recursal/Fanatic-Fandom huggingface dataset:
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles No. 8 - Remastered & Expanded

***Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles No. 8 - Remastered & Expanded*** is a reprint of the eighth issue of the comic book series *Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles*. A part of the Cerebus: Remastered & Expanded series from The Waverly Press in collaboration with Aardvark-Vanaheim, this reprint is in black & white, apart from the covers. It was financed with a Kickstarter campaign and features over thirty different cover variations.

In addition to the reprint, the Kickstarter campaign features a number of additional items, including trading cards and three separate titles, *Visions of Turtles 8*, *75 More Sleeps No. 1* and the third issue of *Pieces of Turtles 8*.

In advance of the campaign, Waverly published an ashcan edition of the reprint, with remaining copies also available through the Kickstarter.

## Story

In other dimension, Renet, who is an apprentice timestress, is attempting to steal a scepter that holds the sacred sands of time, which allows the holder to travel anytime and any place in the known universe by wishing it. She gets the scepter and is found by Lord Simultaneous. She wishes herself somewhere, anywhere to avoid him and ends up in New York City in 1986 with the Turtles.

Lord Simultaneous finds her, and to avoid her she wishes to go "anyplace on this Earth before humans recorded time." We then see some barbarians who know it is Tuesday, but don't know the year because as one of them says "I don't think we record that yet." An asterisk leads us to a footnote that says "yes we do -- it's 1406 - Tarim". The barbarians have woken up Cerebus who requests not to be awoken until sundown.

Then Renet and the Turtles jump into Cerebus' time, and Cerebus takes them for a witch and demons. Cerebus then challenges the turtles to a fight, but Renet stops them and explains what is going on. The group is then attacked, and someone takes the scepter from Renet in the battle. The group then gets some mercenaries and battles the group that took the scepter. Lord Simultaneous shows up just as the battle is drawing to a close, and he gets back his scepter, frees the group and sends everyone back to their proper time and place.

## Cover Gallery

Dave Sim - ADave Sim - BDave Sim - CDave Sim - DBrandon GrahamCiro NieliKyle HotzSam HeimerCarson GrubaughSean Michael RobinsonBrookes Morris - ABrookes Morris - BBrookes Morris - CFederico MeleSimon BisleyFero Pe - AFero Pe - BJim Lawson &
Steve LavigneBenjamin HobbsMichael DooneySamuel G. Wolfe

250 copiesAl Gofa

250 copiesPlatinum CoverPop CoverBlank CoverBrookes Morris - B
distressedBrookes Morris - C
distressedZombie Group
March 15

100 copiesZombie Cerebus
March 16

100 copiesZombie Renet
March 17

100 copiesZombie Michelangelo
March 20

100 copiesZombie Raphael
March 21

100 copiesZombie Leonardo
March 22

100 copiesZombie Donatello
March 23

100 copies
## References

 1. ↑ TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES #8 (Remastered)
Swords of Cerebus Volume Six

***Swords of Cerebus Volume Six*** is a trade paperback collection of stories about Cerebus from *Cerebus No. 21* through *Cerebus No. 25*, plus a new story. Each story has a new introduction by Dave Sim. It is the final volume of *Swords of Cerebus*.

## Stories

### "Captain Cockroach"

from *Cerebus No. 21*

Finding himself inexplicably in Beduin, Cerebus comes upon Elrod and Captain Cockroach, who are working for Adam Weisshaupt on his campaign against "The Hsiffies".

### "The Death of Elrod"

from *Cerebus No. 22*

Trying to deal with an assassin, Captain Cockroach gets Elrod killed, who is able to possess other people's bodies. Weisshaupt hopes to use "Deadalbino" to further his own plans.

### "The Beguiling"

from *Cerebus No. 23*

An injured Cerebus finds himself holed up in an all-girls boarding school.

### "Swamp Sounds"

from *Cerebus No. 24*

With the arrival of spring, Cerebus learns the truth about Madame duFort and the school.

### "This Woman, This Thing"

from *Cerebus No. 25*

Intrigued by Charles X. Claremont's Woman Thing, Cerebus and the professor settle into a castle owned by an artist, who has a secret of his own.

### "A Night on the Town"

new story - backgrounds by Gerhard

A drunken Cerebus finds a corpse, who he treats as a drinking companion, until he finds himself face-to-face with a town guard.

## Publication Notes

* The first printing of *Swords of Cerebus Volume Six* was riddled with errors. Material was printed out of order and the fifth issue meant to be covered was omitted. For those who had purchased the first edition, Aardvark-Vanaheim published *Swords of Cerebus Supplement to Volume Six*, which reprints "This Woman, This Thing" from *Cerebus No. 25*. Subsequent printings of *Volume Six* correct these errors.
	+ The order of material in the first printing goes as follows: Introduction to "Captain Cockroach" and "The Death of Elrod", "Captain Cockroach", "Introduction to "The Beguiling", "Swamp Sounds" and "This Woman, This Thing", "The Death of Elrod", "The Beguiling", "Swamp Sounds", Introduction to "A Night on the Town", "A Night on the Town".
Northern Isshuria

**Northern Isshuria** was the most northerly land in Estarcion and home to the sport of Five-Bar Gate. It was bounded to the north by the No Man's Sea, to the south by Isshuria, to the south-west by The God's Fence mountain range, in the south by the lands of the Conniptin Tribes and the Hsifan Khanate, and to the east by the Shen Steppes. Its capitol city (and the center of Five Bar Gate) was Moosehat.

## Basis

Northern Isshuria is a parody of Canada, Dave Sim and Gerhard's homeland.
Pieces of Turtles 8

***Pieces of Turtles 8*** is the first of a two-issue mini-series of the same title published by Aardvark-Vanaheim in 2022. It was produced to help promote the upcoming *Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles No. 8 - Remastered & Expanded* edition. Material is taken from Dave Sim's Aardvark-Vanaheim Archives and relates to the creation of *Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles No. 8*, a crossover between Cerebus and the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. The interior is in black & white and the covers are printed in gold foil.

## Contents

The interior features reproductions of many historical pieces and new material for the "Expanded & Rematered" Edition. Commentary throughout by Dave Sim. Contents include:

* A letter from Kevin Eastman
* A painting of Cerebus and a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle by Eastman that he sent Sim in early 1984
* A comparison between Eastman's original pencils for *Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles No. 8* and the finished art by Eastman, Sim and Peter Laird.
* A preview of Sim's new inks-over-blueline cover from Eastman's original cover for *TMNT No. 8* and a variant cover from an interior page
* "Giant-Size Artists' Edition Trading Cards" - highlighting details from Sim's re-inked cover
* Several contemporary photos

## Publication Notes

*Pieces of Turtles 8* can be found in either the Canadian or a U.S. Edition. Either edition can be found signed/numbered or unsigned. The total print run for the Canadian Edition is 125 copies, with 21 unsigned/unnumbered. The print run for the U.S. Edition is 325 copies, with 82 unsigned/unnumbered.

Additionally, eight Printer Proof Editions were made available, signed by Dave Sim and printer Alfonso Espinos.
Onliu

**Onliu** was a City State located to the east-northeast of Palnu and east of the Feld River. It included the cities of Chenea and Shawato.

## Nature

* One of their major native industries appeared to be piracy.
* Their preferred weapon was the war hammer.
* Onliu soldiers liked to play Match Diamondback.

## Basis

The native accent of Onliu, if the McGrew Brothers are typical, is based on a Southern American accent very like the Warner Brother's cartoon character Yosemite Sam.

## References

 1. ↑ *Cerebus No. 18*, map
2. ↑ *Cerebus No. 14*, page 1
3. ↑ *Cerebus No. 27*, page 4
4. ↑ *Cerebus No. 27*, page 11
Miracles in EXOPLANET

Miracles in EXOPLANET is the spinoff game in the EXO series.It is the 7th game in the series.It was a commercial success

### Critical Reception

It was received with positive reviews.All Games gave it an 9 on 10 while Star Games gave it a 10 on 10.Informed Gamer gave it a 10 on 10

### Commercial Performance

The game debuted atop the Video Game Charts Weekly with 283.9k units sold in its first week.It stayed atop for 5 weeks and topped the monthly charts with 827,912 units.It sold 1,274,128 units in its lifetime
Pieces of Turtles 8.2

***Pieces of Turtles 8.2*** is the second issue of the *Pieces of Turtles 8* series published by Aardvark-Vanaheim in 2022. It was produced to help promote the upcoming *Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles No. 8 - Remastered & Expanded* edition. Material is taken from Dave Sim's Aardvark-Vanaheim Archives and relates to the creation of *Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles No. 8*, a crossover between Cerebus and the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. The interior is in black & white and the covers are printed in gold foil.

It was followed in 2023 by *Pieces of Turtles 8.3*, published in collaboration with The Waverly Press.

## Contents

The interior features reproductions of many historical pieces and new material for the "Expanded & Rematered" Edition. Commentary throughout by Dave Sim. Contents include:

* Details from the original art by Kevin Eastman
* Several photos of the gathering for the drafting of the "Creators' Bill of Rights", focusing on Eastman and Peter Laird
* Eastman's concept drawings for *Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Book III* from First Comics
* 1988 Sketches by Eastman and Laird dedicated to Sim
* Reproduction of the 2012 "Matisse, The Unknown Turtle" print by Sim and Eastman, plus production art for the print
* Sketches of Cerebus by Eastman
* Letter to Sim from Eastman that accompanied the original art sent for Sim's contribution
* Letter to Sim from Eastman and Laird outlining their agreement for the *Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Book III* publication
* Reproduction of Sim's invitation to the Northampton, Massachusetts premiere of the 1990 *Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles* movie.

## Publication Notes

*Pieces of Turtles 8.2* can be found in two editions, a Canadian Edition (published in June, 2022) and a U.S. Edition (published in August, 2022). Either edition can be found either signed/numbered or unsigned. The total print run for the Canadian Edition is 227 copies, with 35 unsigned/unnumbered. The print run for the U.S. Edition is 122 copies, with 4 unsigned/unnumbered. Signed U.S. copies could also have a "Matisse, the Unknown Turtle" head added.

The Canadian Edition was plagued with printing errors in the gold foil on the covers. Sim marked several error copies "REJECTED", circling the errors.
What Happened Between Issues Twenty & Twenty-One

**"What Happened Between Issues Twenty & Twenty-One"** is an eight-page story written by Dave Sim with art by Sim and Gene Day. It tells of how Cerebus got from Togith to Beduin after he had been drugged in *Cerebus No. 20*.

## Summary

G'Evan of Togith, under the promise of a 4,000 crown bounty for the still-living aardvark from Mr. Strangis, kidnaps the unconscious Cerebus from Cirinist Mother Wenda's apartment. But G'Evan, considering selling Cerebus to someone else, is stabbed to death by Strangis. In the commotion, Cerebus stumbles in a daze into the Red Horn Tavern. Half a glass of ale only serves to activate the drug in his system more, and he staggers out of the back of the bar, avoiding Strangis, but passing out once again. He's found by a pair of men who sell him to a Freak Show. Two weeks later, the Freak Show ends up outside of Haprengate, where B'Ren Kael recognizes the comatose aardvark, and after two days of negotiations (and spending his entire life savings of 1,200 crowns), he buys Cerebus. With more than a half dozen "agents" looking for Cerebus, B'Ren races ahead of any of them, to the house of Sir Gerrick. B'Ren wants to help his cause, but requests half of the money he spent, and instead gets stabbed by Gerrick's bodyguard.

Later, aware Cerebus will soon awaken, and not able to drug him further without risk of killing him, Sir Gerrick and Astoria are concerned that once he wakes, he'll rejoin Gudre and end up decimated by Lord Gorce. Astoria decides to take Cerebus to Beduin, use her forged papers to get him in, and utilize the city's temporary ban on travel to keep him from rejoining the T'Gitans before they're defeated. Gerrick warns Astoria not to cross him, and she says she wouldn't any more than he would to her. As she departs, Gerrick wonders of all the masks he's seen her put on in the years he's known her, which one is the real Astoria.

## Characters

* Cerebus (last seen in *Cerebus No. 20*; next appearance in *Cerebus No. 21*
* G'Evan (only appearance; dies)
* Mr. Strangis (only appearance)
* B'Ren Kael (executive assistant to the Reeve of Harpengate; only appearance; dies)
* Sir Gerrick (first appearance; next appearance in *Cerebus No. 300*)
* Astoria (first appearance; next appearance in *Cerebus No. 31*)

## Story Notes

* The Freak Show includes a "Houseplant that looks like a Man", which features DC Comics' Swamp Thing's head on a plant pot. He's beside "B'Erni! The Amputee with Two Heads", who is based on Berni Wrightson, co-creator of Swamp Thing. Another parody of Swamp Thing appears in *Cerebus No. 25*.

## Publication Notes

* First printed in *Swords of Cerebus Volume Three*
* Reprinted in the *Cerebus World Tour Book*
Pluto

*For the planet, see Pluto (planet).*

**Pluto** was an ancient sailor who was an enemy of Squinteye.

## History

When he was nine years old, Cerebus witnessed a fight between Pluto and Squinteye.

## Basis

Pluto is a parody of Bluto, the primary rival of E. C. Segar's Popeye.

## Appearances

* *Cerebus Jam No. 1* - story "Squinteye the Sailor"
* *Cerebus No. 201* and *Cerebus No. 202* - voice only
Turg

**Turg** was a mercenary who worked with E'lass in various schemes.

## History

Turg and E'lass encountered Cerebus in Iest when the aardvark was informed of the location of the Temple of the Black Sun and the two tried to get the information from him. Cerebus quickly beat up Turg when the mercenary tried to rough him up, making Turg fear further confrontations with the aardvark, though he still helped E'lass when his partner got into a fight with Borealan mercenaries.

Later the two attempted to steal the Wyndmel Diamond during the Festival of the Petunias in Palnu. They were again thwarted by Cerebus, this time inadvertently.

## Nature

* He referred to himself as "The Unduly-Tall" and spoke in simplistic third-person.
* Dave told Cerebus that Turg was one of the chaotic manifestations released by Cerebus, the "ignorant northern barbarian you would always be."

## References

 1. ↑ *Cerebus No. 6*
2. ↑ *Cerebus No. 16*
3. ↑ *Cerebus No. 196*
Spawn No. 10 Remastered and Expanded Supplement

***Spawn No. 10 Remastered and Expanded Supplement*** is a collection of art produced for the "Spawn No. 10 - Remastered & Expanded" reprint published by The Waverly Press in collaboration with Aardvark-Vanaheim. It is a "behind the scenes look at the creation of the remastered *SPAWN No. 10*".

## Contents

For the "Remastered & Expanded" reprint of *Spawn No. 10*, Dave Sim redrew all of the interior appearances of Cerebus and created several new cover images. The *Supplement* reproduces all of the new interior art plus sketches of the new covers. It also includes the original pencil sketch of the cover to *Spawn No. 10* by Todd McFarlane and the art for the "Cerespawn" trading cards.

## Publication History

The comic-sized book was initially made available as part of the *Spawn No. 10* Kickstarter campaign, with remaining copies sold through Indiegogo and the Waverly Comics web site. The book had a print run of 300 copies.

## References

 1. ↑ SPAWN #10: REMASTERED & EXPANDED Kickstarter campaign
The Girl Next Door

**"The Girl Next Door"** is a three-page story by Dave Sim and Gerhard first published in *Epic Illustrated No. 30*.

## Summary

A five-year-old Cerebus sits on a log, watching the house of a young blonde girl named Cherie. When she opens the door, he ducks behind the log. He follows her when she goes out into a field, picking berries into a pail. Noticing some flowers, Cerebus picks a bouquet for Cherie. His fear overwhelms him, so he picks up a small stone and tosses at the back of her head. She begins crying, as Cerebus races off into the forest, very much in love with the girl next door.

## Characters

* Cerebus *(earliest full-story appearance; next appearance in "His First Fifth")*
* Cherie *(only full appearance; next appearance, mentioned in* Cerebus No. 238*)*

## Story Notes

* This story takes place in 1390, when Cerebus is five years old.

## References

 1. ↑ "Note from the President", *Cerebus Jam No. 1*
Original Cirin

**Cirin** is the founder of the Cirinist movement and the original holder of the name. She was overthrown by her assistant, Serna, who took her name and imprisoned her with her watcher/stenographer Vera.

## History

During Cerebus' second Ascension he fell through the roof of her living quarters and they had a talk over tea (for her) and whiskey (for Cerebus). She did all of the talking, telling Cerebus about women's true nature of being mind readers, and how men and women are opposites and deserve each other.

Her talk so upset Vera that she threw her transcript in disgust and stormed out to get the guards. The original Cirin then ushered Cerebus out through the basement to the Horseshoe Tavern where he'd be safe. She gave him money for the night and promised that an account would be set up so he could stay there indefinitely.

## Appearances

* *Cerebus No. 163* through *Cerebus No. 165*
* *Cerebus No. 194* and *Cerebus No. 195*

## Quotes

* "..like any other weapon of destruction . . .it will invariably gravitate to those least suited to wield it and those who are the most unscrupulous about its use."
* "All women read minds, with very few exceptions."
* "The nice way of putting it is that they're complementary. the not-so-nice way of putting it is that they deserve each other; serve each other right."

## References

 1. ↑ *Cerebus* No. 164, page 16
2. ↑ *Cerebus* No. 164, page 31
3. ↑ *Cerebus* No. 164, page 31
Unnamed Magician

The **Unnamed Magician** was a magic-user.

## History

One day, Cerebus appeared in the Magician's keep. Unclear on "what manner of beast" he had on his hands, the Magician consulted *Ye Book of Beasties*, but learned nothing about Aardvarks. After some discussion, the Magician used Cerebus' Magnifier Effect to summon a mighty weapon. The Magician ultimately summons a tank, but doesn't know what it is or what to do with it. Cerebus later wakes up on a piece of wood floating in the Feld River.
New Joanne

**New Joanne** was a reporter who interviewed Cerebus for her magazine, *Friends of YoohWhoo*.

## History

During her interview, Cerebus told her the story of the later part of his life. Throughout the interview, Cerebus fell in love with her, though she worried that she just reminded him of Joanne. In fact, she looked exactly like Cerebus' one true love, Jaka.

She was the mother of Shep Shep, Cerebus' only child, and created a competing church which extolled the value of feminism, with horrifying results. She later experimented with genetic cross-breeding with the intent of establishing a dynasty for herself and Shep-Shep in Egypt.

## Appearances

* *Cerebus No. 288*
* *Cerebus No. 298* - cameo

## Dave on New Joanne

* **Lenny:** New Joanne looks like Jaka. Is this just a coincidence? Is it Yoohwoo working to get Cerebus? Why didn't Cerebus keep New Joanne's resemblance to and the existence of Jaka a secret?

**DAVE:** As I said earlier, New Joanne was just the latest failure in Cerebus' repeated failure of the `Jaka Test'. Cerebus kept New Joanne's resemblance to Jaka a secret, largely because he knew there was something intrinsically shameful in falling in love with someone just because she looked like Jaka. Which there is—although he couldn't see that. It takes the fundamental stupidity of willfully not seeing Jaka as she is and kicks it up into a whole different quantum level of stupidity.
## References

 1. ↑ A Cerebus Mailing List "talk" with Dave Sim
William Moulton Marston Tusshi

**William Moulton Marston Tusshi** was a patron and, later, bartender at the original Action Figures Pub.

## History

Mrs. Reno intimidated him into going to his mother's house, instead of remaining at the pub until Cerebus and Jaka Tavers arrived.

Later, when Cerebus and Jaka returned to play a prank on Greg Hyland, they found Hyland gone and Tusshi in charge of the pub.

## Basis

Tusshi's name, but not his appearance, is a parody of Wonder Woman creator William Moulton Marston.

## References

 1. ↑ *Cerebus No. 232*
2. ↑ *Cerebus No. 238*
Swords of Cerebus Volume Four

***Swords of Cerebus Volume Four*** is a trade paperback collection of stories about Cerebus from *Cerebus No. 13* through *Cerebus No. 16*, plus additional stories. Each story has a new introduction by Dave Sim.

## Stories

### "Magiking"

new story - inks by Gene Day

Cerebus is transported to a strange dimension by a magician.

### "Black Magiking"

from *Cerebus No. 13*

While travelling in Lower Felda, Cerebus is captured by a group of Tarimites, who send him to face off against a mad wizard.

### "Silverspoon"

from *The Buyer's Guide to Comic Fandom*

Travelling on a ship towards Palnu, Cerebus finds himself burdened with the company of Lord Silverspoon.

### "The Walls of Palnu"

from *Cerebus No. 14*

Arriving in Palnu, Cerebus is made head of security by Lord Julius Tavers. He must soon deal with threats to Lord Julius.

### "A Day in the Pits"

from *Cerebus No. 15*

Cerebus uncovers a plot by The Eye in the Pyramid and becomes trapped in the Pits below Palnu.

### "A Night at the Masque"

from *Cerebus No. 16*

On the day of the Festival of Petunias, Cerebus must finally put down the revolt against Lord Julius.

## Story Notes

* "The Walls of Palnu", "A Day in the Pits" and "A Night at the Masque" make up the Palnu Trilogy, the first extended storyline in *Cerebus*.
Prince Keef

**Prince Keef** was a Prince of the T'capmin Kingdoms, along with his brother, Prince Mick.

## Appearances

* *Cerebus No. 85* and *Cerebus No. 86*
* *Cerebus No. 93*
* *Cerebus No. 142*
* *Cerebus No. 211*
* *Cerebus No. 300* - cameo

## Basis

He is a parody of guitarist Keith Richards of The Rolling Stones, much as Prince Mick is a parody of singer Mick Jagger.

## Dave Sim on Mick and Keef

* "I'm a big Rolling Stones fan. Reading the book "The Rolling Stones: In Their Own Words", I was struck by the pampered laissez-faire demeanor central to many of their opinions and comments; particularly Mick and 'Keef'. I decided that they would be perfect as jaded royal types - types from the T'capmin Kingdoms. Someday, I'll get Cerebus up there for a visit or the Glimmer Twins will arrive in Iest for a Slumming Party or something. Stay tuned."

## References

 1. ↑ *Cerebus the Newsletter, No. 11*, 1984
Wallis Pub

The **Wallis Pub** was a pub that stood by the Wall of T'si near Castle Wallis.

## History

Cerebus once mentioned that he would like to go to the Wallis Pub and Dave left him there after their encounter. Cerebus stayed there for a long time with some of his guy friends.

When the bartenders, Harrison Starkey and Richard George, left, Mrs. Thatcher arrived to announce that the pub would be closed. Instead, Cerebus announced that he was the new bartender, forcing her to withdraw. Cerebus continued to live in the pub for some time.

Rick Nash hung around the pub for a while, and based the Sanctuary mentioned in his *The Book of Rick* on the tavern. The Sanctuary was eventually built and decorated as outlined in the book.

## Notes

* The cover to *Cerebus No. 215* has the title "Old Tavern - Wall of T'si" on it, although the tavern is never referred to as "Old Tavern" in the story.

## References

 1. ↑ *Minds*
2. ↑ *Guys (phonebook*
3. ↑ *Rick's Story*
Richard George

**Richard George** was one of the two bartenders at the Wallis Pub by the Wall of T'si, alongside his lookalike brother, Harrison Starkey. He left to go south with Prince Mick. He later returned with Bear and Marty.

## Appearances

* *Cerebus No. 201* - mention
* *Cerebus No. 213*
* *Cerebus No. 231*
* *Cerebus No. 300* - cameo

## Basis

He and his brother are both parodies of The Beatles, specifically Ringo Starr (real name Richard Starkey) and George Harrison.
Rabbi

**Rabbi** was a fictional character created by Garth Inniscent in his comic read of the same name. Cerebus was a fan of the character and used to read the comics in the evenings after tending Mr. Gorzky's sheep.

## Cerebus as Rabbi

Later, when Cerebus is being held captive by the Three Wise Fellows and is forced to listen to them read the entirety of *The Book of Rick*, he mentally takes on the persona of Rabbi to pass the time.

After his death, Cerebus again takes on the image of Rabbi before being dragged into the light.<ref>*Cerebus No. 300*.

## Appearances

* *Cerebus Guide to Self Publishing*
* *Cerebus No. 271*
* *Cerebus No. 272*
* *Cerebus No. 300*
Normina Swartskof

**Normina Swartskof** was a Cirinist General.

## History

Swartskof was a highly ranked member of Cirin's military forces and she led the conquest of Iest. Her troops confronted Cerebus when he started killing Cirinists in a bloody rage. She contradicted Cirin's order not to harm Cerebus by commanding her troops to "Kill him!"

When Punisheroach began attacking Cirinists with his automatic crossbows, one of the Cirinists killed was Swartskof.

## Appearances

* *Cerebus No. 152* through *Cerebus No. 155*
* *Cerebus No. 156* - mentioned

## Basis

She is a parody of General Norman Schwarzkopf, who led American forces in the 1991 Gulf War.

## References

 1. ↑ *Cerebus No. 152*
2. ↑ *Cerebus No. 155*
Perce

**Perce** was a Cirinist posing as a prostitute who drugged Cerebus' wine in order to attempt to see if he could be of use to the order.

## Appearances

* *Cerebus No. 19*
* *Cerebus No. 21* - cameo
* *Cerebus No. 28* - cameo or mention

## Dave Sim on Perce

* "... As I was to decide with Astoria later on, I decided to draw Perce as a real-real person (for reference, I class Cerebus as fantasy-fantasy, Elrod as fantasy-real, Lord Julius as real-fantasy, Filgate as real-fantasy, The Moon Roach as fantasy-real. Get the idea?) So I decided Perce had to be real-real, about nineteen or twenty years old and that she would have the distinction of being a Cirinist pretending to be a Kevillist pretending to be a Cirinist. That's Togith for you. So I decided to be like the REAL cartoonists (Hal Foster springs readily to mind) and draw a real person as Perce.

"I decided on Deni's sister, Karen for a number of reasons. We had pictures of her, she was the right age, (she was the person who suggested "Aardvark Press" leading to the decision to do an aardvark mascot) and (ho, ho, ho) she would be easy to draw. I never made that mistake again. If I draw real people in the strip now, I always make them caricatures. It's not that the results were all that bad, but it took an awful lot of effort to make the pictures barely adequate. But the discipline required in learning how to draw a real person in cartoon form meant that I had a lot of time to contemplate the Kevillists and the Cirinists (since Togith is a major center for both groups). The more I worked on getting the pictures right, the more complicated the Cirinists and the Kevillists got and the more complicated the story line I was working on got. Anyway, I started building the cornerstones for all this intrigue in this issue with Perce (she's not really a prostitute, but I won't go into that now)."
## References

 1. ↑ *Swords of Cerebus Volume Five*, Introduction to issue #19
Tanes Feras

**Tanes Feras** was a resident of Branpur.

## History

Feras once besmirched the honor of Red Sophia. For this slight, Sophia's father, the wizard Henrot, hired Cerebus to torture and kill Feras in revenge. But upon arriving at his home, Cerebus learned that Feras was madly in love with Sophia. Having suffered with her for two days straight, and with her having vowed to do whatever he says, Cerebus ordered Sophia to marry Feras, believing this would lead to a lifetime of suffering.

Some time later, Sophia challenged Feras to battle, having also vowed never to submit to a man who could not defeat her. She easily overcame Feras and killed him.

## Nature

* Feras was "well-dressed" and "perfumed" and, apparently, an incredibly poor fighter.

## References

 1. ↑ *Cerebus No. 3*
2. ↑ *Cerebus No. 10*
Thunder

**Thunder** was a mechanical horse.

## History

Thunder was constructed for Lord Tavers, Grandlord of Palnu, for use by his young male relatives, including a young Julius, for battle training. Lord Tavers would sometimes join in the "rough-and-tumble".

Years later, Jaka Tavers would play on it. She called it "Magic".

## Quotes about Thunder

* "To Jaka he wasn't Thunder. He was Magic, a gentle and intelligent horse who rocked an inch-or-so forward and an inch-or-so back as she rode him in triumphant procession about the Palnu City Coliseum (his metal innards grinding lightly with a noise like the musings of a perplexed monkey)." - Oscar, *Daughter of Palnu*

## Dave Sim on Thunder

* "Magic really exists. I mean the horsey ride in Jaka's Story. Yeah! That's a for real playground (albeit with the background suburbs eliminated, as well as most of the rest of the playground equipment that's there)."

"Magic the wonder horsey ride exists between Mill Street and Highland Road right here in Kitchener, just behind the lawn-bowling and tennis club."
* "I think that after I wrote Magic into the story -- that the horse suddenly had this bright crimson head. Not, not really crimson, more magenta. Don't know what the concept was -- to make it look more like plastic so as to not scare the kidlings? It was originally metal as I recal -- but it might just have been metallic looking, like wrought iron."

## References

 1. ↑ *Cerebus No 114*, page 16
2. ↑ *Cerebus No 114*, page 17
3. ↑ *Cerebus No. 120*, "Note from the President"
4. ↑ Fax from Dave Sim dated 18 Feb 2011
Western Church

The **Western Orthodox Church of Tarim** (generally known as the "Western Church") was a religious denomination devoted to the worship of Tarim. It was based in Serrea in the Sepran Empire and was led by the Lion of Serrea.

## History

* In 1414, the pope of the Eastern Church, Pope Harmony IV, was executed on the authority of the Lion of Serrea.
* The Lion was assassinated by Astoria when Cerebus caused her to disappear as he attempted to reach the top of the Tower. She reappeared in the Lion's apartment, where she found a knife and stabbed him. According to the rules of succession, this made Astoria the pope of the Western Church.

## Dave Sim on the Church of Tarim

* **Q1.** What caused the split of the Church of Tarim into **Western** and Eastern divisions?

'*DAVE:* I’m afraid I never got very far with that. As I recall, it centered on whether or not Tarim had incarnated on earth in the form of the coin-maker—the coin that drew other coins to it and began to form a sphere when Cerebus picked it up. One of the churches believed that Tarim was a deity and the other church believed Tarim was a deity and an earthly incarnation. The Illusionist innovation was to decide that there was Tarim as deity and when Tarim incarnated as a human being he called himself Suenteus Po and wanted everyone who followed him to call themselves Seuenteus Po. That’s my rough recollection of the high-altitude mapping. At the risk of sounding like a broken record, I really thought that I could fit the history of several worlds into 6,000 pages and, over the course of High Society and Church & State found out exactly how little you could get into 500 and 1200 pages respectively. My initial ambition was to tell the story of Iest pretty thoroughly over the course of High Society and then do a companion volume that would tell the history of Serrea and the Sepran Empire (this might be a good place to point out that Serrea was a typo/misreading on my part of Michael Loubert’s microscopic pencil lettering. The first “r” was supposed to be a “p” and was intended to be the more natural-sounding “Seprea” as the capital of the Sepran Empire) for which Astoria’s assassination of the Lion of Serrea would serve as a spiritual/thematic link. As you can see the assassination itself became about the deepest I was able to delve into the Sepran Empire. The entire Cerebus storyline became Iest-centered because of the space constraints. Michael Loubert was (and I assume still is) a great enthusiast of history and had excited my interest with his knowledge of the various schisms which had taken place in Christianity in general and the Catholic church in particular and the varying reasons behind them. So way, way back I had envisioned Cerebus as a kind of religio-political Tale of Two Cities. There’s a residue of this to the story, but just a residue.
## References

 1. ↑ Dave answers questions about *High Society*
The Aardvarkian Age

**"The Aardvarkian Age"** is a recurring column by Michael Loubert that outlines the backstory to much of Estarcion. It was published intermittently in *Cerebus* from *Cerebus No. 16* through *Cerebus No. 20*. Loubert drew the original map of Estarcion and named many of the locations. Dave Sim considered the history Loubert wrote in "The Aardvarkian Age" to be canonical and it would be referenced throughout the series.

## Apperances

* *Cerebus No. 16*
* *Cerebus No. 17*
* *Cerebus No. 19*
* *Cerebus No. 20*
Suenteus Po of Harbourside

**Suenteus Po of Harbourside** was a writer in Iest.

## History

A member of the Anarcho-Romantics, he was hired by Astoria to be a speechwriter during Cerebus' reign as Prime Minister of Iest. He was introduced to Cerebus as "Suenteus Po of Harbourside", explaining that he had taken the name as a tribute to the original.

He went on to write *The True History of the 1413 Election* and *The Six Crises*.

## Appearances

* *Cerebus No. 47* and *Cerebus No. 48*
* *Cerebus No. 50*
Rap 'ho'e

**Rap 'ho'e** was the hostess of a discussion group that includes Red Sophia and Mrs. Henrot-Gutch.

## Basis

She is a parody of Oprah Winfrey despite being Caucasian. Her discussion group takes the form of a talk show.

## Dave Sim on Rap 'ho'e

* "I think the Oprah Winfrey parody was that part hat was the most fun for me. I had to watch the show several times to get the Rap 'ho'e (a name which I was, regrettably, unable to shoehorn into the proceedings) distilled down to a visual essence."
Spore

**Spore** was a mythical being, the "King of All Demons", mentioned in the *Book of Cerebus*.

## History

Cerebus created Spore as a means to scare Todd McSpahn and his followers, who had abandoned their war against the Cirinists. Cerebus, himself, dressed up as Spore and was able to take control and defeat the Cirinists across Estarcion.

## Basis

The Spore name and costume are a parody of Todd McFarlane's character Spawn.
Sea of Sadness

The **Sea of Sadness** was an asteroid field near the planet Mars. It was named by Cirin.

## Quotes about the Sea of Sadness

* "Final resting place for all whose hearts had turned from the love of our lady. . .worshippers (sic) of male deities, fornicators, rebellious' daughters, mystics, practitioners of contraception. . .rapists. Murders. Their souls encased for all eternity within the hard and bitter rock of their own making. . .here to remain until the end of all days." - Cirin
Rick Nash

**Rick Nash** is a man from the Lower City of Iest. For a time, he was married to Jaka Tavers. Eventually, he forms a cult following the completion of *The Book of Rick*.

## History

Rick and Jaka were together until he learned that she had aborted what would have been their male child. Rick reacted by smacking Jaka, which led to his punishment by Mrs. Thatcher. Rick had his finger broken and Jaka was sent away.

Later, in Cerebus' bar at the Wall of T'si, Rick sees Mrs. Thatcher and goes into a panic. When Cerebus orders Mrs. Thatcher out of the bar, Rick becomes Cerebus' devotee and he begins to write *The Book of Rick*, in which Cerebus is seen as a prophet.

Rick later falls in love with Joanne, and the triangle between him, Joanne and Cerebus causes some strife amongst the trio. Rick eventually breaks up with Joanne and ends his friendship with Cerebus, putting a Binding spell on Cerebus. Rick then tells Cerebus he will see him one last time.

While traveling with Jaka to Sand Hills Creek, Cerebus dreams of Rick on the river bank overseeing babtisms. Cerebus wakes to find them passing Rick along the river. He later dreams of Rick, who tells Cerebus that he has been executed by the Cirinists and gives Cerebus instructions and directions to follow.

Many years later, as Cerebus' soul left his body following his death, Cerebus had a vision of "the light" with many of the people he had met, including Jaka, Bear, the Roach and Lord Julius waiting for him. Assuming they are in Heaven, Cerebus goes to join them, until he realizes he does not see Rick, which makes him fear he is going to Hell.

## Appearances

* *Cerebus* No. 75 - mentioned
* *Cerebus* No. 114
* *Cerebus* No. 116 through *Cerebus* No. 124
* *Cerebus* No. 126 through *Cerebus* No. 132
* *Cerebus* No. 136
* *Cerebus* No. 218 through *Cerebus* No. 228
* *Cerebus* No. 243
* *Cerebus* No. 260
* *Cerebus* No. 288 - mentioned
* *Cerebus* No. 300 - mentioned

## References

 1. ↑ *Cerebus No. 243*
2. ↑ *Cerebus No. 260*
3. ↑ *Cerebus No. 300*
Todd McFarlane

**Todd McFarlane** is a Canadian comic book creator and businessman. He is best known as the creator of Spawn, parodied in the pages of *Cerebus (comic)* by Spore. McFarlane drew the art for *Spawn No. 10*, which was written by Dave Sim and features Cerebus and was, himself, parodied in the form of Todd McSpahn.
N'gui

**N'gui** was an African who worked for Ham and Mary Ernestway. He was originally hired to be Ham's "gun boy". Ngui's father, M'cola, had accompanied Ham on a hunting trip in Africa years earlier. N'gui later worked for Ham and Mary again as they traveled through Estarcion.

## Appearances

* *Cerebus No. 253* through *Cerebus No. 257*
* *Cerebus No. 259*
Scab and Maggot

The **Scab and Maggot** was a pub in Isshuria where Cerebus briefly worked as a latrine attendant. It was one of the Action Figures Pubs founded by Greg Hyland. Unlike pubs in the Cirinist Territories, tavern residents could only get three drinks per day, with each drink costing three hours of "community service" or one free drink for each completed game of "The Scab and Maggot -- the Life Skills Role-Playing Game for Real Men".
On Governing

***On Governing*** was a book that Cerebus attempted to write about his time as Prime Minister of Iest and the lessons he learned.

## Excerpts

* "Governing a city-state in today's world is very very difficult. There are many problems. It is hoped that my own experiences as a leader will help to guide future leaders. The first thing you have to do is ignore Lord Julius. Listening to him can cause you to lose up to ten thousand crowns a day. No Joke! The second thing is to invade only really rich countries and not listen to Lord Julius when he tells you which ones are rich. The third thing is to fire all your advisors once a week so they don't drive you crazy! The fourth thing is to sell everything that isn't nailed down to hire armies. Fire any advisor you says you can't do this."

* "Eat only expensive food and drink only expensive liquor. It's the only good thing about being a leader. Don't attend meetings and fire advisors who tell you you have to. All you do is sit there for hours while a bunch of whiners tell you what's wrong and you can't go to the bathroom. The only other good thing about being a leader is quitting. . .everyone who bugged you all the time is unemployed or under arrest. ha-ha. it looks good on them, too!!"
Sebastian Melmoth

**Sebastian Melmoth** was a writer who lived, for a time up until his death, in Iest.

## History

Melmoth's real name was Oscar, having mentioned to his friend, Robbie Ross, that he shared the given name of the author of *Daughter of Palnu*, Oscar. He is not originally from Iest. At the time of his final illness, he had sustained an injury to his left ear, which was in bandages.

He becomes ill and, despite Ross' attempts to help him, succumbs to his illness, leading to problems caused by his use of an alias and being an alien in Iest.

## Quotes

* "The lesson, I would suppose, is that one should always endeavour to select an hotel downhill from one's preferred drinking establishment..."

* "In a society where dissenting viewpoints are suppressed, those viewpoints are potent and dangerous. . .where dissent is tolerated, it rapidly becomes quaint and is viewed as un-sophisticated. . ."

## Appearances

* *Cerebus No. 140* through *Cerebus No. 148*

## Basis

This character is another manifestation of Oscar Wilde, the other being Oscar. The "Sebastian Melmoth" pseudonym is a direct reference to the name Wilde himself took while he was in exile after his prison term. He took the name from the title character of *Melmoth the Wanderer*.

## Notes

Sebastion Melmoth lends his name to the "Melmoth" storyline and phonebook.

## Dave Sim on Sebastian Melmoth

* **Question:** Was Oscar in Melmoth the same character who was in Jaka's Story? People have said you've answered this question differently at different tour stops.

**Dave:** That was left intentionally ambiguous. If you go by the length of Jaka's hair between issues 75 and 114, Cerebus was on the moon for a longer time than it appeared, or was wandering around dazed for two years. The Oscar character in Melmoth refers to the author of Jaka's Story as a separate person. This was one of the instances where I was ambiguous with a capital "A"; manufacturing two separate, irresolvable interpretations. Nothing frustrates me more than the twentieth century adherence to the notion that you can find out what "actually happened" and that it is necessary for fiction to set out a linear, quantitative and absolute reality for the readers consumption and assurance. I think EVERYTHING is like the Kennedy assassination(s); riddled with inconsistencies, false trails overlapping stories and considerations; distortions wrapped inside fabrications and coated with lies. The sooner we get over the idea that reality isn't like this, the sooner we'll be able to put together a world that fits our circumstances as they are; not as they never were and will never be. I'm not holding my breath.
## References

 1. ↑ *Cerebus No. 140*, page 4
2. ↑ *Cerebus No. 140*, page 6
3. ↑ *Cerebus No. 140, page 13*
4. ↑ [CerebusFanGirl Site: Usenet intereview with Dave Sim 1992 USEnet Interview]
Squinteye

**Squinteye** was said to be the "strongest sailor who ever lived".

## History

Squinteye had a long-running rivalry with fellow sailor, Pluto.

When he was nine years old, Cerebus witnessed a fight between Pluto and Squinteye.

## Basis

Squinteye is a parody of E. C. Segar's Popeye.

## Appearances

* *Cerebus Jam No. 1* - story "Squinteye the Sailor"
* *Cerebus No. 201* and *Cerebus No. 202* - voice only
The Challenge

**"The Challenge"** is a seven-page story by Dave Sim. It features the earliest appearance of Cerebus' vest.

## Summary

Under a sorching mid-summer sun in Eshnosopur, Cerebus accepts a challenge to stay in the ring for 20 seconds with the "Strongest Man in the Southwest", the so-called Bronze Bull, in order to win five gold coins. The large, sweaty fellow leaps atop the aardvark, but Cerebus' strength proves greater as he lifts the Bronze Bull over his head, flips him over, then wraps him in the ropes of the ring.

Cerebus demands his winnings from the ringmaster, but the Skinny Guy reveals that since his brother has a record of 270 wins and a tie, and they being poor farmers, they never bothered filling the purse to begin with! Cerebus is annoyed, as all he wanted to do was buy a horse to get out of the southland, and begins insulting the Bronze Bull, causing him to rip apart the ring as he grows enraged. Cerebus calmly offers to help the fat fighter lose 20 pounds through decapitation, and the hot and bothered crowd encourage him to do so. But quickly thinking, the ringmaster comes up with a compromise, much to the dismay of the crowd.

Soon, Cerebus rides off atop the shoulders of the Bronze Bull, thanking the Ringmaster, who asks only in return that when he gets to his destination, he turn his brother back in the direction of Eshnosopur and give him a little push.

## Characters

* Skinny Guy
* Bronze Bull
* Cerebus

## Story Notes

* The man who issues the challenge goes unnamed, but he is referred to as "Skinny Guy" or "S.G." in the script.

## Publication Notes

* The surviving page sketches were published in *The Comics Buyer's Guide No. 977*.

## Dave Sim on "The Challenge"

* "This is an unpublished Cerebus story which was commissioned by Comely Comix for *The Captain Canuck Summer Special* #2 (summer 1981). Comely went out of business shortly after approving the script and layouts for the story. A small blessing; his last letter suggested coloring Cerebus purple so that he would stand out in the color story!"

* "The exact location I don’t know specifically although I did at one time. Since it was intended for the *Captain Canuck Summer Annual* (somewhere between 1980 and 82) I had Cerebus do a quick southerly dip into one of the southern city states for a summer climate backdrop (everyone is sweating like pigs) either between the time he left Serrea (issue 4) and crossed the Red Marches (issue 5) or between the time that he crossed the Red Marches and before he entered Iest (issue 6). I might be misremembering but I think that’s how it went."

## References

 1. ↑ Intro to "The Challenge", *The Comics Buyer's Guide No. 977*
2. ↑ CerebusFangirl web site, "Cerebus Archive Report 4"
Northbell

**Northbell** was a northern farming district of the City-State of Iest.

## History

During Cerebus' run for Prime Minister of Iest, he visited with Lord Storm'send, the overseer of the district.

After the destruction of Iest, the Cirinists built a town in the area, Northbelle.

## Dave Sim on Northbell

* "Cerebus fans with long memories will recall Cerebus' last trip to the Northbell side of the (Feld) River (High Society, page 373). Cerebus fans with even longer memories will remember his first trip to the Northbell side of the river (High Society, page 335). Anyway, Cerebus's unconscious mind remembers too, as he flails about for a suitable euphemism for goddess worship (page 335, panel 3)."
* "Iest being, as you can well see, "out of commission," there was a pressing need for a new port at the vital confluence of the Feld, the Oesis and the Chemsmi. At the time of "Fall and the River" that role is being filled by the rapidly expanding new town of Northbelle, named after the former electoral district and acquiring (no big surprise) an "e" on the end in the process."

## References

 1. ↑ *Cerebus No. 42* & *Cerebus No. 44*
2. ↑ *Going Home*, page 357
3. ↑ *Going Home*, page 358
Todd McSpahn

**Todd "Far Lane" McSpahn** was a Cerebite leader in the Western Plains.

## History

After months of being bound, Cerebus finally spoke the "Word of Truth" to the Three Wise Fellows in order to gain his freedom. His plan was that all Cerebites should check into Hunting Lodges, then plan a simultaneous hunting trip at the Plains of Sarah, where they would be surrounded by Cirinist forces and could easily kill them all before they could get close enough to kill the Cerebites.

McSpahn saw flaws in the plan and reorganized the Hunting Lodges, successfully slaughtering the Cirinist forces. However, the surviving Cirinists were able to blend into society, marrying and bearing children, thereby overwhelming the Cerebites' resolve.

Taking on the persona of Spore, Cerebus got McSpahn to put his daughter, Magenta, into Spore's hand, then Cerebus launched her into the air, making McSpahn chase after her, encouraging her to "Aim, Foah da big pile...of dead ladies."

## Appearances

* *Cerebus No. 274* through *Cerebus No. 276*

## Basis

McSpahn is a parody of Todd McFarlane and his name also parodies his character, Spawn. His shirt utilizes the logo of Miracleman, a character McFarlane believed he owned at the time, though that ownership was disputed and ultimately prove to be invalid.

## References

 1. ↑ *Cerebus No. 274*
2. ↑ *Cerebus No. 273*
3. ↑ *Cerebus No. 276*