Cerebus No. 42

## *Cerebus the Aardvark No. 42*

***Cerebus the Aardvark No. 42*** is an issue of *Cerebus* published by Aardvark-Vanaheim.

## Stories

### "Campaign's End"

The campaigning continues. Cerebus does some secret campaigning, behind Astoria's back. He offers bribes to the commanders of the border fortifications in exchange for their support. Cerebus sits back enjoying the warmth of the Regency Hotel, thinking about Astoria suffering in the cold looking for more votes that she doesn't know Cerebus already has. Moon Roach expands his fantasy, determining that snow is "Frostonite...fragments of intense cold formed when the Moon Roach's native planet Froston exploded."

### "Tiny Terror Tales No. 1"

By Michael T. Gilbert (script/layout/inks) and Raoul Vezina (finished pencils)
A young boy finds that the creatures he imagines are inhabiting the bathroom are as dangerous as he thinks.

## Additional

* "A Note from the Publisher"
* "Aardvark Comment"

## Characters

* Astoria *(last seen in issue 41; next appearance in issue 43)*
* Cerebus *(last seen in issue 41; next appearance in issue 43)*
* Bran Mac Mufin *(last seen in issue 41; next appearance in issue 43)*
* Eugene S. Filgate *(last seen in issue 41; next appearance in issue 43)*
* Lord Rodney *(first appearance; next appearance in issue 43)*
* Lord Storm'send *(first appearance; next appearance in issue 44)*
* Dirty Drew McGrew *(last seen in issue 41; next appearance in issue 43)*
* The Moon Roach *(last seen in issue 41; next appearance in issue 43)*

## Locations

* Iest
* Northbell

## Story Notes

* Lord Julius' political party is called the Devotionalist party.
* The first page gives us our first clear explanation of the Exodus Inward.
* Filgate's internal monologue translates to: "I'm going to freeze to death out here and my no-good cousin is going to rob my mother blind. I know it. I'm sorry, Ma."
* The representative of Newcastle, named Lord Rodney in the next issue, is a parody of the comedian Rodney Dangerfield (a bit more popular when this issue was published), whose schtick is anything but upbeat. He also talks with a New York accent, so the implication is that he's also originally from The Docks.
* Garrison is the area north of Blakely.
* Unshib is a city in the T'Capmin Kingdoms.
* The Parmoor representative, not named, is a parody of many possible irate John Cleese characters from Monty Python's Flying Circus -- note that three of the forts are Monty Python references: Fort Palin, Fort Cleese, and Fort Dead Parrot.
* Cerebus's explanation doesn't quite make sense. He claims to know of 59 seats but Astoria only knows of 44. That's a difference of 15. But he also mentions that Astoria not only doesn't know about Grace District, but she also doesn't know about T'ana, Fort Tory, and Garrison. That difference is 29, not 15.
	+ The actual tally seems to have Cerebus knowing about 71 and Astoria knowing about 42 :
		- 101 representatives total (reduced from 113); 51 needed to elect (was 57).
			* 32 south of the Feld
				+ 8 from Greater Iest (reduced from 20); already pledged to Astoria before the campaign
				+ 5 from Lower Iest, 5 individual boroughs
				+ 19 from "Iest and Suburbs":
					- 6 from Harbourside, pledged to Cerebus ("lower interest rates or death")
					- 6 from Nelson
					- 6 from Oldham, pledged to Cerebus on a signed deal
					- 1 from East Chapel
			* 44 west of the Chesmi
				+ 10 from the Docks and area
				+ 12 from Blakely, pledged to Cerebus (Blakely)
				+ 15 from Grace District, pledged to Cerebus but unknown to Astoria
				+ 7 from Garrison ("200 crossbowmen"), pledged to Cerebus, unknown to Astoria
			* 25 east of the Chesmi
				+ 10 from Oldcastle ("Minister of Optimism"), pledged to Cerebus
				+ 5 from Northbell
				+ 2 from Rivershire
				+ 4 from T'ana and District, pledged to Cerebus, unknown to Astoria
				+ 4 from Parmoor
					- 3 from Fort Tory, pledged to Cerebus, unknown to Astoria
					- 1 from Fort Cleese
* Roach's story of Froston and Frostonite echo that of Superman's planet Krypton and Kryptonite.
* This marks the first time only one of the McGrew Brothers appears (this being Dirty Drew; though Dirty Fleagle might be around behind-the-scenes).

## Publication Notes

* Reprinted in *Cerebus: High Society No. 17* with a variant cover and additional materials.
* "Campaign's End" is reprinted in the *High Society*.

## Dave Sim on...

* **Mike F**: "There is that bit in High Society where the map says Fort Palin and Fort Cleese, but I always read the guy rambling on and on as Eric Idle from the Travel Agent sketch. Am I wrong?"

**Dave**: "Afraid so. It's supposed to be John Cleese in the Dead Parrot sketch, but then they all had a "go" at being long-winded in one sketch or another, didn't they?"
## References

 1. ↑ Yahoo Groups Blog & Mail #421 (Nov 6, 2007)