FLIGHT In the Wild

Sean Michael Robinson:

Greetings F.O.C.!

As you may have noticed, Cerebus Archive Number Seven, the Kickstarter for FLIGHT featuring the first ten pages from Flight that the Cerebus Archive still owns along with a 10,000 word illustrated essay by Dave, is live right now!

With that in mind, I thought I'd take a look at some of the original art for FLIGHT that I've seen up close and personal. Although neither Dave nor Gerhard have scanned their pages yet for the restoration effort, as A/V and Diamond still have copies of previous printings, we have received a few pages of original art from "In the Wild", not surprising considering Dave and Gerhard went on tour during the production of the book.

And despite the dour and blood-soaked tone of the first few issues of FLIGHT, the book seems to be a fan-favorite, perhaps owing to the parody elements and the return of several fan-favorite characters.

The Roach and Elrod both show up, contributing some of the same "everything but the kitchen sink" vibe as the early parts of Church and State II. Here's a look at a page from the collection of Michael Ragiel, a long-time Cerebus (and Cerebus Kickstarter!) supporter. You can see from the inscription at the bottom that he purchased it on the '92 tour in New York City.

And here's one of the most infamous (and eminently quotable) pages from FLIGHT, from the same sequence. 

Also from the same sequence, and possibly sold at the same tour stop-- a page from the collection of Dagon James. 

I don't know why this sequence cracks me up so much. Part of it is undoubtedly the lovingly-rendered postcards. The front card and Elrod's descriptions are hilarious, but the feet poking out from the back card push the gag over the edge for me.

Here's a page that's changed hands a few times. Thanks to both owners who've sent it in!

Interesting to see the consistencies and differences in the rendering from the cover we looked at last week.

Lastly, here's a page that was scanned by IDW during their Cerebus cover hunt for the "Cover Treasury" book, and kindly sent to me by Justin Eisinger.

Most of the pages we've looked at so far are in pretty good shape, as they make pretty minimal use of mechanical tone, and thus will require a lot less cleanup. But this page is suffering some from an aged PMT--photo mechanical transfer--which was stuck to the page by a generous heaping of rubber cement, which is now eating away at the page.

Hope to see you all soon on the Kickstarter page, where Dave has been conducting a Q + A with backers, via relayed faxes. Make your pledge and post your question now!