A MOMENT OF CEREBUS

Wednesday, 8 April 2020

SUPER CEREBUS VS COVID-19: online NOW!

BREAKING NEWS! There's a BRAND NEW FREE issue of CIH? available NOW!

Super Cerebus VS COVID-19 is Part 3 of the EPIC Cerebus In Hell? Coronavirus Trilogy! To download the issue, click the link below!

https://dl.orangedox.com/CIH3

Part One of the Coronavirus Trilogy, CRISIS IN INFINITE QUARANTINE, is still available here:
https://dl.orangedox.com/CIH1

Part Two, BATVARK: CORONAVIRUS, is available here:

https://dl.orangedox.com/CIH2

A Brief Tease ...

Benjamin Hobbs:

The CIH? team is hard at work on a new issue of CIH? Here's a little tease:

More soon.

Next Time: A longer post. It's two in the morning and I sorta kinda forgot to write this earlier.

Tuesday, 7 April 2020

HOLY CATS! It's the last of the Please Hold For Dave Sim videos for April 2020!

Hi, Everybody!

Got an email from A-V central:

ATTRACTIVE COUSINS #1 IS NOW AVAILABLE TO ORDER FROM DIAMOND!

ALSO VARK WARS: WALT'S EMPIRE STRIKES BACK #1 IS STILL AVAILABLE TO ORDER!

DIAMOND HAS EXTENDED THE CUT OFF ORDER TIME TO APR 10!! ORDER NOW!!

So, now you know.

And now, the end of the April Please Hold For Dave Sim click here for the first eight parts.

Still talking about David Johnson(?)'s question/comment from Part eight.

Part nine.

Problems viewing this video? Watch directly on YouTube...

Part ten.

Problems viewing this video? Watch directly on YouTube...

Part eleven, where we bring it on home.

Problems viewing this video? Watch directly on YouTube...

Alright, that only took WAY TOO LONG.

Hopefully, next month's won't be this crazy.

ANNNNNDD, Dave fax this:

So, there ya go. (If you're into this sort of thing.)

Next Time: Super-Cerebus VS COVID-19? Maaaayyybbeeeee!

Monday, 6 April 2020

Please Hold For Dave Sim April 2020, the next part.

Hi, Everybody!

Continuing the Holding For Dave Sim:

The first set of this month's videos.

Part six:
Question from Brian West continued:
My question is how can an individual in a society, which is professed as open and free, hope to have autonomy if his rights as a citizen towards redress are curtailed, even abrogated, by fiat or by an executive order, even in times of public health emergency?

This has been on my mind of late and Ms. Maddox's House Bill seems to have brought that to the fore to me. Thank you for your time.

Here's an alternate question if the first question I offered here seems uninteresting: Who was a better goalie, Fuhr or Hasek?

Glen asks: This question to Dave will likely only interest Canadian readers of "A Moment of Cerebus" like myself. What do you think of Justin Trudeau as Prime Minister?

Problems viewing this video? Watch directly on YouTube...

Part seven:
Questions: David Birdsong asks: Dave, Jesse Lee Herndon mentioned a while back that he thought both Cirin and Suentous Po were both hermaphrodites and I didn't think so because Cirin's interest in Cerebus was quite obsessive until she found out about the "kitchen knife incident". At that point she appeared to keep him under surveillance but did not bother to even kill him. If Suentous Po were also an hermaphrodite wouldn't she have had the same level of interest in him?

Dave Kopperman says: I got one: is there anything that Dave regarded as a creative sacrifice when he went from the issue-by-issue mindset to the serialized novel format? I'd say the shift starts to happen in the middle of High Society but really starts to kick in during the C&S II and then becomes complete with Jaka's Story. Like it's clear that the long-form approach gave him access to some major benefits from a narrative, visual, and formal perspective - but opening a window shuts a door, as it were, so some things that were part of the more discrete issues approach were lost. The individual issue titles, for one, a thing that Dave had a real gift for. So, again: was there anything he regarded as a deficit to making comics in that shift?

Problems viewing this video? Watch directly on YouTube...

Part eight:

The question I sent Dave: And then… David Johnson showed up. At first he used a pseudonym. And…I’m not even sure what his question was (he posted a lot of comments,) but at one point he said:

The Refuge Elf (his pseudonym this time.) said...

Why don't you just shuck the questions this time Matt? Mine too. This is just an idea. It's always the questions and selling Cerebus, but to turn your money quote around for this post, I've always liked your talks about family and things with Dave. Just a fan talking to him.
I think Dave is so like, Ok, it's talk to Matt Dow time now on Thursday at this time for 60 minutes, after prayer time # 3, then after talk with Matt, read Koran, then prayer time # 4, and then... You get it. Why not just surprise him and say, No questions....that's why I didn't fax them Dave...just want to talk to you today and what do you want to talk about?
I think he'll think you mean Cerebus, and might need to be told you're just meaning, No, what do you want to talk about right now? I'm guessing it'll probably be to tell us to pray 5 times a day and to read John in the interlinear. But, if that's it, that's it. I'm not going to read John. Maybe, he'll read it to us. Then, you wouldn't have to humor him by reading it yourself.
Why not go the Lulu Lang route and just ask him how he's doing? I don't have any questions for him. Do you? He seems to like talking about your family. I kind of like the play like parts he suggested you provide for them in a group reading of John or something. That actually sounds interesting. Is it possible for others to ...what is it...party line with you and we could all read John for 60 minutes. Would your wife and kids talk on the other phones in the house?
We'd all have different speaking parts. Is that even possible? What would we do, Skype or something and you'd put the Mic real close to your monitor? Maybe, Dave would talk for 2 1\2 hours to you and read with everyone. Would 2 1\2 hours be a record? He probably would to get us to read John seriously. How many speaking parts are there?

He continued:

I don't know, I just really think it would make the man's day. He did Cerebus all those years and we all liked it mostly. So, I just thought if you asked the man, Do you want to read from John for however long you want to today? No matter if I or anyone else doesn't want to read it, it just seems Matt, Dave would like once to just humor himself, and especially during this virus because he really seemed to think the answer to everything was in John or something. Any thoughts there anyone what he meant?

Does it address why the virus is happening or did he mean God is punishing us or what? I think he just meant reading it was to him a good idea, like he said he read it at City Hall or whatever. Anyway, if Dave goes for it and he'd actually want to read all of John with or without you or whatever, and that would exceed your phone bill, I'd pay for the over normal time or whatever. Just thought it would be neat now that I've thought it all through. Oh, well, I hope we all find what were looking for.

And this is what Dave and I talked about for the rest of the video.

Problems viewing this video? Watch directly on YouTube...

Parts nine through eleven tomorrow.

Sunday, 5 April 2020

Cerebus Around the World and Web #22 by Oliver Simonsen

Hi, Everybody!

As I continue to try and upload videos from the last Please Hold For Dave Sim, we turn again to Oliver Simonsen for all the latest in Cerebus/Dave Sim/Gerhard talk from around the internets.

Oliver Simonsen:

April Fool's was this week. Humor, even Gallows Humor, is maybe the best medicine. Anyway, lotsa people online these days...(and no I still can't get into my email account. Hey, Google Support I am the owner of oliversimonsen@gmail.com and it's recovery email oliversimonsen@yahoo.com. Yes, me Oliver Simonsen. Sorry, I'm desperate:))

Gerhard cancels 2020
http://gerhardart.com/public-service-announcement/

Bleeding Cool spotlights: "Batvark: Contagion". Available for free as a digital download! https://bleedingcool.com/comics/dave-sim-batman-contagion-free-cerebus-in-hell-comic/
Featured on Batman news site
https://twitter.com/BatmanShare/status/1245743427188228098
Available worldwide
https://twitter.com/AnsiaVivaComics/status/1246022420219203586

Cerebus on Jack Kibble-White (Digital Development Executive at BBC) list of "5 fictional characters that mean a significant lot to you"
https://twitter.com/jackkibblewhite/status/1245688295415320576

Journalist and Documentary Filmmaker Craig Williams calls Cerebus great
https://twitter.com/CRAIGWILLIAMS4/status/1245698240428810247

Gerhard drew background for Chris Otto's Cerebus drawing
https://twitter.com/iottoknow/status/1244779964588679169

Cerebus' experimental "Mind Game" issues are favorites
https://twitter.com/d_g_reeves/status/1245407750739210240

Cerebus panels shared
https://www.instagram.com/p/B-Yrhn-Bg-t/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link
https://www.instagram.com/p/B-d5XvPBf-w/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link

Cerebus crossover in Spanish
https://twitter.com/tirsomismo/status/1246208732234756105

Cerebus in the Ozarks?
https://www.instagram.com/p/B-WTqIIB2d8/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link

Cerebus in France
https://twitter.com/montymoz/status/1246195135660113921

Cerebus drawn by "the greatest and most talented artist in the world "James Smith
https://www.instagram.com/p/B-gJfnal7iM/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link

Cerebus and GI Joe
https://twitter.com/naturalbornheel/status/1246317602340663301

Cerebus and Star Wars
https://twitter.com/THE_skrauss/status/1245851749174276096

Cerebus page to page
https://twitter.com/adamgallardo/status/1245787121509527552

Cerebus panel to panel
https://twitter.com/BlackLionAuthor/status/1245776749037629440

Another edition of "Petit Cerebus" by Baltazar Cardenas
https://www.facebook.com/lamigalacomics/posts/2245638442206235

Cerebus and First Kingdom
https://twitter.com/thinbloodeddino/status/1245765483460046854

Jaka's Story
https://twitter.com/hot_jughead/status/1245742555159027714

Melmoth review
https://twitter.com/JPBehrens/status/1245908171245436929

CEREBUS FACEBOOK GROUP

Margaret Liss asks: "On a scale of 1 to 9, how are you right now?"

Check out the manymany responses here
https://www.facebook.com/groups/cerebus/permalink/2870284259705597/

Margaret Liss got her "A Moment of Cerebus" T-shirt
https://www.facebook.com/groups/cerebus/permalink/2868904859843537/

A live reading of Cerebus by Margaret Liss and Dave Sim
https://www.facebook.com/groups/cerebus/permalink/2870670929666930/

Problems viewing this video? Watch directly on YouTube...

Larry Wooten shares the perfect Cerebus bumper sticker
https://www.facebook.com/groups/cerebus/permalink/2873353419398681/

Larry Wooten shares a Cerebus lesson
https://www.facebook.com/groups/cerebus/permalink/2872898862777470/

Eolake Stobblehouse shares a Cerebus lesson
https://www.facebook.com/groups/cerebus/permalink/2870846659649357/

Dion Turner: "Some days random googling on the interwebs can take you to strange places."
https://www.facebook.com/groups/cerebus/permalink/2882680665132623/

John Christian and Weldon Adams produced these from that time
https://www.facebook.com/groups/cerebus/permalink/2879458172121539/

Margaret Liss shares hers

Nathaniel Radman Oberstein shares his

Jeffrey Tundis shares his

John Slevin shares some that he is making

John Ferrigno shares
https://www.facebook.com/groups/cerebus/permalink/2882888825111807/

John Christian: "Dave posing will the original Bill Willingham art for the cover of Comics Journal #174. Picture taken at the Spirits of Independence show in Austin, Tx. 1995."

John Christian: "Not sure if I've ever shared this before. It is original art by Bill Willingham and Martin Wagner (Erica figure only). It was commissioned with the intention of using it for custom store bags for purcases. Due to timing and the unforeseen things that life can sometimes throw at you, the bags were never produced, but it's still a pretty cool piece of original artwork that reflects the comics market of the mid-90's (admitted tilted by by my own person preferences)."

"Bill was actually living with me at that time, so he was present for a lot of the Cerebus related projects that I had going on."

John Christian: "These are Bill's contributions to my Cerebus sketchbook."

Congratulations to Roarin' Rick Veitch, newly appointed Vermont Cartoonist Laurate.
https://www.facebook.com/groups/cerebus/permalink/2880453972021959/

Don Simpson on the return of Slick : "...and was memorably parodied by Dave Sim in his Guys story arc in Cerebus the Aardvark #209"
https://www.facebook.com/groups/cerebus/permalink/2879519512115405/
https://bizarreheroes.blogspot.com/2020/04/the-return-of-slick.html

Dire news about comics
https://www.facebook.com/groups/cerebus/permalink/2877325772334779/
https://www.facebook.com/lees.comics/posts/10218931670616047
Margaret Liss: "This is how cool MyComicShop is"

Larry Wooten a repeat customer

John Christian: that interview was conducted by the late Craig Miller (publisher of the Cerebus Companion) who was working for Lone Star at the time.

____________________________________________________________________

Well, thanks Oliver!

Next Time: Ya still holding for Dave Sim?

Saturday, 4 April 2020

The Please Hold For Dave Sim for April 2020

Hi Everybody!

Welp, it's that time of the month...

No, Jeff, not THAT time. (Prevert.)

Time to hold for Dave Sim!

We talked for over two hours, which I have broken up into eleven videos. I'll update this as they upload (it usually takes a couple of hours per video).

And any videos I don't get to today will get posted Monday (and possibly Tuesday, this takes longer every time...)

Okay, part one starts mid conversation as Dave talks with my wife Paula. She's a nurse and they're discussing the COVID-19 situation. (I was buck nekkid when Dave called, as I had just stepped out of the shower, and wanted to get pants on before I talked to Dave. (It's this funny rule I have.) And then I was waiting for a natural pause to say I was on the phone. And then I decided that their conversation was too interesting to not record. So we start here.

The questions:
Margaret says/asked: “Thank him for the voice mail about the picture for me :)”

Problems viewing this video? Watch directly on YouTube...

Part two:
Question from Margaret: “So now that Diamond is on . . .hold? What is A-V's plan for distribution of Cerebus in Hell?” (Rick Sharer popped in with: “ web comics, come on Dave you can do it!”)

The third Free Cerebus in Hell? issue is: Super-Cerebus VS COVID-19 (I have a preview, but I'm not posting it. God-willing, you'll see it on Wednesday...)

Green Dante/Green Virgil MIGHT be headed to stores(?).

CAN8 should be getting shipped sooner rather than later.

Next question:
John Glismann asks: Please ask Dave if he’s ever seen Devil’s Tower in Wyoming. It looks just like the tower that delivered Cerebus to the Moon so he could get the bad news from the Judge.

"This means something"

He says: “Last summer my wife and I traveled around the U.S. and visited a place called “Devil’s Tower” in Wyoming. As a Cerebus fan, that tower looked VERY familiar. Apparently it was considered a mystical, holy place by Native Americans back in the day. I’ve never seen any indication throughout the years that Dave has seen this place- just wondering? The first picture is the tower and the second picture is a closeup of the tower’s face of a rock formation that actually looks like a skull (!).”

Problems viewing this video? Watch directly on YouTube...

Part Three:

Questions:
Jesse Lee Herndon asks: Speaking of this week's one, I have a few questions for Dave.
1) In "Latter Days", at one point during his time spent quarantined... err, bound, Cerebus thinks the word of Rick he's supposed to give the Three Wise Fellows is "Mungu Mkono", but he can't recall how to say it. Was "Mungu Mkono" the actual "word of Rick" Cerebus was supposed to answer them with, and if so, would the outcome of the situation have been any different if he'd done so?

2) I just heard that back in 2015 a previously "lost" F Scott Fitzgerald short story, entitled "Temperature", was discovered and published. Has anyone sent that to you, or did your interest in the subject of F Scott end entirely once the research into him in "Going Home" ended?

Problems viewing this video? Watch directly on YouTube...

Part Four:
Questions:
Jesse Lee Herndon asks: 3) Have you heard from Bob Burden recently? On his Facebook this week, he revealed he was very sick for the past month with pneumonia and ended up quarantined! He's better now, thankfully.

[Flaming Cerebus has been sent, Bob's response was: cool you should have had me write or help write it lol bb -Matt]

Seiler wants to know: My questions for Dave this month: 1: Who? 2: What? 3: When? 4: Where? and
5: Why? Sorry, the former journalist in me couldn't resist.

Brian West says:

Hi Dave!
With #stayathome the words of the day in my home state of KY I found it interesting that there are still those who chose to dissent from the conventional wisdom of state officials here. This being that individuals and businesses must follow strict social distancing guidelines and/or to leave money on the table to stay at home for days, maybe even weeks at a time.
Case in point is a bill filed on 03/19/2020 by House representative Savannah L. Maddox of Dry Ridge, KY which would, in principle, limit "the scope of a governor's executive orders issued during a public health emergency" and "also allow Kentuckians to sue the state if an order adversely affects their business."

Problems viewing this video? Watch directly on YouTube...

Part 5:
Continuing Dave's answer to the last question.

Problems viewing this video? Watch directly on YouTube...

Part six thru eleven to come eventually...

Friday, 3 April 2020

The Sword Of Eden (Dave's Weekly Update #333)

Hi, Everybody!

Heeeeeere's

Great new logo, right? Thanks Sean!

Problems viewing this video? Watch directly on YouTube...

Get your's here.

Hey look, Attractive Cousins!

And here's yer free CiH? More soon?

And this happened:

Dave called. We talked. For two hours, ten minutes and thirty-one seconds.

So... good chance the whole thing won't be up tomorrow. In which case, I'll be running videos for the next few days.

Next Time: Um...Please Hold For Dave Sim. I just said that...

Thursday, 2 April 2020

Cinnamon Tea

The last time we saw some pages from Dave’s 18th notebook was in May of 2018 in Lord Julius or Like-A-Look. The notebook covers Cerebus #136 through 141 and had 64 pages scanned.

On page 33 there is an outline for Cerebus #138, Jaka’s Story epilogue 2 along with a sketch for the cover:

Notebook 18, page 33

Cerebus #138 cover

The two don’t match up piece for piece, but the idea is there – tea on a silver platter. In the book Cerebus Cover Art Treasury, they don’t show the sketch above, but they do have two quotes about the cover:

Gerhard: “This was the first photo cover. You can see the camera and tripod reflected in the teapot. This was taken in the Off White House. The tea set was bought especially for this cover and my still be in the Cerebus Archive.”

I had never noticed the tripod, but there it is:

Cerebus #138 cover close-up

You can also see a ceiling fan, some other furniture, and some lamps, and a window. And if you’re wondering, like I was, if the tea set is still int the Cerebus Archive:

Dave Sim: “It’s all still here in various locations, but badly tarnished. Except the gold-tipped spoon. I eat my breakfast cereal every morning with that one.”

Wednesday, 1 April 2020

BATVARK: CORONAVIRUS: online NOW!

BREAKING NEWS! There's a BRAND NEW FREE issue of CIH? available NOW!

Batvark: Coronavirus is Part 2 of the Cerebus In Hell? Coronavirus Trilogy! To download the issue, click the link below!

https://dl.orangedox.com/CIH2

Part One of the Coronavirus Trilogy, CRISIS IN INFINITE QUARANTINE, is still available at this new link:

https://dl.orangedox.com/CIH1

Cover in CRISIS!

Benjamin Hobbs:

Last week, the surprise topical issue of Cerebus In Hell?, CRISIS IN INFINITE QUARANTINE was released online. The book was put together in 3-5 days (I can't properly recall, I'm sure comic-historians will sort it out.)

The cover managed to go through a lot of changes in that time.

To start with, I edited the cover of CRISIS OF INFINITE CEREBI, swapping out the Cerebi for ones that have been in the book since then. (And some that haven't.)

Matt suggested adding some caption boxes, which can be seen below. Dave's fax machine was out of ink until Thursday (a day after the release of the book), so I sent to cover to him as an outline:

Dave sent back this fax, which incorporated Sean's "Pappy just wanted a few PECKAROOS!" dialogue:

However, I had already altered the cover, removing Cerebus as the central figure and placing the Coronavirus in the middle and adding some text that references the inside of the book. The PECKAROO balloon should definitely be updated to look more like Dave's (should the book ever be updated for print) :

In all the rush, I'm not sure if the final cover actually made it's way to Dave.

If you haven't read the book yet, it's available HERE for FREE.

Next week: VARKING DEAD reactions?!?

Pages

Wednesday, 8 April 2020

For updates about the Coronavirus Trilogy (and other Cerebus news) Add yourself to Aardvark-Vanaheim's mailing list!

Tuesday, 7 April 2020

Monday, 6 April 2020

Sunday, 5 April 2020

Saturday, 4 April 2020

Friday, 3 April 2020

Thursday, 2 April 2020

Wednesday, 1 April 2020

For updates about Part Three of Coronavirus Trilogy (and other Cerebus news) Add yourself to Aardvark-Vanaheim's mailing list!