Customer Reviews

Melmoth (Cerebus, Volume 6)

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

 

 

Dave Sim certainly took a risk pushing Cerebus off to the side during this story and the previous Jaka's Story, but I think it worked out for the best because it allowed him to explore other means of narration and art.

Every part of Melmoth is perfect, from the opening scenes with the Roach, to the gripping finale. The first gaunt shot of Oscar stepping from the shadows is priceless, and Sim and Gerhard create new levels of creativity by melding their two artforms together

Even though the narration is taken from actual letters, the pace is still suspenseful, even though the reader knows Oscar is going to die. But above all, Sim's story is about life and people doing what they do normally, and he showcases it all brilliantly. This is possibly one of the finest comic works ever written, ranking up with Sim's previous Jaka's Story, Moore's Watchmen and Miller's Dark Knight Returns

I've seen a lot of reviews about Melmoth and I think most people are wrong saying that this is not an important story for Cerebus.

In the last book, Jaka's Story, Cerebus was living with Jaka and Rick. Then he decided to go out to get some paint, but when he comes back, what he sees? He is shocked by the apparent death of Jaka (don't forget, his only true love!)!!!

What would he do now? Dave Sim had to give a break, for the character to recover, since he went catatonic!

This is the break that the story needed. In parallel, he showed the last days of the true Oscar Wilde (it is interesting to notice that there was other character called Oscar in Jaka's Story, also based in Oscar Wilde).

What is impressive in this story is to see all the details of a natural death, written in letters by his close friends. At the beginning of the story, Oscar Wilde is still lucid (making comments about everything - literature, society and politics, etc.), drinks champagne and seems to be happy together with his friends. Then he gets more and more sick, the physicians notice that he is dying. At last, he cannot speak anymore, and there is no more hope.

I think that this story might have some parallel with the death (in the end of the series) of Cerebus. Cerebus also is going to get old and die (we still don't know how, if naturally, or killed, or other thing).

At last, it is important to comment that this book finishes (finishes?) with Cerebus finding out that Jaka was imprisoned by the Cirinists and that they tortured her. So, he recovers immediately and begins to kill all the Cirinists in his path (in a way we didn't see not even in the first book of the series). Then, you will be quite compelled to buy the next book in the series, which is Flights.

The overall strength and creativity of Cerebus has made Dave Sim one of the great success stories of the independent comics field, but if one Cerebus story stands out, it is Melmoth.

Unlike some Cerebus graphic novels, Melmoth is tightly plotted, largely thanks to the fact that Sim actually did very little in the way of plotting; the storyline concerning the death of Oscar Wilde is taken from actual letters. Much of the dialogue and narration is excerpted nearly word-for-word from the notes penned by Wilde friends Robert Ross and Reginald Turner. Locked into previously written narration, Sim is forced to discipline himself, and the result is the finest graphic novel created by a North American to date.

Melmoth achieves its success despite -- or perhaps , because of -- the fact that Cerebus himself has less to do in this graphic novel than in any before or since. In a strange way, the minor role of his series' main protagonist sharply emphasized the best traits of Sim: slick and startling page layouts, seemingly-effortless pacing, witty dialogue and an unfailing touch with gestures and facial expressions that belies his sometimes clumsy draftsmanship.

Because it has less to do with the "main" Cerebus storyline than any other entry in the series before or since, Melmoth makes the best graphic novel for those who have never had the pleasure of reading Sim's work. Don't pass it up.

Oscar Wilde, one of the leading lights of the late Victorian literary scene, was clearly a huge influence on Dave Sim, the writer/artist/visionary behind the "Cerebus" series. The preceding arc, "Jaka's Story", featured 'Oscar' as a supporting character (this story reveals that it was not, as one might have believed, the actual Wilde, who appears in this volume as an older man; he in fact expresses sympathy for the Oscar of "Jaka's Story"), and now, the sixth edition of Sim's massive creator-owned opus is dedicated largely to recounting Wilde's last days and death, translated into the fictional setting of Cerebus's city of Iest.

Following his conviction for indecency and servce of his time in prison (which, as an aside, I've always felt was largely his own fault; if one is a closeted gay in a repressed society, suing someone for libel when they claim you are gay would seem to be a serious case of pushing your luck, not to mention being perjury), Wilde ended up living abroad under the alias Sebastian Melmoth (a name pieced together from Charles Maturin's "Melmoth the Wanderer"). Sim includes in the narration the letters of Wilde's closest associates, with references to Paris and the like changed to Iest and such. This is all competently done, but, honestly, there isn't any particular point to this story beyond Sim wanting to do it. It has nothing to do with the ongoing story of "Cerebus", and it doesn't really say anything about Wilde either.

Also included is a story with the actual main character, Cerebus. The last volume ended with Cerebus' love interest and their associates being either killed or spirited away; Jaka is not dead, but Cerebus believes her to be, and so he spends most of the story basically paralyzed in a state of shock, before being roused to action by a joking reference to Jaka by a Cirinist guard, and then goes on a rampage, back in play.

This is a very minor piece of work in the "Cerebus" story.

All of the previous reviews have very good points. This is a departure from the main storyline, Cerebus does not do a great deal in it, and the story was written before Dave Sim ever set his pen to his easel. But look at the other side of the comments, not one of them really regrets reading the story. This is one of the shorter chapters of the saga, and as a result it displays an agility and a skill level from both artists that is truly inspiring. This departure into the life of Wilde works very well with the trauma that Cerebus is going through and adds a greater depth to the storyline as a whole.

Nope. I don't get it. I do not understand why I need to watch all the gory details of Oscar Wilde's death, or what it has to do with Cerebus. If you read the 5 star reviews carefully, they can't explain it either. "It's about a man who died for his Art." Really? Is that really why he died? Even if it were true, how do you derive that message from this book? "Dave is doing something different! No one has ever done this before!" Yeah, well, different isn't always good.
From my point of view, the most interesting thing in this book is Oscar the Elder's (there are 2 Oscars) explanation for why the normally repressive Cirinists allow "reads" authors to write whatever they want.
I give it two stars for the art.
If you do skip this one, you'll need to know the following. ***spoiler*** Cerebus overhears a conversation between two Cirinists and infers that Jaka has been executed. This shakes him out of the vegetative state he's spent most of the book in, and he kills the Cirinists. He recalls Bear telling him about a man who killed a Cirinist. The Cirinists are somewhat telepathic (women read minds, guys), so in response, the Cirinists swarmed after the man and tortured him to death. Cerebus briefly contemplates suicide, but decides to run for it instead.

Dave Sim retells the story of Oscar Wilde in his own way, while a depressed Cerebus does not much at all except mourn Jaka, who he thinks is dead.

Just lovely. Every page.

Some excellent writing about this one, people, except -- all you fools out there who think this is pointless, has no relationship to Cerebus' story, etc etc etc... Come on. Y'all need to think a little harder on this one. I doubt Dave Sim would've spent so much time working on the book if there were no POINT to it, and didn't matter in Cerebus' larger structure. What, this was just a whim that Dave spent MONTHS working on?? Sure.

Seriously, haven't you noticed some of the grander themes in the series, the things that tie it all together? both this volume, and the life and writing of Oscar Wilde, are exemplary of the self-definition, self-expression and alienation which Cerebus struggles with... Why are we who we are? Why do we love who we love? Why do we do what we do? It's a bigger-picture-sort-of-thing this time.

Dave Sim's admiration of Oscar Wilde makes for boring reading. This could have benifited by NOT having that part of the story in. The parts WITH our main character 'Cerebus' are of course great. The building of Cerebus coming back to the world is amazing....I found myself on the edge of my seat as he came to.

Certainly a well-done piece of work and a skillful depiction of the final days of Oscar Wilde. But it's true -- this has nothing to do with Cerebus. Sim's fluctuation between all-out whimsical fantasy and heavy-handed realism always struck me as a bit awkward and grating. Why is Oscar Wilde important to the world of Cerebus? Why should his death be a part of the Cerebus storyline? Is there an important metaphorical parallel?

Answers: He isn't, it shouldn't, and no. The way it came off to me is that Sim had been reading and enjoying Oscar Wilde, and decided to incorporate his completely irrelevant interest into his comic book, because, well ... because he just likes Wilde so much. It doesn't belong. And it is early evidence of Sim's arrogance and pretentiousness which would become more visible yet in the volumes to come.

But, all the same, I'd be lying if I said it was poorly done. It is, indeed, a good and well-researched piece of work. The only problem is that I'm really not that interested in Oscar Wilde -- and if I were, I'd get a bio and read up on him myself. I wouldn't turn to Cerebus.