ciaraldi (04/28/83)
From: Mike Ciaraldi <ciaraldi> I saw Dave Sim at a con here in Rochester two weeks ago, and got him to autograph my copy of Cerebus #1. I also met Deni for the first time. She said that she and Dave had had a long talk (prompted partly by Gene Day's death) about what to do if Dave should die before completing Cerebus' story. They decided to finish with the "Swords" series of reprints, but not to have any new stories. She also said that no one could really wrap it up, because Dave has everything in his head. Maybe we can all move to Kitchener and surround his house with our swords drawn, to shield him from danger. If you like "cerebus" and "Elfquest" (at least the parts about having long stories) you might try Jack Katz's "The First Kingdom". It comes out twice a year, and is now up to issue #14 or so. It is a tremendously convoluted s&s/sf story, spanning millions of years and a whole galaxy, but primarily set on a post-holocaust Earth.
kh (04/30/83)
Yes, I've heard of D'arc Tangent; matter of fact, I subscribed to it
way back in August, long before the first issue came out. Foglio
said that it would be good, and I trusted him, and he was right.
Foglio has a *very* cartoonish style of pencilling, but this is tempered
by Freff's inking and brings it to a more realistic point of view.
I don't happen to have The Fantasy Factory's address with me right
now, but mail me and I'll tell you. I do know, however, that
DT is $2.00 per issue, three times a year, and will run for sixteen
issues or thereabouts. And remember, I think that Foglio is one
of the best writers in the business... (note: this is a subtle
reminder that I am running a best/worst artists/writers survey.
Only one person has responded so far...). So, all in all, I feel
that D'arc Tangent is one of the best buys in Fan Comics today.
_ _
/.| |.\ The Demolished Hacker
-| | | |- Kevin Maroney
\_| |_/ duke!unc!kh
Avoid the rush! Get those cards and letters in!egy@sdchema.UUCP (Eugene G. Youngerman) (08/30/83)
In response to your query about Cerebus:
And for anyone else who cares to know:
Cerebus is a ground level comic, independently written
and published in Canada. The artist, writer, creator, inker, and
letterer is a very talented gentlemen named Dave Sim. The
publisher is his wife, Denise Sim. The main character is a
furry aardvark named Cerebus, who I imagine, began as a parody
on Conan, the Barbarian. Since then the series has changed
some, and now parodies anything.
Some of the more memorable characters, are Lord Julius
(Groucho Marx), Elrod, the Albino, and the Cockroach (Captain Cockroach,
the amazing Moon Roach, and most recently Wolverroach). The
humor is sometimes hilarious, nearly always subtle, and
frequently satirical.
Sim's most ambitious work to date has been his recent
20 issue long "Graphic Novel". I am not yet ready to
comment on the success of this, as I have not yet read it
in its entirety, without interruption.
I like the series, and recommend it, but it is not for
everybody. The humor is not as funny as, for example,
the old Metal Men (48-56), but I find it more enjoyable, and
not as heavy-handed as Marty Pasko's E-Man (By the way,
Joe Staton is now writing as well as drqwing E-Man, and the
mag is quite enjoyable.) Enough.
I am
GINO!ciaraldi@rochester.UUCP (Mike Ciaraldi) (09/04/83)
From: Mike Ciaraldi <ciaraldi> To follow up on the Cerebus inquiry and the message by GINO!, some comments for the reader getting into Cerebus. 1) Cerebus is published monthly, with a marked cover price of $1.60 Canadian, and, in small print, $1.40 U.S. Some dealers have been charging $1.60 U.S. by accident or design. 2) There is a continuing controversy about whether the Cerebus stories are so interconnected that a new reader cannot start at any random issue. I am undecided, but it seems right now would be a good time to start, since a new storyline is beginning in the current issue, and the last long-coontinued one has just finished (#50). 3) If you want to start collecting back issues, the first 20 are available reprinted in "Swords of Cerebus" #1-5. The original idea is that these trade aperbacks would stay in print, thereby achieving the Elfquest goal of letting people pick up all the old stories inexpensic\vely. However, there has been talk that they may be allowed to go out of print, perhaps in favor of thicker collections. 4) Cerebus is one of my favorites, because it never takes itself too seriously, but is often insightful and touhiching. What more can you ask for? 5) Lastly, Cerebus #52 had a short EQ parody. I have heard Dave Sim say, half in jest, that Cerebus and Elfquest sell the same number of copies every year, but it bothers him that he has to draw 12 issues to do this, and Wendy Pini only has to draw 3! Yours in good aardvarking, Mike Ciaraldi
mwm@dartvax.UUCP (M. W. Modrall) (03/07/86)
in regards to the request for the posting on cerebus main characters:
Red Sophia - parody of red sonja of the marvel line... met cerebus early
on and loved him because "he was the only man to beat her in fair battle"
but cerebus wasn't interested... she pops up from time to time.
weishaupt drugged cerebus in an issue in the 60's and married them to
get cerebus to be prime minister of iest and undo all the republic silly
ness that he had started in his previous term. currently separated from
cerebus
Elrod the albino- parody of Elric of Melbourne by Micheal Moorhead... general
nuisance, pops up to annoy cerebus at various points in his life... last seen
in cerebus #52 i think it was...
Weishaupt - now dead, but during his day, he concocted several schemes to
take over everything... last was the confederation of which he was
a president... real wheeler dealer, but his plans tend to contain tragic
flaws (like cerebus being made pope)
Astoria - female counterpart to Weishaupt... key figure in getting cerebus
elected prime minister of iest in the issures 30-50, but then for political
reasons relegated to being his secretary... she has been seen skulking
around the political scene since Cerebus resigned his prime ministership
in issue 51... she is a cirinist, a feminist religion that thinks women
should take over...
the Countess - mysterious lady who gave cerebus shelter after he was ousted
from the prime ministership in iest. appeared to be developing a strong
relationship with cerebus until the bug appeared in yet another in
carnation , the wolveroach. it turns out that she is enormously taken with
the bug. Cerebus leaves her house, and she is not heard from since...
Lord Julius - caustic obnoxious groucho look alike who is the pm of the
largest and richest city state in the region. everyone owes large sums
to him... he rules through confusion, primarily never letting anything
constructive be accomplished. always is behind the scenes in any given
venture... opposed cerebus' election in 1414, and is now apparently
in line for presidency of the confederation.
Duke Leonardi - counterpart of Chico marx... rather stupid ruler of new sepra
always hangs around julius and plays straight man for his jokes.
Jaka - a nightclub dancer in beduin.. once cerebus was drugged to fall in love
with her, and she returned the sentiment. the drug evenutally wore off,
leaving cerebus with no memory of her. at some point cerebus remembers
what they had, but never goes back for her. she on the other hand
pops up now and again, still loving cerebus, though recent developments
indicate that cerebus waited too long and she got married to someone
else, and is now pregnant
the bug - largest source of comic relief in the series, the bug has a rotating
series of personalities, and he parodies whichever comic character that
sim feels like lambasting... he started as batman, then became captain
cockroach after captain america, then moon roach, then sgt preston of the
yukon, then priest roach, then wolveroach. hasn't been seen in quite
some time , and we're still wondering where he is.
Prof. Charles X Claremont - last seen as a ghost controlling the wolve
roach. he started as a magician who cerebus stumbled across while
he was making the armageddon beast "the woman thing". cerebus traveled
with him a while until they found the "sumpthing". the two beasts
lunged at each other and started to mate, crushing claremont and making
him a ghost. the two creatures, and the owner of the sumpthing now
form the "triumviate of tarim" as seen in 82...
the regency elf - a beautiful, innocent little pixie who inhabits the
room that cerebus lived in while he was prime minister. loves
cerebus and prob
provided him with most of his emotional support during his reign
thrunk - now calling himself tarim. used to be necross the hahahahahah
mad, and evil magician. he was killed by a bunch of peasants and
his consciousness transferred to his large stone figure, thrunk.
"Cerebus isn't quite sure. 12 ton paperweights arent usually given
as proof of sanity". anyway... at last sighting, he was stuck
in his tower, because the stairs wouldn't support his stone weight.
henrot the magician - father of red sophia, magician and occasional
supporter of cerebus... on a couple of occasions he has given cerebus
help,. but mostly likes to laugh at him.
bran macmuffin - ex-leader, ex-living member of the pigts a sect
of barbarians living underground who worship a later figure of cerebus.
bran took cerebus as the second coming, but the people weren't quite sure
so while bran took a position of cerebus' adviser, the rest of the pigts
have been conspicuously abscent. with the showdown with thrunk, bran
became disillusioned and impaled himself.
there are many other minor characters, like poobah, silverspoon,
and the three girl claremont used to make the woman thing, but they
are so negli
gable that descriptions of them are irrelevant...
-hope some of this helps...
-mark
mwm@dartvaxdatanguay@watdaisy.UUCP (David Tanguay) (03/16/86)
> in regards to the request for the posting on cerebus main characters: > > Red Sophia - parody of red sonja of the marvel line... met cerebus early Also Henrot-Gutch (sp?), Sophia's mother-in-law, in the best spirit of battle-axe mother-in-laws. > > Elrod the albino- parody of Elric of Melbourne by Micheal Moorhead... general Um, Elric of Melnibone, by Michael Moorcock, just in case somebody wants to look up the novels... > > Weishaupt - now dead, but during his day, he concocted several schemes to He invented cannons (and gunpowder) before croaking. This may yet be Cerebus's means back to power. > > Astoria - female counterpart to Weishaupt... key figure in getting cerebus > in issue 51... she is a cirinist, a feminist religion that thinks women > should take over... She is the daughter of Cirin, but is not all that cirinistic -- she seems to have founded the Kevilists, major opponents of the Cirinists, but isn't really a Kevilist herself. She has her own ideas -- she is a feminist, though. Also former wife of Lord Julius. > > Jaka - a nightclub dancer in beduin.. once cerebus was drugged to fall in love Cerebus loves her too, but it's taken him a while to realise it. Jaka is the niece (really (he calls his 'concubines' his 'nieces')) of Lord Julius. > > bran macmuffin - ex-leader, ex-living member of the pigts a sect > became disillusioned and impaled himself. Actually, Fret Mac Murray (sp?) was causing problems on the home front, with Bran away, claiming that Cerebus was not the second coming. Thrunk convinced Bran that he (Bran) was mistaken, so Bran had to step down as leader of the Pigts. > there are many other minor characters, like poobah, silverspoon, > and the three girl claremont used to make the woman thing, but they > are so negligable that descriptions of them are irrelevant... One of those girls is Jaka's little sister (forget her name), and another Theresa, who has since become a leading society lady in Iest, and is a major source of information for us readers (and, formerly, Weishaupt) about the intrigues of other people (notably Astoria). > -mark > mwm@dartvax David Tanguay watdaisy!datanguay@waterloo.CSNET (maybe)
boyajian@akov68.DEC (JERRY BOYAJIAN) (03/16/86)
> From: dartvax!mwm > in regards to the request for the posting on cerebus main characters: There's a couple of things to add to your comments: > Elrod the albino- parody of Elric of Melbourne by Micheal Moorhead... That's Elric of Melnibone' by Michael Moorcock. > [Adam] Weishaupt... It should be noted that the source for this character is a real person, the founder of the Bavarian Illuminati in the late 1700's. It is said (though I don't know how true it is) that the real Weishaupt was a double for George Washington --- which is why Sim drew him as he did --- and in Shea & Wilson's novels about the Illuminati, they "claim" that for at least part of Washington's presidency, it was actually Weishaupt that ran our country and not Washington. > the bug - ...hasn't been seen in quite > some time , and we're still wondering where he is. Not nowadays. ("I can't tell you. They're *secret* Sacred Wars.") > henrot the magician - father of red sophia... Henrot is a characiture of Frank Thorne, former principal artist on the Red Sonja strip. Thorne used to appear at conventions as Henrot (an anagram of Thorne) with Wendy Pini as Sonja. --- jayembee (Jerry Boyajian, DEC, Acton-Nagog, MA) UUCP: {decvax|ihnp4|allegra|ucbvax|...} !decwrl!dec-rhea!dec-akov68!boyajian ARPA: boyajian%akov68.DEC@DECWRL.DEC.COM
jagardner@watmath.UUCP (Jim Gardner) (03/18/86)
[...] Just a note on Weishaupt for those who may be absolutely certain he's dead: The "real" Adam Weishaupt was the founder of the Ancient Illuminated Seers of Bavaria (i.e. the Bavarian Illuminati) in 1776. Those who have read the Illuminatus! trilogy by Robert Anton Wilson and Robert Shea know that Weishaupt faked his death after the Bavarian Illuminati were purged by local authorities and later took the place of George Washington. That's right, old George was disposed of and Weishaupt took over the American government for his own nefarious ends. (Did you know that Yog Sothoth of the Cthulhu mythos is imprisoned under the Pentagon? Why do you think they made the place five-sided?) Anyway, it is clear that Dave has read the Illuminatus books and took Weishaupt from them. Weishaupt is a dead-ringer for George Washington, and of course, a consummate schemer. For this reason, I wouldn't go so far as to say Weishaupt is really dead...Cerebus is not the hardest person in the world to fool, but the pope makes a great witness. Jim Gardner, University of Waterloo