The Great 2019 Cerebus Re-read Part, the WAIT, THIS IS STILL A THING?!?

Hi, Everybody!

So, as we all know, Barry Windsor-Smith  drew "Cerebus Dreams", and inspired Dave to do more Cerebus dreams stories.

It's a motif of the series.

But did it start with BWS?

I say...nope!

Issue #8, which precedes BWS's story. 

It may have been a fever dream, but it's still a dream...
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Vark Thing!

Next Time: Oh, it's gonna be great...

Another refreshing dip into the Ol' AMOC Mailbag

Hi, Everybody!

Here we go:

Paul Slade sent in:

Dear AMOC,
Look what I’ve just spotted in the window of Oxfam's charity bookshop here in Islington, North London!
I wonder who the owner was and what circumstances led to them being donated? Guess we’ll never know ...

Paul

Thanks Paul! If you're looking for phonebooks in Islington, North London, now you know where to go.

Travis Pelkie Sent in:

Hey Matt, here's an article up on Previews World. I don't see any mention of who he beat....

https://www.previewsworld.com/Article/235535-Guinness-World-Records-Title-Awarded-to-Todd-McFarlane-for-Spawn

And:

https://www.bleedingcool.com/2019/09/30/todd-mcfarlane-guinness-world-records-award-nycc-spawn-301/

Rich mentions Dave, at least!

Also, I have another thing to send you but it's something where I wanted to look at the link I have first. But it was interesting that it was something that popped up on youtube for me without anything I looked at shifting the algorithm. I think.

Travis Pelkie

And:

https://www.bleedingcool.com/2019/10/04/frank-cho-ghost-dog-fight-girls-fridge-new-york-comic-con/

Dave is mentioned in re: Frank Cho's project utilizing Dore's style.

Travis

Okay, buy some Vark Thing!

Next Time: But what does it all mean?!?

Uh-oh.

Hi, Everybody!

Vark Thing!

So, the other day when I posted "COUPLA WEEKS?", Michael Grabowski asked:

I'm curious about the process for these pages. Is that detailed in the appendix? Otherwise, Matt, maybe you can ask Dave next time: Did Dave do the grid and lettering and then have Gerhard fill in the blacks?

Let's check!

It's originally from issue 273 "UH-OH."

Yeah, that one.

And, from the Latter Days commentaries (specifically pages 475 and 476,)

"Uh-Oh."

(Pages 141-160)

   I don't actually know words like "levorotatory" and "dextrorotatory". Since I was trying to come up with the most esoteric super-powers imaginable, I just looked through the dictionary until I found a nice long word I didn't know, read the meaning of it and then turned it (and its antonym which is always helpfully included with those definitions) into two different super-powers.

   Page 148- In order to really exaggerate the height from which the reader is looking down on Cerebus, each of the drawings in the bottom two panels was done (I think) twice the size on separate art boards, reduced, and then "stripped in" to place on the page itself at Preney. I had no idea if doing all that would actually emphasize the "height" depicted on the page, but looking at it with reasonably fresh eyes almost two years later, I have to say I think it worked and I pass it on here to any other storytellers who might be facing the same problem in the future.

I was like, "what the hell is Dave talking about?" Oh, that.

   The rest of the issue had, as its genesis, a particular incident in my own life when I was living in one of the penthouse apartments at 221 Queen Street South (penthouse six) and I came home one evening after having a few pints and all of the lights were out for blocks around. And I came in the back door and, sure enough, all the lights, including the auxiliary power was out in the building. And I looked up the stairwell, into the pitch blackness and I thought about going up eighteen flights of stairs in the dark. And I couldn't do it.
   And I thought, I'n just being silly. I know what the eighteen flights of stairs look like. They're identical. Every flight is the same, handrails all the way to the top. One, two, three, four, five, six, first landing. 180 degree turn . One, two three, four, five, six, second floor. 180 degree turn. One, two, three four, five, six, second landing. 180 degree turn. One, two, three, four, five, six third floor. And so on, for eighteen floors. It was not the Bataan Death March or crossing the Amazon or climbing Mount Everest.
   What was just as interesting was that everyone I told the story to - as what was (to me) a complete and total act of unreasoning cowardice- to a person, they said they couldn't have done it either, couldn't even imagine making the attempt. And I couldn't persuade anyone that that was cowardice. They just saw it as common sense. As Bugs Bunny used to say, "Don't go down dere! It's DAHK!"
   Very weird. From then on, I kept waiting for a chance to use it as a story device in Cerebus. I figured what would be going on in the character's head while he was making the climb would be very, very funny- as long as you weren't the character.
   There was a lot of "blacking in" to do, as you can see and finishing up that "blacking in" was one of the things that I was working on, on the morning of 11 September, 2001.

 So there ya go Michael, Dave did it.

Next Time: A refreshing dip into the ol' AMOC Mailbag?

VARK-THING DIAMOND ORDER OCT191438 (Dave's Weekly Update #309)

Hi, Everybody!

Heeeeeere's

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

WOW!!!

That was... Wow!

That, that was...something. Dave messed up the order code though.
[UPDATE: It's been fixed (Thanks Fisher!-Matt]

It's OCT191438,  OCT191438, not CT191438. OCT191438. (Ends on the 24th.)

Next Time: Something quick, I'm single parenting this weekend...

Blossom of My Sordid Youth

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.

The last time we saw pages from Dave Sim's ninth notebook was in February of 2018 in Give Me Strength. It covers Cerebus #80 to 86 and had 135 pages out of 200 pages, with 17 of those pages being blank so only 118 scanned pages.

On page 13 of the notebook there were some blank ink marks surrounding a thumbnail for a page and some dialogue for a page which was done in blue point pen.

Notebook #9, page 13

This is pretty much the entirety of page 9 of Cerebus  #82, page 623 of Church & State II. The dialogue is all there, only a few minor changes to the panel layout. For example, in  the  fourth panel instead of Astoria and Lord Julius, it is just Lord Julius. In the first panel Lord Julius also has his left hand to his heart instead of behind his head.

Cerebus #82, page 9

VARKING DEAD: A History Part 3

Benjamin Hobbs:

VARKING DEAD #1 will be on store shelves next March, but there has been a long and winding path to the comic that will appear on the shelves of your LCS next winter.

Last week we saw David's second draft of the VARKING DEAD cover.  This 3rd version has more blood splatter and "Issue 1" was changed to "Book 1":

In an attempt to better match the cover we're parodying, I monkeyed with the colors a bit.  I also changed the subtitle to better match the contents of the comic:

There is a VERY good chance that Curly Fries will be added to this cover.

Next Week: The eagerly awaited VARKING DEAD: A History Part 4!

"COUPLA WEEKS?"

Hi, Everybody!

Going through Latter Days yesterday looking for Rabbi, I came across this sequence:

And then became all impressed all over again at just how amazing Dave Sim is.

It's JUST lettering and solid blacks, but it's NOT just lettering and solid blacks.

Hey Mags! Next week, find this bit in the notebooks, please.

Next Time: Hobbs and Zombies. Zombies and Hobbs.

Rabh Rabbi Away!

Hi, Everybody!

Rigamarole!:
Rob Walton is doing a Ragmop Kickstarter. It's funded, and ends in a few hours.
_______________________
Vark Wars T-Shirt. Vark Wars T-shirt. Vark Wars T-shirt. These are probably going away at the end of the year.
_______________________
Vark Thing.
_______________________

Form & Void is OUT OF PRINT (and apparently going for a hundred bucks on Amazon...) BUT, Diamond has supposedly found some copies in the warehouse, so if you want it, tell your LCS you want it.
_______________________
The Cerebus in Hell? issues that are ALMOST Sold Out are:
Sim City: That Issue After
Iron Manticore
_______________________
And then the issues that are Low Stock and will soon be Almost Sold Out:
Fornicators Inc.
Canadian Vark
_______________________
And High Society is available on Comixology for thirteen bucks.
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Hey guess what? I found the first appearance of Rabbi!

You remember Rabbi right?

Click for readable biggerness

Ditto

What's the third form of "ditto"?

"Quatro"? That ain't right...

Well I found his first appearance.

"Duh, Matt you just posted it..."

Nope, Rabbi DOESN'T first appear in Latter Days.

He FIRST appears in The Cerebus Guide To Self-Publishing:

Click for big.

Ya see it right?

There ya go, Rabbi first appeared in 1997. The year I graduated High School.

Next Time: The first appearance of...something else?

Interview: WRITERS ON COMICS SCRIPTWRITING 2 (part two)

Hi, Everybody!

Part Two:

Hey, Margaret, which notebook?

This one's Guys...

The backcover.

Rigamarole!:
Rob Walton is doing a Ragmop Kickstarter. One day left.
_______________________
Vark Wars T-Shirt. Vark Wars T-shirt. Vark Wars T-shirt. These are probably going away at the end of the year.
_______________________
Vark Thing.
_______________________

Form & Void is OUT OF PRINT (and apparently going for a hundred bucks on Amazon...) BUT, Diamond has supposedly found some copies in the warehouse, so if you want it, tell your LCS you want it.
_______________________
The Cerebus in Hell? issues that are ALMOST Sold Out are:
Sim City: That Issue After
Iron Manticore
_______________________
And then the issues that are Low Stock and will soon be Almost Sold Out:
Fornicators Inc.
Canadian Vark
_______________________
And High Society is available on Comixology for thirteen bucks.
_________________________________________

Next Time: Random Phonebook post? Sure why not...

Interview: WRITERS ON COMICS SCRIPTWRITING 2 (part one)

Hi, Everybody!

Rigamarole!:
Rob Walton is doing a Ragmop Kickstarter. Two days left.
_______________________
Vark Wars T-Shirt. Vark Wars T-shirt. Vark Wars T-shirt. These are probably going away at the end of the year.
_______________________
Vark Thing.
_______________________

Form & Void is OUT OF PRINT (and apparently going for a hundred bucks on Amazon...) BUT, Diamond has supposedly found some copies in the warehouse, so if you want it, tell your LCS you want it.
_______________________
The Cerebus in Hell? issues that are ALMOST Sold Out are:
Sim City: That Issue After
Iron Manticore
_______________________
And then the issues that are Low Stock and will soon be Almost Sold Out:
Fornicators Inc.
Canadian Vark
_______________________
And High Society is available on Comixology for thirteen bucks.

_________________________________________

So, here's an interview with Dave from Tom Root & Andrew Kardon's Writers On Comics Scriptwriting 2. The book is copywritten 2004. I'm going to break it up over the next two days.

Part One:

The cover.

 

How OLD is that picture?

So, Margaret, which notebook is this?

Ooo, a cliffhanger!

Next Time: "The writer" WHAT?!? Don't leave us hanging man!

Dave's growing his hair again (Dave's Weekly Update #308)

Hi, Everybody!

Heeeeeere's

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

Rigamarole!:
Rob Walton is doing a Ragmop Kickstarter. Three days left
_______________________
Vark Wars T-Shirt. Vark Wars T-shirt. Vark Wars T-shirt. These are probably going away at the end of the year.
_______________________
Vark Thing.
_______________________

Form & Void is OUT OF PRINT (and apparently going for a hundred bucks on Amazon...) BUT, Diamond has supposedly found some copies in the warehouse, so if you want it, tell your LCS you want it.
_______________________
The Cerebus in Hell? issues that are ALMOST Sold Out are:
Sim City: That Issue After
Iron Manticore
_______________________
And then the issues that are Low Stock and will soon be Almost Sold Out:
Fornicators Inc.
Canadian Vark
_______________________
And High Society is available on Comixology for thirteen bucks.
_______________________

Friend to the Blog: Steve Peters has successfully funded his new KickStarter, ya got six hours to get in.

Next Time: Old Dave interview? Old Dave Interview...

Steve Peters Week II: Comic Jam with Dave Sim

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.

No notebook stuff this week for this week is Steve Peters' Week!

Friend to the Blog Steve Peters is running a new KickStarter to fund his latest project: Parallel Comicverses #1, which has a new story in it, WRITTEN BY DAVE SIM! And to celebrate, A Moment of Cerebus is doing STEVE PETERS WEEK II!

In last week's column I showed you some Cerebus cover recreations that Steve Peters did using his characters I thought were pretty spot on. This week I thought I'd show you the original art I got from him way many moons ago. It is a jam piece between Steve and Dave Sim that Steve used in his Origin of Sparky comic.

According to Steve on the jam: "The Dave Sim jam was done by mail over a 2-year period between 2004 and 2006. Dave tells me that it was the first thing he began drawing after completing his epic comic, Cerebus!"

Neither signed the piece (insert sad face, guess it means I'll need to track them both down again at a comic con to have them sign it) so guess what is Dave's bit and what is Steve's bit. To me, I can pick out a Steve Peters' character pretty easily. . .but Dave is known to be a master at mimicking someone else's style.

And all these pictures can be clicked on to get a larger version so you can zoom on it.

Like this hand, that looks like a hand drawn by Steve Peters. The woman also reminds me of his style:

As you can see, that section has some thinner paper that covers the artwork - I'm guessing to protect it in  transit. Perhaps Steve did the pencils and mailed it to Dave for the inks? There is also thinner comic art board used and a thicker comic art board used. Though the thicker comic art board isn't Bainbridge, so I'm guessing both types originated with Steve.

The K with the eyes makes me think that is Dave, as it reminds me of the bits from Minds and Guys:

The section below? I'm thinking the face on the planet is Steve, perhaps the Sparky, the rest of it? I'm not too sure:

And this next section? I'm not sure who did what. What I do know, is it reminds me a lot of the scene of Cerebus going up up up in Women to reach the Eighth sphere where he talks to Po.

And yes, if you haven't gotten yourself a copy of The Origin of Sparky, you can get one as the 'Cerebus Package" reward for Steve's current kickstarter.