Notebook 21: The Cerebus Annual

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.

We’re continuing our look at Dave Sim’s 21st notebook used during the creation of Cerebus #164 to 187. We’ll be looking at this notebook, which there were 260 out of 300 pages scanned, until we’ve seen every single page of it. Well, the pages scanned. If you want to see all of the notebook #21 posts to date, just use the Notebook 21 tag. 

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This is it dear AMoC reader who lives rent free in Matt’s head, the last of Dave’s 21st notebook. And yes, as I promised last week, no more “walls of text”. Last week I pointed you at the post Down in A Minute, Sweetheart. It has the pages immediately before the ones I’m about to show you so go check it out if you haven’t already. I’d say I’d wait for you, but I’m not going to.

Finally a page with a sketch:

Notebook #21, page 258

Yeah, if I could draw like that, I would never leave my house. Ha-ha-ha. 

The next page has a cover sketch for “The Cerebus Annual”. 

Notebook #21, page 259

The Cerebus Annual probably turned into the World Tour Book. There is a reference for the Chester Brown and Dave Sim mash-up, some of which we saw in the pages immediately before these (I did say to go check out that other post). 

Another look at a thumbnail for the “No. 1 Summer 1994” comic by Chester Brown and Dave Sim:

Notebook #21, page 260

The text down the bottom says:

I would be willing to bet that Jack didn’t let Marilyn ‘in’. I think Bobby did. Which only goes to prove, you should never send a boy to do a man’s work.

Jackie was an elegant cat. Jack was a Great Dog. Elegant cats are a dime a dozen. And they keep executing the Great Dogs. Jackie, Imelda, Yoko. Take a bow. I’m not sure for what exactly, but take a bow. You really seem to . . .need it somehow.