Unused High Society Material

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 saw a page from Dave’s third notebook this past April in Outline For The Last Half of High Society. Dave’s third notebook covers Cerebus #37 through 41 and had 78 out of 80 pages scanned.

At the top left corner of page 51, it looks like Dave did a quick sketch for the cover of Cerebus #39, but that is most definitely not the cover to Cerebus #39. 

Notebook #3, page 51

In the digital edition of High Society Dave said this about that sketch “No. 39 cover sketch of Blakely, the Moon Roach, Cerebus and the Regency Elf against Iest’s skyline.” Dave goes on to note that the text in the upper right corner is from Blakely:

The last Pigt died over five centuries ago. My great-great-great-great-grandfather was said to have been descended from one of the tribes.

The crossed-out text appears to be a continuation of that dialogue by Blakely

I must admit that I was at first tempted to threaten you with deportation.

Than I realized that there is a certain. . .instability at the moment and that it is difficult to determine what winds might yet prove themselves by prevailing.

Though Dave doesn’t make mention of it in his notes on the page. Dave just says “There was no way Blakely and Cerebus could have a SHORT conversation about the Pigts so I shifted by attention back to the Moon Roach – this time having him enter in his taxi driver identity – and the Regency Elf.” 

That explains the text in the bottom right corner of the notebook page:

- Enter the taxi driver

- Change to Moon Roach

- Divert him to lower Felda

- Who is it that wrote the . . .umm phase over the city gates? The Regency Elf.

- You mean there really is such a creature?

- Oh sure – she drinks like a fish, too.

- I do not

- Enters

Dave continues: “Then decided the Regency Elf would com in at the end of the issue with the punchline being that Blakely sees her and Cerebus pretends he doesn’t. This part needed to be edited out once I had the big punch-up between the Moon Roach and the McGrew Brothers. It would have come between the time that Elrod offered to shake hands and when Cerebus tossed him around the room effortlessly.”