Customer Reviews

Jaka's Story (Cerebus, Volume 5)

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

While many people I'm sure enjoyed the huge storylines that both preceded and came after Jaka's Story, I think that this is probably the best that Dave Sim has ever written. Mind you, I loved Church and State, especially toward the middle and end when Gerhard's imput became more apparent, but the length of the storyline and the widely varying artwork due to sixty issues worth of practice made it a tad uneven at times.

Sim made the right choice in choosing to shuffle Cerebus off to the side for Jaka's Story and deciding to tell a story of real people facing everyday problems with only themselves and each other to rely on. Every piece of this story is a joy to behold, from the brilliant mixing of Sim's character drawing (he does great facial expressions and awesome dialects to boot), with Gerhard's backgrounds (how does he draw all those lines), to the text pieces that finally show Sim's ability to turn a phrase and not a little of his influence from Oscar Wilde.

The text pieces contrasting Jaka's rich life in Palnu to her current struggling dancing career are probably some of the best parts, for here we see Dave Sim's writing by itself, something we had only previously experienced in the introductions to the paperbacks.

Sim guides us through the story with a master's precision, making us care more and more about the characters, so when he finally drops the bombshell, it is quite a shock to the reader. The scenes in prison were unnerving and a little unsettling (makes one wonder when Sim ever spent time in jail). The end confrontation with Mrs. Thatcher, who is possibly the most unassumingly evil person I've ever seen, hits you like a punch in the gut for sheer emotional impact. After reading Jaka's Story, I didn't feel the least bit sorry for Mrs. Thatcher after watching what Cerebus did to her later in "Guys".

Sim has created a true classic that can be read by Cerebus fans and non-Cerebus fans, and even those who do not frequent the world of comics. It is a work on a literary scale that will be around for years to come

"Church & State II" ended with the omnipotent Judge character giving Cerebus a brief history of the universe, including the gory outline of said main character's own fate, which was not a pretty sight, and then saw Cerebus returned to Earth to find that his whole empire is in ruins and the land is ruled by an oppressive matriarchal religious group, the Cirinists. Where do you go from there?

In the case of Dave Sim and Gerhard, creators of "Cerebus", they go and spend some twenty-two issues focussing entirely on Jaka, Cerebus' sometime love interest (who Cerebus has just learned will ultimately never be with him until the end), a dancer and the daughter of the exceptionally erratic Lord Julius. Cerebus is a background character throughout, and, in the final third, is entirely absent. And this is in many ways very good, from a storytelling perspective, because Cerebus, while amusing and occasionally demonstrating real depth, doesn't have anything approaching Jaka's psychological complexity (perhaps because her personality was solidified after the series had switched from its initial form into the more sophisticated plotting).

The present day story takes place on a mountainside tavern near Iest, where Jaka, her dopey husband Rick, and houseguest Cerebus (on the run from the Cirinist death squads) reside, along with Pud Withers, tavern owner and secretly obsessed with Jaka, and Oscar Wilde. Yes, Oscar Wilde. Cerebu lusts after Jaka, while Jaka confesses she doesn't love him, and is happy with Rick, even though she finds his inability to find work or do housework frustrating. Meanwhile, we get the story of Jaka's childhood, as related by Rick (as told to him by Jaka) to Oscar Wilde, who then turns it into a new story (theses segments contain Sim's excellent mimic of Wilde's prose style). We see Jaka's upbringing under a puritanical nurse, her burgeoning interest in dance, and get a sense of the emotional effect on a small child of living in the household of someone as weird as Lord Julius.

Then, at the two-thirds point, the story takes an abrupt and devastating shift. Sim demonstrates a consistent ability in the course of this series to mix political satire with an understanding of how important politics and the like really is, and how it can affect people. Similarly, he on many occasions can effortlessly shift how we perceive a character; this happens twice here, with Pud to a certain extent, and with the nurse to a much greater one. And, best of all, the unfunny comic relief characters like the Moon Roach are nowhere to be seen.

The art by Sim and Gerhard continues at its normal standard of quality, this time using a generally more intimate setting then the epics of the past arcs.

Highly recommended; this is probably the best "Cerebus" volume.

A wandering Cerebus runs into Jaka for a while, who is working in a tavern. He ends up staying with her, and her husband Rick for a while. Jaka's backstory is divulged via an Oscar Wilde type parody.

In a way, this question permeates the entire series. Cerebus never really figures it out, but does Dave Sim? I think, through this volume, we the readers really come to understand who Jaka is. Yes, sure, it's based on what Dave tells us Oscar was told by Rick what Jaka told Rick about herself (read that a couple times), but still, this IS Jaka. The only portion of Jaka's story which we later find out to be untrue is the idea that she somehow lived on her own, without support from anyone, from the age of 12 to the time we first see her in Volume 1.

In an interview many years after this book was written, Dave says "Jaka is a self-absorbed, aristocratic airhead. She always was." I strongly disagree, and if it were true, then he essentially negates this book. Did he say this because Jaka was based on a particular woman or women in Dave's life, and Dave later ended up hating the woma/en Jaka was based on? I think the statement "Dave has forgotten who Jaka is" is a methaphor of the process which transformed Dave from the man who wrote "Jaka's Story" to the man who wrote Cerebus #186. Perhaps Jaka is Dave's Jungian anima, which would explain a lot. (Dave doesn't care for Jung much; see volume 15).

This book may well be the best in the series.

This segment of the Earthpig saga barely mentions the title character at all. Oh, Cerebus is there in most of the monthly comics collected into this volume, but usually as an incidental character or as one to set the context for Jaka's Story.

Jaka: the love of Cerebus's life, despite his brief marriage to Red Sophia. This time, we find Jaka and her useless husband, Rick, in near-exile at a wayside tavern. Her position as Lord Julius's niece and possible heir puts her on shaky political ground, and her talent for exotic dance makes her a welcome member of the remote inn's staff. Only a few characters appear in this 400+ page sequence, including an Oscar Wilde look-alike. For reasons unclear, that character siphons Rick for Jaka's life story, back to earliest childhood, for publication - without Jaka's knowledge. This whole book alternates between segments of that writing, illustrated with scenes from child-Jaka's privileged and miserable childhood, and today-Jaka, caught in the crush between her past with Cerebus and her present with Rick.

This book's 1986 copyright date (I read the indicia, not the year Amazon quotes) suggests that the monthlies collected here were written, at least in part, during the time when the author's own marriage was failing. It's tempting to read the Jaka/Rick story as autobiographical, and I imagine that some personal truth underlies the fiction. I can not imagine which parts or what percentage of the story carry that truth though - perhaps large amounts, perhaps nearly none - so I leave that question without attempting an answer.

Despite its sedentary setting, I find this portion of the Cerebus epic strangely appealing. Many features of Jaka's childhood seem believable, and Sim narrates them in the polished, effete terms natural to the Wilde character. One particularly strong sequence shows the Wilde character watching Jaka dance. He writes and rewrites this portion of her life mentally, expecting a tawdry display but eventually captivated by her physical artistry. Then, at the very end, a sudden turn of events prepares us for the next volume in Cerebus's complex life. It helps to know the characters before you pick this up, but, known or not, they play out a story that thinking readers are sure to enjoy.

-- wiredweird

Started and finished reading it last night. Could not put it down. I'm reading most of the Cerebus saga out of sequence (with the intent to re-read it in sequence when I've got all the books) and am impressed at how well this story was done, especially given it's original serial publication. Jaka's story is incredibly well told, the characters rich and round and deeply satisfying, the complex background of Sim's world always just beneath the surface, never fully exposed but clearly there.

I look forward to reading this again, a little more in sequence. I had just read Church & State I & II, and enjoyed them tremendously, but this volume was even better. Sim has commented that he had put tremendous work into figuring out the background of Iest and Palnu and the history of the Cerebus reality, and it shows here. His command of the context and the characters is superb, his deep familiarity with the world he has created, and all its details, is obvious, and makes for a brilliantly told and paced story. Having (almost a year ago) read many of the following volumes, I'm a little disappointed that Cerebus did not immediately hunt Jaka down and deal some justice to the Cirinists right there and then . . . but their time comes, and will no doubt make my re-reading of the volume where Cerebus returns to his Earth-pig roots and takes his sword to many Cirnists much more satisfying. Unfortunately, I read many of the late volumes without the context of the earlier ones.

Still, I can't recommend this enough. Sim clearly has a tremendous understanding of his story and characters at this point, and knows where it's going. Once you get to the end, very little seems accidental, or incidental, in Sim's story telling. There is a compelling point to the story of Jaka's nurse, of Jaka's transition from scared child to entitle aristocracy, to her experience of Lord Julius's marriage to Astoria. And so on.

Great stuff. No elf, no roach, no Claremont, no judge. No swords or sorcery to speak of. Yet, a brilliant story, brilliantly told, from David Sim's rich and highly-detailed universe.

And, of course, the art is, as always--especially after Sim's long-standing association with Gerhard--outstanding.

Well worth your time and money.

It's just a comic book...

...isn't it?

And yet so many words can be applied to it. Let me see... Emotionally rich? Sounds like potting soil... Touching? Not quite... Genius? Too weak...

For "just a comic book," this is an absolutely breathtaking piece of literature. To call it a treasure would be like calling winter in Antarctica "a little chilly." This is a book absolutely overflowing with all the things that make a book really worth reading: fascinating characters, lyrical prose, a setting as detailed as any reasonably possible (and interesting to boot: it's several miles above ground level). Best of all, it's a *comic book.* There are some things you just can't say with words. You need an entire page filled with frame after frame of a shadowed shape just barely recognizable as a prison door before you can get the full effect of a broken voice choking out a lullaby from its roach-infested depths.

On a more technical note, the literary references to Oscar Wilde are enjoyable and, as far as a dedicated fan of Wilde's work can tell, accurate. Pud Withers alone is a reason to read the book: a character worthy of a place among Literature's most introspective and developed characters. His constantly rephrased fantasy conversations are a fascinating study of how innocent desires evolve into violent lust.

As for Cerebus, his most important role in the book is playing a game of toss-the-ball-into-the-waste-bucket. The rest of the time he spends pretending to be asleep or gone completely "fetching paint for Oscar." This neither makes the book better nor worse. Cerebus's absence has no effect on the quality, but his presence would not have effected it either. Though he is the main character of the series, this IS Jaka's Story.

After exploring politics and religion in the previous three volumes of the Cerebus series, Dave Sim wrote and illustrated this personal story. It's all about Jaka, Cerebus's true love, and the men around her. Cerebus is there along with Jaka's husband Rick, Oscar Wilde, and Pud the tavern owner.

Two stories play out simultaneously. The first is written in chunks of prose with single illustrations, similar to a children's book. But the text is not childish at all --- it's Oscar Wilde's fanciful description of Jaka's life. Dave Sim put a lot of effort into recreating Wilde's style, which is admirable but difficult to wade through. The illustrations are beautiful, but the text is so overwritten, you can skip to every fifth sentence and still get the meaning. (There are at least two pages devoted to holding a doorknob and preparing to open it. Reading those pages will put you to sleep fast.)

The other story is presented in the standard comic book style, with cartoons and word balloons. Dave Sim's right-hand man, Gerhard, drew the backgrounds. He's a brilliant illustrator who combines the accuracy of a photograph with the simple effect of an animation cel. Some of the exteriors of buildings, mountain roads, and front porches are better than Sim's cartoon people. This part of the story moves along slowly but deliberately, letting you get to know the characters and their daily routine. Then, about halfway in, something happens that changes the pace and tone. I won't spoil it for you, but the second part refers to the first, putting it under a microscope. The tone shifts from the dull ache of ordinary life to real danger. It's an impressive bit of storytelling, flipping the mood upside down without losing the plot.

It's not easy to recommend this graphic novel to non-comic-book readers, simply because Dave Sim has hobbled his good ideas by setting the story in a fake post-Medieval world with a talking aardvark as the main character. Cerebus will distract non-comic-book readers. On the one hand, you have a story about real people and their relationships. On the other hand, there's an aardvark in love with Jaka and no one acts like that's weird or out of place. If you treat it like a joke, that undermines the seriousness of the story. Sim tries to have it both ways, but it doesn't work.

Comic book readers, on the other hand, will see Jaka's Story as a step up from the traditional superhero and fantasy stuff. Yes, it has a talking aardvark, but at least there are no supervillains of evil wizards. If you're going to get into Cerebus and you want to start with the early books, try Jaka's Story. Then go back and read High Society and the Church & State volumes.

I first started reading Cerebus over 20 years ago, carefully collecting the older editions from a used comic store. Jaka's Story, like the later Cerebus stories, moves away from the spof of major comic books, but tells a story in its own right. Giving the history of the world of Cerebus along with many realistic characters, Jaka's story is well worth reading. Though you do have to read the first ones to understand Jaka, who pops up every now and then in the stories before.

After the disappointing and self-important 2nd half of Church & State, Jaka's Story is like a refreshing breeze in the Cerebus storyline. The incorporation of significant chunks of plain text first makes its appearance here; but at least it is, content-wise, addressing things relevant to the Cerebus storyline (as opposed to say, Reads.) I enjoy Sim's art more than his writing, but the balance here is fairly nice, and most importantly, it is a *focused* & coherent volume of the work. It's tonality is more serious than that of earlier Cerebus volumes, and this is a bit awkward at some points, but overall Sim pulls it off reasonably well. The slow pacing helps generate the appropriate atmosphere and immerses us in this particular leg of the story -- allows us to really settle in. Not my favorite Cerebus book, but a pretty good one. Pud was a particularly interesting character.