In December 1977, struggling Canadian comic book artist Dave Sim self-published the first issue of Cerebus the Aardvark, a Conan the Barbarian satire featuring a foul-tempered, sword-wielding creature trapped in a human world. Over the next 26 years, Sim, and later collaborator Gerhard, produced an epic 6,000-page graphic novel, the longest-running English language comic series by a single creative team. They revolutionized the comics medium by showing other artists that they too could forgo major publishers, paving the way for such successes as Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and Bone. This work, the first collection of critical essays on Cerebus, provides a multifaceted approach to Sim and Gerhard's complex and entertaining oeuvre, including their innovative use of the comic medium, storytelling and satiric techniques, technical and visual sophistication, and Sim's use of the comic as commentary on gender and religion.

Eric Hoffman, a poet and essayist, is the author of sixteen books and lives in Connecticut.

Table of Contents


Acknowledgments     

Preface     

Introduction: Alone, Unmourned and Unloved

Eric Hoffman     


Part One: A Map of Estarcion

Growing Complexity; or, the Cerebus Effect Sebastian Domsch     

Audacious Tenacity, Tenacious Audacity: Cerebus' Grand (and Changing) Narrative Strategies

Eric Hoffman     


Part Two: Ignore It, It's Just Another Reality

"Does This Seem Right to You?" Stories Within Cerebus

David Groenewegen     

Aardvarkian Intertexts and True Stories

Dominick Grace     

"Why Certainly Dear Boy..." Incorporating Oscar Wilde into the Aardvark's World

Gregory John Fink     


Part Three: Becoming Synonymous with Something Indescribable

Seeing Sound

C.W. Marshall     

Negative Space and Guttural Noise: Gerhard's Psychological Reads

Sabin Calvert     


Part Four: Mind Games

Testing the Limits of Genre/Gender

Dominick Grace     

Anti-Feminist Aardvark? Gender, Subjectivity and Authorship

Isaac J. Mayeux     

The Aardvark and the Beautiful Women: Male Sexuality and Gender Politics

Mario N. Castro     


Part Five: Ye Booke of Sim

YHWH's Story, or, How to Laugh While Reading "Chasing YHWH" and Still Have Enough Stamina for The Last Day

Edward M. Komara     


Appendix: An Introduction to the Cerebus "Phonebooks"

Lenny Cooper     

Bibliography     

About the Contributors     

Index