Thinking about Surah 4 (Dave's weekly update #541)

Hi, Everybody!

Like it says on the Logo:

It's Friday, so that means:

Dave's Weekly Update:

Problems viewing this video? Watch directly on YouTube...

_________________________

A Moment of Cerebus runs Saturday through Friday.

The Week in AMOC:

• Saturday: Dave recommends new comics. New Dave Art!
• Sunday: I clean off my virtual desk...of New Dave Art! 
• Monday: The Monday Report and AMOC "celebrates" Memorial Day.
• Tuesday: Jen's post about The Strange Death of Alex Raymond Go Fund Me.  Speaking of which, $198 until the next page is unlocked. And she's gave away an Albatross to one lucky GoFunder, who HASN'T responded to Jen's e-mails, so if tyou were trying to get it, check your SPAM folder! Jen REALLY wants you to get it.  If you just wanna buy an Albatross #1, here's a handy look at it, and how you can get one. 
• Wednesday: Hobbs more work on his Narutobus cover. Speaking of Narutobus, Heritage has Narutobus page 16:

  

  Click for bigger

• Thursday: Margaret continued looking at the first Notebook AKA Albatross 1. See here if you wanna copy. 
• Friday: that's this post. You're reading the Friday post right now. This is like that bit in Spaceballs. (Should I link to LAST WEEK'S Update in these things?)

Okay, so that was the past week in AMOC. You're welcome.

And now, back to Bizness as unusual:

Rigamarole:

__________________________

The AMOC TeePublic Shoppe: up to 35% off:

Your store will be up to 35% off

June.*

*Sale dates are not final and therefore subject to change.

___________________________

NEW Spawn 10 Lenticular covers from the The Waverly Press. You can click the link and get your own for $100 each.

___________________________

The Help Out Bill Messner-Loebs Go Fund Me, or buy Rodney Schroeter's book with proceeds going to Bill. 

___________________________

The Last Day Without nothing.

   "      "     "        "  Dave's signature.

   "      "     "        "  an Old Cerebus Remarque

   "      "     "     Auction catalog for the Panoramic Remarques. 

___________________________

Oliver' Simonsen's Cerebus movie: The Absurd, Surreal, Metaphysical, and Fractured Destiny of Cerebus the Aardvark it's currently available on "Plex", "Xumo", "Vimeo On Demand", "Tubi". If you're in Brazil..., "Mometu", "Nuclear Home Video".

___________________________

Next Time: Photos of Dave!

Notebook One: Cerebus #23 Part Four

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.

Maybe instead of rewriting this opener every week, I’ll be a bit more efficient with my use of time and have this standard opening: 

Have you got your copy of Albatross One? That is Dave Sim’s name for his first notebook used in the creation of Cerebus. If you want a copy of the notebook – and trust me, as someone who has held the actual Albatross One, it is a pretty close duplicate and looks great – you can check out this post right here. Well not this post. The one at this link. Go check it out, this post will still be here.

And if you don’t want to buy one, you can wait as I release a couple of pages a week and check them out using the Notebook One tag. But trust me, the notebook is much much nicer then my silly little posts.

Okay, now that is done, on with this week’s Notebook One post.

~*~*~*~*~*~*

As we continue our look at Notebook One, last week we saw more of Cerebus #23last week we saw more of Cerebus #23 material on pages #86 and 87. We continue that look at Cerebus #23 and Notebook One with what appears to be the last two pages on Cerebus #23: pages 87 and 88. 

Last week page 86 had a numbered list, 1 through 16, of items for Cerebus #23. On page 87 there is a list that starts with page 20 and goes to. . .umm. . .page 13? It is hard to tell as it looks like Dave started with pages 20, 19, and 18, and then got sidetracked with dialogue for some of those pages:

Notebook #1, page 87

The dialogue that is on this page appears on pages 17 and 18 of Cerebus #23 wherein the Sepran soldier says that it isn’t a little girl in the bed, but it is Cerebus who he served with in the Red Marches. The dialogue matches up pretty well with the finished pages. Though Dave did cut off the Sepran soldier’s dialogue of “Y’u crazy beetch! I’m a” and the sound effect of ‘tung’ was changed to ‘twang’, though we can see a ‘twang’ in the lower right corner. 

With all of the mark-ups and little ink scribbles, I wonder if Dave had this notebook page open while he worked on the actual pages.

The next page of the notebook appears to have more dialogue for the Sepran soldiers that partially shows up on page 16 of Cerebus #23:

Notebook #1, page 88

The dialogue is for the Sepran soldier talking with the school’s head mistress, Madam DuFort. 

Only two pages this week as the next page of the notebook starts up with Cerebus #24 material. Will we see more of Cerebus #23 in amongst it? We shall see.

Narutobus Cover Colors... PROGRESS!

Benjamin Hobbs:

When last we saw the Narutobus Kosplay Kickstarter Variant, it looked like this:

It now looks like this:

I'm still working on the mask.  The background color has changed three times in the last two work sessions. The woman's eyes look a LITTLE too much like the background, and her hair needs a little more POP.

Next Week: The color marches on!

SDoAR 2.22: Two MORE Pages *AND* a Problem...

 Okay, sports fans, here's the deal...

• TWO more page unlocked! Huzzah!
• Life continues to conspire against me and my copious free time meaning I STILL haven't gotten to Phillip R. Frey's Restored/Remastered pages. Boo!
• That said, I will be on a plane for six hours tomorrow night, so here's hoping I can knock out my review then. Huzzah!
• That further said, the winner of Albatross One has been non-responsive after a week. Boo!

So here's where you all come in.

• Do I publicly declare the winner by name here and hope they get back to me?
• If so, do I give them another week to respond, then go to the first runner-up by as yet underdetermined means?

As always, give me your thoughts in the comment section!

Just the GoFundMe Facts, Ma'am

• $12,802.00 raised to date from 213 donations
• 67 new pages released as mocked up by Dave Sim from 11 June to 4 December 2021
• 88 total pages available on Dropbox, including Dave's 2019 mocked-up pages
• $198.00 away from unlocking page 89
• If you have not donated > $5+ donation grants access to all 86 pages and all pages moving forward
• If you have donated, thank you, but if you want to donate monthly, GoFundMe does not offer that option, so please do so as we are at the end of month #5 of Year 2.

SDOAR GoFundMe -->> https://www.gofundme.com/f/sdoar-2023

The Strange Death of Alex Raymond Preview, Part Twenty-One

This, this, this, this, this, this, this, this, this, this, this, this, this, this, this, this, this, this, this, this...

Ciao!

xx

Jen

SDOAR GoFundMe -->> https://www.gofundme.com/f/sdoar-2023 <<-- SDOAR GoFundMe

"BEAT THE HSIFFIES!"

Hi, Everybody!

Mondays!

Well, here in the States, it's Memorial Day. When we honor those who've fallen in Service to our country. (As opposed to Veterans Day, where we honor those who've served our country and didn't...fall. Or Armed Forces Day, where we honor those who are actively serving our country.)

"That's great Matt, ya gotta a Cerebus tie-in?"

Uh, maybe Imaginary-AMOC-Reader-who-lives-rent-free-in-my-head, maybe:

Say...wait a minute. Are the gloves in the last panel supposed to invoke Will Eisner's The Spirit villain The Octopus?

Huh? Good thing Dave and I are doing Please Hold For Dave Sim next week. You can get in on the action by emailing your question(s) to momentofcerebus@gmail.com. 

Rigamarole:

__________________________

The AMOC TeePublic Shoppe: up to 35% off:

Your store will be up to 35% off

May 26-27.*

*Sale dates are not final and therefore subject to change.

___________________________

NEW Spawn 10 Lenticular covers from the The Waverly Press. You can click the link and get your own for $100 each.

___________________________

The Help Out Bill Messner-Loebs Go Fund Me, or buy Rodney Schroeter's book with proceeds going to Bill. 

___________________________

The Last Day Without nothing.

   "      "     "        "  Dave's signature.

   "      "     "        "  an Old Cerebus Remarque

   "      "     "     Auction catalog for the Panoramic Remarques. 

___________________________

Oliver' Simonsen's Cerebus movie: The Absurd, Surreal, Metaphysical, and Fractured Destiny of Cerebus the Aardvark it's currently available on "Plex", "Xumo", "Vimeo On Demand", "Tubi". If you're in Brazil..., "Mometu", "Nuclear Home Video".

___________________________

Next Time: Jen sez you can help Beat the Hsiffies! by supporting The Strange Death of Alex Raymond Go Fund Me...

Cleaning up all this...STUFF from Dave...including NEW Art

Hi, Everybody!

Getting stuff off my "desk" (it's virtual. The real desk is on the curb waiting for a good home...)

Dave had a birthday on the 17th. Oliver sent a card:

Then:

Rich, I found the ORIGINAL sketch of "Octo-Jesus" from Racecar Comics #2. I'll send it your way (if I didn't lose it again...)

Continuing on a religious theme:

"I was promised NEW Dave Art..."

Indeed you were Imaginary AMOC Reader who lives rent-free in my head, indeed you were.

Click for bigger.

That's Friend to the Blog, Al Nickerson's Sword of Eden. Dave didn't send a review, but I assume he liked it. Get yours here.

Click for bigger.

I sent something to Dave, and he responded:

So the AMOChive Cerebus back issues are coming. Just as soon as I get a list. First come, first cervix. Email momentofcerebus@gmail.com to get on the waiting list.

And then Dave sent:

Click for bigger.

That's one of them CAN11 Cerebus drawings. More details as I get them.

Rigamarole:

__________________________

The AMOC TeePublic Shoppe: up to 35% off:

Your store will be up to 35% off

May 26-27.*

*Sale dates are not final and therefore subject to change.

___________________________

NEW Spawn 10 Lenticular covers from the The Waverly Press. You can click the link and get your own for $100 each.

___________________________

The Help Out Bill Messner-Loebs Go Fund Me, or buy Rodney Schroeter's book with proceeds going to Bill. 

___________________________

The Last Day Without nothing.

   "      "     "        "  Dave's signature.

   "      "     "        "  an Old Cerebus Remarque

   "      "     "     Auction catalog for the Panoramic Remarques. 

___________________________

Oliver' Simonsen's Cerebus movie: The Absurd, Surreal, Metaphysical, and Fractured Destiny of Cerebus the Aardvark it's currently available on "Plex", "Xumo", "Vimeo On Demand", "Tubi". If you're in Brazil..., "Mometu", "Nuclear Home Video".

___________________________

Next Time: Beat the Hsiffies!

Dave Sim recommends: Santos Sisters (New Dave Art!)

Hi, Everybody!

Dave sent a bunch of stuff:

Matt Dow
amomentofcerebus.com
INCOMING
1) scan of Greg & Fake's Cerebus drawing

Click for bigger

2) My SANTOS SISTERS Pin-Up on its way to Greg and Fake in Chicago

It's original Dave Art, of course you have to click for bigger...

3) Rolly should have sent you SANTOS SISTERS cover scans last week.

THE SANTOS SISTERS "Finally, A Comic For Generation X".

"One day while combing the beach, the Santos Sisters discovered a pair of beautiful medallions. What happened next changed their lives forever."

It's like an ORIGIN COMICS 101 textbook. Keep It Simple, Stupid. The Simpler, the better.

There's riffing on ARCHIE COMICS, and "riffing" on ARCHIE COMICS. This is RIFFING on ARCHIE COMICS. On opening the box I had to look a couple of times to confirm that these weren't ARCHIE COMICS from the 1970s.

That's attributable to the print design which is as exact a match as you could get with the World Color Printing of that era. Slightly -- but ONLY slightly -- better quality newsprint, the cover stock is definitely an exact match. It's digital color but you would have to be a complete comics printing geek (like me) to recognize that it's definitely digital color. It's that faithful to the time period.

Right from the first story in No.1 (2020) "The Hotter the Lobster the Sweeter the Juice" (the actual first story created, "Hairy Teen", is reprinted in black and white in the back of issue No.1) Greg and Fake's difficult balancing act is tackled head on. On one level it's a completely cliched cute teen-aged super-heroines kick ass facade. Using ray guns they're shooting a mass invasion of Rob Liefeld-looking Reggie Mantle (and Reggie Mantle-looking Rob Liefeld) clones. But it's also Betty and Veronica. But it's also riffing on Generation X dating habits and popular psychology. What if Betty and Veronica were having "The Talk" in 2024?

Alana: Does Dirk even know about Jake?
Ambar: Dirk is not my boyfriend.
Alana: I just think it's weird that you spend all this time with Dirk and…
Ambar: …and what , Alana? Jake invited me to Hot Lobster. Have you ever had their bread bites?
Alana: You're a horrible person, Ambar. You may think you are justified , but you are being very cruel and hurtful. At least have the decency to acknowledge that.
Ambar: Why don't YOU acknowledge that you are sad and alone?
Alana: (as she's shooting the last Reggie/Liefeld clone) I realize that this behaviour gives you a sense of heightened empowerment and identity, but you're hurting both Dirk and Jake when you do things like this.
Ambar: Yes. The mental anguish I put my boyfriends through must be unbearable for them.

Madame Sosotris fills the sparkly magenta sky above them. "GREAT WORK, SANTOS SISTERS". We know it's Madame Sosotris because Ambar says "Madame Sosostris!! Who were those guys?" To which Madame Sosotris replies "Atalyke soldiers. Ankhovic was able to open an access portal to send them down to the surface level. Luckily Thoraxos was able to close it." It's a perfect Image Comics "teenage girls who kick ass" closer. We have no idea who Atalyke soldiers are, who Ankhovic is, what an access portal is, who Thoraxos is or how he closed it. It's the first-person-shooter video game ending to which super-hero comics have been reduced for decades. The bad guys are all dead by the end of page two and the Santos Sisters killed them. Not really important.

What's important is the dating discussion between Alana and Ambar. Which actually advances the decades-old Betty vs. Veronica discussion with Alana as Betty and Ambar as Veronica: "I realize that this behaviour gives you a sense of heightened empowerment and identity, but you're hurting both Dirk (Archie) and Jake (Reggie) when you do things like this."

Arguably (as in, I would argue) advancing the discussion because of the notation on the cover INRI (from the Latin Iesus Nazaraenus Rex Iudaeorum: Jesus of Nazareth, King of the Jews) and John 3:16. Betty and Veronica were created early in the 1940s and Veronica was playing Archie off against Reggie pretty much from the beginning. Which isn't a moral approach to courtship and can only be perceived as "right dating" if the alternative is cast (as Ambar does here in reference to Alana) as being "sad and alone".

Page three introduces their civilian context. 

caption: Later that night.
Alana: Hey, Ambar. It looks like your new guy friend, Jake, is here.
Alana: Oh, it's Dirk.
Dirk: Hey, Alana, I am here to pick up Ambar.
Ambar (to Alana): Don't say a word.
Alana: Looks like our little chat we had earlier did some good.
Ambar: Or maybe someone else had to cancel.
Dirk: What got cancelled?
Ambar: Nothing, Dirk. Take me to Hot Lobster.

It's very well realized. Jake has cancelled which has wounded Ambar's vanity. So she isn't choosing Dirk because the more moral choice is to stick with the guy she's spending the most time with, she's doing so because she wants someone to take her to Hot Lobster. Which she turns into an instruction: "Take me to Hot Lobster". Not "Can we go to Hot Lobster?" concealing from Dirk what his situation is and degrading him to servant level in the process.

And Greg and Fake bring it all in for a landing in 3 PAGES!! It's really the most amazing thing about this most amazing book -- Greg and Fake's ability to keep virtually all of their stories to classic ARCHIE 3-, 4- and 5-page lengths.

No.3 "Scenes from an Italian Restaurant" A great running gag in the strip is the fact that wherever the sisters go, Todd works there! A great riff on 21st century under-employment.

This one's interesting because it's the first Black character introduced in the book and she turns out to be a crazy villainess. Even saying the "c-word" in 2024 is problematic but…your first Black character? That certainly takes not only a certain amount of guts but a willingness to parody the Inclusiveness Pathology head-on. "We're riffing on Archie Comics, so no, we won't be doing identity politics Quotas. Here's our token black person. And as long as she's a token we might as well double down by making her crazy and having people call her crazy. Which if you're bombing a chain restaurant in a fit of pique over a two-dates-and-over "fling" certainly seems an apt descriptor.

Ambar: Todd, you work at the Oliver Garden?
Alana: She's your girlfriend?
Todd: We only went out twice. She is a crazy person.
8ball: I'm crazy? How can you say that I'm crazy? You're the one who said you loved me.
Todd: I specifically said I loved your outfit. I barely know you.
Alana: You told her you love her?

It really is a great motif. Whatever is going on in the Super-Hero Genre Cosmetics end of things, the book is, centrally, as much about dating and relationships as is ARCHIE'S PALS & GALS. Only "over the top" in the way only 21st century "swipe left/swipe right" dating could be ("That is the last time I will find a date online.") with the multi-levelled riff content distilled to the level of a haiku. I'm trying to limit my excerpting for that reason. While hopefully conveying the flavour.

In the back-up story "Kreg the Handsome Barbarian" the riff is on animal rights with Kreg attempting to liberate the Las Brisas Zoo.

Ambar: I don't even like animals. They're gross.

A female character who doesn't like animals? "They're gross"? Again, there's a 21st century authenticity to this. Only women can say politically incorrect things with 100% impunity.

Really can't recommend this one enough
Dave

 

You can get copies from the website.

Rigamarole:

__________________________

The AMOC TeePublic Shoppe: up to 35% off:

Your store will be up to 35% off

May 24-27.*

*Sale dates are not final and therefore subject to change.

___________________________

NEW Spawn 10 Lenticular covers from the The Waverly Press. You can click the link and get your own for $100 each.

___________________________

The Help Out Bill Messner-Loebs Go Fund Me, or buy Rodney Schroeter's book with proceeds going to Bill. 

___________________________

The Last Day Without nothing.

   "      "     "        "  Dave's signature.

   "      "     "        "  an Old Cerebus Remarque

   "      "     "     Auction catalog for the Panoramic Remarques. 

___________________________

Oliver' Simonsen's Cerebus movie: The Absurd, Surreal, Metaphysical, and Fractured Destiny of Cerebus the Aardvark it's currently available on "Plex", "Xumo", "Vimeo On Demand", "Tubi". If you're in Brazil..., "Mometu", "Nuclear Home Video".

___________________________

Next Time: I STILL gotta play catch-up...

Rat Pack Lone Ranger (Dave's weekly update #540)

Hi, Everybody!

Like it says on the Logo:

It's Friday, so that means:

Dave's Weekly Update:

Problems viewing this video? Watch directly on YouTube...

Hi-yo?

_________________________

A Moment of Cerebus runs Saturday through Friday.

The Week in AMOC:

• Saturday: I didn't post. But if you click the link, you'll see the first post I ever did on a Saturday. 
• Sunday: I didn't post. But if you click the link you'll see my first Sunday post which predates the Saturday one by six days...  
• Monday: The Monday Report and Matt reappears after scaring EVERYBODY by not posting for TWO DAYS. IN A ROW!!!
• Tuesday: Jen's post about The Strange Death of Alex Raymond Go Fund Me.  Speaking of which, $93 until the next page is unlocked. And she's gave away an Albatross to one lucky GoFunder, congratulation's... "#3"? What the fuck Jen?  If you just wanna buy an Albatross #1, here's a handy look at it, and how you can get one. 
• Wednesday: Hobbs posts his greytones for AKIMBO. And NOT more work on his Narutobus cover. Speaking of Narutobus, Heritage has Narutobus page 15:

Click for bigger

• Thursday: Margaret continued looking at the first Notebook AKA Albatross 1. See here if you wanna copy. 
• Friday: that's this post. You're reading the Friday post right now. This is like that bit in Spaceballs. (Should I link to LAST WEEK'S Update in these things?)

Okay, so that was the past week in AMOC. You're welcome.

And now, back to Bizness as unusual:

Rigamarole:

__________________________

The AMOC TeePublic Shoppe: up to 35% off:

Your store will be up to 35% off

May 24-27.*

*Sale dates are not final and therefore subject to change.

___________________________

NEW Spawn 10 Lenticular covers from the The Waverly Press. You can click the link and get your own for $100 each.

___________________________

The Help Out Bill Messner-Loebs Go Fund Me, or buy Rodney Schroeter's book with proceeds going to Bill. 

___________________________

The Last Day Without nothing.

   "      "     "        "  Dave's signature.

   "      "     "        "  an Old Cerebus Remarque

   "      "     "     Auction catalog for the Panoramic Remarques. 

___________________________

Oliver' Simonsen's Cerebus movie: The Absurd, Surreal, Metaphysical, and Fractured Destiny of Cerebus the Aardvark it's currently available on "Plex", "Xumo", "Vimeo On Demand", "Tubi". If you're in Brazil..., "Mometu", "Nuclear Home Video".

___________________________

Next Time: I gotta play catch-up...

Notebook One: Cerebus #23 Part Three

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.

Maybe instead of rewriting this opener every week, I’ll be a bit more efficient with my use of time and have this standard opening: 

Have you got your copy of Albatross One? That is Dave Sim’s name for his first notebook used in the creation of Cerebus. If you want a copy of the notebook – and trust me, as someone who has held the actual Albatross One, it is a pretty close duplicate and looks great – you can check out this post right here. Well not this post. The one at this link. Go check it out, this post will still be here.

And if you don’t want to buy one, you can wait as I release a couple of pages a week and check them out using the Notebook One tag. But trust me, the notebook is much much nicer then my silly little posts.

Okay, now that is done, on with this week’s Notebook One post.

~*~*~*~*~*~*

In last week’s Notebook One post we saw pages 83 and 84 that features Cerebus #23 material and Dave’s schedule for October 1980 to March 1981. Lets pick up where we left off, page 85:

Notebook #1, page 85

And page 85 picks up where page 84 left off: Cerebus #23 material with Cerebus talking to the school headmistress talking about the Sepran soldiers sent to her school. 

Dave made a note in the left margin of the page and circled it. The note says: Call Karen re: “feminine ‘my God’” and an arrow from the circle to the text mon dieu. On page 11 of Cerebus #23 after Cerebus’ talk to the head mistress, the head mistress responses with ‘ma dieu’. After Cerebus’ talk with the headmistress, down the bottom of the page we see more of the plot of Cerebus #23: the school takes in a Sepran soldier and he sees Cerebus dressed up as a little girl. 

And behind the text on the other side, can you see why I wanted to show these pictures together? There is an image showing through on the next page:

Notebook #1, page 86

And there is the image, a sketch of the Sepran soldier. The one we see in Cerebus #23 looks pretty similar, but doesn’t have the bundle of arrows on his back and his helmet is much taller. The bottom right corner of the page contains a list of plot items for Cerebus #23 starting with ‘Cerebus settling in’ and ending with ‘smack’. 

We’ll see next week if page 87 picks up with more plot points of Cerebus #23 or something else.

Akimbo Grey Tones Part ONE!

Benjamin Hobbs:

Since last week, no actual progress has been made on coloring the Narutobus covers.  The Kosplay KS variant still looks like this: 

This week we'll be looking at the long promised AKIMBO Grey Tones!

In Part One of this exciting new series, we'll look at the three pages that took the most time to create. 

First, page one.  This page had the most time put into it. It set the stage for the rest of the book and was a high water mark that was only hit a couple of other times.  I'm especially pleased with the lens flare and the white drop-shadow from the text:

Next we have page 6. The bike took forever to tone, since each piece has it's own gradient of shine. Choosing a spot to let the buildings fade out was tricky. As was separating the top panel from the bottom panel:

Lastly, we have page 9.  The circles really hold this page together:

Next Week: More tones? Color progression on that cover? Tune in to find out!