A Comic A Day: Cerebus #26

Published by Aardvark-Vanaheim Inc.
Written by Dave Sim
Art by Dave Sim & Gerhard

When it comes to independent comics of the modern era, there's sort of a holy trinity. Bone by Jeff Smith, Strangers In Paradise by Terry Moore, and Cerebus by Dave Sim are the "must-reads" for anyone who seeks to branch out from the usual spandex-clad super serials into something with a little more gristle. While Jeff Smith epitomized all-ages comics with the critically and commercially massive Bone and Terry Moore introduced shaky, sweaty comic nerds everywhere to the modern love triangle in Strangers, Canadian cartoonist Dave Sim wrote his magnum opus Cerebus, a genre-bending romp starring a barbariac but endearing little aardvark.

Cerebus began its three hundred issue (!) existence as a loose parody of Conan the Barbarian and other sword and sorcery titles of the 70's and 80's, but would transform many times over the years incorperating elements of religion, politics, sex, and spirituality. Cerebus the Aardvark is a hard-headed ultimate badass who is constantly taken down a peg by finding himself in situations where being the alpha physical combatant is meaningless. Case in point: this issue marks the beginning of the "High Society" story arc, where the badass little bugger enters the world of politicos and fast-talkers, led astray from his warrior roots by the vile and manipulative Lord Julian.

Upon my first reading of this tome (the High Society collection contains twenty-five issues), my mind was quite blown by how experiemental every single issue was. Never falling into a rut of repetitive page layouts and panel structure for more than an issue's length, reading the book is quite a journey in itself. You'll find yourself tilting the book centerfold style and switching from regular word balloons to prose and back again. While the social commentary is far from subtle, it's never a boring read by any stretch. It was quite a jolt to return to my "normal" comics after the decathalon of reading requirements in Cerebus.

Sim saw the series through to its three hundred issue crescendo, just as he claims he's always intended. He became quite the outspoken comic book professional, even writing an essay or three on his personal views on topics like the separation of church and state and more infammatory material like societal roles for women. It's pretty keen watching his style develop and become more intricate over time. As I understand, Sim focused mainly on the characters, while his fellow artist Gerhard produced lush backgrounds and set pieces. You can definently chart his growth from an up and coming Barry Windsor Smith clone to one of the holy trinity of indy comics.