Tavern Tramps and Thesbians

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.

Covering Cerebus #213 through 241 with only 96 pages scanned in, Dave Sim’s 25th notebook used in the making of Cerebus was last scene here at AMoC in February of 2022 in Rick’s Arm Healed.

On page 29 there is a sketch of Rick playing five bar gate. Though he is wearing a sweater that looks a lot like the sweater Bear was wearing when he played against Cerebus.  And while Rick does show up at the end of Guys, he doesn’t play Five Bar Gate against Cerebus.

Notebook #25, page 29

The next wo pages have issue numbers along the top of them. The page on the left below shows page 30 of the notebook and has #217 along the top of it.

Notebook #25, page 30 (left) & 31 (right)

The dialogue seems like a first draft of the dialogue that appears on page 10 of Cerebus #217 (page 358 in Guys).  From the notebook, all Cerebus talking to himself about Joanne:

Where is she? She’s always here just after sundown

Well what did Cerebus expect from a tavern tramp

Cerebus should marry her

Cerebus never should’ve had anything to do with her

“where’ve you been” that’s what Cerebus is going to ask

Oh, aye and be just like Fred

Cerebus should tell her to get lost

Cerebus should stay here 

Cerebus should go

(getting her glass of white wine)

Where is she?

Instead of that, we get Cerebus thinking worse and worse things about what could’ve happened to Joanne and Cerebus pouring her glass of wine back into the bottle. 

On page 30 that along the top is labeled ‘end 218’ we get more Joanne and Cerebus dialogue. This dialogue doesn’t appear in the finished comic either:

Joanne: My Dad. I guess he was one of your biggest followers. Said you brought the church back from the brink. I feel sorry for him. I mean everything he believed in. I guess my mother told him I was sleeping with you. Now he just. . .drinks. . .all day. Calls us names. Terrible names. He just doesn’t understand. That things are different now.

Then under the sketch the rest of the dialogue:

Joanne: What a DAY! I went to the Star Child with my girl friend

Cerebus thinking: Tavern tramp

Joanne: And we met this old boyfriend of mine, Viktor.

Cerebus thinking: She slept with him. She and her girlfriend. Tramps! They’re tramps

The finished dialogue that the above appears based off starts on page 12 of Cerebus #217.  The sketch in the middle of the page reminds me of Jaka walking through one of the villages to the clothing hut while Cerebus follows behind her. It may say 219 beside it, but the only thing it could be from that issue is part of the dream sequence. Perhaps from the wedding scene when Cerebus is beside Joanne in her wedding dress and everyone is looking at them and cheering.