Cerebus #240 Page 13 in Notebook Form

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.

So I’m going to call this one in as I’ve traveled to Vegas last week so no time on the week for the article, and this week I’m getting caught up to my time zone. Plus, I really like notebook #29, which covers Cerebus #240 through 250 and had 150 pages scanned. Why do I like it? Well, the opening pages are pretty nearly complete – just put in some Gerhard backgrounds and voila. 

Usually when I was scanning Dave’s notebooks, it was all business: just scan the page and move to the next one. When I got to these pages, I stopped and admired for longer than I care to admit. I also took some regular pictures, not just scans. I couldn’t believe what I was holding in my hands.

Like page 13:

Notebook #29, page 13

That notebook page shows the nearly complete page 179 from Going Home:

Going home page 179 (aka Cerebus #240 page 13)

As you can see, the notebook page is pretty close to the finished page. I like how Gerhard accounted for the distortion of looking through the peep hole. 

The bottom right panel is the most different from notebook to finished page. Instead of just a close up of Jaka looking upset on the finished page we see more of her and Cerebus’ head. My goodness, if you zoom in on the finished page, you can see the chair and wine glass that F. Stop is walking towards in the next panel.