Notebook 36: Cerebus #289 / 290

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 saw pages from Dave Sim’s 36th notebook for what was supposed to be for Cerebus #287, as that is what the cover issue box. What we saw were pages for Cerebus #288. Kind of. What we saw are the sixteen questions that New Joanne was going to ask Cerebus starting on page 5 of Cerebus #288, aka page 445 of Latter Days. 

This week we get to page 70, which starts off the pages for the final phonebook, The Last Day.

Notebook #36, page 70

The quote on the page says: 

“Everyone dies in the end”

“No. In the end everyone is dead. It isn’t the same thing at all.”

And I didn’t find it during my quick look at The Last Day phonebook. Looks like Dave already knew what the name of the new phonebook would be: The Last Day. And he crossed off ‘Jacob’s Ladder: “Break forth” for some reason. I even got my copy of Cerebus #289 / 290 out to see if the quote made it to the finished book, and it did not. Unless it was with all the small text.

There are no pages scanned in for #71 and #72 as there was nothing on them. So we jump forward to page #73, and Cerebus #290:

Notebook #36, page 73

And we’re back to walls of text . The Jacob’s ladder quote shows up for Cerebus #290? Nope, not that I could find. I tried matching up some of the text on this page with the text in Cerebus #289 / 290 and couldn’t find it. The text on the notebook page:

“3:10 And in each place each spirit gathered in the dust as aforetimes, which soon gathered unto itself as aforetimes, pressing sore upon itself as aforetimes.”

But on page 14 of Cerebus #289 / 290 (same page in  The Last Day phonebook), the text for 3:10 says:

 “And straightway, many of the divided spirts of God, now separated one from another, began again to move, as great waves, upon the face of the Deep. Each, as aforetimes, in going and gathering the dust before him, each unto his own Word which had come forth from within him.” 

This text and the rest of it appears to be the preliminary text for pages 14 and 15. And yes, as you can see there is text on the next page as well.

Notebook #36, page 74

More preliminary text for Cerebus #289 / 290. Though my quick look didn’t find these exact quotes in the finished work. The next page has more of the same text:

Notebook #36, page 75

Ahh, the word God showing up multiple times. It was on page 73 down near the bottom, but just once. Here it shows up multiple times. This text while not the same is very close to the text on page 19. For example, third row, middle text says:

“And who repent of their disobedience and repent of seeking to become the equals of GOD.”

And on page 19, text box labeled 7:

“For it is true of all spirits that there are some who repent and desire to be with God always, and there are some who repent not and do always desire, in secret, to become the equal of God.”

So more preliminary text for Cerebus #289 / 290. In some of the other notebooks Dave would write and rewrite text multiple times. But not here. 

Yes, Dave had more notes for Cerebus #289 / 290. He took notes on the books he read for the issue in notebook #34. Notebook #34, which was known as #31 at the time, only had the covers and four other pages scanned in. We saw them in The Smallest Notebook back in October of 2015. Will next week be more of the same, or will we get some material for Cerebus #291? We shall see.