Cerebus

[kent_allard_jr]

agrumer encouraged me to read Cerebus for years, and I finally started about a month ago. I've gotten through the first eight volumes, and it is amazing stuff. Not always in a good way, though! I don't find the series all that funny, for one thing (although I've had a few laugh-out-loud moments); the story is often painfully slow, the dialog snoringly long-winded; and eventually the whole series becomes a stupid, tedious misogynistic rant. Far as I can tell, the rant is only beginning in the eighth volume, Women. I intend to stop reading by volume 10 or so.

So why am I reading it? I have lots of reasons. It's the best artwork I've ever seen in a comic, both in its beauty and its ingenuity. Sim's world is a fascinating creation, a unique mixture of the modern, the medieval and inspired otherworldliness. At times, as I noted, it can be extremely funny, and other times the writing is heartbreakingly sublime. It's uneven, to say the least; I'm not sure I'd recommend anything after volume five, Jaka's Story. But those five volumes? You just have to read them.

Comments

[mylescorcoran]

Full agreement here. I followed the series for a long while, but gave up with Jaka's Story and just occasionally dipped into friends' collections as things continued. High Society and the two volumes of Church and State are just inspired though.