Bits from Cerebus #101 and #103

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’ve seen Dave’s eleventh Cerebus notebook pretty recently: this past September in Why Cerebus Wants to Make The Ascension. The eleventh notebook covers Cerebus issues #96 through 102 and there were 129 pages scanned. Page 113 near the end shows us quite a bit:

Notebook #11, page 113

In the top left corner we see four tiny page thumbnails numbered 6 though 9 that have images in them and four more for pages 10 though 13 that are blank. The pages are to Cerebus #101, and they kind of match up with the finished pages. Page six is indeed six panels of Po, starting with a close up and pulling out until we see more of Po. Well, Astoria as Po to Cerebus’ Great Andrena character. Then the next couple of pages are of a gagged Astoria, Cerebus as Most Holy, Bishop Powers, and Posey. 

The dialogue to the right is for pages 7 though 11, mostly. This dialogue doesn’t appear to have been used:

If Cerebus is going to sentence someone Cerebus is going to do it with his pope hat on.

Blank

What do you think Cerebus is? A Barbarian? 

No Most Holy.

We also see Something Fell. Page 11 of Cerebus #101 is when this phase shows up.  The ‘What is this box doing here’ dialogue doesn’t show up, just the ‘what’s this?’. 

The dialogue below it “There izh no such thing azh an unconzhiouzu act’. I’m not sure where that is from.

Below it near the bottom right corner of the page issue some bits for Cerebus #103:

Weisshaupt gloating – demon ‘ead

• “You needed me twice”

• “once when you needed the matches”

• “and once when you needed the gold sphere”

Weisshaupt does make an appearance as a demon head inside the tower in Cerebus #103 on page 14 (Church & State II page 1052). Cerebus backs into the head and we see the mouth of the head open and a word balloon with a picture of a gold sphere appears. Cerebus is dazed and hurries. Cerebus then  falls over a small Weisshaupt head and hurts his left foot. Cerebus hops away and while he is resting, another Weisshaupt head lands on t hat same left foot. 

The First Time That Something Fell

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.

This week we're looking at some pages from Dave Sim's notebook #3, which we've seen before, most recently in the article from December of last year, His First Fifth Notebook Notes. It covers mainly issues #52 to 59 had 158 pages which were scanned.

On page 142 we see an issue outline for Cerebus #58. It is also the first time in the notebooks that I've seen the phrase something fell. Cerebus #58 is the first instance of the 'Something Fell' motif that runs through the Cerebus story.

Notebook #3, page 142

The top left hand corner has the dialogue between Cerebus and Pope Harmony IV from page 17 of issue 58 (Church & State I, p. 147):

Cerebus: Something fell.
Pope Harmony IV: Yes. Something fell. 'Memory fades and the stars draw near.'

The rest of the page has some other dialogue from the issue, some used and some not used. It also has a sketch of Cerebus' wide eye with what appears to be the Pope slumping over - different then the finished page 18 which shows the THUNK soundfx right under Cerebus' wide open eyes.

Skip ahead to page 146 where we see the thumbnails for page 17, while they are close to the finish page, they are different.

Notebook #3, page 146

We see on the notebook page the soundfx of 'crash' but on the finished page it is 'krak'. Not quite the echo from issue 300's 'wham' and 'snap', but pretty close.

Something Fell

Cerebus #58 (January 1984)
Art by Dave Sim

FOLLOWING CEREBUS:
(from Following Cerebus #1, July 2004)

"Something fell." The phrase reverberates through the Cerebus storyline. When it first appeared in issue 58, it seemed to be part of just another quirky Cerebus moment. Its second occurrence in issue 101 appeared merely to reflect back on the first time. But by the third appearance, in issue 184, it had established itself as its own ongoing mystery. Before the series ended, the phrase would appear eight times, often at dramatic moments in the storyline. But despite its repetition, and the importance of the events surrounding its occurrence, the meaning of the phrase itself remained oblique. What fell? And from where to where did the "what" fall?