Hi, Everybody!
First up, the Cerebus in Hell? Auctions continue: The Un-Bedable Vark #1. The Undateable Cerebus #1. And The Proof of CAN7: Flight So open your checkbooks and bid, Bid, BID!!! (Or not, I don't care what you do. Ya bunch of selfish Scrooges...)
Anyway:
"Say kids, what time is it?"
"It's 'READING CEREBUS' time! "
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| It's
"READING CEREBUS" time.
It's
"READING CEREBUS" time.
Kevin reads
Cerebus for you,
It’s such a nifty
thing to do.
Let’s give a
rousing cheer,
Cause "Reading
Cerebus" is here,
It’s time to
start the column,
Nothing rhymes
with column...
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Kevin Kimmes:
Welcome back to “Reading Cerebus”, a new (some-what) weekly column here at A Moment of Cerebus. The goal of this column is to bring a fresh perspective to the 300-issue saga of Cerebus as I read through the series for the first time and give my insights into the longest running independent comic book series of all time. Think of this as part book club, part lit-crit, and part pop culture musing. Oh, and they told me Dave Sim himself may be reading this, so I hope I don’t screw this up. Let’s continue.
Issue 9 - Swords Against Imesh
Cerebus leads the Conniptin army to the city of Imesh with plans to enslave it and add to the strength of the Conniptin's holdings. However, when no gate can be found to enter Imesh, Cerebus goes solo to find out what has become of the city of his youth.
Well, I Didn't Vote For You
"King" Cerebus...there's just something sort of funny about this to me. After 8 issues of seeing Cerebus as a sword for hire, seeing him giving orders and leading an army just seems a bit, well, odd. And, if it seems odd to us as readers, it becomes painfully obvious that it is out of step for Cerebus as well.
The endless chatter of the Conniptin warriors (or "cheerleaders", as Cerebus refers to them) has obviously begun to grate on his nerves, and when they are met with an impenetrable wall around Imesh, Cerebus immediately reverts back to that which he knows best, going solo.
This Is Not My Beautiful House
Upon scaling the wall that surrounds Imesh, Cerebus exclaims that this is not the city of "...the aardvark's youth!" This is interesting, as I believe this to be the first real concrete piece of information that we get regarding Cerebus' past prior to us meeting him at the age of 26.
This revelation also goes a long way to explaining why it was that Cerebus felt so sure about staging a raid on the walled city. Having spent his youth there, he would know the lay of the land, thus giving him an advantage over other would-be adversaries of the city who were unfamiliar. It also explains his confusion over the missing gate.
Well I'm A King Bee, Baby
Upon entering the city, Cerebus is tricked into following Sedra into a trap set by the King of Imesh, K'Cor. K'Cor explains to Cerebus that the people of Imesh are now his slaves thanks to a concoction of "...grain, protein, three vitamins, starches, sugars, an opium derivative, and artificial colouring..." he calls Buz.
For fun, here is a short list of famous Buzz's in pop-culture:
- Buzz Aldrin (Second man to walk on the moon) - "Beautiful view. Magnificent desolation."
- Buzz Cola (The Simpsons) - "Twice the sugar, twice the caffeine."
- Buzz Beer (The Drew Carey Show) - "Cleveland rocks!"
- Buzz Lightyear (Toy Story) - "To infinity and beyond!"
- Buzz's Girlfriend (Home Alone) - "Woof!"
What Price Freedom
This is the philosophy that K'Cor has used to justify his enslavement of the people of Imesh. What makes him better than these people? Nothing. So why should he be allowed to enslave them? Well, it all comes down to the fact that he created Buz and made junkies out of not only the common man, but the high council as well.
K'Cor found an opportunity to elevate himself in a power vacuum, and by hook, or in this case mostly crook, he has established himself as a Demi-God, the only one capable of sustaining the people's addiction.
While Cerebus can understand, to a point, K'Cor's rationale is not without it's compassion. He cares for his slaves as they gave their freedom (willingly/un-wittingly) for the greater cause. What greater cause, you ask? Well, "The defense of Earth against the secret invasion of Venusians!"
Issue 9 - Swords Against Imesh
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| Issue #9: Swords Against Imesh |
Cerebus leads the Conniptin army to the city of Imesh with plans to enslave it and add to the strength of the Conniptin's holdings. However, when no gate can be found to enter Imesh, Cerebus goes solo to find out what has become of the city of his youth.
Well, I Didn't Vote For You
"King" Cerebus...there's just something sort of funny about this to me. After 8 issues of seeing Cerebus as a sword for hire, seeing him giving orders and leading an army just seems a bit, well, odd. And, if it seems odd to us as readers, it becomes painfully obvious that it is out of step for Cerebus as well.
The endless chatter of the Conniptin warriors (or "cheerleaders", as Cerebus refers to them) has obviously begun to grate on his nerves, and when they are met with an impenetrable wall around Imesh, Cerebus immediately reverts back to that which he knows best, going solo.
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| Deep thoughts on the RED CRESCENT QUARTER courtesy of CerebusDownloads.com |
Upon scaling the wall that surrounds Imesh, Cerebus exclaims that this is not the city of "...the aardvark's youth!" This is interesting, as I believe this to be the first real concrete piece of information that we get regarding Cerebus' past prior to us meeting him at the age of 26.
This revelation also goes a long way to explaining why it was that Cerebus felt so sure about staging a raid on the walled city. Having spent his youth there, he would know the lay of the land, thus giving him an advantage over other would-be adversaries of the city who were unfamiliar. It also explains his confusion over the missing gate.
Well I'm A King Bee, Baby
Upon entering the city, Cerebus is tricked into following Sedra into a trap set by the King of Imesh, K'Cor. K'Cor explains to Cerebus that the people of Imesh are now his slaves thanks to a concoction of "...grain, protein, three vitamins, starches, sugars, an opium derivative, and artificial colouring..." he calls Buz.
For fun, here is a short list of famous Buzz's in pop-culture:
- Buzz Aldrin (Second man to walk on the moon) - "Beautiful view. Magnificent desolation."
- Buzz Cola (The Simpsons) - "Twice the sugar, twice the caffeine."
- Buzz Beer (The Drew Carey Show) - "Cleveland rocks!"
- Buzz Lightyear (Toy Story) - "To infinity and beyond!"
- Buzz's Girlfriend (Home Alone) - "Woof!"
What Price Freedom
"I know what you're going to say! "They are men and men should be free." A freeman is dangerous to himself and everyone else. Freedom should be left to those who can put it to good use. I used my freedom to get power! And then used my power to get more power..."
- K'Cor, King of Imesh
This is the philosophy that K'Cor has used to justify his enslavement of the people of Imesh. What makes him better than these people? Nothing. So why should he be allowed to enslave them? Well, it all comes down to the fact that he created Buz and made junkies out of not only the common man, but the high council as well.
K'Cor found an opportunity to elevate himself in a power vacuum, and by hook, or in this case mostly crook, he has established himself as a Demi-God, the only one capable of sustaining the people's addiction.
While Cerebus can understand, to a point, K'Cor's rationale is not without it's compassion. He cares for his slaves as they gave their freedom (willingly/un-wittingly) for the greater cause. What greater cause, you ask? Well, "The defense of Earth against the secret invasion of Venusians!"
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| The Truth about Venusians courtesy of K'Cor, and CerebusDownloads.com |
You're shitting me...aliens! Yup, this is K'Cor's belief and why he is having the enslaved people of Imesh build a 200 foot high sacred symbol of the Venusian's which he says symbolizes the death of their race! Can someone get Giorgio A. Tsoukalos on the phone and verify if any of this is true? Aliens!
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| The Fabled Energy Globes of Imesh courtesy of sorcery, and CerebusDownloads.com |
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| This reopened back wound courtesy of Ironic Fate, and CerebusDownloads.com |
Final Thoughts
The art in this issue has a notably different look to it, divergent of the BWS emulation of the early issues. Researching this further, I found that for this issue Dave had Deni applying the spot blacks during the inking phase which allowed him to speed up the preparation of the book. It gives the book a heavier sense of contrast which to me just feels different, not better or worse, just different.
Join me back here next week as we look at Issue 10: Merchant of Unshib
Currently Listening To: Grateful Dead - Dick's Picks Vol 14 11/30/73 & 12/2/73 (Disc 2)
Kevin Kimmes is a lifelong comic book reader, sometime comic book artist, and recent Cerebus convert. He can be found slinging comics at the center of the Multiverse, aka House of Heroes in Oshkosh, WI.
