Why Cerebus Wants To Make The Ascension

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 last saw Dave Sim’s eleventh notebook this past April in The Accurately Inexplicable. The notebook covers Cerebus #96 through #102 and had 129 pages scanned. There are many pages of layouts and sketches, but a few of text. The text on page 9 seemed pretty interesting:

Notebook #11, page 9

The text from the page:

You are aware of this history of the Black Tower. . .?

Aye.

Then you that the your death and the deaths of many countless of your followers is imminent.

Nay. Cerebus knows the secret of the tower. All those others would be [unknown] That’s what they addressed. . .said exactly the same thing.

Why do you want to do this anyway? You have your wealth, your notoriety, your power. Why throw it away so needlessly

(walks away) Cerebus was

Cerebus?

Cerebus is going to show Weisshaupt. Cerebus is going to rise up into Vanaheim and prove show to Weisshaupt that Cerebus is the redeemer. That Cerebus was always the Tarim on Earth and that Weisshaupt was never anything but a big phony.

Wherever he is Weisshaupt doesn’t think Cerebus can do it.

Cerebus is going to prove him wrong.

That’s insane.

The spirits of men die with their bodies. Only woman lives again and again.

Looking through Church & State II, I can’t see this dialogue anywhere. Cerebus is one of the people talking, and if I had to guess, I’d say the other one is  Astoria. That this dialogue was intended to be when she was locked up in prison. 

Since there is obviously some stuff on the back side of this page, here is page 10:

Notebook #11, page 10

A sketch of the throne with Most Holy, Powers, and Posey. Another sketch of Most Holy with his pope hat. Looks like Dave wrote down an accelerated schedule for shipping Cerebus #92 through 100. Plus a sketch for the cover to Cerebus #98. Which is pretty close to the final cover:

Cover to Cerebus #98