outweigh any potential benefits. Indeed, I don’t even see any benefits.

Decriminalization would allow any adult who wants to engage in sex-work to be able to do so without needing anyone’s permission. And it would allow anyone to pay such a sex-worker for consensual activities. In other words, sex-for-pay should be like all other sex — you should need the consent of your sexual partner (or partners) and that’s the only person (or people) you should need consent from. On the other hand, legalization requires sex-workers and their clients to also get the consent of the government. That’s a big difference, not an inconsequential one as Read seems to think.

Read chides me for ignoring the part of his article that dealt with the collapse of the Soviet Union and the supposed widespread “trafficking” of eastern European women that resulted. I ignored it because, from a 2017 Canadian (and American) perspective, it’s irrelevant to the subjects of decriminalizing sex-work and the morality of the profession. The majority of sex-workers in Canada are not from the former U-S-S-R and have not been forced into the work. Criminalizing ALL prostitution because a small number of prostitutes have been forced into it makes no sense. Police should endeavour to identify who has been forced into the work, punish whoever did the forcing, and leave willing sex-workers and their clients alone.

In my May 1st post, I wrote this about Read’s piece:

“Read’s article boils down to a familiar argument: because SOME prostitutes SOMETIMES encounter violence, ALL prostitution is wrong. Why is it wrong in instances where there’s no violence or force? Read avoids that question, no doubt because he doesn’t have an answer for it.”

Read avoided answering that question in his article, and he avoided answering it when I directly posed it, even though he saw that I’d posed it. I’d say that pretty much proves that he doesn’t have a rational explanation for his negative opinion of sex-work.

/////////////////////////////

In my May 1st post I asked the A-M-O-C anti-prostitutionists who think all prostitution is morally wrong to explain what’s morally wrong about about my sex-for-pay relationship with Denise. Most of the A-M-O-C anti-prostitutionists ignored the question. Perhaps they’ve gotten bored with the discussion, but I suspect that they don’t have an answer to the question. Only the individual going by the name A Fake Name addressed the question. He-or-she writes:

“[I]f you and her [sic] have found a way this works and are both happy, then I’m glad for you, as glad as I can be for someone I’ve never met. I’m not condemning your relationship.”

On April 20th at 19:38 A Fake Name wrote that “paying/charging for sex is pathetic/scummy.” On May 4th at 19:58 A Fake Name wrote that sex-work is “damaging in the long term for both men and women.” A Fake Name WAS condemning my relationship with Denise — he-or-she called it pathetic, scummy, and damaging. If A Fake Name genuinely thinks there’s no problem with my sex-for-pay relationship with Denise, then he-or-she is either contradicting him-or-herself or he-or-she has changed his-or-her mind on the matter. (And, of course, there’s nothing wrong with changing one’s opinion, but A Fake Name doesn’t seem to be acknowledging that that’s what he-or-she is doing.)

If someone wrote that gay people are pathetic, scummy, and damaged, almost everyone would recognize that person as a homophobe. If someone wrote that black people are pathetic, scummy, and damaged, almost everyone would recognize that person as a racist. A Fake Name has a prejudice, and so do the other anti-prostitutionists on A-M-O-C, and so does Daniel Read.

Chester Brown has been writing and drawing comics and graphic novels since the 1980s: Yummy Fur, Ed The Happy Clown, I Never Liked You, Louis Riel, Paying For It, Mary Wept Over The Feet Of Jesus. You can help provide him with a stable source of income while he works on his next graphic novel by donating at Patreon.

eBay Auction: "Cerebus In Hell?" Advance Proof Copies

CEREBUS IN HELL?

AUTOGRAPHED PROOF COPIES OF 14 ISSUES

eBay Auction: Ends Sunday 4th June

This auction is for FOURTEEN AUTOGRAPHED PROOF COPIES of Cerebus In Hell?, co-written by Dave Sim and Sandeep Atwal. Each issue is 28 pages in total (including front and back covers) for a total of 392 pages.

This auction includes the five issues of CEREBUS IN HELL? published in 2016 and 2017, as well as the next NINE Cerebus In Hell? "one-shots" to be published in late 2017 and 2018. Each Cerebus In Hell "one-shot" reprints Cerebus In Hell? strips but also includes brand new material as well as a parody cover of a well-known comic book.

Auction items include:

• Cerebus In Hell? #0
• Cerebus In Hell? #1
• Cerebus In Hell? #2
• Cerebus In Hell? #3
• Cerebus In Hell? #4
• Batvark #1
• Aardvark Comics #1
• Strange Cerebus #1
• Death of Cerebus in Hell? #1
• The Vark Knight Returns #1
• Watchvark #1
• Amazing Cerebus #1
• World's Finite Cerebus #1
• Love and Aardvarks #1

Each issue is signed by Dave Sim and Sandeep Atwal.

Swords Of Cerebus Vol 5: Cerebus #20

PAUL SLADE:

Published between 1981 and 1984, Dave’s six Swords of Cerebus volumes were his first attempt to collect the book in a more permanent form. He gave each story included in these volumes a prose introduction, explaining where the book stood when he’d been working on that particular issue and how he was thinking of its prospects at the time. This is the fourth of his five introductions in Swords volume 5. Also check out the full 'Swords Of Cerebus' Introductions Index.

“Cerebus’ mental acrobatics seemed like the best way to kick off

the endless complications and intrigues to come,” says Dave.

Next week: Barry Windsor-Smith

Batvark #1-- Burn for All Eternity, the Last Wednesday of Every Month...

JUN171076 BATVARK #1 Order from your Local Comics Shop now!

Gerhard: The Irony Of Drawing Aardvarks

AMOC:

Gerhard, thanks for emailing across your latest batch of convention sketches from the Motor City Comicon. I was wondering, do all these convention sketches become a chore to do after a while? That's a lot of drawing you get done at each convention.

GERHARD:

No, not a chore. Though sometimes, like at the Escape Pod signing, it seems like I spend the whole time with my head down sketching instead of interacting with people. But if I interact with people, I don't get any drawing done. I tend to talk with my hands.

That's why it's great to have Shelley there (other than that's it's just great to have Shelley there). She talks with the folks while I draw. When it gets slow, she has her crayons and colours; either a sketch I've done or a black and white print.

After a while, the sketches all start to look the same. If I try to change them up a bit, they take too long or don't turn out as well. So it's better to stick with what I can do fairly quickly. I have to keep reminding myself that these are con 'SKETCHES'.

Although, these days they call them 'commissions'. I guess so that they can charge more. To me, commissions are what I do at home at my drawing board. Cons are for sketches.

Every show is basically the same and yet completely different. We never know who we'll meet, what the people sitting next to us will be like (almost always great!) and what kind of celebrities Shel will bump into. Sometimes quite literally. My personal highlight from the last show was hanging out Sunday evening with Dave Gibbons and bunch of other great folks, having a few drinks and lot of laughs.

When I started doing shows again people would ask for sketches and they would want a Cerebus. Nobody wants a sketch of a lamppost and chair... well, that's not true... at a recent show someone overheard me saying that and he asked for a sketch of a lamppost and a chair. We forgot to take a picture of it (happens a lot), which is too bad. It had a sort of post-modern, surrealist quality to it. Jeff Seiler also has a lamppost sketch and many other 'background' objects.

But for the most part people want a Cerebus sketch.

I would explain that I did not draw the characters, Dave did, They didn't care, they wanted a Cerebus. That's when I started calling them 'Gerebus' because they don't look quite like Dave would had done them.

After having spent all those years 'in the background', the irony is not lost me that it's now ME out there, drawing aardvarks.

Gerhard's 2017 Convention & Signing Itinerary:

March 2-5: Emerald City Comicon, Seattle WA
March 17-19: Toronto Comicon, Canada
March 31-April 2: Fan Expo, Dallas
April 14-16: Indiana Comic Con, Indianapolis
April 27: Escape Pod Comics, Huntington NY
April 29-30: East Coast Comicon, Secaucus NJ
May 6: Retro Rocket Comics, Cambridge, Ontario
May 19-21: Motor City Comic Con, Novi MI
June 16-18: Heroes Convention, Charlotte NC
September 8-10: Wizard World, Nashville TN
September 22-24: Hal-Con, Halifax NS Canada

Keep up to date with Gerhard's latest news at Gerz Blog!

Dave Sim: "Cerebus Junk"

From "Dave Sim's Collected Letters 1990", a Cerebus Archive Kickstarter reward.

Batvark #1-- What Fresh Hell? Is This?

JUN171076 BATVARK #1 Order from your Local Comics Shop now!

Weekly Update #184: Tales Of The Frozen Dead... and Colin Upton!

This week featuring:

• Tales Of The Frozen Dead by Johnny Harley.
• Colin Upton's mini-comics (which can be found at Colin Upton's Tumblr and on Facebook)!

Cerebus In Hell?... In Frozen Dead #1/2

by Johnny Harley

Cover Art for the Comics Journal

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.

We last looked at Dave Sim's Albatross #5 back in November of last year in The Deciding Vote and Cerebus' New Republic.  It covered Cerebus #45 through 49 and had 79 of the 80 pages in the notebook scanned.

Around that same time, Dave and Deni did an interview for the Comics Journal. Dave did the cover for issues 82 and 83. Looking through the scans of the notebook I found a preliminary sketch for the cover. That seemed pretty much done to me:

Notebook #5, page 62

Only a few minor differences from the finished covers:

The Comics Journal #82-83 (July-August 1983)

Batvark #1 -- Hell Awaits You At Your LCS, the Last Wednesday of Each Month...

JUN171076 BATVARK #1 Order from your Local Comics Shop now!

Snikt!

Snikt!
Wolverine Meets Wolveroach (198?)

Art by Dave Sim

Swords Of Cerebus Vol 5: Cerebus #19

PAUL SLADE:
Published between 1981 and 1984, Dave’s six Swords of Cerebus volumes were his first attempt to collect the book in a more permanent form. He gave each story included in these volumes a prose introduction, explaining where the book stood when he’d been working on that particular issue and how he was thinking of its prospects at the time. This is the third of his five introductions in Swords volume 5. Also check out the full 'Swords Of Cerebus' Introductions Index.

"I wanted to show that Lord Julius (like Elrod) always lands on his feet

and that (unlike Elrod) it is as a result of his own political timing

and manipulation of resources at hand," says Dave.

Next week: Neal Adams inspires Dave to walk the extra mile.

Dave Sim: "A Little Mao Thought"

From "Dave Sim's Collected Letters 1990", a Cerebus Archive Kickstarter reward.

Diamond Preview Picks: May 2017

Travis Pelkie returns with his regular monthly selection for Cerebus fans of comics and books featured in the latest Diamond Previews catalog. Travis is co-founder of the Atomic Junk Shop, a site about comics and other fun pop culture. To see your comics featured here or at the Atomic Junk Shop feel free to send an email to Travis at: atomicjunkshoptravis [at] outlook [dot] com.

War Of The Independents #4
by Don Simpson & Others
Red Anvil Inc, $3.99
In stores: 26 July 2017
Diamond Order Code: MAY171763

The publisher says:

Joined by a team of The Tick, Gumby & Pokey, Bone, Flaming Carrot, Felix the Cat, Milk & Cheese, Rat Bastard, Reid Fleming, Usagi Yojimbo, Mr. Spook, Zippy the Pinhead, Toxie, Protoplasman and Too Much Coffee Man, our hero Cerebus looks for his helmet, only to find it in the hands of Public Enemy!

Travis says:

Oh. My. Goodness.  I did not expect to ever see this series again.  A must have for Cerebus fans, as the little grey guy plays a key role in the series, as well as any fan of indie comics from the '80s, '90s, and '00s.  For some reason, I didn't get issue 2, so I have to find that, but the third issue was out about 5 or 6 years ago.  Talk about a long wait!

Groo: Play Of The Gods #1
by Sergio Aragones & Mark Evanier
Dark Horse Comics, $3.99
In stores: 12 July 2017
Diamond Order Code: MAY170050

The publisher says:
Shakespeare wrote, "The play's the thing." Or was that Nathan Lane? Either way, the play matters, whether you be man or god... or even Groo. In this, the first installment in the newest Groo miniseries (which is continued from the last Groo miniseries), the stupidest hero in the comic book shop finds himself in a new village... a village where you pray to the proper god or you pray for your life. And even the other gods know that they are all players. It's from the award-winning team of Sergio Aragonés and Mark Evanier, with lettering by Stan Sakai, coloring by Tom Luth, and a running commentary by the gods above.

Travis says:

One of the series in the running to match or surpass Cerebus in number of issues, Groo is also a funny barbarian parody (and the characters met on the cover of an Amazing Heroes Annual -- I think).  More Groo is always good.

Hard Boiled (HC)
by Frank Miller & Jeof Darrow
Dark Horse Comics, $19.99
In stores: 13 September 2017
Diamond Order Code: MAY170012

The publisher says:

Carl Seltz is a suburban insurance investigator, a loving husband, and a devoted father. Nixon is a berserk, homicidal tax collector racking up mind-boggling body counts in a diseased urban slaughterhouse. Unit Four is the ultimate robot killing machine-and the last hope of the future's enslaved mechanical servants. And they're all the same psychotic entity.

Travis says:

One of the early things Frank Miller did after leaving the Marvel and DC treadmills.  This is a newly recolored version and people suggest to me that I should get it.

Mr X: The Modern Age
by Dean Motter
Dark Horse Comics, $29.99
In stores: 20 September 2017
Diamond Order Code: MAY170040

The publisher says:

In the retrofuturistic metropolis of Radiant City, its mysterious creator, Mister X, must protect the city and its residents from the architecture of the city itself, which poses a danger to all those within it! Collecting every Mister X comic published by Dark Horse Comics, this trade includes Condemned, Excavations, and Razed, along with never-before-seen behind-the-scenes material! All of Dark Horse's Mister X material collected in an affordable paperback!

Travis says:

Originally from Canada's own Vortex Comics, Mister X was revived in recent years at Dark Horse, and this is a collection of the stuff they have published of the character.

TMNT Usagi Yojimbo
by Stan Sakai
IDW, $7.99
In stores: 12 July 2017
Diamond Order Code: MAY170382

The publisher says:

The TMNT are teleported to a world of talking animals-the world of Usagi Yojimbo! When the samarai rabbit embarks on a quest to save Japan and the deadly Jei blocks his path, a Turtle team-up may be the only chance for survival!

Travis says:

Two other long running indie cartoon animals here, with Usagi Yojimbo meeting up with the more recent versions of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.  Should be fun, and there's also a HC version with extras offered.

Mage: The Hero Denied #0
by Matt Wagner
Image Comics, $1.99
In stores: 12 July 2017
Diamond Order Code: MAY170639

The publisher says:

Matt Wagner returns with the third and final volume of his epic fantasy trilogy. This long-awaited conclusion follows the adventures of the reluctant everyman hero Kevin Matchstick, who, after encountering a shaggy and beguiling wizard, discovers he is the reincarnation of the legendary Pendragon and able to wield the power of the mystical weapon, Excalibur. The story picks up several years after the fateful climax of The Hero Defined and finds Kevin beginning to once again doubt the virtue of his actions and the course of his destiny.  This introductory, half-sized issue #0 continues Mage's tradition of an "Interlude" short-adventure, bridging the gap between this series and the previous storyline.

Travis says:

Matt Wagner's roman a superhero clef is finally beginning its final phase with The Hero Denied, and The Hero Discovered reprints (I believe) the Comico series.  Presumably the middle series (Defined) will be published soon, and you can see the Dave Sim and Gerhard stand-ins then.

Street Angel Gang
by Brian Maruca & Jim Rugg
Image Comics, $19.99
In stores: 26 July 2017
Diamond Order Code: MAY170648

The publisher says:

What if Kal El had been found by the Warriors instead of the Kents? The deadliest girl alive accidentally joins a super violent street gang. Are the Bleeders the family Jesse never had, or is Jesse the child they never wanted? What? Free snacks at the gang tryout party! Also, SCANDAL-one of the Bleeders is a spy!

Travis says:

I believe Jim Rugg and Brian Maruca were influenced at least a certain degree by Dave Sim (some of the lettering in the SLG run had a Cerebus feel to it, to me).  This is the second new book of the character, whose adventures are damn fine funnybooks.

Kirby 100
edited by John Morrow & Jon B. Cooke
TwoMorrows Publishing, $34.95
In stores: 16 August 2017
Diamond Order Code: MAY171932

The publisher says:

The party starts here! TwoMorrows and the Jack Kirby Collector magazine celebrate Jack Kirby's 100th birthday in style with the release of KIRBY100, a full-color visual holiday for the King of comics! It features an all-star line-up of 100 comics pros who critique key images from Kirby's 50-year career, admiring his page layouts, dramatics, and storytelling skills, and lovingly reminiscing about their favorite characters and stories. Featured are Bruce Timm, Alex Ross, Walter Simonson, John Byrne, Alan Davis, Joe Sinnott, Steve Rude, Adam Hughes, Wendy Pini, John Romita Sr., Dave Gibbons, P. Craig Russell, and dozens more of the top names in comics. Their essays serve to honor Jack's place in comics history, and prove (as if there's any doubt) that Kirby is King!

Travis says:
A big book celebrating the centennial of the King.  Cool.

Bernie Wrightson:
Art & Design For Gang Of Seven Animation Studio
by Bernie Wrightson
Hermes Press, $60.00
In stores: 23 August 2017
Diamond Order Code: MAY172114

The publisher says:

Bernie Wrightson, comic book artist and illustrator extraordinaire has worked creating comic books, illustration, and conceptual design for film. Wrightson's extensive design work for the Gang of Seven Animation Studio, while known, has never been documented until now with the creation of this new in-depth monograph that utilizes the archives of the studio. Marvel at concept drawings, model sheets, and hundreds of designs for projects including Biker Mice From Mars, The Juice, and Freak Show. All of the artwork in this book has been scanned directly from the original artwork so fans can savior Wrighton's genius up close and personal. Also included in this monograph is an introductory essay, an in-depth interview, and photographs taken during his tenure as an associate partner of the studio.

Travis says:
A Bernie Wrightson art book! Should be pretty to look at!

Sh*t My President Says
by Shannon Wheeler
IDW, $14.99
In stores: 16 August 2017
Diamond Order Code: MAY170525

The publisher says:

Some people are saying, I don't know, you tell me, but a lot of people are saying this is the greatest book of the year. This guy, Shannon Wheeler, he draws these cartoons for the New Yorker, MAD, the Onion-he's very, very, good, okay? Now he's illustrated the most incredible tweets. Wow! You won't believe what he does with these tweets. I mean, these tweets changed the world, folks. It's true! It's very true. EVERYONE is going to want this book - even the haters and losers (Sad!).

Travis says:

Too Much Coffee Man's Shannon Wheeler goes for low hanging fruit with this book of illustrated tweets of the US president.

More Diamond Previews picks at Atomic Junk Shop's regular Flippin' Through Previews column.

Weekly Update #183: Heroes of the Home Front

This week featuring:

• Heroes Of The Home Front
• 150 Awesome Canada Trading Cards

Don't Piss Off Tarim

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.

Time for a little something different. Loose pages. While Dave sent me many notebooks with many pages, there were a couple loose pages. Not the loose pages that were still with their notebook, these pages weren't with their notebook any more. There were eight loose pages, and seven appear to be torn from a sketchbook while the eighth appears to be a piece of typing paper.  When I scanned them in, I put them in a sleeve with an arbitrarily given number so we knew which scans went with which pages.

This loose page shows Cerebus pissing himself and the thinking to himself about how he shouldn't piss off Tarim.

Loose page #2

I looked in Minds, and the closest to the Cerebus wetting himself I could find was a young Cerebus listening to the preacher on page 103 (Cerebus # 191 page 17). However, that Cerebus isn't standing, but sitting down.  He also didn't immediately start in on the monologue shown. On page 114 Cerebus does start praying to Tarim with a similar theme, but not this dialogue.

These first seven loose pages all appear to be from Minds, with page number six being a full page sketch of a preliminary layout for page 150 of Minds (Cerebus #194, page 4):

Loose page #6

Once again, similar to the final page, but there are multiple differences.  The dialogue doesn't match up - for either Dave's character or Cirin and Cerebus and Cirin's poses are different:

Minds, page 150

Happy 61st Birthday Dave Sim!

Spider-Man vs Dave Sim!

Cerebus In Hell? -- Batvark #1

JUN171076 E BATVARK #1 Order from your Local Comics Shop now!

On Sale 22 Years Ago: Cerebus #194

Cerebus #194 (May 1995)

Cover art by Dave Sim & Gerhard

Issue contents included:

The Page 45 'Now or Never' Manifesto

Misunderstanding Comics essay by Dave Sim

A Cerebus Preview: Hilly Rose by B.C. Boyer

The Spirits Of Independence: Columbus Report

The 'Cerebus the Prime Minister' resin statue by Bruno Aprea

...and 20 pages of Cerebus!

On sale now at Amazon.com, Amazon.co.uk or your local comics shop

Diamond Order Code: OCT140536

Swords Of Cerebus Vol 5: Cerebus #18

PAUL SLADE:

Published between 1981 and 1984, Dave’s six Swords of Cerebus volumes were his first attempt to collect the book in a more permanent form. He gave each story included in these volumes a prose introduction, explaining where the book stood when he’d been working on that particular issue and how he was thinking of its prospects at the time. This is the second of his five introductions in Swords volume 5. Also check out the full 'Swords Of Cerebus' Introductions Index.

"It was a scam that decidedly required Earth-pig level audacity," says Dave.

Next week: Why 300 issues might not be enough.