Customer Reviews

High Society (Cerebus, Volume 2)

5 star:		(17)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

After having amusing but ultimatly directonless adventures as a wandering sword-for-hire, Cerebus finds his way to the City-State of Iest, where the six or so years of the comic will be taking place. This volume is noteable because it's officially the point where things start to get good,and where Sim begins to explore the more sophisticated directions he will be taking Cerebus in. The story of High Society is a clever, ironic, suspensful and above all hilariously sataric one. As Cerebus get caught up in his burgernoning politcal career, Sim finds time poke fun at democracy, feminism, religon, comic conventions and the X-men while keeping the story moving along at a brisk, satisfying pace. High Society is probably the funniest Cerebus story though not the best-written overall. It remains, however, much,much better than 99% of the other comics out there. Once Cerebus gets ahold of some power, he finds he likes it very, very much, and this will be a major factor in stories to come. If you're planning to read Cerebus all the way through (and you should) you should probably start with the first volume, "Cerebus" but if you need convincing, High Society will definatly hook you,and you can always go back and read the first volume to fill in the blanks. Either way, this is a brilliant read, both on it's own and as a component the larger saga, and not to be missed.

I started reading "Cerebus" when Dave Sim's independent black & white comic book was on the cusp of the "High Society" story line. "Cerebus, Book 2: High Society" (issues #226-50) constitutes the first "novel" in the history of the book and the point at which Sim had clearly moved beyond the idea of Cerebus the Barbarian stage, where it was basically a strange animal walking around in a world that was drawn in the style of Barry Windsor-Smith. I first became aware of Sim for the work he did with funny animals, beavers in particular, for "Quack." Actually, what got me reading "Cerebus" was not just that the comic book was getting a reputation for being one of the best of the alternative comic books put out by the independent press, but more importantly that there was a character in it who looked and talked like Groucho Marx.

That would be Lord Julius, one of several key characters in "High Society" who is introduced during the first two years of the title, along with the Roach, the would-be superhero that Sim would transform into a parody of whichever Marvel character was the current flavor of the month. Then there is Jaka, the dancer Cerebus first met in a tavern in Beduin. These three characters represent three major impulses in Sim's work. Lord Julius represents the inclusion of real characters into the world of Cerebus, which would eventually include the likes of Mick Jagger and Oscar Wilde. What began as a sort of simple joke (Groucho popping up is always going to be funny), became serious when the characters started symbolizing the reality of their real world counterparts. The Roach symbolizes Sim's commentary on the comic book business, which for me is the weakest of the three impulses. The whole Petuniacon takeover on a comic book convention is funny at face value, but it detracts a bit from the political satire that is at the heart of "High Society." Then there is Jaka.

It is hardly surprising that the original characters created by Sims would become the most important. In "High Society" this means not only Jaka but also Astoria and the Regency Elf. The Roach can move on to become first the Moon Roach and then Sergeant Preston of the Royal Mounted Iestan Police, and you can throw in the brothers Dirty Fleagle and Dirty Drew McGrew, but they are mere comic relief while the trio of feminine figures are at the heart of the story. Suddenly we have moved well beyond a funny animal to larger issues such as politics and gender (with religion and creativity to come in future novels).

Cerebus shows up in Iest at the Regency Hotel carrying with him the last few pieces of loot he has acquired on his travels. Expecting to be denied admittance, Cerebus is surprised when he is given free lodgings and food. Suddenly people are paying him bribes to just to remember the name of a company that makes gold-plated streetlamps when he talks to Lord Julius. From Cerebus the Aardvark to Cerebus the Barbarian we now have Cerebus the Lobbyist. Actually, it seems Cerebus is now a ranking diplomatic representative of a southern city-state and if you think the aardvark is in over his head, wait until Astoria shows up and starts dispensing political advice. More importantly, wait until Cerebus runs against a goat for the office of Prime Minister, because that is when "High Society" shifts into high gear, even as Iestan society falls apart.

That is also the point where "Cerebus" gets told sideways, starting in issue #44 "The Deciding Vote." I highlight that particular issue because it includes my all-time favorite page by Dave Sim, which would be page 383. In several of the preceding pages Sim shows Cerebus and another character traveling across a snowy landscape. What he was doing was drawing the landscape, dividing the drawing into vertical panels, with Cerebus and his companion shown in each panel making their way along. But on my favorite page on the dozen pages the first eight include the exact same drawing, with the last two being identical. What changes is the sound of Cerebus walking away on snowshoes ("WUFFA wuffa") and walking back ("wuffa WUFFA"). The page represents one of Sim's best jokes ever and whenever I have had occasion to lecture on comic book art I have always shown these pages along with those in one of Frank Miller's "Daredevil" comics when he retells the character's origin and has a line representing the Fixer's heartbeat indicating a heart attack going across the panels of DD chasing the man down.

"High Society" is my favorite Cerebus novel, although it is neither as ambitious as "Church and State" nor as polished as "Mothers and Daughters." But the impression it made when it was clear that Sim was now working the deep end of the poem has stayed with me and I do have an inherent love of political satire. Besides, Cerebus' reconciliation with Jaka is more touching than their poignant parting, the Regency Elf shakes up things nicely at inopportune times, and I love liberty as much as the next person raised in a free democratic society. Still, more scenes with Lord Julius would have been nice, especially if Astoria is involved. After this novel Gerhard starts doing backgrounds for Sim and the look of "Cerebus" changes dramatically (Gerhard did the cover, so if you compare that to the first splash page inside you can see how much of a difference this will make for the rest of the 300 issues of "Cerebus").

High Society is the second book of the magnum opus Cerebus series. You should probably start here, however, because this is where it starts getting good. The first Cerebus book contains bad art and an episodic approach to Cerebus the Aardvark's life. It's only valuable if you're likely to get confused (hey, I was) by the intricate details, numerous characters, plot strands, and mysteries in High Society. To say that the Cerebus Saga is complicated is an understatement. It is a fully realized world, with religions, city-states, widely-known figures, ancient prophecys, shadowy conspiracys, and other amazing stuff. The plot of the Cerebus series is to tell the life and times of a warrior aardvark. The plot of High Society is that Cerebus comes to the city-state of Iest looking for a room. Suddenly, he is granted a room at the Regency Hotel, and finds that he is now the Ranking Diplomatic Represantative of the city-state of Palnu to Iest. From there the story takes off like a rocket, as Cerebus meets old friends, discovers the intrigues and diffucultys of politics, runs for Prime Minister, and many other things that would take up a review themselves. The character development is incredible. All the characters' motives are explored, so you almost get to know these characters. There is thought-provoking commentary on (of course) high society and politics. It shows you how political figures can be deadlocked and manipulated into making wrong choices. The art, also, is incredible. The characters' faces and movements are rendered to perfection, making you feel their emotions. Sometimes the book moves away from art almost entirely to well written and intriguing text. And what if I told this book was laugh-out-loud funny as well? There is some wonderful character-driven humour as well as regular (but funny) jokes. It superbly parodys mainstream comics through a bizarre superhero character called the Roach. In short, if you don't read this book, you're missing out on something big.

After reading the first I was hooked and this second volume game me the only thing missing from the first, a solid plot. With Cerebus trying to move up into high society and gain the role of prime minister his character becomes even more diverse and you love the little ardvark more and more. Best comic series I have ever read.

This is quite a remarkable book. It seems that Mr. Sims has outdone himself here. I am slowly working through the whole series (as my finances allow) and I bought this book yesterday at my local comic shop... and then I read the whole thing in one sitting.

All 500+ pages.

The simple truth is that Sims is a great storyteller and that is what grabs you and makes you want to read more. As an adder bonus, you get to see wonderfully expressive art.

If you've got $25.00 lying around, go buy this book. If you don't have $25.00, then you should go work at McDonalds or some other place for 5 hours to get the money, it will be well worth your time.

I first encountered Cerebus at a fabulous bookstore in Norway(free plug--all fantasy/comics/science fiction/etc., all in english, called "Avalon", if you're ever in Norway, look it up, giant statue from "Aliens" in the doorway--hard to miss)two years ago. I was struck by the fact that he looked like Alf. Hey, but our relationship developed. A week later, I got the earliest volume they had,"Church&State I".

Since then I have gotten all ten volumes so far of the storyline(and "Cerebus 0")and am looking forward to getting "Guys".

Of course, "High Society" is only the 2nd volume of the Cerebus story--"Cerebus" is the first. I do not feel however that it is worthy of any great recognition or even of paramount importance to the storyline. Sure, we meet a few characters for the first time who become important later(Weisshaupt, Jaka, the Cockroach, Elrod, Lord Julius)but the whole thing's only worthy of about a 5--short, separate episodes a la Conan the Barbarian with what look like an 6-year-old's drawings of the title character(sorry, Mr. Sim!). Entertaining but not much more, certainly not the complex and high quality literature that the series becomes WITH THE 2ND VOLUME, "HIGH SOCIETY".

Suddenly, there is a set storyline: Cerebus comes to Iest, he has some of his first interaction with Suenteus Po, he becomes involved with Astoria, a manipulative and mysterious woman of great political genius who becomes his guide in the world of high society, all the while with ulterior motives. While retaining all it's humor, Cerebus has now become a serious story which comes to have something to say, about people, politics, religion, men and women, art, creativity, and life.

All of this starts with "High Society", which is at the same time a good story, whether you have a brain or not. The only reason I can't rate this any higher than an 8 is the fact that it gets even better and deeper in the later volumes, not to mention that there is a dramatic improvement in the art with the arrival of Gehard and his magnificent backgrounds, giving Sim more time to polish off his characters' looks and pay attention to the storyline.

It never fails to amaze me, the worshipful attitude people have toward Neil Gaiman's accomplishments with "Sandman" as THE groundbreaking work in comics, while Cerebus goes comparitively unnoticed. A great fan of both, since for some inexplicable reason most of you reading this are likely to be more familiar with Gaiman I'll have to hit you there. If you have that kind of great taste in comics, you have to check out some Cerebus. It's as good, funnier, and though the title character is an ardvark, it's frequently more human. Plus, it's positively fascinating to watch it develope from a fairly mundane Conan spoof into a rich, meaningful, and touching portrait of life.

After having amusing but ultimatly directonless adventures as a wandering sword-for-hire, Cerebus finds his way to the City-State of Iest, where the six or so years of the comic will be taking place.

This graphic novel is really great, full of crazy situations and absurd predicaments, yet giving a poignant looks on politcs and religion. Cerebus is as tragically comic as ever, and his mistakes are as enormous as his ego. And I've never seen such exquisite black and white graphic.My preferred characters? The regency Elf, Jaka, Astoria, all magnificent female characters, that's strange considering how mysogynistic Dave Sim is ("Vote? For women?" he has Cerebus say). This is high comic art, like BONE meeting DOONESBURY.

If you followed my advice from my review for Volume 1 and got this one first, here's a few things you should know. 1) In the previous volume, some unsavory characters tried to manipulate Cerebus by drugging him with a potion that made him temporarily fall in love with Jaka, a tavern dancer and niece of a famous ruler. She also came to love him, apparently. When the potion wore off, he had no idea of anything which occurred while under the influence of the potion, and left Jaka, having forgotten about her. Apparrently, sometime between his first meeting with Jaka in Volume 1 and the time she reappears in this book, he regained his memory of what happened while under the influence of the potion and seems to at least care for her, in his possessive, selfish, and narcissistic way. For Jaka, this second meeting is the first time she's actually seen him in his normal state of mind.
2) Cerebus became leader of the Cinniptins in the previous volume, but was led to believe that they had all been poisoned.
3) Not important to the plot, but Elrod isn't precisely a parody of Michael Moorcock's character Elric, as Dave Sim admits he hadn't read Moorcock back then and based Elrod off of Elric's appearances in Marvel's Conan comic.

The Earthpig saga continues in this massive volume. The story arc here covers the political machinations that eventually lead Cerebus to a surprisingly staid occupation, that of political leader - or at least, figurehead. Although this book came out 15 years ago, it has a startling level of immediacy about it: the whole reason for Cerebus's rise to power centers on elaborate financial schemes, reminiscent of the ones in our real-world headlines for the last couple of years.

But, if you're looking for straight political drama, you obviously don't know Cerebus - or Lord Julius, or the Moon Roach, or any of the other delightfully different characters. As Earthpig fans have come to expect, there's plenty of in-humor from the comics world, too. If you're not already a Cerebus fan, give it a shot. Better yet, start at the beginning of the series so you'll have the context that lead up to the current adventure - and then leads beyond it.

-- wiredweird