It's the last Tuesday of the month, which means tomorrow is the last Wednesday of the month. Which is the "on street" date for Kurtz VS Kurtz:
Which means I get to post: MATT'S STUPID PROJECT #1!!!:
So when an issue gets made, the last step before it gets sent to Marquis for printing is Hobbs sends a PDF to the Cerebus in Hell? team (and me. Heh...suckers.) for last minute proofreading.
So I get to read the issue before any of you.
And when I read this one, a strange compulsion came over me when I read these two pages:
Click for bigger
I edited all thirty images (I even used my photoshop knock-off to take care of the word balloons...)
Then I used my "they-really-shouldn't-have-let-me-have-it" video editing program to make a thirty second loop of the images.
THEN(!) I looped THAT for six minutes and twenty-eight seconds...
(I added a title card and an egress. So it's a little longer.)
It's stupid, but I love it...
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Dave's calling on Thursday for Please Hold For Dave Sim September 2022. If you got a burning question: momentofcerebus@gmail.com. Last time, I didn't advertise, and we got done in just over two hours, so I'm REALLY hoping we don't go back to three+ hours...
Eddie doesn't have an Instagram OR a YouTube. But he's got his Strange Death of Alex Raymond annotations. (I mean, I assume. Maybe he's ALL over the 'gram and just not telling me...)
Hobbs had a Kickstarter. Two people haven't filled out there survey. TWO! Get it together..."Bob" and "Doug"...(I don't know who it is, I just know how many it is.)...get your shit together.
Oliver's got an Instagram and a Cerebus movie: The Absurd, Surreal, Metaphysical, and Fractured Destiny of Cerebus the Aardvark it's currently available on "Plex", "Xumo", "Vimeo On Demand", "Tubi". And if you're in Brazil...
Heritage has pages from Cerebus #1. And a whole heap of other neat stuff.
Dave's calling on Thursday for Please Hold For Dave Sim September 2022. If you got a burning question: momentofcerebus@gmail.com. Last time, I didn't advertise, and we got done in just over two hours, so I'm REALLY hoping we don't go back to three+ hours...
Eddie doesn't have an Instagram OR a YouTube. But he's got his Strange Death of Alex Raymond annotations. (I mean, I assume. Maybe he's ALL over the 'gram and just not telling me...)
Hobbs had a Kickstarter. You should have your surveys in by now.
Oliver's got an Instagram and a Cerebus movie: The Absurd, Surreal, Metaphysical, and Fractured Destiny of Cerebus the Aardvark it's currently available on "Plex", "Xumo", "Vimeo On Demand", "Tubi". And if you're in Brazil...
Heritage has pages from Cerebus #1. And a whole heap of other neat stuff.
Dave's calling on Thursday for Please Hold For Dave Sim September 2022. If you got a burning question: momentofcerebus@gmail.com. Last time, I didn't advertise, and we got done in just over two hours, so I'm REALLY hoping we don't go back to three+ hours...
The Waverly Press has an Instagram. And will be posting updates and teasers for upcoming projects with Dave. Like the 1982 Tour book.
Say, SPEAKING of the Waverly Press...
I was cleaning up a bunch of stuff around the AMOC Cave, and discovered YET ANOTHER Spawn #10 variant.
Okay, not an "according to Hoyle" Spawn #10 variant, but it's Spawn-y, and very, very, varianty...
So here's the, apparently, second version.
And the rarer* first version.
So, it's the Cerebus as Spawn Postcard, but it has the backing of The Regency Edition postcards.
It's rare*.
And I have a couple.
I also have a bunch of other Cerebus and Cerebus related stuff:
Click for bigger. (You have MOST of it Margaret...)
Quite a bit of it actually:
I've talked before about the Prototype Cerebus Bookmarks I got:
The little one on top is the one everybody got**, the bigger one is the prototype, and the bottom one is the OTHER prototype.
If you need any of this stuff, momentofcerebus@gmail.com. Let me know what you need, and I'll let you know if I want money. (There's a good chance I might just want you to cover shipping...)
Anyway. Back to the Rigamarole already in progress...
Eddie doesn't have an Instagram OR a YouTube. But he's got his Strange Death of Alex Raymond annotations. (I mean, I assume. Maybe he's ALL over the 'gram and just not telling me...)
Hobbs had a Kickstarter. You should have your surveys in by now.
Oliver's got an Instagram and a Cerebus movie: The Absurd, Surreal, Metaphysical, and Fractured Destiny of Cerebus the Aardvark it's currently available on "Plex", "Xumo", "Vimeo On Demand", "Tubi". And if you're in Brazil...
Heritage has pages from Cerebus #1. And a whole heap of other neat stuff.
Dave wanted me to send you scans of the POT8.2 US Edition Head Sketches that he did.
Also, I took some photos for the website of POT8.2 US Edition that were printed, yellow posted-noted, and signed by Dave (I also sent these photos to David Birdsong to put up on the KS).
Ooooh. I LOVE it when mine is in the set.
AND: (Kickstarter Update)
Uhhhhh, well, not much to report. Stacks are stacking up and packages are accumulating and it seems like something is still coming from the printer. Pictures? No, not yet, during the final fulfillment/seal up the boxes stage we hope to share some. So best to everyone, just a short....
What?
Oh, I forgot.
Cerebus wants to say something to the 5 folks that haven't filled out their survey:
Nasty little cuss, ain't he?
Ok, not really, but at your earliest convenience could Rob, Jeramy, Matthew, Jeffrey and Carlos report to their inbox and find that survey? It's ok, we know what you ordered, but we just don't know where to send it.
Have a great week everyone and next time... pictures of fulfillment happening. Promise.
Eddie doesn't have an Instagram OR a YouTube. But he's got his Strange Death of Alex Raymond annotations. (I mean, I assume. Maybe he's ALL over the 'gram and just not telling me...)
Hobbs had a Kickstarter. You should have your surveys in by now.
Oliver's got an Instagram and a Cerebus movie: The Absurd, Surreal, Metaphysical, and Fractured Destiny of Cerebus the Aardvark it's currently available on "Plex", "Xumo", "Vimeo On Demand", "Tubi". And if you're in Brazil...
Heritage has pages from Cerebus #1. And a whole heap of other neat stuff.
Eddie doesn't have an Instagram OR a YouTube. But he's got his Strange Death of Alex Raymond annotations. (I mean, I assume. Maybe he's ALL over the 'gram and just not telling me...)
Hobbs had a Kickstarter. You should have your surveys in by now.
Oliver's got an Instagram and a Cerebus movie: The Absurd, Surreal, Metaphysical, and Fractured Destiny of Cerebus the Aardvark it's currently available on "Plex", "Xumo", "Vimeo On Demand", "Tubi". And if you're in Brazil...
Heritage has pages from Cerebus #1. And a whole heap of other neat stuff.
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.
Over at that Facebooks Cerebus group Lenny had a few questions, and opened them with this statement: “3281 (pages) in 36 notebooks (91 pages/notebook) for 281 issues (20-300) (12 pages/issue).”
While the average is 91 pages per issue, it doesn't quite work out like that. . .Looking at the spreadsheet I have, some notebooks cover only one issue, some cover an arc of issues - notebooks #23 - 'Mothers & Daughters', #30 - Minds Rehearsal, and #35 ‘Spore & Konigsberg’. Some notebooks only cover one issue: #10 – Cerebus #112/113 (yes, I count it as one issue since it is together, same with 289 / 290), #24 – Cerebus #225, #25 – Cerebus #227, #29 – Cerebus #255, #30 – Cerebus #251, and #34 – Cerebus #289/290.
List of Dave Sim's Cerebus Notebooks
Just doing the math of how many pages per notebook were scanned, and the number of issues covered in that notebook, on average each issue Cerebus had 18.36 pages of notebook “time”. I never sat down and indexed each page to an issue. . .or to something else. . .though I am kind of doing that in these weekly posts.
Lenny then asked: “Are each of the notebook pages dedicated to particular issues? Or are some of them more general notes or musings on the entire series?”
Each page of the notebook isn’t dedicated to a particular issue. There are pages that cover a couple of issues. There are pages that don’t cover any one issue. For example, there are pages with Dave’s notes on a speech, tour logistics, Spawn #10, or sketches of other tourists on vacation.
Lenny’s questions continue: “You scanned 47/80 pages (59%) of Melmoth.”
Yeah, yeah. Not really a question, but I didn’t scan 59% of Melmoth, I scanned 47 pages out of 80 pages that make up notebook #19 which covers Cerebus #141 though 149. Part of Melmoth, not all of it. I said out of 80 pages because that is what the notebook started with according to the cover.
Lenny continues: “How much of the 3281 pages did you scan? How did you decide what to scan? Do you plan to one day scan the rest?”
I scanned all 3,281 pages. The notebooks however had over 4,506 pages. I don’t know how many pages were in notebook #6 as it was missing the cover when I got it. So, I just put in 158 pages that were scanned. Many notebooks had missing pages, and many had blank pages – so I went by the number of pages the cover stated it had for that over number of 4,506 pages.
I scanned all the pages that had something on them. Other than the lines of the notebook. If some ink bled through to the other side, I scanned it. If Dave had taped a copied cover of an issue to the page, I scanned it. If Dave had taped something over something else on the notebook page, I scanned the page twice. The only time I didn’t scan a page is if it was blank. I didn’t scan blank pages as I was in a hurry to scan the notebooks and get them back to Dave. I was afraid something might happen to them while they were in my possession.
Would I go back and scan the blank pages? Nah. Would I go back and get a better inventory of what blank pages were in each notebook and a count of missing pages? Sure.
Lenny wraps it up with: “And of the pages you scanned, how many have you already posted to AMOC? Are then scanned pages posted anywhere else?”
Of the 3,218 pages I scanned, I’ve posted 694 pages, and all the covers, from the 36 notebooks. So though 408 posts to AMOC I’ve shared about 21% of the notebook pages I’ve scanned. I started these posts in June of 2014. I posted a couple of notebook pages to my old CFG forum, but since then, those pages have been posted to AMOC.
BTVRK #1 will be in stores in November. David Birdsong and I were thinking about running a Kickstarter for some variants, but Dave isn't into the idea. There are some faxes below that go into detail about it.
Here are the rest of the covers. The first three I made:
David sent over this one, a parody of the "Keanu with his fists up" BRZRKR cover:
And the Virgin Variant of that cover:
This is my take on it (bullet holes still in progress):
Dave sent this fax and Matt ran it here on AMOC last week:
I replied with this:
Dave sent this back:
If you can take the time, let me know in the comments:
1) If you're interested in the BTVRK variants.
2) How many variants you'd be interested in (And which ones.)
3) If a BTVRK variant cover campaign would effect your backing of TMNT8 Remastered in January.
4)If having multiple unfulfilled campaigns at one time is an issue for you.
Hey Matt Synchronistcally / Comic-Art Metaphysically) I JUST came across this Star Trek illustration by Alden McWilliams (TWIN EARTHS) of Kirk and Spock on HA.com while searching for some TWIN EARTHS art after reading the AMOC post with Dave's Star Trek cover
You remember Alden McWilliams from The Strange Death of Alex Raymond:
Yeah, him.
Anyway, Sean via Living the Line sent out:
PLAZA printed and shipping, Abolition of Man #1 cutoff on Thursday, and more!
Hello everyone! This has been a busy summer over at Living the Line, so I wanted to check in with a few updates on current and upcoming projects.
First off, after a long week of fulfillment, PLAZA has shipped to (almost) all our Kickstarter backers. And it is a gorgeous book! (If you needed definitive proof, I’ve seen at least one Instagram reel of a cat licking the cover.) We couldn’t be more pleased with the overall package, and to be able to bring such an incredible book to an audience.
PLAZA will be in comic stores in a week or two, and book stores a few weeks after that, but if you can’t wait, and you don’t have your copy yet, you can always order direct from us at LivingtheLineBooks.com.
(The Kickstarter packages that haven’t shipped yet are the Canadian ones, which are likely being fulfilled by our Canadian compatriot in the next day or two, and the ones for whom we haven’t received addresses. If you’re in that latter category, then send me your address as soon as you’re able :) )
Secondly we wanted to let you know that if you want a copy of Abolition of Man #1, the first issue of Carson Grubaugh’s chilling AI-illustrated miniseries, your last chance to get your order to your comic store is THIS Thursday! And yes, these are exclusive to comic stores. Above you’ll see a preview image of the first three issue covers along with some interior art, to give you an idea of what you’re in store for.
But why take my word for it, when you can hear it from the mouth of Mr. Dave McKean himself?
“The Abolition of Man is a thorough test drive of AI image making, and the results are extraordinary, appalling, compelling, cold, hot, beautiful, repellent, and should be abolished.”
— Dave McKean
We just released a press release with Diamond Comics that will give you some more info on the series (copied below). We hope that you’ll reach out to your local comic store and ask them to order you a copy or three!
Lastly, thank you all for your patience and your kind words during the fulfillment process for PLAZA by Yokoyama Yuichi. We’re thrilled to get the book in your hands.
All the best, Sean Robinson Living the Line Books
And the press release:
The Abolition of Man, World's First A.I. Illustrated Comic Series Gets 5th Issue, Written by Oxford Philosopher of Information ORDERS DUE THURSDAY, AUGUST 25 (BALTIMORE, MD) -- (August 2022) -- Living the Line Books and Diamond Comic Distributors are proud to announce that The Abolition of Man, the first comic series entirely illustrated by a computer, has been expanded to include a fifth issue.
World renowned Philosopher of Information, Luciano Floridi has contributed an essay that will form this special final issue of the series.
Award-winning oil painter turned Eisner-nominated cartoonist Carson Grubaugh opened the five-issue comic book series, The Abolition of Man, by supplying the Midjourney A.I. with lines from C.S. Lewis' groundbreaking lecture, “The Abolition of Man." Similarly, Floridi's words have been fed to the same A.I. to create this capstone to the series.
Floridi holds a double appointment as Professor of Philosophy and Ethics of Information at the University of Oxford, Oxford Internet Institute and as Professor of Sociology of Culture and Communication at the University of Bologna and is deeply engaged with emerging policy regarding the implications of digital technologies. He has worked closely on digital ethics (including the ethics of algorithms and AI) with the European Commission, the German Ethics Council, and, in the UK, with the House of Lords, the Cabinet Office, and the Information Commissioner’s Office, as well as with multinational corporations (e.g. Cisco, Google, IBM, Microsoft, and Tencent).
Regarding his involvement in The Abolition of Man, Floridi says, "The evocative illustration of ideas by the latest technology: this is the amazing encounter between the medium of comics, the content of philosophy, and AI as a new form of agency, all supervised by the mind of the artist. The result is remarkable, and it is a unique privilege to be part of such an exciting experiment so significantly coherent with our digital age."
The Folridi penned issue #5 follows issues #2 and #3 (co-scripted by Grubaugh and LTL publisher Sean Robinson), which tell a satirical story of a dystopian future where automation has left humankind devoid of dignity, and issue #4, which is both written and illustrated by A.I. Floridi counters the bleak outlook of the first four issues with a hopeful note that explains how the concept of human dignity can help us design a future worth building.
Abolition of Man is on the leading edge of a wave of discussion regarding the potentials of AI technologies, both utopian and dire. Grubaugh and Robinson discussed these possibilities with the legendary artist Dave McKean, who had this to say about the Abolition of Man miniseries. “The Abolition of Man is a thorough test drive of AI image making, and the results are extraordinary, appalling, compelling, cold, hot, beautiful, repellent, and should be abolished," said McKean.
The Abolition of Man #1 will be available in English-language comic book shops worldwide in October of 2022, distributed exclusively by Diamond Comic Distributors. It is available for pre-order at comic shops using item code APR228727.
Retailers interested in placing wholesale orders for these PREVIEWS Exclusive items are encouraged to place their orders online. Business owners interested in opening an account should contact Diamond Comic Distributors’ New Accounts Department at newaccounts@diamondcomics.com.
The solicitation text follows.THE ABOLITION OF MAN #1 (OF 5) (MR) 48 pages • $6.99 What do you get when you take a groundbreaking philosophical essay and feed it into an AI image generator, one line at a time? The world's first (and only) entirely-computer-illustrated comic book, The Abolition of Man #1, by oil painter turned Eisner-nominated cartoonist Carson Grubaugh (Strange Death of Alex Raymond). Alternately hilarious and terrifying, Abolition gives a chilling peek into the world of the future, where humans and their most treasured passions have lost all purpose. Part 1 of a 5 issue miniseries.
Order Online or via Email by August 25! ABOUT DIAMOND COMIC DISTRIBUTORS (DCD) -- Diamond is at the nexus of comics and pop culture merchandise. Based in Baltimore, MD, DCD is the world’s largest distributor of English-language comic books and pop-culture related merchandise, servicing thousands of specialty retailers worldwide. For more information, visit Diamond on the web at www.diamondcomics.com.
ABOUT LIVING THE LINE -- Living the Line Books is a publisher of dynamic, visually-striking comics and graphic novels, founded in 2020 by writer/illustrator Sean Michael Robinson. Living the Line's graphic novel debut, The Strange Death of Alex Raymond (Dave Sim and Carson Grubaugh) was recently nominated for an Eisner Award, for "Best Reality-Based Work." Visit Living the Line at LivingtheLineBooks.com
Eddie doesn't have an Instagram OR a YouTube. But he's got his Strange Death of Alex Raymond annotations. (I mean, I assume. Maybe he's ALL over the 'gram and just not telling me...)
Hobbs had a Kickstarter. You should have your surveys in by now.
Oliver's got an Instagram and a Cerebus movie: The Absurd, Surreal, Metaphysical, and Fractured Destiny of Cerebus the Aardvark it's currently available on "Plex", "Xumo", "Vimeo On Demand", "Tubi". And if you're in Brazil...
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I'ma going with:...No.
Yeah, him.
