Cerebus No. 4

***Cerebus the Aardvark No. 4*** is the fourth issue of *Cerebus*. It is notable for the first appearance of Elrod.

## Stories

### "Death's Dark Tread"

Cerebus has journeyed to Serrea, where he poses as a cloth merchant, knowing that the Borealans are forcibly recruiting mercenaries. With his money almost gone, he sprawls in an alley, drinking apricot brandy. A gem bounces into the alley (the previous owner died very suddenly). Intending to use the gem as his stake in a game of Diamondback, Cerebus goes in search of a tavern. He doesn't know (and never learns) that Death wants his Chaos Gem to fill out a collection. Death sends a demonic creature known as the Crawler, but Cerebus manages to defeat it. Seeing that he needs "a more malleable personality," Death plots an encounter between Cerebus and such an individual.

The next morning, Cerebus goes to the market, still in his merchant disguise. Suddenly, Elrod the Albino appears, literally bumping into Cerebus. The Earth-Pig takes an instant dislike to the pompous blowhard, little suspecting that Death has selected Elrod as his pawn. Cerebus tries to walk away, upon which Elrod challenges him to a duel. With one stroke, however, Elrod shatters his black (rusted, that is, as Cerebus thinks) blade Seersucker to bits against Cerebus' sword. Unabashed, Elrod proposes a partnership. A guard appears and orders them to cease loitering. Elrod declares them both to be "the mightiest swords in the Southlands," which leads to a fight. Elrod picks one guard and leaves the rest to Cerebus. Both are quickly overwhelmed and sent to Southgate Prison.

Chained to a wall next to Elrod, the aardvark quickly loses all patience. He puts everything he has into breaking his chains from the wall and then breaking the lock on the door. Elrod, at first skeptical, assumes that Cerebus will free him as well, then that he'll escape and bring help. Cerebus, of course, has no such plans; he crawls through the ventilation tunnels to the surface. Blaming his recent misfortunes on the gem, he drops it into a well, thus thwarting Death.

## Additional

* "A Note from the Publisher" by Deni Loubert
* "The Aardvarkian Age" map of Estarcion by Michael Loubert
* "Aardvark Comment"
* Preview of "Bran Mak Mufin" from *Cerebus No. 5*

## Characters

* Cerebus *(last seen in "Passage", next appearance in issue 5)*
* Crawler *(only appearance)*
* "Death" *(first appearance; next appearance in issue 151)*
* Elrod *(first appearance; next appearance in issue 7)*

## Objects

* Cerebus' medallions
* Cerebus' sword
* Cerebus' vest
* apricot brandy
* Chaos Gem
* Seersucker

## Locations

* Sepran Empire
	+ Serrea
	+ Southgate Prison

## Notes

* Oath count for this issue: Clovis 3, Tarim 5.
* "Death" is later revealed to be a wizard using that name, not the personification of death.
* (p. 2) Dave later explains the missing helmet, medallion designs, and vest in Issue 196. That issue also gives a surprising explanation for the existence of "Death" and the Chaos Gem.
* (p. 2) Cerebus's Sofim River journey a week prior is detailed in the short story "Passage".
* (p. 3) Diamondback, Cerebus's favorite card game, is mentioned for the first time.
* (p. 5) "Death" swears "by the Five Spheres," presumably referring to the Spheres of the Gods from the previous two issues.
* (p. 8) In the first panel, there is a merchant that looks a lot like Dave (E. Khanna), but it's not yet not confirmed.
* (p. 8) Cerebus refers to mercenaries from Dehrsion, which is another city of the Sepran Empire, down the Sofim River from Serrea.
* (p. 9) Elrod's belief that Cerebus is a boy in a bunny suit will be a recurring joke throughout their encounters.
* (p. 11) Elrod calls his sword *Seersucker* and then says, "That's a joke, son--but no one's going to get it for at least five thousand years." Referencing the fabric (seersucker) is an anachronism that will later be rationalized as something that's part of his character.
* (p. 18) A footnote about Cerebus's dialogue says that "none of it was printable." Sim later got more comfortable with the idea of using profanity in *Cerebus.* (Alexx)
* (p. 19) Elrod mentions "Shrove Tuesday," another anachronism.
* (p. 21) Cerebus escapes the prison but without his sword, making this the second story in a row (after "Passage") to have him lose his weapon; somehow he will have it on him when next we see him.
* (p. 22) The last page's borders spell out "FIN."

## Publication Notes

* Reprinted in *Cerebus Bi-weekly - January 13, 1989* and *Cerebus No. 4 - Remastered* with variant covers and additional material.
* "Death's Dark Tread" is reprinted in *Swords of Cerebus Volume One*, *Cerebus*, and *Cerebus Archive 6-7/78*.

## Dave Sim on *Cerebus No. 4*

* By i4 I was beginning to understand that if I didn't get a firm grip on all of the continuity at the beginning it was going to cause a lot of problems later on (however "later on" later on would prove to be). It was when I had Elrod give the name of his blade as a "Seersucker! That's a joke, son, but no one's going to get it for at least five thousand years!" That was just too big a break from the internal reality that I was building so I decided then and there that he had to be a rather-more-than-usually-substantial illusion.

* "This issue also introduced Cerebus' little vest - in honor of his first trip to a big city. It was intended as a joke, see. If you go into a city you have to get dressed. I've completely forgotten why I put those little designs on his medallions, though.

It was the most popular issue I had done to that point. People raved to me about it for weeks. Everyone I talked to suddenly developed a Foghorn Leghorn voice and spewed my own writing at me. And do you know what my reaction was when I had finished that story?
They aren't going to like it, because nothing *happens*. I mean he runs across the Albino, who gets him in trouble and then he escapes. I had visions of my brief career flaming out over the horizon.
It's a condition that has persisted to this day. Either you people are easy to please or I'm a wee tad too hard on myself."
## References

 1. ↑ *Swords of Cerebus, Volume One*, Introduction to Issue 4