Cerebus graphic novels?

Question

Hi does any one else read these .. although I find them very good the story is so convoluted and complicated. Is it deliberately so? What do you think of them and why do you like them?

Answer 1

The stories are not always easy to follow because quite a lot of the events the stories depend on happen "off-stage," due to the story being told almost exclusively from Cerebus's point of view. This is complicated by the fact that other characters, such as the fake Regency Elf, Adam Weishaupt, Astoria (especially) and the Judge he meets during his Ascencion, only tell him biased or partial accounts of events. Other factors, such as Cerebus's latent magical powers, are only hinted at for most of the series.

For instance, in "Church and State" II the economy of Estarcion is thrown into chaos because of Cerebus' demand that all gold coinage is turned over to him, but we don't see much of the consequences of this because Cerebus is holed up in the the Upper City of Palnu. The turmoil is touched on occasionally, such as the scene where one of the senior bankers throws himself out of a window, but as Cerebus himself is insulated from these events we never see that much of them. The consequences only really touch Cerebus much later, when he is able to buy lifetime residency at a tavern for a single gold coin at the beginning of "Melmoth" (because gold is now much scarcer, and therefore much more valuable, than before).

It must also be noted that Sim was quite ambitious in the themes he tackled. "High Society" is a clever (and funny!) take on a US presidential campaign, while "Church and State" culminates in Cerebus being given a precis of how the next few thousand years of history pan out, as well as a theological description of the Big Bang. "Jaka's Story" is a well-observed psychological story, while the "Mothers and Daughters" storyline is an attempt to describe a matriarchal society. It's not standard comic-book fare so it needs a bit of effort and re-reading, but these stories do merit the effort.

The later stories became less accessible as Sim moved away from the idea of Cerebus as a political satire from "Guys" onwards, which was fine until he became a religious zealot and the comic was infected with his born-again views. I reckon the rot set in during "Going Home", particularly the miraculous escape from the snow-bound volcano, but reached its lowest point during the "Chasing YHVH" section of "Latter Days" which I found next to unreadable. Still, "The Last Day" showed a partial return to form, although it's a pity we'll never know what Sheshep-Ankh really intended to do with his baby Sphinx.