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Last Time. And now:
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| Adam Beechen's Hench is available from Amazon. (Which is were his website sends you.) |
ADAM BEECHEN
December 10, 2020
Say hey, Dave –
Hello from the West Coast of Lockdown, USA.
In your last letter, you asked me if and how the pandemic had affected my “work-life balance.” And for once, I have a short-ish answer for you.
Not really.
But because I can’t just leave it there, I’ll elaborate just a bit. I’ve been working from home – with the exception of a few short stints – for about 20 years. I’ve heard many other writers and artists say it, but that solitude prepared me pretty well for a lockdown like this. It’s forced my wife to work from home now, but that’s a plus, as far as I’m concerned. Really, the ones in my family most affected by all this are our dogs, I think, who wonder why we won’t leave them alone.
I don’t think the opportunity to spend more time at my computer has made me any more productive or disciplined, but it has made me feel guiltier when I take a break to read a book, or watch a half-hour of TV, or whatever. “I should be working,” I think to myself. It’s harder to focus on my down time, if that makes sense. I did complete a spec script for a one-hour TV drama, however, so I managed to get something done outside the paid assignments I had this year. I miss seeing friends in a non-videoconference setting, I miss face-to-face professional meetings, I miss killing an hour in a music store or a comic shop. I miss travel, and I miss seeing my parents and my father-in-law. But we make do, and I’m grateful and lucky – I’m only mildly inconvenienced. I know a lot of people have it much, much worse.
Over to you, now.
I found myself thinking, a few days ago, about Cerebus’ large and varied supporting cast, and my line of thought ran to, “Who, of the characters around him, had the most influence on Cerebus over the choices he made and the actions he took over the course of his life?” I ran down through all of them, and the top contenders made themselves pretty clear – Jaka, Rick, Astoria, Lord Julius, Suenteus Po, Cirin, Weisshaupt (to a degree)… and then of course the answer hit me like a ton of bricks and I felt stupid. The answer is “you.”
The revelation of “you” (in quotes because, really, it’s a representation of you) as a character and presence (I don’t know that “supporting” would even be a correct adjective) in the series was a very bold move. While “you” didn’t “appear” very often after introducing “yourself,” the knowledge that “you” were always “there” had a pretty profound effect on me the last half-to-third of the series. Once “you” (okay, I’m gonna dispense with the “you” quotes now) made yourself known to Cerebus and informed him that you’ve created and controlled every step of his existence and will continue to do so until he “dies,” because you made the choice not to wipe Cerebus’ memory of your existence (as Grant Morrison did with Animal Man after they “met”), the narrative stakes of the track we’ve been on for however many issues really came down and momentum slowed. Cerebus himself suddenly felt he’s lost motivation and purpose. The fourth wall was gone, and the story to that point and everything that comes after, took on a different shape – We were really on a new track now. I was aware of you at the heart of the story, so while events around Cerebus may have been be amusing or dramatic or infuriating, the fact that I knew you were pulling the strings meant the reader I couldn’t invest as strongly in the title character, or had to do a different kind of investing to accommodate the story’s different shape and new rules.
I’m sure you had the insertion of yourself (or a character representing you) planned from an early stage, if not before you even started the book. I was wondering if you might discuss a little your motivation and thought process in taking your story in what I think is a risky and unconventional (and certainly intriguing and startling) direction.
Best,
Adam
And as is his want, Dave Responds:
Thanks Adam! Thanks Dave!
But wait, there's more over on the Tweeters, "ComicsintheGoldenAge" shared:
On this day in 1843, A Christmas Carol was first published. This is a 1946 edition from King Features Syndicate. With a cover & interior art by Hal Foster, the endpages show characters such as Flash Gordon, the Phantom, Prince Valiant, Popeye, the Katzenjammer Kids & more.
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| Click for bigger |
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| Ditto. |
If you want one, there's three of them on eBay:
I also found this:
Next Time: Oliver and "Cerebus Around The World And Web"
4 comments:
"And, as is his want" should've been "And, as is his wont" or, as Howard Cosell once corrected his fellow broadcaster, Dandy Don Meredith, "Don't you mean won't?"
You're welcome, Dave.
Dave used to (still does?) read "A Christmas Carol" aloud every Christmas day, along with the Gospel of John. I like to think that he still does.
Thank you for this post; it was very interesting.
While I'm expressing my thoughts under a pseudonym I am a Christian. I believe in God.
I'm sure many other of Dave's readers/patreons are the same and while I admit I could be wrong, I think he underestimates that number.
Some things are too personal for me to share on a blog but I think I understand what Dave means; of March being a watershed moment.
On a good number of issues I think Dave shares some wisdom, so thank you.
This correspondence between Adam and Dave has been a definite high point on AMOC.
The easier path would've been for Dave to have told a more traditional story with Cerebus; but then I don't think it would've been Great...good, yes, but not as unique as it is.
Unlike Dave (and many others) I'm reticent about sharing too much online, or publicly so I'll stop here.
Merry Christmas.
A Fake Name.
p.s. Matt, I hope your finger heals up asap.
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