Cerebus The Aardvark!

Cerebus the Aardvark is an amazing creation. I followed the decades-long saga off and on, getting on board in the early 80's, but eventually trading away all of those issues. I rejoined the saga in the early 90's and still have some of those around here. I had to abandoned the story because of finances and frankly a lack of patience with its then-pondering pace. Nonetheless, I marvel at Dave Sim's commitment and I celebrate the accomplishment.

But for all that, I've never read the earliest Cerebus stories, the ones which spoof the classic Thomas-Smith Conan stories. Now, the stories themselves are actually pretty funny. The Earth-Pig isn't a fully rendered character yet, but his irrascible nature is fully in view and his plain-spoken approach to worldly matters is entertaining. All in all a pretty spot-on lampoon of the classic Marvel barbarian comics. You can readily see which scenes from Barry Smith's early work are on display. Sim's art cleaves so closely to Smith's that its difficult to find him. But knowing that soon enough he will find his own voice, makes the sometimes painfully exact homages easier to digest.

The first story rips off the plot of "The Heart of the Elephant" and does a neat spin on it. The second takes a dive at "The Frost-Giant's Daughter" sort of, without the daughter, and the third one I've read so far, is the funniest yet with giving us the loquacious Red Sophia in all her well-rounded glory. Funny stuff. You can see the engine beginning to hum, though many stories remain. Elrod, Cockroach, Julius, they all are funny or perhaps humorous is a better word. I don't so much laugh as nod when the jokes come. I won't pretend to get all the jokes, but the stories are well crafted and you can see Sim's skills grow story by story in these early outings as his interests become less about creating a curious pastiche of Barry Windsor Smith and more about developing an intersting world for Cerebus to inhabit.

I doubt I go beyond the first volume. But that first one is pretty good.

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