Monday 16 April 2018

Reading Cerebus #16

Hi, Everybody!

Money...so they say, is the root of all evil tooday...
CEREBUS IN HELL? THE IRON MANTICORE PART #1 (MAR 30) strips for 2019
CEREBUS IN HELL? THE IRON MANTICORE PART #1 (APR 06) strips for 2019
And you should know the rest by now... bonecrusher86 on the eBays

Anyways...
"Hey kids! What time is it?"
"Time to eat laundry soap and snort condoms!"
It's "READING CEREBUS" time.
It's "READING CEREBUS" time.
Kevin reads Cerebus for you,
It’s such a nifty thing to do.
Let’s give a rousing cheer,
Cause "Reading Cerebus" is here,
"Eat laundry soap and snort condoms"?
What the HELL is wrong with you?
Kevin Kimmes:
Welcome back to “Reading Cerebus”, a new (some-what) weekly column here at A Moment of Cerebus. The goal of this column is to bring a fresh perspective to the 300-issue saga of Cerebus as I read through the series for the first time and give my insights into the longest running independent comic book series of all time. Think of this as part book club, part lit-crit, and part pop culture musing. Oh, and they told me Dave Sim himself may be reading this, so I hope I don’t screw this up. Let’s continue.

"Silverspoon" - Originally appearing in Comics Buyers Guide, Reprinted in Cerebus Weekly #26 and later pressings of the 1st phonebook
I didn't think I had digital copies of the Silverspoon strips, but I was wrong. Thank CerebusDownloads.com!
Can I make a confession? As a kid, Prince Valiant bored me to tears. I loved checking out the comic strips in the newspaper, but Prince Valiant was a constant avoidance.

Why, you ask? I guess I really don't have a definitive answer, but it always felt a little impenetrable due to the length of time it had been going for. No matter what week you read it, it always felt like you had missed so much that it was impossible to get caught up. Or, maybe that just has to do more with a time when everything wasn't so readily available. Regardless, I let out an audible groan when I saw what my next reading assignment looked like.


The Arrogant and Insufferable Silverspoon
There may never have been, or will be, a character more aptly named than that of Silverspoon. He is the embodiment of spoiled rotten and pandered to children the world over, a fact that Cerebus is unafraid to make clear when he believes that Silverspoon has perished at the hands of Onliu pirates. 


The boy wants a sea serpent? The boy gets a sea serpent.

The boy wants to fight Onliu pirates? The boy gets to sacrifice all at his disposal in his fight with Onliu pirates.

Then, the locals show up.




Sha-Boom Sha-Boom

Doo-wop speaking natives? Sure, what the hell!

Tied to posts and left to the elements, Cerebus and Silverspoon are the test cases for the locals who are betting on which will get them first: exposure or starvation. Four days go by and Cerebus is sure that the boy is near death. That's when dear old dad shows up with the cavalry.




Rufus T. Firefly
So, who is Silverspoon's father? Well, none other than comedic film star Groucho Marx...I mean, Lord Julius. The characterization here is perfect with Lord Julius delivering the kind of snappy dialogue that has become a hallmark of Groucho.

Cerebus: "What will happen to the br... uh... Silverspoon when he wakes up?"

Lord Julius: "I hadn't really thought about it. I suppose I'll send him to a boy's military school..."

Cerebus: "But Silverspoon has travelled the world. Won't a boy's school be a little bit... well... boring?"

Lord Julius: "You know, you're right. Maybe I'll send him to a girl's school instead."


When I realized I had digital copies of all the Silverspoon strips, I knew I was gonna run all eleven of them...

Final Thoughts

I have to admit that this weeks reading turned out to be better than I originally thought it was going to be. Dave again pushes forward with his parody/critique of famous artists and comics, and still finds the right notes to hit to keep the humor rolling.

Join me back here next week as I take a look at "The Palnu Trilogy" and learn more about Lord Julius.

Currently Listening To: Frank Zappa - "Joe's Corsage"

Kevin Kimmes is a lifelong comic book reader, sometime comic book artist, and recent Cerebus convert. He can be found slinging comics at the center of the Multiverse, aka House of Heroes in Oshkosh, WI.

1 comment:

Tony Dunlop said...

I know it's not very sophisticated humor...but that "native" dialogue cracks me up every time.