Notebook 36: Cerebus #282 & 283

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.

Last week we finished up with page 46 of Dave Sim’s 36th and final notebook used in the production of Cerebus. To see previous posts for Notebook #36, just use the Notebook 36 tag. And if there is one thing you’ve probably noticed in the Notebook #36 posts, is that we skip a bunch of pages from time to time. That is because those pages were blank. If there was anything on a notebook page – to include the pencil sketches that are barely visible or just the issue number box – that page was scanned. 

So this week we start with page 49 as pages 47 & 48, which were reserved for Cerebus #281, were blank, which we could deduce because page #46, which had the issue box number for Cerebus #281 was blank except for the issue box number.

Notebook #36, page 49

Welp, we have started to “Chase Yhwh” part of Latter Days. Just walls of text, which at the moment I do not want to reread to see if the above text is in Cerebus #282. If you find it, boss man will send you a special “No Prize”. Not really. He’ll probably just fire me and have you do these posts.

But in no surprise to anyone, pages 50 and 51 are blank. I’m thinking Dave already had his thoughts on the bible and was just using this page as a way to get into the flow of writing as Cerebus talking about the bible.

And then the next page, which should  be more walls of text for chasing yhwh, but nope, just the text box number for Cerebus #283:

Notebook #36, page 52

And you all have Mr. P to thank for the encouragement, I dug through my Cerebus collection and found something I forgot I had that was used in the production of Cerebus#283:

Tracing paper and backer

Click on the picture to see it a bit bigger. It is a 14” x 17” piece of tracing paper on a white piece of paper. There is tape on the top left and right corner of the tracing paper attaching it to the backer paper.

The text on the pages is for Cerebus #283 pages #3 and 4. Or Latter Days pages 343 and 344 if you’re following along in the phonebook. Those pages are not side by side in the finish issue nor in the phonebook. Here is the paper backer by itself:

Backing paper

Yes, it is just a photocopy of what I’m thinking is the original art of Konigsberg and his seventeen year old. . .friend and the text for each page. At the top of the picture is the tracing paper as I didn’t want to remove it from the backer. That tracing paper is hiding a bit of the text at the top of those pages. Then we have the tracing paper:

Tracing paper for Cerebus #283 pages 3 & 4

I’m wondering if Dave gave this mock-up to Gerhard to show what Dave had in mind for the background. There is even a little camera angle shot shown under Dave's signature.

While Konigsberg and his. . .friend show up on the finished pages, and Gerhard’s background bring it to life, the Cerebus figure that appears on the tracing paper doesn’t show up on those pages. Perhaps we can ask boss man to ask Dave about this tracing paper and backing paper was used for. Other than for us to look at 20+ years later. . .