by Dave Sim

isbn: 0919359086
subject: Graphic Novels, Fiction and Literature, Humor
finished: Summer 1997

The other day I finally got around to picking up the first Cerebus "phone book" and read all 500 pages in a couple of sittings. The early issues are not well drawn, but Sim improves a lot over the 25 issues, and Cerebus book 1 is hilarious from start to finish. Comic books are not that difficult to satirize, but Sim does a great job poking fun at them, and moves on to broader (but not more difficult) targets such as politics and religion as he becomes more comfortable with the medium. In High Society, Church and State, and Jaka's Story, these trends continue. The art gets better, the characters become more melancholy and less funny, and more serious issues are tackled. Cerebus is recommended only with reservations to non-comic book fans.