MARGARET LISS:
A few years ago I scanned all of Dave Sim's notebooks. He had filled 36 notebooks during the years he created the monthly Cerebus series, covering issues #20 to 300, plus the other side items -- like the Epic stories, posters and prints, convention speeches etc. A total of 3,281 notebook pages detailing his creative process. I never really got the time to study the notebooks when I had them. Just did a quick look, scanned them in and sent them back to Dave as soon as possible. So this regular column is a chance for me to look through those scans and highlight some of the more interesting pages.
Yes, we’re continuing our page by page look at Albatross One, Dave Sim’s first notebook used in the creation of Cerebus. If you want to look back from page one to page seventy, use the Notebook One tag to find all the notebook one posts. Last week we finished with page seventy, so this week we start with page seventy-one.
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| Notebook One, page 71 |
And yes, that is a sketch of Elrod in the body of the Sopai assassin with that shit eating grin on his face. Above it are more of Dave’s thoughts on the plot of Cerebus #22. The term ‘Harvard man’ is repeated on this page as we’ve already seen it on page 70. Though it wasn’t used in the finished book.
Page seventy-two has more on Cerebus #22. This time a sketch of the Sopai assassin as himself with no Elrod.
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| Notebook One, page 72 |
Up at the top left corner where it says page 9 Dave wrote and circled this “five panels showing how they get past all the guards and shit”. Well, there ended up being zero panels showing that shit. The text below it – is partially true. Weisshaupt and Cerebus bring “Bunky the Albino” to the tribunal, but not for the reward as the text says.
Below that text and the crossed-out plot point of ‘there’s a rumour going about that the tribunal secretly wants to” something. We’ll never know. After that is something more closer to the plot of Cerebus #22. Almost. Bringing the Sopai assassin and Bunky to the tribunal and having the tribunal vote to elect Weisshaupt as the President of the United Feldwar States.
The next page is a listing of the pages in Cerebus #22 and a summary of what Dave wanted to do with each of them. At least up to page 9:
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| Notebook One, page 73 |
Down the bottom are a couple more sketches. I don’t know why, but the shadowing and line work on the guy in the bottom left corner really grab me. Stuff like this would have me stop at a particular page in the notebook and just stare at it, looking at even line in a way you can’t do with the printed issues.
Now you’ve seen the first 72 pages of this notebook, go get a replica for yourself. So as the boss man says: "If YOU want a Facsimile Edition of Dave's First Notebook used in the production of Cerebus, AKA Albatross #1 there are three ways to get one as outlined in this post RIGHT HERE."
