Dave Sim, Genius

Cerebus #280 (July 2002)

Art by Dave Sim & Gerhard

RON KASMAN:

Woody Allen once wrote an essay on the geniuses of comedy. He said that Buster Keaton and Charlie Chaplin were geniuses. So were Groucho and Harpo but not Chico. Peter Sellers was a genius. But Bob Hope was not, according to Allen. Bob Hope was just a very funny comedian. Allen said that for a comedian to be a genius everyone after him must be influenced by him.

Using the same standard I think Dave Sim can be called a genius. He gave us a lot.

He stayed on a book for three hundred issues. And yes, I am aware that others stayed on their characters for that many stories and more, but near the start Dave said he would draw three hundred monthly issues and did what he said he would do, then ended the story.

He self-published. There were a lot of people doing it and we called them fan publishers. Most put out two or three issues which is what I expected from Aarvark-Vanaheim. I was wrong. Dave (and WARP graphics and Jack Katz) showed us that we could self-publish and gain more advantages in doing so than in working with established companies.

He aimed higher than almost anyone. I don't think Dave would deny that the superhero books were important to him with Cerebus starting out as a parody of Conan. Moon Roach and Wolveroach, and a two headed Swamp Monster that looked, in part, like Alan Moore came later. But he went beyond that and had Cerebus participating in Dave’s particular view of the world. We can all do it now if we want to.

He showed guys like me the high watermark for good lettering. I have a weak spot for good lettering.

He partnered with Gerhard to draw backgrounds that were ambitious beyond anything we had seen in comics before.

And he didn’t sell out. When Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles came out I always took the "Turtles" part as being from Cerebus. When TMNT became a phenomenon many tried to hype their own comics into something just as financially successful. Who would blame them? But I didn’t hear that sort of hype coming from Kitchener. I don’t know if Dave had offers; I assume he did. But I didn’t hear him flogging Cerebus which is gratifying. He showed us that we could be successful without our creations becoming movies.

Let me say it again so there is no confusion… GENIUS. Woody would approve.

Ron Kasman is the writer/artist of "The Tower of the Comic Book Freaks" and has worked for many major comic companies, including Image and DC Comics. He was one of the four coordinators of Cosmicon, Canada’s first major comic convention and created the first Canadian graphic novel on Canadian history called "William Lyon Mackenzie and the Rebellion of 1837 in Upper Canada".