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14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Cerebus the Barbarian, uh, the Aardvark, Issues #1-25, April 21, 2004
Now that I have read the 300th and final issue of "Cerebus the Aardvark," it seems appropriate to go back and read the beginning again, knowing what the earth-pig's final fate (and word) will be. "Cerebus, Volume 1" reprints the first 25 issues in which Dave Sim figures out what he is doing with his cute and furry aardvark. The starting point, as Sim himself admitted in teh beginning, was to "Look as much like Barry Smith as possible," a point which is never more obvious than in issue #2 "Captive in Boreala," which the opening pages are basically Sim's version of Smith's "Frost Giant's Daughter." But by the end of these 25 issues "Cerebus" has been remarkably transformed, and by this I mean more than the fact that somewhere doing those two years of comics that Cerebus starts to look like Cerebus (it takes until issue #4 to actually start wearing clothing).In retrospect what is fascinating here is to reconsider these stories and see how a funny-animal comic book, that begins with Cerebus bouncing on top of a horse as he a city to engage in some Conan the Barbarian like thievery. After all, Cerebus is wearing Conan's helmet and has a necklace with large round things on it just link Conan in the beginning. But then in #3 "Song of Red Sophia" and #4 "Death's Dark Tread" two important things happen. The first is that Sim undertakes some parodies of some supporting characters from the Conan comic book: Robert E. Howard's Red Sonja becomes Red Sophia and Michael Moorcock's Elric of Melibone becomes Elrod the Albino who has a tall pointy hat and speaks exactly like Foghorn Leghorn. The second is that these two twisted characters become the first recurring characters in the "Cerebus" world, and from them Sim branched out in other directions for his targets. Sim did go back and have some fun with turning another of Howard's original characters into Bran Mak Mufin (#5), but ultimately what took "Cerebus" to the next level were three characters. The first was the original character of Jaka the dancing girl (#6), who was clearly intended as a one-shot character. But the pathos of her parting with Cerebus, who has forgotten her once he sobers up, suggested for the first time there could be some pathos in these tales. The second was the ultimate parody character, the Cockroach (#11), who would pop up from time to time in the series and embody whoever was the hot comic book character of the moment. Okay, that makes sense for the Wolveroach but not the Moon Roach, but you get the idea. The third character was Cerebus' greatest foil, Lord Julius, who was first introduced in "Silverspoon" in the "Buyer's Guide for Comic Fandom" (Lord Julius is the father of a spoiled Prince Valiant type son) and then took center stage in the Palnu Trilogy: "The Walls of Palnu" (#14), "A Day in the Pits" (#15), and "A Night at the Masque" (#16), at the end of which we learn that Jaka is Lord Julius's neice. However, what is important here is that Lord Julius looks and talks like Groucho Marx, a coincidence that is explained by the fact Groucho's real name was Julius. Lord Julius is important because he made it easy for Sim to do stories about politics and to do so with a character whose major strength is his imperturbability and his refusal to be cornered on any point of contention. Add to this the fact that he is running the whole show in Palnu and it is impossible not to take great joy in every scene in which he appears. Every other "real" person who appeared in the 300 issues of "Cerebus," from Oscar Wilde and Ernest Hemingway to Mick Jagger and Keith Richards, got through the front door because Lord Julius ripped it off the hinges and threw it on the floor. The Palnu Trilogy is also Sim's first 71-page Cerebus story, which is what sets the stage for the "books," the first of which is presented in the second volume in this collection "High Society." This is clearly the point at which Sim starts thinking of having a big picture and eventually getting to the point where he can announce he knows how the whole thing is going to end. For the record I consider "High Society" to be the high water mark of Cerebus and the justification for giving this first volume five stars as well is because the historical value of watching how Sim turns his funny animal comic book into a first rate socio-political satire becomes a key part of the equation. I definitely think that there was a point where "Cerebus," in the current vernacular, "jumped the shark," but before that point (which I hope to pinpoint as I reread all 300 issues) there was a period of time when this comic book was as the one I most looked forward to reading each month. Going back and starting over from the beginning certainly reminds me what that was the case.
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12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Hmmmm, I'm interested ...., August 21, 2001
After repeatedly having been told I should really give Cerebus comics a try I decided to go for it and started off with this first book (which collects #1-25). I don't regret it. Although it's a little hard to get into it at first it's quite an interesting and good read once you get to (and pass) the point he finds employment with a certain Lord Julius of Palnu (about halfway through the book), not accidently also the point where continuity and follow-up stories in Cerebus comics kick in. Before that it's mostly a funny book with single-issue arcs, a spoof on "warrior-comics" which is a genre of comics that was very popular in the days these issues first saw print. Those issues are also enjoyfull but stand-alone, and I feel the real storylines shouldn't have kicked in any later or it might have become annoying. The main idea of the stories in this volume is that the main-character Cerebus, a sarcastic wandering mercanary for hire who happens to be an aardvark, swerves around in a fantasy land. He never knows where he's going to be next week and his only things of interest are gold, peace of mind and booze, favorably to be earned in any employment he finds at the time (or just by theft). This gets him in the most awkward positions possible which he has to get out off by cleverly conning his (99% dumb-as-a lamppost) fellow characters. The dialogues in which Cerebus takes part are hilarious if you're a fan of sarcastic humor and sometimes you find yourself amazed seeing how Cerebus finds his way out off things you wouldn't have seen a solution for yourself. Big plus for Simm there because the tales NEVER get predictable. Overall I'm quite enthousiastic about this volume although I do think it might not be the best one to get to know the character Cerebus. I think it's better if you read one of the later volumes first ("High Society" for example) and THEN come back to this book to see how it all evolved in what it came to be. Because evolve it does, just compare the drawings on the first page and the last page, and see how far story-development improves over time. Once you DO start reading this book I'd like to suggest that you especially take good notice of the characters "Elrod", "Jaka" and "Cockroach". Not only do these characters keep re-appearing in later issues, the stories starring them are also some of the best in the trade (more like "phonebook" really). Also take special notice of #20 called "Mindgame" which is hilarious due to the superb dialoguing and Simm showing off he can draw Cerebus in any position imaginable. Something he doesn't lack in at other issues either, though. In conclussion: go for it if you're looking for a cleverly written "talk-comic" where the action is more in the words than in the images, and stay clear of it if you're looking for a superhero comic or a comic that's all about action-filled art.
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11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Meet the Earth-Pig, September 22, 2000
By A Customer
Not only the start of one of the best sequential stories ever, this volume also represents a perfect example of an artist learning his craft. Dave Sim writes and draws every issue in this volume by himself (he later gains a creative partner but not until the third volume) and the evolution of his artwork and writing are amazing to behold. Cerebus started out in the late 70's as a simple parody of Conan the Barbarian with single-issue stories of a cute lil' Aardvark (whose name came from a misspelling of the guard dog of Hades' name) who went around beating up people, good and bad, in search of treasure. He was basically Conan at first, and most of the recurring charecters were spoofs of Conan's supporting cast. This didn't last long,as longer stories lasting three or four issues began to show up,and Sim started developing his own art style instead of emulating the artwork of Conan artist Barry Windsor-Smith. This volume collects issues 1-25 of the comic book,and by the end the book has gone from simplistic and amatuerish (frankly, the first issue is terrible except for the twist ending) to hilarious, allegoric, and intellegent. Nevertheless, these stories, while almost all excellent and increasing in quality every issue,pale in comparasin to the larger epic the series becomes in later volumes. Though the story really kicks off in volume two ("High Society," where Cerebus becomes a poltical mover and shaker via an odd twist of fate) volume one is essential to introducing the charecters and thier relationships. All of these stories have some signifigance, and alot of them show up again when you least expect it (issue number two, for example, has ramifications that don't come into play until more than one hundred and fifty issues later!) But more importantly, they almost all entertaining well-done stories in thier own right. Cerebus is a brillaint,mature and though-provoking saga that derseves to be up there with some of the great satiric AND serious fictional works of the twentith century. It's also one of the few serial stories that always gets better with each new story. You owe it to yourself to at least give it a try, and this is the ideal place to start.
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