A fifeen part review of a 6,000 page comic

Obligatory Sidebar Links

The so called “Phone Books:”

Cerebus [1]
High Society [2]
Church & State I [3]
Church & State II [4]
Jaka's Story [5]
Melmoth [6]
Flight [7]
Women [8]
Reads [9]
Minds [10]
Guys [11]
Rick's Story [12]
Cerebus Going Home [13]

Swords of Cerebus were the original reprints of the Cerebus comic book before Dave Sim went with the “phone book” format.

Swords of Cerebus, Volume 1 (not available)
Swords of Cerebus, Volume 2 [14]
Swords of Cerebus, Volume 3 [15]
Swords of Cerebus, Volume 4 [16]
Swords of Cerebus, Volume 5 (not available)
Swords of Cerebus, Volume 6 [17]

And the fifteen part review, “Something fell:”

1. Prologue/The First Book [18]
2. High Scociety [19]
3. Church & State I [20]
4. Church & State II [21]
5. Jaka's Story [22]
6. Melmoth/Flight [23]
7. Women [24]
8. Reads [25]
9. Issue #186 (Dave looses his readers) [26]
10. Minds [27]
11. Guys [28]
12. Going Home [29]
13. Dave loosing his mind [30]
14. Latter Days [31]
15. Leftover thoughts [32]

I'm a Cerebus [33] fan. Have been since 1990 when my friend Sean Williams first lent me Swords of Cerebus. What started out as a cross between “Conan the Barbarian” and “Howard the Duck” soon turned into a sprawling religeous/political satire (that story wise I feel peaked during High Society and Church & State I) and was the longest running independent comic (at first, just Dave Sim, then starting with Church & State, backgrounds by Gehard). It is now over, having finished issue #300 with Cerebus (the main character) dying unloved, unmourned and alone (his fate as stated sometime around Church & State II).

So it's with great pleasure that I am reading 15 part review of the entire Cerebus story arc [34] (see sidebar links to individual parts). Long, yes, but then again, Cerebus was a long story spanning 27 years of monthly comics.

When reading the review, be aware that around part IX the author tackles the problem of Dave Sim possibly loosing his mind. Well, Dave Sim may have lost his mind earlier, but in issue #186 he presents some very strong opinions on women [35] that are actually part of the Cerebus story line, and pissed off a lot of people (and makes me wonder if he lost his mind).

Did I mention strong opinions?

That might be a bit of an understatement, and the reviewer is simply relaying Dave's thoughts, not his, so just be aware (and yes, the entire print run of Cerebus runs to 6,000 pages).

[1] http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0919359086/conmanlaborat-20

[2] http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0919359078/conmanlaborat-20

[3] http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0919359094/conmanlaborat-20

[4] http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0919359116/conmanlaborat-20

[5] http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0919359124/conmanlaborat-20

[6] http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0919359108/conmanlaborat-20

[7] http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0919359132/conmanlaborat-20

[8] http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0919359140/conmanlaborat-20

[9] http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0919359159/conmanlaborat-20

[10] http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0919359167/conmanlaborat-20

[11] http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0919359175/conmanlaborat-20

[12] http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0919359183/conmanlaborat-20