Cerebus No. 156

***Cerebus No. 156*** is an issue of the comic book *Cerebus*.

## Story

### "Mind Game V"

Cerebus in the Seventh Sphere. He sees past the illusions when he keeps saying the voices he hears isn't the real Suenteus Po. When he gets past the illusions he decides to go up.

Fret Mac Mury calms the Pigts and we see their idol - it's left ear has fallen off. The two Judges continue to argue about who is who. Cirin gets a report on Punisheroach.

Mr. Hammond talks to Mrs. Thatcher about having to rebuild the sphere mold.

### "Central Hotel Varanasi"

* subtitled *A Cerebus Preview*
* twelve-page story written and drawn by Jeff Gillette

A cartoon character visits Varanasi and deals with an existential crisis. The narrative is frequently interrupted by exposition from an unnamed person commenting on the action and the nature of cartooning.

## Additional

* *Note from the President*
* *Aardvark Comment*

## Characters

* Cerebus *(last seen in Cerebus No. 155; next appearance in Cerebus No. 157)*
* Cirin *(last seen in Cerebus No. 155; next appearance in Cerebus No. 158)*
* Regency Elf *(last seen in Cerebus No. 155; next appearance in Cerebus No. 157)*
* Judge's Evil Twin *(last seen in Cerebus No. 155; final appearance)*
* Fret Mac Mury *(last seen in Cerebus No. 5; final appearance)*
* General Greer *(first appearance; next appearance in Cerebus No. 165)*
* Harmon Blakely *(last seen in Cerebus No. 102; next appearance in Cerebus No. 157)*
* Judge *(last seen in Cerebus No. 155; next appearance in Cerebus No. 157)*
* K'Cor *(last seen in Cerebus No. 155; next appearance in Cerebus No. 158)*
* Mr. Hammond *(last seen in Cerebus No. 155; next appearance in Cerebus No. 161)*
* Mrs. Thatcher *(last seen in Cerebus No. 154; next appearance in Cerebus No. 158)*
* Suenteus Po *(last seen in Cerebus No. 155; next appearance in Cerebus No. 157)* As disembodied voice

## Locations

* Seventh Sphere
* Red Marches
* Iest
* Imesh

## Story Notes

* The cover to this Mind Games issue is very similar to the cover for *Cerebus No. 28*.
* When Po asks the rhetorical question *You might as well ask "how high the moon?"* Cerebus responds *The Moon? Two Hundred and thirty thousand miles...*
* Cover: This cover is very similar in style to that of *Cerebus No. 28*, the last time that Suenteus Po appeared. (Alexx)
* 3: Fret Mac Mury was last heard from in *Cerebus No. 67*, where he was revealed to be a political opponent of Bran Mak Mufin and of Cerebus. (Alexx)
* 5: "Fake Regency Elf" Quite probably the FRE \*was\* Suenteus Po, or at least an aspect of him (see 158 for more details). (Alexx)
* 8: "This isn't the Seventh Sphere." Unclear why Cerebus is so certain of this. See notes to *Cerebus No. 157* for more discussion. (Alexx)
* 10: "rooting for Weisshaupt" (107, p.7). (Alexx)
* 13: "infertiles" In a society where citizenship is based upon live birth, infertiles are clearly second-class citizens. (Alexx)
* 15: "Goddess of life eternal" K'Cor was not previously known to worship a goddess. Whether this goddess is to be identified with Terim is unclear. His Sacred Venusian Death-Symbol appears to be about 70 percent complete, judging from the blueprints in *Cerebus No. 9*, p.10. (Alexx)
* 20: "You told Cerebus" (20, p.7). (Alexx)

## Publication Notes

* "Mind Game V" is reprinted in the *Flight*.

## Dave Sim on Cerebus No. 156

* **Jeff:** What is the year at this point in the story line? Unless the snow is out of season I would guess that it is early in the winter of 1415-16 but enough unusual things have happened that it could be as late as 1418.

**Dave:** As of Cerebus #156, it is, indeed early winter of 1415-16.