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've only seen Dave Sim's notebook #31 twice before. Once in January of 2015 in To Ham & Ham Not and again in December of 2016's What Shoreline? It covers issues 256 through 265 with 67 out of 80 pages scanned.
One the final two pages is the text for pages 12 to 16 of issue 265 (or page 678 to 682 of Form & Void). Page 66 has the majority of that dialogue, some different from the final and some the same.
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| Notebook #31, page 66 |
Then on page 67 is only a bit of the same dialogue, with some edits:
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Notebook #31, page 67 |
3 comments:
One of the most poignant sequences in the entire series.
--Jeff
Agreed. Actually, I think it's 'one of the most poignant sequences' in comics/literature full stop (or 'period' to the U.S. of Stateside readers)! I never expected the Jaka/Cerebus relationship to end this way. I still think of Jaka knitting comforters with Cerebus' mum whist her 'husband' builds their house with his dad. I really didn't see it coming at all. I should have known better than to expect a 'happily ever after' ending...
I never saw that moment as touching, let alone poignant. Melodramatic? Check. Histrionic? Check. Poignant? Borderline pathetic, more like.
Funny how a guy who claims to believe that emotion is not a valid basis for judging right and wrong laid it on so thick about Cerebus not being there when his parents died. Yeah, it's sad. I'm glad I was around when my mom died. But jeez, get a grip. People die; life goes on.
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