Bits from Cerebus #101 and #103

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 seen Dave’s eleventh Cerebus notebook pretty recently: this past September in Why Cerebus Wants to Make The Ascension. The eleventh notebook covers Cerebus issues #96 through 102 and there were 129 pages scanned. Page 113 near the end shows us quite a bit:

Notebook #11, page 113

In the top left corner we see four tiny page thumbnails numbered 6 though 9 that have images in them and four more for pages 10 though 13 that are blank. The pages are to Cerebus #101, and they kind of match up with the finished pages. Page six is indeed six panels of Po, starting with a close up and pulling out until we see more of Po. Well, Astoria as Po to Cerebus’ Great Andrena character. Then the next couple of pages are of a gagged Astoria, Cerebus as Most Holy, Bishop Powers, and Posey. 

The dialogue to the right is for pages 7 though 11, mostly. This dialogue doesn’t appear to have been used:

If Cerebus is going to sentence someone Cerebus is going to do it with his pope hat on.

Blank

What do you think Cerebus is? A Barbarian? 

No Most Holy.

We also see Something Fell. Page 11 of Cerebus #101 is when this phase shows up.  The ‘What is this box doing here’ dialogue doesn’t show up, just the ‘what’s this?’. 

The dialogue below it “There izh no such thing azh an unconzhiouzu act’. I’m not sure where that is from.

Below it near the bottom right corner of the page issue some bits for Cerebus #103:

Weisshaupt gloating – demon ‘ead

• “You needed me twice”

• “once when you needed the matches”

• “and once when you needed the gold sphere”

Weisshaupt does make an appearance as a demon head inside the tower in Cerebus #103 on page 14 (Church & State II page 1052). Cerebus backs into the head and we see the mouth of the head open and a word balloon with a picture of a gold sphere appears. Cerebus is dazed and hurries. Cerebus then  falls over a small Weisshaupt head and hurts his left foot. Cerebus hops away and while he is resting, another Weisshaupt head lands on t hat same left foot.