Since there are a lot of people who are quasi-new to Cerebus, having read all the phonebooks digitally through CerebusDownloads.com, they might not know that that isn't ALL of Cerebus.
The rest of the story is what we older fans refer to as The Cerebus Miscellany. A series of Cerebus stories that range from "filling in gaps" to "yup, that'sa Cerebus!".
A collection of all these stories is the stuff of Cerebus Fangirl (and fanboy) dreams. Many a Please Hold For Dave Sim has somebody asked Dave WHEN he'll finally get around to publishing a trade of the material. The usual answer is that Aardvark Vanaheim can't afford to. Or, that there are other things that need reprinting/remastering first.
So, what IS in the Cerebus Miscellany? Let's take a dive, and I'll explain what's missing from the phonebooks, where it was originally printed, where it was reprinted (if it ever was), and how you can get a physical copy and/or if it's available digitally on AMOC in the "hey kids, comics!" section. And also if the story "counts" as part of Cerebus and you "NEED" to read it.
Beginning with the parts of the series that were published AS part of the series, and therefore VERY much "count":
Cerebus #51, "Exodus" (20 pages)
This was the fifty-first issue of the series. It follows what was eventually collected as High Society, and tells the tale of how Cerebus escaped Iest. As Dave has said, it DOESN'T work as an Epilogue to High Society, (but it DOES work as the first part of Church & State (we'll come back to this point...)). While NOT in any phonebook collection, it has been reprinted twice (three times if you count cover variants...) First, as issue #1 of the Cerebus Church & State Bi-weekly reprints:
Cerebus 112/113, "Square One" (40 pages)
This was the first "double issue" (289/290 being the other. Leading the more pedantic segment of Cerebus fandom to conclude that Cerebus isn't REALLY a three hundred issue series...), and fits in-between Church & State Volume II and Jaka's Story. As Dave said:
Cerebus #137 and part of #138, "Like-A-Looks" (26 pages)
The last story to be reprinted in Cerebus Number Zero (see above), Like-A-Looks explains why Lord Julius was in a dress in Jaka's Story. As Dave explains:
So, if you want the FULL three hundred issue story, seek out issues 51, 112/113, 137 and 138 OR a copy of Cerebus Number Zero.
This first issue of a planned companion series to Cerebus only had on issue. It contained:
Contains the four page Cerebus Dreams II (four pages, total page count 119) This was reprinted in an issue of Following Cerebus. It counts only as another Cerebus dream.
Contains a selection of stories that FIRST appeared in Swords of Cerebus (I'll note parenthetically which Swords Volume if you wanna hunt those down instead of this) :
*Magiking and **Silverspoon were reprinted in the LAST issue of Cerebus Bi-Weekly:
Total story page count of these three stories: 86 pages.
And then, Elfguest (four pages. Added to the Zero count: 90 pages). Originally drawn around Cerebus #12 for an anthology Dave was gonna do with Gene Day, it sat unpublished until Cerebus #52. It was reprinted in Cerebus Church & State Bi-Weekly #2
It "counts" only as much as it WAS printed in an issue of Cerebus...
Next we move on to special AV publications:
Cerebus Jam #1
- The Defense of Fort Columbia (six pages)
- The Invention of Armour (six pages)
- Squinteye the Sailor (five pages)
- Cerebus versus the Spirit (four pages)
As far as I know, none of these have been reprinted, except Cerebus versus the Spirit, which was reprinted in Spirit Jam, The Spirit Archives Volume 26: DC Comics (2009), and Following Cerebus #4.
Total story page count of these four stories: 21 (Add that to Zero and Elfguest, is 111.)
And the Cerebus Jam story that wasn't: The Applicant (four pages). Only appeared in Cerebus #91
Add that to the running total: 115 pages
These "count" because they were printed in Cerebus titled comics, but if you never knew they existed, you would only be missing out on the fun Jams.
Then the OTHER special AV Publication: AV in 3D
And then we turn to the reprint books: The 1995 World Tour Book.
- The Name of the Game is Diamondback (Swords volume One) (eight pages) Takes place in between the first and second panels of page 244 of the Cerebus phonebook (issue 11.)
- The Morning After (Swords volume Two) (six pages) Takes place after issue 51 and before issue 52. (People will tell you it takes place somewhere in the first 13 issues. Those people are dumb. That's right Margaret, I said you were dumb. Cerebus uses paper money. Paper money wasn't introduced until High Society, and this story CAN'T have happened DURING High Society, so it has to take place after Cerebus escapes Iest. It's, I say, it's just simple logic, storytelling that is...
- What Happened Between Issues Twenty and Twenty-One (Swords volume Three) (eight pages) Takes place between issues 20 and 21. Introduces Astoria. Counts.
- Magiking (Swords volume Three)* (ten pages) Takes place before issue #13, is even referenced in the opening narration of issue 13. The Magiking shows up in Church & State.
- Silverspoon (Swords volume Four)** (eleven pages) Takes place before issue #14.
- A Night on the Town (Swords volume Six) (seven pages) Takes place either before #1, during the early issues (I doubt it,) or after issue #51. (Cerebus leaves Iest in Winter with snow on the ground. He ends up in Port Seprania (as seen at the end of Exodus. Gee...if only some useless Editor schmuck had posted the whole thing on his Cerebus devoted Blog...), and then goes to the Countess Michelle's place in Seprania Province (Church & State I page 26) (I can't find those on the map) and then ends up drunk in Port Seprania married to Sophia (which is in New Sepra if I'm reading Weisshaupt correctly...) You can't tell if there's snow on the ground, but you can't NOT tell if there's snow on the ground. I say it's a post-High Society pre-Church & State story...
- Cerebus Dreams (Swords volume Five) (six pages) Takes place sometime in the early issues.
- Dave's Untitled jam with Chester Brown (apparently AMOC doesn't have the whole thing posted***) (not counting the pages because Cerebus only appears in one panel, and it's not like we're looking at The Art of Dave Sim here...)
And Silverspoon has been IN the Cerebus volume since the 11th printing.
*** The Jam was continued with four pages in Festival Comics 2005 Free Comic Book Day giveaway issue:
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| Gonna have to track that down, huh? |
Adding in the Cerebus only content from the 1995 Tour Book brings the total to 174 pages.
And the "Oddball" stuff. Either it was printed once or twice, or not at all.
Then there's Demonhorn. Originally published in Nucleus #1, is was reprinted in Swords of Cerebus #2 (five pages. Total 179) (Why this WASN'T printed in the 1995 Tour Book, I don't know...) takes place between issues 5 and 6.
Passage (6 pages Total 185). Never fully printed. Dave sent the art off, and it was "lost" for decades until the guy who was gonna publish it tried to sell it on eBay. THAT got ugly. Crap photocopies were printed in Cerebus the Newsletter #2, and again in Following Cerebus #2. Scans of the original art of pages 3-6 were included in CAN1. (I'ma post a better version...eventually.) takes place between issues 3 and 4.
Breaking Up Is Hard To Do (3 pages, total 188) Originally published in Anything Goes #3 (under a Neal Adams Cerebus cover). Takes place before #1.
The EPIC Illustrated bits: (Issue # is what issue of Epic Illustrated they first appeared in. Never reprinted)
#16: "Arnold the Isshurian" A spoof of both Little Nemo and Conan. Arnold was a minor character in High Society (a barbarian mercenary.) (2 pages) Non-canonical.#26:"His First Fifth." A 9 page story by Dave and Gerhard of Cerebus' first experience with alcohol. Also Gerhard's first Cerebus story. Takes place before #1
#28:"A Friendly Reminder." Cerebus' days as a tax collector. Takes place before #1, and before Breaking Up Is Hard To Do.
#30:"Selling Insurance." A 2 page story of young Cererbus entering the extortion trade. Also a 3 page story of young Cerebus getting his first crush on a girl in "The Girl Next Door." Takes place before #1.
#32:"Ages of Cerebus." A portolio of 5 plates on 3 pages of Cerebus: The Barbarian, The Candidate, Young Cerebus, Most Holy and ...Cerebus the Samurai?!?
(A total of 22 pages for the EPIC stuff Total pages 214) You can read the bits AMOC doesn't have on Margaret's CerebusFan Girl Site.
The Face on the Bar Room Floor (5 pages. Total 219) Printed in Eddie Campbell's Bacchus #1. Non-canonical.
The Face on the Bar Room Floor (5 pages. Total 219) Printed in Eddie Campbell's Bacchus #1. Non-canonical.
Tales of the Silverfish #4. Three page Cerebus appearance. (total 222 pages) Takes place before The Last Day, or is Non-canaonical.
And then the Really Weird One panel or One page appearances that I don't know how one would collect. (Basically, follow the link to Margaret's checklist of Cerebus appearances. I'm not running through the list to see what I have access to. Caveat Emperor...)
And the "big 'uns"
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles #8. Takes place before #1.
Spawn #10. Non-canaonical.
These have been reprinted a number of times (the last time I was at the bookstore, there were TMNT and Spawn collections collecting both issues in their respective series.) I'm not including them in our Total page, because A: you can pickup a copy easily. B: we're getting to it.
As I'm sure you've probably figured out, if someone were to collate all the various Cerebus Miscellany stories into a single volume (like all True and Good Cerebus fans want), it'd be smaller than Melmoth at around 225 pages (we can quibble if everything needs to be in there or if some stuff can be dropped out). I've LONG advocated a digital version with notes and such being offered on Cerebus Downloads to go along with the sixteen phonebooks. There are some (I won't name names,) who feel a "subpar" version would dilute the market for a quality version down the line. To which I retort, "six of the volumes offered aren't even remastered (Latter Days is practically unreadable with multiple two page spreads turned sideways...), so maybe let's stop worrying about what collections are crap...".
Since Dave has the plan of offering "Cerebus 1-300" on sale (like Wednesday, April 1st), I think getting at least 51, 112/113, 137 and the missing bits of 138 up on there, otherwise it's technically false advertising is a fair compromise...
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| April 1st, $49 CAD |
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Cerebus the Aardvark #1 (and Spawn #10) en Español
Living the Line's next Kickstarter is gonna have...TWENTY-ONE pages of The Strange Death of Alex Raymond in it. These are pages Dave has drawn since the wrist started working again.
And the Tyrant Kickstarter!
Next Time: Seriously, why would you want this in book form?
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