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Layman's Original Cerebus Art Gallery
Back when Cerebus pages were affordable, I managed to collect a few choice pieces. Here they are. And, no, suckers, they are NOT for sale.
Sim/Gerhard,
watercolor; 1984
Another cool E-Bay score! I paid
considerable more on this than my last watercolor piece, but I really wanted a
piece of Cerebus as from his tax collector period (seen only in the old Epic
Illustrated stories.) Anyway, the first thing I did was reframe it from the
nasty ol' frame it was probably in since 1984. This thing kicks ass.
Sim/Gerhard,
watercolor; 1986
Woo-hoo E-Bay! I bought this
piece shortly after the page from issue #68. It was on ebay, but never made the
reserve. I think it would have, but my primary ebay competitor was stuck at the
airport or something. Anyway, I forgot completely about the auction until it
was past, and when I saw it didn't even make it past the reserve I immediately
emailed the seller. He offered me the piece at the reserve price, which was
eminently resonable, so I jumped at the chance. The piece was done for a comic
book retailer in 1986 and is personalized to "Kevin." I've matted
that part of it out of course (and it looks INCREDIBLE framed, maybe even
better then a couple of my pages.) Late at night I stare at the piece and
pretend Dave and Ger made it special for me.
Cerebus 9,
April-May 1979, page 9
Cerebus, Book I, page 193
"Swords Against Imesh"
Another ebay score!!! Hot damn.
Didn't expect to get it, and like it better the more I see it. The bad news: I
no longer have the wall space for all my Cerebus pages. Gonna have to start
rotating them out.
Cerebus 19,
August 1980, cover
Cerebus, Book I
"She-Devil in the Shadows"
Bought from an art dealer at San
Diego Con 2001. Big thanks to my old WildStorm Editor-In-Chief Scott Dunbier,
who knew the art dealer and got the price knocked down a bit. My first cover.
Awww.
Cerebus 34,
January 1982, page 7
High Society, page 175
Cerebus book 2
"Three Days Before"
thank ya kindly, ebay
Cerebus 64,
July. 1984, page 10
Church & State Vol. 1, Book III, page 262
Cerebus book 3
"Never Pray for Change"
A long story. I'll get to it
later
Cerebus 68,
Nov. 1984, page 16
Church & State Vol. 1, Book III, page 348
Cerebus book 3
"Another Thing Coming"
Lucky number seventh page. My
first ebay score, bought largely because my two primary competitors showed some
mercy (I think) and decided to look the other way after nearly a year of me
losing out to them. I was a sophomore in high school when this page was
created, for God's sake. What makes it extra cool is, though I'd picked up
Cerebus sporadically since issue #43, I didn't start reading it fanatically
until 1984, about the time Gerhard joined on board and Cerebus was doing funny
shit as pope. This page is my first with actually dialogue, which was kinda
weird for me. I was a bit ambivalent about whether this purchase was the right
decision (I was far and away the most I've paid for a Cerebus page) but once it
got in its frame, I really fell in love with it.
There's also a pretty funny gag
concerning the meek Archbishop Posey, who is one of my favorite Cerebus
characters.
Cerebus 107,
Feb. 1988, page 3
Church & State Vol. II, Book VII, page 1123
Cerebus Book 4
"Walking on the Moon"
This was my third or forth page
(bought at the same time as the "First Blood" page from Cerebus 180,
so I'm not sure which came first.) I got this at APE II in San Jose, like
several of the other pages, it was during Sim's U.S. Tour '92. After regretting
buying one pages at the LA stop and one page at the Phoenix stuff, I bought
two. I also gave Dave my copy of Cerebus #2 (the earliest issue I had at the
time--I've since picked up #1,) and Dave not only signed it but gave me a cool
Cerebus sketch on it. Just for the record, Dave Sim has a bad rep with some
people, but I've met him about a half dozen times, and he has always treated my
wonderfully. In the few correspondences we've had as well.
No scan can do justice to this
page. Gerhard's moon is absolutely breathtaking at full size. I think,
artistically, this is my best looking page, although for sentimental reasons
the 112/113 page remains my favorite.
Cerebus
112/113, July/Aug. 1988, page 19
between Church & State and Jaka's Story
"Square One"
This was my first page, bought
in LA during tour '92, and is still my favorite. True story: the night before
that particular con, I was thumbing through old Cerebi and asking myself if I
could have any ONE page, which would it be. A truly weird cosmic coincidence,
Dave Sim happened to break out this issue for the show. Pretty cool, huh? My
goal is to have a page from every "phone book," plus a cover.
Technically, since the cover
takes from the lower left panel, and because the issue is a double issue, I
suppose you could say, TECHNICALLY, I have two covers. Then again, that's kinda
half-assed rationalization
Cerebus 158,
May 1992, page 4
Mothers & Daughers Vol. I: Flight, page 150
Cerebus Book 7
This was my second page,
purchased on the Phoenix leg of Dave's Tour '92. I convinced my college buddy
Tommy G. to ride from San Diego with me. I didn't want to spend any money on a
hotel, since I wanted to buy another Cerebus page, so we found a camp site
-even though we had no camp equipment- and slept on the hard Arizona dirt with
just a sleeping bag, no tent. We also got a flat tire that trip. And was pulled
over by a cop, but he let me go with a warning (for once in my life.) Thank god
we hadn't cracked open any beers before the copper pulled us over --we were
just about to!
Cerebus 180,
Mar. 1994, page 8
Mothers & Daughers Vol. III: Reads, page 114
Cerebus Book 9
"First Blood"
This was the other page I bought
at APE II (the moon page from 107 being the other.) At the time I was more
excited about this page, since the issue was relatively new, but over the
course of time the moon page has really grown on me. Still, I've got pages
featuring all THREE Aardvarks in Estarcion.
Cerebus 198,
Sept. 1995, page 19
Mothers & Daughers Vol. IV: Minds, page 245
Cerebus Book 10
This page was given to me as a
birthday present by my lovely and excellent girlfriend Kim Peterson. She gave
me a ton of cool presents and at the very end handed me this huge envelope. I
assumed it was one of those novelty oversized birthday cards, Peanuts or
whatever, and then opened it to find a Cerebus page. I almost had a heart
attack.
By the way, the text to this
page are actually music quotes, from Pink Floyd's "Comfortably Numb."
As a college pothead who listened (and listens) to my share of Pink Floyd, that
gave the page extra resonance, even if, from an art standpoint. This may be the
least of my pages.
Oh, and at the time, I thought
Kim paid waaaaaay too much money for the page. Now, of course, it seems like
the K-Mart blue light special. She got this in New York on a trip to visit her
best friend. Art from "Minds" was on display (and on sale) at a
gallery called Four Walls, Eight Windows, or something like that, I think.
Cerebus 211,
October 1996, cover
Guys: page 223
Cerebus, Book 11
"Remember Jobs"
A present from Anothony Bozzi,
who officiated my wedding ceremony. Bozzi actually called Dave Sim and talked
him into selling me this cover, which is way beyond the call of duty of
anybody. I guess knew who I was from past letters, or whatever, and knew I
wasn't going to turn around and sell it. He actually signed it "Best wishes
for a long and happy life together to John and Kim (nyuck nyuck nyuck)"
and signed and dated it March 27, 2002, which was three days before the
wedding. If you know Dave's opinion on matrimony that makes this inscription
particularly funny.
I guess Bozzi didn't know what
cover he was getting, and Dave said he would send a cover with Cerebus on it.
Gerhard wasn't around to sign it, and Bozzi needed it in a hurry, so Dave said
he's send one "without much background." However, a better cover I
could not ask for. The funny thing, the only reason Bozzi got a cover, instead
of a splash, is because Kim told him I didn't have a cover. But I actually DID
already have cover #19, but that's not something Kim paid too much attention
too, I guess. Anyway, I've got two covers know. Four, if you want to split
hairs about what that 112/113 piece is. Thanks, Bozzi!!
Check this out:
Nearly six months after the
wedding, Gerhard fed-exed me the colored photocopy that he watercolored and
used for the cover. Pretty awesome, huh?
Cerebus 219,
June 1997, page 9
Guys, page 397
Cerebus Book 11
This is another page scored by
the girlfriend (now the wife). Got this one at San Diego Con '98, as part of a
benefit auction for comic artist's Charles Vess injured wife. I was doing the
dreaded portfolio reviews for WildStorm (before DC got hold of us,) certainly
my least favorite part of my job as an editor. Kim was sitting, bored, watching
the auction, when the page came up, and then got competitive and took on all
comers. Dave donated two other pages from the same scene, but as far as I'm
concerned, this page is far and away the best of 'em. Again, Kim paid what I
considered an exhorbinant amount, but by today's e-bay standards, it was just
chump change.