recursal/Fanatic-Fandom huggingface dataset:
Cerebus: High Society - The Digital Audio/Video Experience

***Cerebus: High Society - The Digital Audio/Video Experience*** is a 2013 hybrid motion comic/audiobook presentation of the "High Society" storyline. It was published by IDW in association with Aardvark-Vanaheim. It contains eight DVDs with three or four stories per DVD. The stories are presented as a series of "motion comics", read by writer/artist Dave Sim. Each story is accompanied by Deni Loubert's "A Note from the Publisher" for that issue (read by Loubert) and the issue's "Aardvark Comment" (read by Sim).

While Loubert reads her original Notes verbatim, Sim will sometimes make an aside, commenting on the original material.

## History

The "Digital Audio/Video Experience" was created as part of a 2012 Kickstarter campaign designed to finance the restoration and remastering of the entire run of the *Cerebus* comic book. The campaign was successful, raising US$63,634 against a US$6,000 goal. The then-newly-established Cerebus Downloads web site hosted the newly remastered print-quality digital downloads featuring "everything that was in the original comic book -- Deni's Note from the Publisher, the original ads, the original letters pages, the original back cover and inside back cover." These remastered pages were then used for new print and download editions of the *High Society* phonebook.

The original, download version of the audio/video edition was released simultaneously with each issue of the remastered book. These were available to Kickstarter backers only and were not made available to purchase on their own until the DVD release.

## Contents

### Disc 1

* "High Society"
* "The Kidnapping of an Aardvark"
* "Mind Game II"

### Disc 2

* "Repercussions"
* "Debts"
* "Chasing Cootie"

### Disc 3

* "Alliance"
* "Friction"
* "Three Days Before"
* "Two Days Before

### Disc 4

* "The Night Before"
* "It's Showtime!"
* "Petuniacon Day Two" (misidentified as "Pentuniacon Day Two")

### Disc 5

* "Petuniacon Day Three" (identified as "The Ambassador Suite"
* "Campaign"
* "Heroes"

### Disc 6

* "Campaign's End"
* "Election Night"
* "The Deciding Vote"

### Disc 7

* "The Bureaucratic Rebellion"
* "A Night in Iest" (identified as "Summit Enchanted Evening")
* "Balances"

### Disc 8

* "Upstairs Downstairs"
* "The Last Stand"
* "Denouement"

## Credits

* Dave Sim - Creator Writer/Artist/Letterer/Producer/Director/Narration/Character Voices
* Deni Loubert - Original Publisher
* John Scrudder - Producer/Director, Cerebus Digital, Behind the Panels
* George Peter Gatsis - Animation and Post Production/Audio and Digital Technical Producer/Sound Effects and Music Designer
* Sandeep Atwal - Producer/Digital Scanning/Communications Director
* Dave Fisher - For Cerebus TV - Promotion Coordinator
* Margaret Liss - Proofreading
* "Cerebus Theme" - John Brent & Passion Exchange
* Public Domain Music & Sound Effects - GarageBand, Apple Inc.

1. ↑ CEREBUS: High Society - Special Audio/Visual Digital Edition
Geet-A

**Geet-A** was a magical being created by the wizard Henrot as a substitute for his daughter, Red Sophia.

## Basis

Geet-A is a parody of Frank Thorne's Ghita of Alizarr, the character Thorne created immediately after leaving Marvel Comics' *Red Sonja*. Geet-A's position as a "substitute" for Red Sophia mirrors this relationship.

## Dave Sim on Geet-A

* "I decided to do a parody of Frank Thorne's Ghita because while I wouldn't say I was fond of 1994 the magazine, nor a particular advocate of the kind of stories Frank was doing, I was very fond of the way Frank's artwork made such great strides when he switched to black and white from colour comics. I conceived the whole story in a short space of time, my major concern being to produce one good silly self-contained issue before I went off on this complicated political piece of over-lapping and inter-locking factions."

## References

 1. ↑ *Cerebus No. 19*
2. ↑ *Swords of Cerebus Volume Five*, Introduction to Issue #19
Dave Sim

*For the* Cerebus *character, see Dave.*

**Dave Sim** is the creator, writer and artist of *Cerebus*. He also serves as president of Aardvark-Vanaheim, the publishing company he started with Deni Loubert (his now ex-wife) to publish *Cerebus*.

## External Links

### Active

* *Cerebus Online* Youtube channel
* Dave's bio at CerebusFanGirl
* Dave's Wikipedia article

### Inactive

* Blog & Mail, Dave's daily blog
* *Art of Dave Sim*, pictures of Dave's non-Cerebus art
* *CerebusTV*, Dave's online television show.
Aardvark Comment

**"Aardvark Comment"** is the letters page for *Cerebus*. It first appeared in *Cerebus No. 1*, with the first letters appearing in *Cerebus No. 2*.

## Dave Sim on "Aardvark Comment"

* "All of the letters in Cerebus 2 were made up except for Frank Thorne's and Bruce Shane's because no letters had arrived by the time we needed a letters page. I felt so guilty I never did it again."

## References

 1. ↑ *Cerebus Bi-weekly - December 16, 1988*
Grandlord of Palnu

**Grandlord of Palnu** was the title held by the ruler of the City-State of Palnu.

## History

* Innec Starvm served a brief period as Grandlord and wrote a book about it, *My Months as Palnu's Grandlord*.
* Another earlier Grandlord was Lord Tavers.
* For many years the post was held by the earlier Grandlord's relative, Lord Julius Tavers.

## Dave Sim on the Grandlord

* I had already selected Palnu a city almost directly south of Iest, unimaginably wealthy by virtue of it's position between the Feldwar States (Upper and Lower Felda and Iest) and the Southern City States (Eshnosopur, Panrovy, etc.). I pictured it's ruler as the inventor of the Estarcion bureaucracy, a concept where you fight unemployment by giving everyone a government job (a concept near and dear to American Democratic and Republican presidents and Canadian Conservative and Liberal prime ministers). Of course the bureaucracy is in it's infant stages in Cerebus and consequently seems to solve the problem of the finite economy quite nicely, by making government it's own job-creation program. I also envisioned Palnu as a grand experiment in socialism and uniformity. Everyone would wear the same clothes, eat the same food, live in uniform dwellings and precede full speed ahead on whatever task the "Director of Trade" had set for them as a people. Basically this city was an Oligarchy gone strange. Heads of various families vied for the position of Grandlord and the most popular with his peers was the one who held the title... until he was no longer popular. I saw the present Director of Trade as a charismatic businessman in the midst of an old-boy aristocracy, consolidating his position with the people by capturing the lion's share of Estarcion's assets and distributing them like dividends to his citizens (I read a while ago that Alaska is doing the same thing with its windfall oil profits. No matter how bizarre I try to make the story, real life usually beats me to it). As the quintessential figure of the emerging merchant class, the Director of Trade would be concerned with running a profitable city. Palnu becomes the first import-export dominated culture to also manufacture consumer goods, mass-producing the tunics, trousers and boots everyone wears and exporting what they don't need to clothe their own people. The problem was that I kept picturing K'Cor as the Grandlord. Someone big enough and strong enough to keep everyone in line and function as the absolute center of his city-state. All roads would lead to the Grandlord's office in Palnu's Trade Building.

## References

 1. ↑ *Cerebus No. 20*, page 1
2. ↑ *Swords of Cerebus Volume Four*, Intro to issue 14
Anatol's Solecism

**"Anatol's Solecism"** is a six-page story by Dave Sim. It features the earliest appearance of Cerebus' vest.

## Summary

Cerebus is in a tavern where a fight has broken out. His efforts in the brawl are noticed by Turan Genn, Captain of the Dehrsion mercenaries who Cerebus is slaughtering. He approaches the earth-pig and offers him a job, which Cerebus is reluctant to take, but he agrees to hear the terms.

Meanwhile, a drunk named Anatol ogles a bar wench when he is greeted by a Magic Eggroll that offers him a wish. Anatol wishes to be "the finest warrior this city has ever seen!"

Cerebus accepts Genn's offer at six times the going rate, then leaves the tavern, intent on meeting Genn at his camp at dawn. One of Genn's men objects to the terms, but Genn is convinced that Cerebus is "the finest warrior this city has ever seen!"

Anatol is heard to scream "No! No! Not this!!" and a creature that resembles Cerebus is seen to kill itself with Anatol's knife.

## Characters

* Cerebus *(last appearance, "Cerebus No. 4"; next appearance, Cerebus No. 5)*
* Turan Genn *(first appearance; next mentioned, Cerebus No. 5)*
* Anatol *(only appearance)*
* Magic Eggroll *(only appearance)*

## Notes

* Originally written for *Magic Eggrollian Funnies*, Sim completed the story, but the publication never materialized and the artwork was never returned.
* Sim located his original thumbnails and script and originally planned to release it in *Cerebus Archive*.

## Dave Sim on "Anatol's Solecism"

* And then there's "Anatole's Solecism" (seriously, "Anatole's Solecism") which I did for Magic Eggrollian Funnies (seriously, Magic Eggrollian Funnies) which survives only in script and rough outline form. These Craig Miller will be publishing in Following Cerebus as curiosity items but they'll almost definitely not be in the Miscellaneous Cerebus volume.
* I actually toyed with the idea of redrawing some of it, but I just don't have the "chops" for drawing the late 1970s Cerebus. The next best thing (?) I decided to re-letter the captions.

## Printings

* *Cerebus No. 2 - Remastered & Expanded*

## References

 1. ↑ *Dave Answers 6 Questons: June 2004*
2. ↑ *Cerebus No 2 - Remastered & Expanded*
Maddie Ziegler

**Madison "Maddie" Nicole Ziegler** (born September 30, 2002,) is the eldest child of Kurt Ziegler and Melissa Ziegler-Gisoni and is the older sister of Mackenzie Ziegler.

During her time on Dance Moms, Maddie was known to be Abby's favorite dancer. This would often cause tension between Abby and the other mothers, with them arguing that the other girls deserved just as much attention.

In 2014, Maddie gained worldwide recognition for starring in Sia's music video of "Chandelier". She has since gone on to become a significant part for Sia's artistic-image appearing in multiple music videos for the singer as well as going on tour with her.

After being on the show for 5 years, Maddie and her family decided to depart from the show in Season 6 to pursue other projects. The Ziegler sisters made their final appearance in *Maddie & Mackenzie Say Goodbye*. Shortly after, Maddie went onto be a judge on *So You Think You Can Dance: The Next Generation*. She then retired from competitive dancing in *One Last Dance* but continues to take classes.

## Other Information

* Her older brother Tyler has a tattoo of her birthday in roman numerals on his chest. He also has a similar tattoo for Mackenzie on his side.
* Maddie's lucky number is 13, as in "M" is the 13th letter of the alphabet.
* Maddie was on the top of the pyramid the most out of all the girls of the series, with a total of 61 times.
* She has stated that her favorite dance move is the switch sissone and considers it to be her signature dance move.
* Maddie had several callbacks for the show: "Billy Elliot", but she couldn't attend because of her contract with Lifetime.
* According to Maddie, Melissa began taking dance lessons at "a random ballet school" at the age of two.
* Her makeup artist, Tonya Brewer, has a tattoo of Maddie's teeth as a tribute to her. She choose her teeth in particular due to Maddie's insecurity surrounding her teeth as a child. Tonya would later gift Maddie her very first tattoo in 2020, which is located on her right sides and reads "Frances"
* As of August 2022, Maddie also has an additional four tattoos: a cowboy hat on her right arm, a tiny angel on her left bicep, the number "13" was tattooed on her hand and the numbers "1234" on her left arm.
Cerebus No. 58

## *Cerebus the Aardvark No. 58*

***Cerebus the Aardvark No. 58*** is an issue of *Cerebus* published by Aardvark-Vanaheim.

## Stories

### "All Lined Up"

Cerebus has settled into being Prime Minister again with his wife, Red Sophia. Harmon Blakely has come to dinner, but Cerebus and Mrs. Henrot-Gutch, Sophia's mother, make it more lively than most dinners. While Cerebus is in bed, not "getting any" from Sophia, a messenger summons him to see the Eastern Pontiff, Pope Harmony IV, who is two popes later than Cerebus remembers.

The Pope reveals many secrets to Cerebus, outlining what he sees as a grand scheme by Adam Weisshaupt. He concludes by stating that the Cirinists are right and that Cirin will ultimately prove victorious. The representative of the Lion of Serrea, the Western Pontiff, executes Harmony IV for being a Cirinist.

Cerebus returns to the Regency Hotel and to his bed, no longer in the mood.

### "Ten Handy Tips for Writing Dave and Deni"

by Mike Bannon
A series of comedic tips about writing to Dave or Deni Sim who, along with Cerebus, appear briefly in silhouette.

## Additional

* "A Note from the Publisher" by Deni Loubert
* "Aardvark Comment"

## Characters

* Harmon Blakely *(last seen in* Cerebus No. 49*; next appearance in* Cerebus No. 60*)*
* Cerebus *(last seen in* Cerebus No. 57*; next appearance in* Cerebus No. 59*)*
* Regency Elf *(last seen in* Cerebus No. 50*; next appearance in* Cerebus No. 59*)*
* Mrs. Henrot-Gutch *(last seen in* Cerebus No. 57*; next appearance in* Cerebus No. 60*)*
* Pope Harmony IV *(only appearance)*
* Red Sophia *(last seen in* Cerebus No. 57*; next appearance in* Cerebus No. 60*)*

## Story Notes

* This is the first issue where we see that the Western Church has much more power than its counterpart.
* This issue gives many clues to future events in Cerebus' life, and provides the basis for the tarot/ascension theory.

## Publication Notes

* Reprinted in *Cerebus: Church & State No. 8*
* "All Lined Up" is reprinted in the *Church & State I* phonebook.
Gurann

**Gurann** was a city north of Tansubal.

## History

The Borealan Marauder Chieftain who captured Cerebus suggested selling the aardvark to a freak show in Gurann. Later, while Cerebus attempted to assist the marauders in stealing the Eye of Terim, he contemplated what price the the gem would fetch in the "Gurranian marketplace".

Red Sophia claimed that one of her specialties was "Gurannian tonsil kissing".

## References

 1. ↑ *Cerebus No. 2*
2. ↑ *Cerebus No. 3*
Miami Mice No. 4

***Miami Mice No. 4*** is an issue of *Miami Mice* by Mark Bodé.

## Stories

### "Requiem for tha' Mice"

Rocket and Stubo, the Miami Mice, have crashed in the jungle and a rescue crew is sent. When their plane is located, it is deserted. and the mice are believed to be dead. They have, however, survived and struggle to find help. Stubo has a badly injured leg and falls asleep while Rocket tries to raise help on the radio. The transmission is intercepted by their nemesis, Tumeric Squeekle, who has Rocket's girlfriend Vermoosa captive. Tumeric and his henchmen hunt down the Mice, but Catztanza, a samurai cat, begins to pick them off one by one until he is captured. While torturing Catztanza, Squeekle and his men are set upon by the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, who had been sleeping nearby. They make quick work of Squeekle's men, but he threatens them with a rocket launcher, only to be attacked from above by Rocket, who garrotes Squeekle, cutting his head off. The Mice's chief arrives and has Stubo taken to the hospital while the rest head to a local bar to celebrate. There, the turtles run into Cerebus, who is apparently there as the result of a spell. The turtles introduce him to Vermousa just as the spell wears off and he disappears. The remaining Mice and guests continue the celebration.

### "Fans Draw tha' Mice"

Fan illustrations by Jane Oliver, Mo, Eric Struck, D. J. Alfonso, Kip Omolade, Shadow, Bill Fitts, Toad & J. Flores

### "The Stories of Paco"

By J. Flores
Rocket's oversized pet cockroach considers running away, but returns when dinner time is called.

### "The Stories of Paco"

By Mark Bodé and Bill Fitts
Paco brings Rocket a "present".

## Characters

* The Chief
* Rocket
* Tubo
* Mina
* Tumeric Squeekle
* Vermoosa Ratez
* Catztanza
* Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
	+ Leonardo
	+ Donatello
	+ Michelangelo
	+ Raphael
* Cheech Wizard
* Cobalt 60
* Paco
* Crockett & Tubbs

## Story Notes

* Cobalt 60 and Cheech Wizard, who appear during the final celebration, are creations of Mark Bodé's father, the legendary Vaughn Bodé.
* This is the final issue of *Miami Mice*.

## Publication Notes

* Reprinted in *Miami Mice: The Complete Collection*

## Dave Sim on *Miami Mice No. 4*

* "Because I just drew Cerebus into a panel or two of *Miami Mice*, it is "iconic" having no significance above its application to the content of the story."

## References

 1. ↑ "Cerebus Archive Report #3.5 (S.P.A.C.E. Edition)", cerebusfangirl.com
The Secret History of the Counterfeit Cerebus No. 1

***The Secret History of the Counterfeit Cerebus No. 1*** is a collection of articles, ephemera and reminiscences about the creation and distribution of a bootleg edition of *Cerebus No. 1*. It was released by The Waverly Press in collaboration with Aardvark-Vanaheim as part of the Kickstarter campaign for *Cerebus No. 1 - Remastered & Expanded*. It was compiled and edited by Matt Dow, Eddie Khanna and Margaret Liss with art and document restoration by Sean Michael Robinson.

Interiors are in black, white and red, used to highlight the differences between the legitimate and bootleg copies of *Cerebus No. 1*, to aid in identification.

## Material

* An introduction and conclusionary note by Dave Sim
* "A Few Words on the Counterfeit Cerebus" by Sean Michael Robinson
* Excerpts from Deni Loubert's notebooks concerning the attempts to identify the bootleggers
* Various contemporary articles about the bootleg including from *San Francisco Examiner*, *The Telegraph Wire*, *The Buyer's Guide for Comic Fandom*, *The Comics Journal* and *Comics Scene*
* Examples of Sim's "Frank Frazetta" and "Neal Adams" signatures he would put on bootleg copies when asked to sign them.
* "A Note from the Publisher" by Deni Loubert from *Cerebus No. 38*, *Cerebus No. 41* and *Cerebus No. 63*.

## References

 1. ↑ *Cerebus the Aardvark No. 1* Kickstarter campaign
Sump Thing

**Sump Thing** was an Apocalypse Beast. Charles X. Claremont brought him together with Woman Thing and the two Beasts began to mate, crushing Claremont between them.

He later merged with the Artist and Woman Thing to become Fred, Ethel and the Little Fellow with the Hair.

## Basis

Sump Thing is a parody of Swamp Thing from DC Comics.

## Dave Sim on Woman Thing

"I decided to mix in a parody of two muck monsters that had been published simultaneously and, by all reports, coincidentally, by Marvel and DC. Marvel had a series called Man-Thing about a large shambling green monster who burned people to death if they showed any fear. Sort of a double-bind considering that there is only one natural reaction to seeing a ten foot green monster coming towards you. DC published Swamp thing, a wonderful mixture of Frankenstein and The Creature from The Black Lagoon. Marvel was also on a kick at this time about protecting their trademark on major characters by doing female versions of them. They ended up doing two around the same time -- Spider-Woman and She-Hulk. The implication of this move, at least in my mind, was that any publisher doing a female version of a Marvel character that wasn't Spider-Woman or She-Hulk would have free rein to use those characters -- Thingette, The Woman Torch. So taking the bull by the horns, I decided to do Woman-Thing."

## References

 1. ↑ *Cerebus No. 25*
2. ↑ *Swords of Cerebus, Volume Six*, "Introduction to issues 23-25"
Mrs. Annan

**Mrs. Annan** was the wife of Paul "Coffee" Annan and the mother of his son.

## History

During the period of time that Cerebus was a professional Five-Bar Gate player, he would always see a "beautiful young girl" in "The Pen", an area for players to wait for the results of a match. He eventually learned that she was the wife of long-time champion Paul "Coffee" Annan. She bore Annan a son, Paul Junior, who accompanied her to the championship matches for many years, but eventually left.
The Animated Cerebus

***The Animated Cerebus*** is a portfolio of forty-five prints by Dave Sim published by Aardvark-Vanaheim in 1983. The prints encompass three vignettes created as the basis for a potential *Cerebus* animated feature film.

The portfolio came in two editions: a limited edition of 100 copies that came with an original Cerebus sketch by Dave Sim and a regular edition signed on the first print, which has the introduction and a picture of Dave.

## Stories

### "A Well-Equipped Bar"

16 prints

Cerebus learns a lesson about drinking unknown concoctions.

### "Add One Mummified Bat"

12 prints

Cerebus studies his instructor Magus Doran as the wizard attempts to conjure a spirit.

### "His First Sword"

17 prints

Cerebus visits a blacksmith to acquire his first sword.

## Publication Notes

* This portfolio was originally massively overprinted, leaving Aardvark-Vanaheim with a $16,000 debt that Dave Sim took on as part of the separation of Renegade Press from Aardvark-Vanaheim.

## Dave Sim on *The Animated Cerebus*

* Would definitely need to be reproduced in a colour volume. The idea of repasting it into comic page format is interesting. Because the original films were accidentally destroyed through improper storage, it’s impossible to reproduce the actual portfolio as constituted—either as a portfolio or as individual pages in a colour volume. However the original tracing paper overlays and original backgrounds still exist so it would be possible to reconstruct the images pretty accurately through photoshop and other computer innovations. Of course, when I consider how much time it would take to do that—even with all the computer advances—I become tempted to redo the three backgrounds or get Gerhard to redo them and produce a better visual package for that reason. My instinct tells me that once you are reconstructing, rather than reproducing you have entered a different category and all bets are off. Once you’re reconstructing the images, you’re free to reconstruct the backgrounds as well. The other extreme of that is faithfulness to the original product. That is, it is preferable to have a second rate reproduction of the original portfolio in the colour volume (i.e. shot directly from a printed copy) than to have a first rate reconstruction of the original (re-done using the original inked overlay drawings) and it is preferable to have a first rate reconstruction than to having a reconstruction which includes redrawn and repainted backgrounds. Is it sufficient to have one page showing—through a photograph of the original portfolio with a few of the plates—what the original portfolio looked like and then do a comic page format using the original overlays, but also redrawn backgrounds more suited to a colour volume? Even assuming Erik Larsen is still interested in doing it, it isn’t going to happen, like, tomorrow, so I’d welcome any guidance as to what level of faithfulness is required here.

## References

 1. ↑ A Moment of Cerebus - "The Alternative Comics Cadaver Derby"
2. ↑ Cerebus Archive Report #4
Thrunk

**Thrunk** was a sixteen-foot-tall sentient statue created by the wizard Necross.

## History

Necross built the statue with the intention of eventually animating it, but he had no specific plans, so held off.

After Cerebus brought about the death of Necross, the wizard placed his life force into the statue. Cerebus left him, stuck in his castle with no way to leave.

Later, after Cerebus had been named Pope of the Eastern Church, Thrunk arrived and declared himself the embodiment of Tarim, temporarily replacing Cerebus as "Most Holy". Cerebus eventually destroyed him with the use of Adam Weisshaupt's canons.

## Quotes about Thrunk

* "Your destruction of the Pigtish idol had called forth a travesty of that idol in human form. Having chosen to have faith in you. .instead of the icon. . .Bran saw suicide as the only honorable recourse open to him. . .In the absence of the genuine idol, is it possible that Necross/Thrunk might have fulfilled some part of your fractured destiny?" - Dave

## Appearances

* *Cerebus No. 13*
* *Cerebus No. 80* through *Cerebus No. 82*
* *Cerebus No. 87* and *Cerebus No. 88*
* *Cerebus No. 196* - cameo

## References

 1. ↑ *Cerebus No. 13*
2. ↑ *Cerebus No. 80*
3. ↑ *Cerebus No. 88*
4. ↑ *Cerebus No. 196*
Archbishop Powers

**Archbishop Percy** was a leader in the Eastern Church of Tarim.

## History

Archbishop Percy opposed Adam Weisshaupt and nominated Cerebus to be Pope of the Eastern Church to replace Pope Harmony IV.

Later, he presided over Astoria's trial.

## Appearances

* *Cerebus No. 59*
* *Cerebus No. 61*
* *Cerebus No. 64* through *Cerebus No. 66*
* *Cerebus No. 68*
* *Cerebus No. 71*
* *Cerebus No. 87*
* *Cerebus No. 90*
* *Cerebus No. 92* and *Cerebus No. 93*
* *Cerebus No. 96* through *Cerebus No. 101*
Sand Hills Creek

**Sand Hills Creek** was a town in Estarcion to the south of Isshuria. Cerebus was born there and, after years away, returned alongside Jaka.

## Dave Sim on Sand Hills Creek

* "I think Cerebus missed the point in a lot of ways about the nature of Sand Hills Creek (local mythology holds that Kitchener was once called Sand Hills, which rych mills, a local historian has pretty definitely disproved). The place I pictured was closer to the size of Gananoque than any incarnation of Kitchener I remember, but there are similarities: one being that people who leave tend to come back no matter how much they didn't like the place and couldn't wait to get out. That's always the side I knew. Someone would move away from Kitchener and then I'd see them back at Peter's Place a year later. The side I never thought of (always being on this side of it) was that there was never a big Hey, Welcome Home. Just a, ? I thought you moved to Vancouver. So, what I'm saying is I think Cerebus was expecting more than he would've gotten even if he had come home before his father died. His father wouldn't have welcomed him back and neither would anyone else. There are Sand Hills people who stay and Sand Hills people who go. Cerebus went. It put him "out of tune" with Sand Hills Creek."

## References

 1. ↑ *Form & Void*
2. ↑ Dave Answers 6 Questions - May, 2004
Khaidoge the Ungovernable

**Khaidoge the Ungovernable** was a nomad barbarian lord whose lands were east of the Feldwar States and south of the Wall of T'si and the T'capmin Kingdoms.

## History

* Khaidoge frequently made attacks against the T'capmin Kingdoms.
* The T'capmin Kingdoms would issue a twenty-year decoration to border guards who served twenty years on the Wall of T'si in defense against Khaidoge.
Big Round Glowing White Strange Thing

The **Big Round Glowing White Strange Thing** was a non-corporeal glowing sphere that spoke to Cerebus. Its name came from Cerebus, who when asked (while he had a cold) what it was by Boobah, answered "Na Big Rou'd Glowi'g Whide Stra'ge Thi'g!"

## History

At one time, two voices were heard coming from it, another time, only one (when it referred to itself as a "messiah").

Took on the form of the Regency Elf at one point, in an effort to get Cerebus to cease from trying to make everyone believe the world would end if he wasn't given all the gold.

Transported Cerebus to a mystical area, the location of the heads of Henrot and Fred, Ethel and the Little Fellow with the Hair.

After transporting Cerebus back to the Regency Hotel, it turned into a gold sphere.

Appeared to Astoria while she was in prison.

## Traits

It had the ability to take on different forms. It possibly appeared as the Judge's Evil Twin.

## Appearances

* *Cerebus No. 66*
* *Cerebus No. 69* and *Cerebus No. 70*
* *Cerebus No. 73*
* *Cerebus No. 81* and *Cerebus No. 82*
* *Cerebus No. 90* and *Cerebus No. 91*
* *Cerebus No. 111*
* *Cerebus No. 155*
* *Cerebus No. 184* - cameo or mention
* *Cerebus No. 272* - cameo or mention

## Dave Sim on the BRGWST

* **Question:** Were all the BRGWST the same thing/person? In particular, who or what was the BRGWST that spoke to Cerebus on the platform in "Talking with Tarim?")

**DAVE:** Yes, all BRGWST (never typed that before) are the same thing. For all I know they're all YHWH across the length and breadth and height of every reality of which we are aware. I would be surprised if the living thing in the earth invented the name YHWH.
* "...I asked him if he had a particular name for the stone floor in outer space dimension from "Magiking" (and repeated in issues 81 and 92), but he didn't recall off-hand ever having one in mind. This lead to a discussion of the BRGWST, that he only called it that because he needed to give it a name to have something to call it as it repeatedly appeared. He also talked at length about it. I wondered to him what the "Ignore it, it's just another reality" cover comment was about, and he explained about how BRGWST was another echo of the big bang and the universe. I brought up the "Reads" mention of our universe resembling BRGWST when seen from afar, and he relayed that it had a lot to do with the whole "expanding" away from God to turn away from God. He went into much detail about the subject, but stressed that as much as he knows, there's still a lot he probably didn't get "right". So I'm not doing his explanation justice whatsoever..."

## References

 1. ↑ *Cerebus No. 69*
2. ↑ *Cerebus No. 70*
3. ↑ Cerebus Mailing List "Talk"
4. ↑ Phone interview with Dave Sim
Cerebus the Radio Show

***Cerebus: The Radio Show*** is a radio adaptation by the Shockwave Radio Theater group on KFAI in Minneapolis/St. Paul. It covers the events of the first five issues of Dave Sim's *Cerebus the Aardvark*, with a sixth episode being performed live at Minicon, a sci-fi/fantasy convention held in annualy Minneapolis.

An ad on the back cover of *Cerebus the Newsletter No. 10* announced a planned LP release that never materialized.

## Episodes

All episodes adapted from the work of Dave Sim.

1. "The Flame Jewel"
2. "Captive in Boreala"
3. "Song of Red Sophia"
4. "Death's Dark Tread"
5. "The Idol"
6. "The Secret"
Magus Doran

**Magus Doran** was the wizard with whom Cerebus studied in his youth.

He lived in Imesh and was the creator of the Energy Globes of Imesh. What became of him when K'Cor took over the city is unknown.

## Appearances

* *Cerebus* No. 9 - mentioned
* *Cerebus* No. 28 - mentioned
* *Cerebus* No. 173 - unseen, heard speaking including his last speech to Cerebus
* *Cerebus* No. 190 - mentioned
* *Cerebus* No. 266 - unseen, heard speaking
* "Add One Mummified Bat" - sequence from *The Animated Cerebus* portfolio

## References

 1. ↑ *Cerebus* No. 28, page 3
2. ↑ *Swords of Cerebus* Volume Three, introduction to *Cerebus* No. 9
3. ↑ *Cerebus* No. 9, page 13
Dino's Cafe

**Dino's Cafe** was a cafe in Iest.

## History

The cafe was frequented by normalroach, who clashed with the waitress, Janice.

Following the arrest and deportation of Jaka Tavers, Cerebus gave the owner, Dino, a gold coin to cover the costs of Cerebus' food and bed for the rest of his life. Cerebus then staued at the cafe in a near catatonic state for many months. With the interest alone from the coin, Dino was able to live large and upgrade many aspects of the cafe. He also hired a new waitress, Doris, who took a liking to Cerebus.

## Dave Sim on Dino's Cafe

* "Cerebus in MELMOTH was very autobiographical. I don't usually stray too far over into autobiography per se, but certainly the sort of stunned quality that he had in MELMOTH. . .I had just come out of a particularly troublesome relationship where, basically, I went to Peter's Place just about every night and sat and started at the wall full of bottles and drank my beer. That's the club that is owned by Dino. Janice worked there up until last week. Doris works there. That was about as close as I had ever gotten to autobiography. I wasn't clutching a doll and a sword but I might as well have; in a figurative sense, that's exactly what I was doing. People knew me well enough not to come up and talk to me and that went on for months. Aside from that, I just worked."
Boobah

**Boobah** was an Estarcion stenographer.

## History

He worked for Cerebus when Cerebus was Pope.

He later worked for Lord Julius Tavers.

## Nature

* He had a voracious appetite and was constantly eating.
* He wore his hair long and over his eyes because he was sensitive to bright light.

## Appearances

* *Cerebus No. 65*
* *Cerebus No. 69*
* *Cerebus No. 72*
* *Cerebus No. 76*
* *Cerebus No. 88* through *Cerebus No. 92*
* *Cerebus No. 112-113* - cameo or mention
* *Cerebus No. 142*
* *Cerebus No. 169*
* *Cerebus No. 193* - cameo or mention
* *Cerebus No. 206*
* *Cerebus No. 212*
* *Ceresbu No. 300* - cameo

## Basis

Boobah is a parody of Robert W. Rittinger, a friend of Dave Sim's.

## Dave Sim on Boobah

* Sim mentioned that he attended Rittinger's stag party around the time he was working on *Cerebus No. 20*/*21*.

## References

 1. ↑ *Cerebus No. 206*
2. ↑ *Cerebus No. 69*, "Aardvark Comment"
3. ↑ *Swords of Cerebus*
Following Cerebus No. 2

***Following Cerebus No. 2*** is an issue of *Following Cerebus* published by Win-Mill Productions.

## Articles

* "Editorial" by Craig Miller & John Thorne
* "Pretense and Truth: The Challenge of Dave Sim's Storytelling"
* "Dave Sim on Telling Stories"
* "Gallery" - sketches of Cerebus, Konigsberg, Shep Shep and Jaka Tavers by Dave Sim
* "Dave Sim interviews Barry Windsor-Smith" (1973)
* "Passage" Cerebus story by Dave Sim; with new introduction
* "About Last Issue" by Dave Sim
* "Dave Sim's Favorite Buffy Pic This Month"
* "Another Thing Coming - News & More"
* "Mind Games" - letter column
Cerebus' vest

**Cerebus' vest** was a black vest that Cerebus acquired along with black paint and a paintbrush in exchange for his helmet before traveling to Serrea.

## History

Cerebus first wore the vest while travelling on the Sofim River to Serrea. He had sewn into it his remaining gold acquired from Henrot.

## References

 1. ↑ *Cerebus No. 196*
2. ↑ "Passage"
Cerebus: Remastered & Expanded

The ***Cerebus: Remastered & Expanded*** project is a series of comic books and graphic novels published by The Waverly Press in association with Aardvark-Vanaheim that present reworked versions of vintage *Cerebus* publications. The comics are financed via Kickstarter and Indiegogo campaigns. So far, four comics and two "phonebooks" have been published in the series.

## Titles

* *Cerebus No. 1 - Remastered & Expanded* (2020)
* *Spawn No. 10 - Remastered & Expanded* (2021)
* *Cerebus No. 2 - Remastered & Expanded* (2021)
* *Form & Void - Remastered & Expanded* (2022)
* *Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles No. 8 - Remastered & Expanded* (2023)
* *The Last Day - Remastered & Expanded* (2023)
Airship

An **airship** was a flying vehicle that could fly by use of a hot-air balloon and steam engine. Before traveling north with Ham and Mary Ernestway, Jaka had suggested to Cerebus that they take an airship north to his parent's house. Cerebus had not yet seen nor heard of an airship.

## Dave Sim on airships

* "When I was collaborating with other artists on short back-up stories in **Swords of Cerebus**, I wanted to do one with Barry Windsor-Smith, who was and is a big influence on my work... I called Barry on the telephone and suggested that we work "Marvel-style", that is, that he would pencil the story and I would write and letter it from his pencils. The idea that I gave to him came from a story which I had heard about Leonardo da Vinci. The story was that, in his old age, Leonardo used to terrify his nurses by inflating sheep's bladders as one would inflate a balloon, blowing them up until they filled his bedroom and crowded out his nurses. I told Barry that it was interesting to me that Leonardo, who was all of his life obsessed with the possibility of "manned flight" (this taking place in the Renaissance and, thus, well before our own time, it is permissible to call it "manned flight" instead of "personned flight" or "manned or womynned flight"), would have missed so completely the obvious - hot air balloons - even when he was holding the idea in the form of a sheep-bladder-metaphor in the palm of his hand. I sketched out very roughly and verbally a story idea where Cerebus would encounter a Leonardo-like figure assembling his own hot-air balloon, which he had just invented."

## References

 1. ↑ *Cerebus No. 255*
2. ↑ *Form & Void*, page 708 - "To Ham & Ham Not" notes
Krull

**Krull** was a Commander for the army of Palnu. He liked to hear himself talk about his military exploits.

## Dave Sim on Krull

* "The Commander Krull character was, on the one hand, my version of Conan the King. He was also patterned on Colonel Flagg from M\*A\*S\*H. ... [He is] the first of my characters to be living his own autobiography. ... I have come to think that most 'heroes' are primarily 'legends in their own minds'. That is to say, while they protest endlessly that they're just doing their jobs and that any grand motivations ascribed to them are strictly the problem of certain individuals who don't know them very well, most of them actually keep careful track of their 'image' on a day-to-day basis, basing their decisions, at least in part, on how it will appear in the 'Legend of Me, Book Seven.' These individuals can usually be picked out in a crowd by the presence of their 'official biographer.' This is a chap who usually doesn't get much attention until the hero is dead, at which time everyone, (somewhat naively) decides that he holds some degree of 'truth' about the deceased.

"In the case of the Moon Roach, the official biographer is a disassociated personality, and consequently rather more difficult to control (rather like William Manchester travelling around inside Robert Kennedy's head, privy to too many un-heroic thoughts and impulses). In the case of Krull, the biographer Grimes is really little more than a stenographer. Anyone who thinks that this is a radical rather than a minor caricaturing of the official biographer's role should read a few official biographies and compare them with a few unofficial ones."
## References

 1. ↑ *Swords of Cerebus Volume Five*, Introduction to [[Cerebus No. 17|issue 17
Illusionists

The **Illusionists** were a mystical group whose primary tenet was that "All life was an illusion".

## History

The Illusionists were formed by Alfred, son to Suenteus Po. Their meditation techniques allow them to live extremely long lives

Many hold high government positions.

## Quotes about the Illusionists

* "not really a major force...more of a discipline..for exchanging information." Suenteus Po.
* "Against their teachings to assume too extroverted a role." Suenteus Po.

## References

 1. ↑ *Cerebus No. 159*, page 9
2. ↑ *Cerebus No. 28*, page 2
3. ↑ *Cerebus No. 28*, page 8
4. ↑ *High Society (phonebook)*, page 55
5. ↑ *High Society (phonebook)*, page 56
Following Cerebus

***Following Cerebus*** is a comic book series published by Win-Mill Productions in association with Aardvark-Vanaheim. It ran for twelve issues from July, 2004 to August, 2011. As much a fanzine as a comic, *Following Cerebus* features articles on Cerebus-related topics, including interviews with writers and artists with a connection to the series. Several previously unpublished (or otherwise obscure) stories of Cerebus were also included throughout its run. Most issues feature new cover art by Dave Sim. Win-Mill had previously published a similar title, *Cerebus Companion*, without the direct involvement of Aardvark-Vanaheim.

## Gallery

*Following Cerebus No. 1**Following Cerebus No. 2**Following Cerebus No. 3**Following Cerebus No. 4**Following Cerebus No. 5**Following Cerebus No. 6**Following Cerebus No. 7**Following Cerebus No. 8**Following Cerebus No. 9**Following Cerebus No. 10**Following Cerebus No. 11**Following Cerebus No. 12*
Flame Jewel

The **Flame Jewel** was a precious jewel that was said to be flawless and worth a king's ransom.

## History

* Cerebus was hired by a pair of thieves to help them steal the Flame Jewel from a wizard who lived in a tower. The thieves mistakenly believed it to be the source of the wizard's power, but shortly after the wizard's death, the illusionary spell on it wore off and revealed it to just be a simple walnut.
Prime Minister Gatson

**Prime Minister Gatson** was Prime Minister of Iest for approximately fourteen years. He resigned in disgrace and was followed in the office by Cerebus.

## Appearances

* *Cerebus No. 27* - cameo or mention
* *Cerebus No. 29* - cameo or mention
* *Cerebus No. 30*
* *Cerebus No. 31* through *Cerebus No. 33* - cameos or mentions
* *Cerebus No. 35*
* *Cerebus No. 36* and *Cerebus No. 37* - cameos or mentions
* *Cerebus No. 42* - cameo or mention

## References

 1. ↑ *Cerebus No. 42*, page 3
2. ↑ *Cerebus No. 42*
Bill Mox

**Bill Mox** was an art financier who bankrolled Seth's paintings.

## Basis

He is based on publisher Bill Marks, for whom the real world Seth was working at the time.

## Appearances

* *Cerebus No. 92*
* *Cerebus No. 153* and *Cerebus No. 154*
* *Cerebus No. 157* - mentioned

1. ↑ "Note from the President", *Cerebus No. 92*, November 1986
Chieftain

The **Chieftain** of the Borealan Marauders was a Paranian.

## History

The Chieftain and his Marauders attacked a military expedition which included Cerebus. Initially planning to sell the captive Earth-Pig to a freak show in Gurann, Cerebus talked the Chieftain into allowing him to join the Marauders, following a Duel of the Long Knives against Klog. Three days later, in a snowy valley, the Marauders clashed against an army of warriors whose souls were stolen by the demon Khem. It is unknown if the Chieftain or any of his Marauders survived the battle.
Cerebus No. 267

***Cerebus No. 267*** is an issue of *Cerebus* published by Aardvark-Vanaheim.

## Stories

### "If Five-Bar Gate Be My Destiny"

Cerebus wanders north from Isshuria in Northern Isshuria until he "runs out of north". He eventually settles into life at McBee's Tavern becoming a professional Five-Bar Gate player under the name Fred Hammer for thirty years. He comes in second-place almost every season, always losing to Paul "Coffee" Annan. He wins the Jakirbee Cup once when "Coffee" has a broken leg, and then another time when "Coffee" dies of old age, leading to Cerebus being laughed out of the game.

## Additional

* "Aardvark Comment"
* "About This Issue"
* "Shortlist: The First Annual Howard Eugene Day Memorial Prize"

## Characters

* Cerebus/Fred Hammer *(last seen in issue 266; next appearance in issue 268)*
* McBee's Owner *(only appearance)*
* Paul "Coffee" Annan *(only appearance)*
* Mr. Van Hellemond *(only appearance)*
* Mrs. Annan *(only appearance)*
* Paul "Coffee" Annan Junior *(only appearance)*

## Locations

* McBee's
* Moosehat
* Moosehat Gardens

## Publication Notes

* "If Five-Bar Gate Be My Destiny" is reprinted in *Latter Days*.

## Dave Sim on *Cerebus No. 267*

* **Q1.** "Wildcard" Question: Cerebus' blankouts: He has them . . . (7) After his last game with Annan (a few months/years?) (i267). Why do we only see it in this short span? Why after his last game with Anan? Are they just stress related? Or is there a deeper meaning to them?

**Dave:** (7) was the loss of the ambition. If he could just beat Paul "Coffee" Annan, then everything would be okay. Well, he beat Annan and Annan died, again, he loses both of things that he's been using to keep himself going. Pretty tentative handhold gone. And, of course, ultimately, he's rolled all of these into one big ball called Latter Days and made them the custody of you-know-who.
That's the whole point of the story. I see that a lot in the people around me and I've had bouts of it myself. You're not actually living your life, you're enduring it and keeping track of all your hardships so that when S\*H\*E finally comes along, S\*H\*E will understand when you dump all of them on her. There are a lot of people who get married a second time so they'll have someone to take their side against their ex-wife. They're just not comfortable until they have that two-against-one thing happening and they'll do anything to get it. It's a choice, I guess.
## References

 1. ↑ "Dave Answers 6 Questons: June 2004", Cerebus Fangirl Site
Following Cerebus No. 3

***Following Cerebus No. 3*** is an issue of *Following Cerebus* published by Win-Mill Productions.

## Articles

* "Covering the Issue" by Craig Miller & John Thorne
* "Dave Sim Interviews Harvey Kurtzmam" (1974)
* "Dave Sim on Parody and Copyright"
* "The Controversy over Copyright"
* "Copyright is Copywrong" by Joe Bob Briggs
* "The Responses" by Harlan Ellison, Mark Finn, Frank Miller, Steve Rude, Lee Sandlin, Robert Weinberg
* "Gerhard on the Joys of Sailing"
* "About Last Issue" by Dave Sim
* "Will Eisner Remembered 1917-2005" by Dave Sim
* "Dave Sim's Favorite Buffy Pic This Month"
Cerebus: High Society

***Cerebus: High Society*** is a comic book series published bi-weekly by Aardvark-Vanaheim. It ran for twenty-five issues from February, 1990 to February, 1991 reprinting the second twenty-five issues of *Cerebus*, covering the storyline of the same name. Each issue includes all of the material from the original issues, including ads, editorials and letters. It followed *Cerebus Bi-weekly* and was followed by *Cerebus: Church & State*.

## Gallery

*Cerebus: High Society No. 1*
(*Cerebus No. 26*)CerebusHS2.jpg*Cerebus: High Society No. 2*
(*Cerebus No. 27*)CerebusHS3.jpg*Cerebus: High Society No. 3*
(*Cerebus No. 28*)CerebusHS4.jpg*Cerebus: High Society No. 4*
(*Cerebus No. 29*)CerebusHS5.jpg*Cerebus: High Society No. 5*
(*Cerebus No. 30*)CerebusHS6.jpg*Cerebus: High Society No. 6*
(*Cerebus No. 31*)CerebusHS7.jpg*Cerebus: High Society No. 7*
(*Cerebus No. 32*)CerebusHS8.jpg*Cerebus: High Society No. 8*
(*Cerebus No. 33*)CerebusHS9.jpg*Cerebus: High Society No. 9*
(*Cerebus No. 34*)CerebusHS10.jpg*Cerebus: High Society No. 10*
(*Cerebus No. 35*)CerebusHS11.jpg*Cerebus: High Society No. 11*
(*Cerebus No. 36*)CerebusHS12.jpg*Cerebus: High Society No. 12*
(*Cerebus No. 37*)CerebusHS13.jpg*Cerebus: High Society No. 13*
(*Cerebus No. 38*)CerebusHS14.jpg*Cerebus: High Society No. 14*
(*Cerebus No. 39*)CerebusHS15.jpg*Cerebus: High Society No. 15*
(*Cerebus No. 40*)CerebusHS16.jpg*Cerebus: High Society No. 16*
(*Cerebus No. 41*)CerebusHS17.jpg*Cerebus: High Society No. 17*
(*Cerebus No. 42*)CerebusHS18.jpg*Cerebus: High Society No. 18*
(*Cerebus No. 43*)CerebusHS19.jpg*Cerebus: High Society No. 19*
(*Cerebus No. 44*)CerebusHS20.jpg*Cerebus: High Society No. 20*
(*Cerebus No. 45*)CerebusHS21.jpg*Cerebus: High Society No. 21*
(*Cerebus No. 46*)CerebusHS22.jpg*Cerebus: High Society No. 22*
(*Cerebus No. 47*)CerebusHS23.jpg*Cerebus: High Society No. 23*
(*Cerebus No. 48*)CerebusHS24.jpg*Cerebus: High Society No. 24*
(*Cerebus No. 49*)CerebusHS25.jpg*Cerebus: High Society No. 25*
(*Cerebus No. 50*)
Fort Columbia

**Fort Columbia** was a fort in the T'capmin Kingdoms, just north of the Wall of T'si.

## History

Cerebus, being in charge of supplies and administration, led Bo and Scott to a group of mercenaries in order to hire them to help protect the fort. As the brothers argued along the way, Cerebus noticed the fort being firebombed in the distance and just wandered off.

## References

 1. ↑ *Cerebus Jam No. 1*, "Notes from the President"
2. ↑ "The Defense of Fort Columbia"