Hi, Everybody!
So on yesterday's look at forty year old pictures of guys who have a lot less hair now, john g. asked:
Love the old pictures. As you mentioned, the bottom picture looks to be later than ‘83. Is that a poster for Cerebus Bi-Weekly in the window?
He's talking about this one:
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| It's gotta be March '89. Spidey 313 was published in March '89... |
And you can purchase a copy, through a rather complicated process, here.
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So Dave sent me this article:
Dave also dropped some original art on me:
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| Click for bigger. |
2 comments:
Why not now? SDOAR was one of the most disturbing comics I've read; well made, but with a depth of obsession that I still don't know what to make of. Is Dave onto something with Comic Art Metaphysics? Some of it reminds me a bit of Alan Moore and Grant Morrison territory.
It's a strange read as well, a hybrid of Dave's concepts and Carson's attempts to work on those concepts while offering his own take on it before seemingly wisely withdrawing. The entire ending sequence felt almost like some kind of banishing ritual, Carson returning to normalcy, normal girlfriend, hormal home, normal job, normal dogs after treading into some potentially, mentally dangerous or at least upsetting areas.
It's not what I expected after having heard so much about it but then, I didn't really know what to expect and I figure Dave's artisitc strengths and genius would make a topic, at least the surface topic of the art styles of this newspaper comics guys into something interesting.
Dave's discovery of how Alex Raymond achieved his inking effect is fantastic and one of those comic investigative moments that maybe will have some follow-up one day by others who know this area well.
The one guy (Greene?) using the comic to enact spells, the usage of colons (or was it an ellipsis, I don't recall) to differenriate an attempt (per Dave's interpreation) was disturbing and interesting. I was shocked when I learned that a Nasa Scientist delved into magic, Jack Parsons, so after that, the idea that a newspaper comic creator would try to use the strips as some type of spell delivery system is shocking yes, but doesn't seem impossible as a concept, as something that actually happened.
Form & Void, particularly the Hemingway parts was not something enjoyable to read the first time through, nor interesting but at a certain point I think I got what Dave was going for and was able to enjoy the work or at least appreciate it. I'm not at that point with SDOAR and may never be, which is fine.
I can see (to a degree) how whatever Dave's been researching hss pretty much become some gargantuan task that may not ever be completed. But it's not a book, despite the high quailty of the art, the dedication to the research and some funny parts that feels like something I want to revisit anytime soon.
Not because everything I read needs to be fun, but just the whole text and subject matter felt toxic to a degree. Which sounds kinda strange perhaps or stupid even, I don't know. I think too, the obsessional energy of the work came through in the actual work and while diligent and seemed a bit unehalthy.
However, when Dave publishes the next part (I'm optimisitc he will) I'll pick it up, because even when i disagree with the man he's a singular talent and I am curious, to see what he actually thinks is really going on durther along in Volume 3 (?) or whatever future book contains the big wrap-up such as it is.
From Hell is disturbing, Eddie Campbell's stark art depciting the gruesome murders conveys as best a black and white comic can, the horror of the act.
SDOAR felt disturbing in a whole other way, mentally unhealthy. Which I now need to point out that I certainly think both Dave and Carson are quite sane and seem like healthy people, but the work itself felt...I don't know how to quite describe it now, but again, toxic. I've had no desire to go back for a re-read though maybe one day I will and see how my take changes.
While I can appreciate Jen's work at fundraising and Matt and crew's work on the variety of Cerebi in Hell, at this pint my interest in the work of Dave Sim would be more collected letters and/or him completing SDAOR. I think he can do it and hope and pray for his health and continued ability to draw once again.
Does anyone else out there in the AMOC readership have a similar take? Did any of this make sense?
Thanks for reading.
Cheers,
A Fake Name
It starts out as a fascinating deep comics commentary about the artwork, then it rapidly becomes a conspiracy theory with unwitting conspirators doing Yoohwhoo's secret work or something. It's like Donald Sutherland in JFK or Martin Landau in The X-Files: Fight The Future in the form of Moore & Seinkewicz's Shadowplay - The Secret Team but at a much slower pace. And has Sim been continuing his commentaries about all the stuff in his research that won't fit in the book? But I find it visually thrilling, including Carson's work, and I hope Dave is able to complete it to his satisfaction, and that we get to see the rest of it. And personally I think all the work Dave does for CIH? is largely a waste of his time and energy. I sincerely doubt it brings in any income worth his effort and wish he could invest those hours in SDOAR progress instead.
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