CEREBUS the Aardvark

Cerebus is the creation of Dave Sim. Maybe that's why you haven't heard of him until now. However, Dave almost single-handly brought black and white sequential art to life in 1977. Sequential art? That, I say, that means comics.

It began as an attempt to capitalize on the Howard the Duck/funny animal boom of the late 70's comics scene, but Cerebus has since become much more. According to Dave Sim, Cerebus was to span 300 issues, and in the final issue, Cerebus is supposed to die. As Dave says, "If you read three hundred issues of Superman or Spiderman, they don't make sense as a story or a life."

Cerebus will, and recently passed the 200th point in its 300 issue run. So far, we've seen the aardvark progress from Cerebus the Barbarian (just like Conan) to Cerebus the Prime Minister ("Graft is as necessary as throwing up when you drink too much.") to Cerebus the Pope ("He doesn't love you. He just wants all of your money.") to Cerebus the Perfect House Guest ("Listen. Kid. Cerebus is in love with your wife.").

Some opinions about Cerebus caught in the net:

"One might ask, "What makes Cerebus so special?" For me, it's the comedy, the tragedy, and the parody of life. Many of the characters are patterned after those we see in politics or entertainment: Margaret Thatcher, Mick Jagger, Oscar Wilde, Keith Richards, a cross between Foghorn Legorn and Elric the Melbonian. Also, as Dave Sim is always one to take shots at the big publishing companies, many of the main stream comic book characters are parodied: Captain America, Wolverine, Spiderman, the X-Men, and many more."

"I've been enjoying Dave's sensual, trippy, drive through his brain and the sick psyche of Cerebus. I'm really enjoying the way that he's taking us through the Earth-Pig's nastiest, lowest moments. He's dealing with what happens when our main character is forced to realize the gaping holes in his own self, and re-invent himself. I understand and empathize with the process (I think that we all do; it's something that has to happen pretty regularly, if not always on quite the scale that the gray one is experiencing)"

About Dave Sim

Born in 1956 in Hamilton, Ontario, Dave Sim has lived in Kitchener, Ontario since he moved there to join his family in 1958. His company Aardvark-Vanaheim Inc. began publishing Cerebus in 1977. Since then he has introduced and published many other outstanding titles, including Flaming Carrot and Puma Blues. Recently he has returned to concentrating on his own book (aided by background artist Gerhard) and the comics industry as a whole. Besides encouraging and publishing other writers and artists, Dave has long been an outspoken supporter of creators' rights, and donates the proceeds from many of his recent art sales to the Comics Book Legal Defense Fund. This fund supports chronically under-appreciated comic artists as they attempt to regain control of, or at least get compensation for, their creations. For instance, Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster, creators of the multimillion dollar industry named Superman from pen, paper, and their imaginations, lived in incredibly life-like simulations of poverty until DC Comics was shamed into providing them a pension a few years ago.

Dave Sim on:

Why an aardvark?: "We are all the single funny animal in the world of humans."

Creative freedom: "No corporation will ever pay a creator enough to sue them successfully."

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