SEE THE COMMENTS FOR A SEMI-OFFICIAL ANNOUNCEMENT FOR THOSE THAT MISSED OUT
It's done. Thank you to everyone that ordered a copy of the Spawn 10 Halloween Edition and the Spawn 10 Grandma Edition. Everybody on the team really appreciates your contributions. We are striving to make these some really awesome comics.
Best to everyone,
David B and the whole AV team
Latest number from Eddie: 54 and counting...
Get the Halloween Edition and then get the Grandma Edition. How? Scroll down because "Dreadful" David is too old and tired to do the links. Thankfully, the youthful and vital "Manly/Maniac" Matt Dow has provided links below.
Michael R., Many thanks for hanging in there. I'm recovering from the regular old Flu (because I'm too old-school to catch Covid-19) and I just can't manage to log in to the Cerebus In Hell? Gmail account. I don't know why but Dave says it's because I was making fun of Jeff Bezos in a future issue of Cerebus In Hell? and I should accept all the blowback I get.
Thanks to everyone that ordered. It's a great cover by Dave and you won't be disappointed at all. I expect "Brain-Eater" Benjamin Hobbs to knock it out of the park when it comes to the color/colour.
Here's Dave:
Y'all order now. Less than an hour to go.
Dave, Eddie and David still coming' at ya. Poor substitute for the Manly one, but still hangin' in there.
Eddie Khanna reports 50 copies sold via Cerebus Downloads at 7:30PM EST.
The latest from Dave. All important links are available as you scroll down. I suddenly have massive respect for the Maniac Dow Mouse that gets things done.
Eddie Khanna reports 41 copies sold through Cerebus Downloads. Yeah, baby!
*for the Spawn #10 Kickstarter cover, you have to manage your pledge, so you may end up having to cancel and redo your pledge (that's what I've heard has happened.) ("Forearm connected to the elbow bone, elbow bone connected to the shoulder bone"...) Since there seems to be some confusion on how to do this, I asked. The response:
The only way to add it is for people to go into their pledge and go through the steps that takes them to the add-on menu page. Kickstarter calls it “managing your pledge.” It’s a simple process but may seem complicated if you haven’t done it before. Also, according to Kickstarter technical support it may not work on some mobile devices.
So, if it don't work on your phone, try a different device.
I'd say sorry, but none of this is my deal...
**If the link doesn't look like this:
Hit "refresh".
Hey all you cool varks and aardvarks,
It's "Whiskey Drinkin' Dreadful" David Birdsong a fillin' in for yore regular host.
"Maniac" Matt Dow done hit the bed. Let's hear it for "Maniac/Manly" Matt's efforts. Here's yore latest update from the Man his-own-self Sims:
Sorry, y'all. Google updated everything and I will try to git this rite, but really wish Eddie Khanna could bail a brother out.
*for the Spawn #10 Kickstarter cover, you have to manage your pledge, so you may end up having to cancel and redo your pledge (that's what I've heard has happened.) ("Forearm connected to the elbow bone, elbow bone connected to the shoulder bone"...) Since there seems to be some confusion on how to do this, I asked. The response:
The only way to add it is for people to go into their pledge and go through the steps that takes them to the add-on menu page. Kickstarter calls it “managing your pledge.” It’s a simple process but may seem complicated if you haven’t done it before. Also, according to Kickstarter technical support it may not work on some mobile devices.
So, if it don't work on your phone, try a different device.
So, keep that in mind if your gonna "slab" your copy...
"Maniac" Matt Dow
*for the Spawn #10 Kickstarter cover, you have to manage your pledge, so you may end up having to cancel and redo your pledge (that's what I've heard has happened.) ("Forearm connected to the elbow bone, elbow bone connected to the shoulder bone"...) Since there seems to be some confusion on how to do this, I asked. The response:
The only way to add it is for people to go into their pledge and go through the steps that takes them to the add-on menu page. Kickstarter calls it “managing your pledge.” It’s a simple process but may seem complicated if you haven’t done it before. Also, according to Kickstarter technical support it may not work on some mobile devices.
So, if it don't work on your phone, try a different device.
*for the Spawn #10 Kickstarter cover, you have to manage your pledge, so you may end up having to cancel and redo your pledge (that's what I've heard has happened.) ("Forescore and seven years ago"...) Since there seems to be some confusion on how to do this, I asked. The response:
The only way to add it is for people to go into their pledge and go through the steps that takes them to the add-on menu page. Kickstarter calls it “managing your pledge.” It’s a simple process but may seem complicated if you haven’t done it before. Also, according to Kickstarter technical support it may not work on some mobile devices.
So, if it don't work on your phone, try a different device.
*for the Spawn #10 Kickstarter cover, you have to manage your pledge, so you may end up having to cancel and redo your pledge (that's what I've heard has happened.) ("Foreseen is Foresun"...) Since there seems to be some confusion on how to do this, I asked. The response:
The only way to add it is for people to go into their pledge and go through the steps that takes them to the add-on menu page. Kickstarter calls it “managing your pledge.” It’s a simple process but may seem complicated if you haven’t done it before. Also, according to Kickstarter technical support it may not work on some mobile devices.
I've completed the masthead art for Dave's cover. "Brain Eater" Benjamin is doing the color later this week.
"Dreadful" David
Not Final, David JUST sent them to Dave, and I'm sure they're will be notes...
Like the fact that the line above the Logo is the same on the "Censored-For-Grandma" Variant as on the Most! Controversial! Back! Cover! Ever! one...
"Maniac" Matt Dow
*for the Spawn #10 Kickstarter cover, you have to manage your pledge, so you may end up having to cancel and redo your pledge (that's what I've heard has happened.) ("Fore!" is what they yell in golf before they hit the ball...) Since there seems to be some confusion on how to do this, I asked. The response:
The only way to add it is for people to go into their pledge and go through the steps that takes them to the add-on menu page. Kickstarter calls it “managing your pledge.” It’s a simple process but may seem complicated if you haven’t done it before. Also, according to Kickstarter technical support it may not work on some mobile devices.
"Dastardly" Dave Sim's Update #4: "Dastardly" Dave is referring to the questions I got at momentofcerebus@gmail.com from “Morbid”*** Michael R. (of Easton Pennsylvania):
Hi Matt!
Question for Dave.
Hi Dave!
Happy Helloween! Emphasis on the hell. It's Saturday morning and I'm catching up on your TMI of the Halloween wrist/drawing for best Ghastly Graham Ingels HALLOWEEN SPAWN 10 cover for the Spawn Kickstarter and the Too Controversial SPAWN 10 Back Cover Variant. For what's it worth, I did get both. GULP. This is going to be my BIGGEST pledge for a Dave Sim Kickstarter. … or any Kickstarter by anyone. Which leads to …
… Congratulations on your most successful Kickstarter EVER! …and still going. Since I'm on a Spawn topic …
1-Has Todd McFarlane contacted you on a future collaboration for a future Spawn issue? 2-Would you consider writing a future issue of Spawn if Todd would ask you?
I have more Spawn questions but I'll save them for the end of the Spawn Kickstarter. :) Hopefully you'll find some time to answer them on Thursday, November 12.
All the best, Michael
"Maniac" Matt Dow
*for the Spawn #10 Kickstarter cover, you have to manage your pledge, so you may end up having to cancel and redo your pledge (that's what I've heard has happened.) ("Forewarned is warning beforehand" and now you know...
*for the Spawn #10 Kickstarter cover, you have to manage your pledge, so you may end up having to cancel and redo your pledge (that's what I've heard has happened.) ("Forewarned is Forewarned, and you're the little abbess who ran down the lane...")
**If the link doesn't look like this:
Hit "refresh".
***And, Yes, I'll be doing that to everybody who asks a question/is involved...
Dave actually Faxed this twice, once wrong, and then corrected.
What the heck is he talking about?
Well, I faxed last night letting him know that I was working this morning, but would be off by 1PM his time. (I've been up since 12:15AM.)
Update from Eddie #1:
Hey Matt, as of 1:15 PM EST The Cerebus Downloads site has sold 19 Editions CONTROVERSIAL SPAWN 10 BACK COVER -"Battleship Eddie"
Update from Dave #2:
I know of at LEAST one guy who's bought some since then, watch the numbers RISE!
*for the Spawn #10 Kickstarter cover, you have to manage your pledge, so you may end up having to cancel and redo your pledge (that's what I've heard has happened.) ("Forewarned is Foreskinned" or however that goes...)
**If the link doesn't look like this:
Hit "refresh".
Okay, I'll be adding updates as I get them.
And if YOU have questions, comment here, or momentofcerebus@gmail.com
Get it here. (If I timed it right, it's available RIGHT NOW!)
OR, if you're not afraid of a little controversy, you can get the UN-"Censored-For-Grandma" variant of the variant here. (Ditto on my timing. But you get an extra two minutes to buy this one.)
As Dave sez:
MOST! CONTROVERSIAL! BACK! COVER! EVER! reads the front cover banner on the AARDVARK-VANAHEIM SPAWN 10 HALLOWEEN EDITION. Are you easily offended? Then DON'T buy this one. $75 Canadian (roughly $58 US) with postage included SIGNED BY DAVE SIM. Want to know what the controversy is? The only way to find out is to buy one*. Available only for 24 hours between 12:01 OCT 31 and 12:01 NOV 1 at cerebusdownloads.com. Just hit the HALLOWEEN EDITION $75 CDN button. "I will never be able to afford an original Ghastly Graham Ingels HAUNT OF FEAR cover, so this is the next best thing -- draw my own while I'm still (sort of) able," says CEREBUS creator Dave Sim. This is ONLY being announced here on A MOMENT OF CEREBUS so it might well be the RAREST CEREBUS COMIC BOOK ever. MACHINE NUMBERED OUT OF HOWEVER MANY COPIES ARE SOLD IN THE 24 HOURS (plus #1, 2 and 3 for THE CEREBUS ARCHIVE).
NOTE - Please don't show the HALLOWEEN EDITION back cover on AMOC. You can show the GRANDMA EDITION back cover.
*I know, but that's because I'm an "inside people"...
And now, Dave Sim:
_______________________________________
Dave Sim:
[From October 19th -Matt]
[Now, Dave kinda slags the Sketchbook covers here, and I would like everybody to look at the following and tell me if you don't think it's worth it . -Matt]
Dave Sim (again):
For however long I was unable to draw -- two years? Three years? -- I was surprised to find myself looking mostly at the COMIC EYE EC homage cover I did for Blind Bat Press in Hamilton, thinking, "I should have done more EC stuff when I was still able." I imagine Bernie Wrightson thought the same thing. The problem is always that EC isn't actually popular enough to do EC-style stuff and make money. So, when Dagon told me he wanted a HALLOWEEN SPAWN 10 cover, I decided I better do my best Ghastly Graham Ingels cover while I still can. I'm pretty sure I'm going to keep the original art and have the wraparound cover framed in the Rectangle Office, finally replacing the Robert Bateman print which was one of those "90s" things. You can't even give Bateman prints away these days. I'm also going to take my time with it so -- although the HALLOWEEN COVER will be sold for 24 hours on October 31st, I have no idea when it will actually be done. It's very possibly my last chance at an Ingels/Wrightson piece so I'm not going to rush it.
Here's the cover roughly pasted up from enlarged photocopies that have been partly inked to show where the solid blacks are going to go.
[All these are click for more detail -Matt]
In order to spare "wear and tear" on the wrist, instead of tracing the image in pencil on tracing paper, flopping it and then retracing it -- the best method -- I, instead, divided the image into squares with blue pencil and then cut away one square at a time, penciling and inking each square one at a time, fitted into the appropriate space
I made an exception for the mouth since I wanted to do really accurate-looking Graham Ingels/Bernie Wrightson saliva which required doing the teeth and the tongue and the shape of the mouth 100% accurate and as a series of single lines so the saliva could be drawn relative to the non-saliva features.
The word balloons are a combination of Japanese brush pen for the solid blacks and then some Hunt 102 enhancement. All done at shoulder height in order to keep the wrist fully extended and all of the drawing done with the tips of my index and middle fingers under the magnifier lamp. It's a really awkward way to work but it extends the period of time I can draw before the pain and stiffness in the wrist can't be ignored any more.
This is what the lettering looks like in close-up which is roughly what I'm seeing in the magnifier lamp. Because I can only see a limited amount of the cover while I'm drawing, there's no way of knowing what the overall look is or to adjust what I'm doing to improve the overall look. Just "fly blind" and hope that there are enough successful parts to minimize the flaws in the unsuccessful parts
This is what "drawing" look like these days (apart from the remote control in the left hand taking the picture). My pneumatic drawing chair dropped to its lowest height (approximately 14" off of the ground), the part of the cover I'm "drawing" pushed up as high on the drawing board as I can get it so the forearm and wrist are as fully extended as I can get them, peering up through the magnifier lamp -- whose brand new circular bulb just burned out when I tried to turn it back on so I could see where I was going -- these pictures being taken between 3 and 4:30 am so I have them when Rolly comes in. It's been that kind of a year.)
Dave Sim (again, again.): Okay, this is what I got done on Friday the 23rd. First of all, the heavy black brush stroke overtop of Batvark's snout. The face is going to be under-lit so I wanted the brush stroke to go to grey at the bottom which raised the problem of "How do I do that?" I decided on dry brush which came out good, but then posed the question of "Where that continues at the bottom side of the snout, do I want to go with 'dry-ER' brush? Or pen lines?" Couldn't make up my mind…
[ever since I decided to keep this one, the decision-making has been brutal -- I'm going to be looking at this every time I'm on the phone. I only have a landline and it's only in the Rectangle Office. I don't want to spend the rest of my life going "that part on the underside of the snout I really should have... (whatever I decided NOT to do)"].
So I did the contour brush strokes with the Japanese brush pen since I knew I wanted those. That was brutal because it was waist-height and all-wrist cornering curves -- you can see the jitter in it. So, I decided @#$% it...
I'm going to ink the mouth waist-height without the magnifier lamp (waiting for a ring-light replacement). I got most of the mouth done before that became untenable, wrist-wise. And then went, "Okay I'll do the horn on the helmet and the shadow from the under-lighting, completely 'dead-hand' " and suddenly it didn't look like Graham Ingels, it looked like Jack Kamen. So it was time to stop. DEAD.
Nothing against Jack Kamen.
On the contrary. One of the most amazing EC stories about an EC artist for me was the decision to get Jack Kamen to draw the comics adaptation of the Stephen King EC-homage movie, CREEPSHOW. I don't own the adaptation, but I still remember how amazing the cover was. JACK KAMEN DID THIS? Applause applause applause. Wow! How OLD must he be now (I remember thinking in the 1970s)? Probably younger than I am now. Did he do any of the interiors? Mm. No. That would have been good. Get Wrightson to do most of it (Wrightson did all of it) but get Jack Kamen to do this AMAZING STYLE he's suddenly capable of on one of the stories. Just like an EC horror comic, different stories drawn by different guys.
It was years later that I found out that Kamen had agreed to draw the book, had done the cover and then everything went south. Whoever was supposed to coordinate the comics adaptation didn't and by the time they did contact Kamen, it was crunch time and he knew there was no way he could get even a fraction of it done in time. So, that was when they went to Wrightson. Last minute. "Can you draw" -- whatever it was -- "a hundred pages of EC comics overnight?" It's all in a Wrightson interview somewhere. It would never have worked. By the time there's an actual finished script and movie stills, the movie is maybe a month or two away from the release date which is carved in stone. Wrightson did an amazing job with an impossible deadline. But, when I picture -- as I do often -- what CREEPSHOW would have looked like if the length of time needed to do the book had been factored in. Which Stephen King had the clout to make happen. And Wrightson was very emphatic that he had no complaints. He made more money from CREEPSHOW than he probably made from all of his other published work combined because it was STEPHEN KING'S CREEPSHOW.
To drop a name, the one time I had dinner at Peter Straub's place in New York (Peter was a CEREBUS fan) -- pretty much paid for by his collaborations with Stephen King -- he had a couple of CREEPSHOW originals in the downstairs bathroom that Stephen King had given him. They were really nice. But they were in the downstairs bathroom. Which spoke volumes about the pecking order.
I'm always grinding my molars over that whenever I'm doing an EC homage. Which is why I'll never let it be rushed or dicked around with. And I know from long experience that if I accidentally "swerve" towards another artist, that's where I'm going to end up unless I actively saturate myself in who I want it to look like. So beaucoup de Ingels, beaucoup de Wrightson over the next couple of days.
I'm hoping that keeping this really over-elaborate diary will help sales. We'll see.
Dave Sim (once more, WITH FEELING!): 29 October 20
Hi Matt!
0730 at the coffee shop after a few hours sleep. My right forearm is swollen, which evidently answers the question "What happens when I put in a full day at the drawing board, drawing mostly at shoulder height?" Wrist is also sore for reasons I'll explain in a moment. The unsolvable problem being: how do you show people what they're buying with the NEW 24-Hour Comic (apologies to Scott McCloud) and only two days to go until the on-sale date? Answer: You have to draw most of it and leave all the micromanaging for later (when, hopefully, the swelling in your forearm has gone down and your wrist isn't throbbing any more).
Studying Graham Ingels work turned out to be a good idea. I started going through my HERITAGE AUCTIONS catalogues looking for Ingels pieces. Found the "Ventriloquist's Dummy" splash page, then a HAUNT OF FEAR cover. Then THE HAUNT OF FEAR cover -- No.25 (1954) -- and the search was over. Auctioned August 2, 2013 [see attached] it had all the textures I was looking for. The big surprise was that it was almost all brush with some pen.
Bad news for the wrist...
(there's no such thing as non-wrist Series 7 Winsor Newton brush inking and it can't really be done at shoulder height because brush inking is done by sight. That deserves a little explanation: because the fibres on the brush are so flexible, you only know where they're touching by the line they produce. You extrapolate where they are by what you're seeing. But you need to see them right in front of you to see them properly and that's not a shoulder-height thing. Pen, on the other hand is by touch. You physically feel where the pen is touching the paper and can adjust accordingly. I used to be able to. Now it's mostly shoulder-height, magnification-lamp guesswork. )
…but good news for my Ingels homage.
I minimized the amount of brush inking by "picking my spots" and making liberal use of Alex Raymond's brush sharpening (see SDOAR VOLUME ONE) trick but it was still a good couple of hours of waist-height, all-wrist inking. I just kept telling myself that this would be "it" for the new SPAWN 10 art.
After that is the on-going assessment of KICKSTARTER's role in Aardvark-Vanaheim's future. The CEREBUS #1 KS took five months for fulfillment and A-V took in $12.5K of the $52K that came in, compared with (to cite two examples) the CAN8 KS which brought in $16K out of which A-V got roughly $8K (and right away) and the YOU DON'T KNOW JACK KS which brought in $21K out of which A-V will be getting roughly $2K.
The perennial business owner's question: Now that I know THAT what do I know?
Still have high hopes for the SPAWN 10 KS, which is why I've been pushing the boundaries of what the right wrist is capable of from the moment Dagon told me that Todd's assistant had e-mailed him the SPAWN 10 digital files. If anything is going to Work (as opposed to work or "work") SPAWN 10 will be it. TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES 8 is either a close or distant second, potentially, so I'm getting psyched for doing multiple covers while also getting ready to take a hard pass if partnership Kickstarters -- and Big Revenue Kickstarters -- prove not to have the necessary economies of scale. That is, if I turn out to have just gone in a giant circle, back to the CEREBUS ARCHIVE Portfolios (No.9 has been done for the better part of a year) where I started from. Do them more efficiently and more quickly and you'll make as much money as you will from a partnership "bells and whistles" KS that brings in three to four times as much revenue.
We shall see. EVENTUALLY.
Okay, that was an hour and a half of left-handed typing. Hope TMI is good luck for SPAWN 10 THE HALLOWEEN EDITION!
Thanks for you help, Matt. Talk with you, God willing, Thursday.
Dave
PS: In case you might be around and available tomorrow, I might keep up the SPAWN 10 HALLOWEEN TMI "CHATTER" by fax since my e-mailing capability ends when Rolly goes home this afternoon. He's out back at Camp David scanning The Monster right now.
__________________________
No, no, thank YOU Dave, as always.
There you go people, TMI/TL:DR on the Spawn #10 LIMITED EXCLUSIVE Halloween Cover.
Next Time: Oliver and everybody's tweets about this...
This is apparently the sequel update from this one.
I don't have a website for Gavin (sound off if you see this Gavin!), but I DO have scans of his cover:
And Dave's mock-up of his cover:
(I also have scans of Dave's corrections, but I'm not posting them...)
______________________________________
TOMORROW, is Halloween. And NO trick ALL treats:
Greetings backers!
Today brings a big update to the Remastered SPAWN 10 Kickstarter.
1. Dave Sim has created a fantastic new variant cover just in time for Halloween. This variant will come with a frightful, secret, trick-or-treat bundle of new collectibles we are creating exclusively for what may be the rarest variant of this issue! The HALLOWEEN VARIANT bundle will be available for only 24 hours on October 31st, starting at 12:01 am EST tonight and ending at 11:59pm tomorrow night. For the dealers and super fans out there, you will be able to pick up packages of multiple copies at deep discounts. The variant is available as an add-on item which you can add to your pledge through the pledge manager. The print run of this variant will be strictly limited to the number of copies sold during the 24 hour Halloween window.
3. We have added an additional add-on bundle which contains 54 pieces of original SPAWN 10 art by Dave Sim. This collection consists of nearly every piece of preliminary art created by Sim for this landmark edition. You will receive mostly pencil on tracing paper, some ink and collage pasteups and bluelines hand marked by Sim. There is even an unfinished cover in the collection. All of the work is being offered in one lot to one lucky backer and is available now!
Happy Halloween everyone and thank you for your support!
Dave Sim's original art for the Halloween variant edition.
The updated enamel pin with glow in the dark eyes!
AND this is the "Censored-For-Grandma" variant. The UNCENSORED wraparound cover will be available from cerebusdownloads.com here's Dave's Sales pitch:
MOST! CONTROVERSIAL! BACK! COVER! EVER! reads the front cover banner on the AARDVARK-VANAHEIM SPAWN 10 HALLOWEEN EDITION. Are you easily offended? Then DON'T buy this one. $75 Canadian (roughly $58 US) with postage included SIGNED BY DAVE SIM. Want to know what the controversy is? The only way to find out is to buy one. Available only for 24 hours between 12:01 OCT 31 and 12:01 NOV 1 at cerebusdownloads.com. Just hit the HALLOWEEN EDITION $75 CDN button. "I will never be able to afford an original Ghastly Graham Ingels HAUNT OF FEAR cover, so this is the next best thing -- draw my own while I'm still (sort of) able," says CEREBUS creator Dave Sim. This is ONLY being announced here on A MOMENT OF CEREBUS so it might well be the RAREST CEREBUS COMIC BOOK ever. MACHINE NUMBERED OUT OF HOWEVER MANY COPIES ARE SOLD IN THE 24 HOURS (plus #1, 2 and 3 for THE CEREBUS ARCHIVE).
NOTE - Please don't show the HALLOWEEN EDITION back cover on AMOC. You can show the GRANDMA EDITION back cover.
I'm not even sure if I have that in my pile, check back tomorrow...
Signed copies of Vark Wars: Walt's Empire Strikes Back (Signed by Dave, Signed by Dave and me, Signed by me after I scribble out Dave's name, Pretty much available Signed only...).
Check out the new Cerebus masks and whatnots. PENIS and XXXXX added. (I'm not adding the Second Print cover unless there is actual demand.)
As you all know, Wilf Jenkins was the Aardvark/Vanaheim lawyer for years, and during that time he was on the comp list. Wilf saved all his copies. Dave and Wilf have signed them, and there's a certificate of authenticity. The books will be available from Looking For Heroes, for $10 (CAD) plus $4 dollars shipping to Canada and $5 dollars shipping to the USA. All the money goes to the Food Bank of the Waterloo Region.
Next Time: I got a pile of faxes and emails from Dave about this Spawn #10 Halloween cover. So, that.
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.
Last week we took a look at pages 147 though 149 of Dave Sim’s 21st notebook in Dialogue From Reads. Those three pages covered the dialogue between Po, Cerebus, Cirin and Astoria. Lets skip over some of the pages that just had walls of text for Victor Reid, and go to page 158 which has some of the same dialogue on page 147, but instead it is closer and in some cases the same as the finished text.
Notebook 21, page 158
Pretty much the same for the first bit, but then when Po starts talking about Cerebus and his claim to the throne. Just a little different. And instead of talking about being an agnostic who sees manifestations of Tarim and Terim everywhere around him, Po in the book talks about echoes and breaking the cycle. Then on page 159, some of that same dialogue repeats, but the manifestations of Terim and Tarim are no longer there (though this dialogue does appear later in Reads, on page 60, but instead Po says God or Goddess):
Notebook 21, page 159
Only a few bits and pieces of this was used.
Then on page 160 there is more of the dialogue, along with some character sketches, used on page 94 of Reads (aka Cerebus #179, page 8):
Notebook 21, page 160
This dialogue matches up very well with the finished book. The only thing that is missing is Cerebus’ reactions when Astoria springs that heavy news on him.
