datanguay@watdaisy.UUCP (David Tanguay) (02/21/86)
I just spent a week in bed with the flu, and I spent it re-reading Cerebus #51-82. I had thought that 1985 was a bad year for the aardvark, but I now think it was a good year. The two dream issues slowed things up, which is probably why I thought Cerebus was grinding to a halt lately, but when read as part of the whole they just zip by and are an effective little aside from a very complicated story. Speaking of which, what happens now? Thrunk seems to make a powerful pope. I wonder if Cerebus will challenge him to a duel (Thrunk's granite fists vs. Cerebus with Weishaupt's canons - maybe Cerebus will get to play with that wizard fellow's tank!!). More likely it'll be a duel between Thrunk and the apocalypse-monsters monster. Even more likely something totally else will happen. The short grey fellow seems to be developing some character lately. He offered to give up (almost) all his gold to run away with Jaka, and he handled it very well when she refused him - no tantrum, no demonstrative emotional upheaval, just swallow his regret and get on with sentencing peasants to eternal agonies. Another big surprise, for me, was Bran's suicide. He seemed like the type of guy who could survive any setbacks. I'm impressed that Sim would allow such well developed characters to be killed (Weishaupt and Bran) (their deaths are real, I think: no Marvelesque resurrections are forthcoming). Bran's death was particularly interesting because we could see it coming: Mac Murray was sowing dischord back at home, which put a lot of pressure on Bran, as leader, to be correct in his assessment of Cerebus as the second coming of the aardvark, and Thrunk's appearance convinced Bran that Cerebus was not the foretold one, and that as leader Bran should step aside, in the only honorable way, to let Mac Murray lead. One question I has is Astoria. Is she a Cirinist? She founded Kevilism, but does that mean she is no longer Cirinist? If she's not a Cirinist, why do Cirin and followers tolerate her presence? What does the Abbess (of Good Abbey) have to do with the Cirinists? (I thought that Good Abbey was papal land.) Cerebus forever!! David Tanguay @ University of Waterloo (watdaisy)