Cerebus #189, December 1994
We celebrated American Independence Day a few days ago, but neglected to recognize Canada Day (July 1) on these pages.
So, we’re fixing that with a typically terrific Cerebus page by the ultra-talented and equally controversial Canadian storyteller Dave Sim.
Ultra-talented? Absolutely. Controversial? An understatement.
And he doesn’t appear to shy away from it.
What’s not controversial though is the Cerebus’ colossal achievement. At the end of the day, it is 300 consecutive issues, all written and penciled by Sim, from 1977-2004
Writer John Parker, in an overview of Sim’s career for Comics Alliance, sums it up:
“…What began as a straightforward fantasy-comedy evolved into a sophisticated long-form narrative subdivided by massive, self-contained novels that basically encompassed everything that interested Sim.
As Cerebus rolled along through the years, it encompassed political satire, doomed relationships, love and art in a dictatorship, metaphysical discourse, the comics industry and pop culture parody, the dynamics of sex and gender, theism, genesis, and apocalypse.”
Along the way, Sim become one of comics’ best storytellers. With the help of inker Gerhard, the art was some of the best to appear in any comics, mainstream, alternative, the whole lot.
By the late 80s, it was selling 30,000 copies plus, and launched a boom in independent black and white comics.
And then, a few issues prior to this one (#186), Sim publishes a very long anti-feminist essay. And the audience for his work began slipping.
And he expanded upon and defended his views, in his comics, and in the comics press. And the audience slipped some more.
By the time he finished his epic in 2004, he was down to 3,000 readers from the 30,000 or so. Clearly, his viewpoints had a pushed some readers way. And,the market had changed too, and the interest in self-published creator titles was dwarfed by interest in the more mainstream titles from the big publishers.
The future of black and white comics? Good-bye Cerebus, hello Walking Dead.
Parker, again:
“However you define Dave Sim — misogynist, loony, acid casualty, genius, a–hole — you cannot discount his monolithic talent. As an artist, his work is never less than compelling.”
And we can all form an opinion, one way or another, but I will bet you this piece of art Dave Sim doesn’t care what we think.
