Dave Sim: Conversations

Original Sim: The Dave Sim Interview

48 Original Sim: The Dave Sim Interview JASON SACKS / 1992 Originally published in Amazing Heroes 201 (May 1992) pp. 28–41. Reprinted by permission . The first issue of Cerebus came out in December 1977. The artist, writer, and publisher of that comic was Dave Sim. As I write this, it’s February 1992. Cerebus 154 is sitting on my kitchen table. The book is still penciled, written, and published by Sim, now with the assistance of Gerhard. Compare that record with the record of Spectacular Spider-Man, which premiered around the same time but which has had literally hundreds of creators work on it, though still published by Marvel. In those 154 issues, Cerebus has been a barbarian, kitchen staff supervisor, Prime Minister, husband, Prime Minister again, Pope, and houseguest. SpiderMan , in contrast, is still that crime-fighter with the webs. The fifth Cerebus novel, Mothers and Daughters, has recently begun. The previous novels, High Society, Church and State, Jaka’s Story, and Melmoth, have explored such weighty topics as politics, organized religion, power, love, and death. Your friendly neighborhood Spider-Man still just fights the good fight against evil-doers. All of this description makes the book sound serious and weighty. At times, it is. I’d put the ending of Jaka’s Story up against Shakespeare in terms of its tragedy. But the series is often quite hilarious. I’d put the scenes in High Society with Lord Julius, Duke Leonardi, and Cerebus up against Monty Python or the Marx Brothers in terms of uproariousness. In a comics world of hologram covers, short-lived hot artists with limited talents, silly crossover stories, and tacky attempts at realism, Sim continues to present his complex, fascinating comic every month. He’s even announced he’ll be doing the book until it ends with issue 300. Eight years ago that sounded like a joke. Now it sounds like fact. jason sacks / 1992 49 In this interview you’ll find Sim as interesting as his work. He’s outspoken, controversial at times, and very articulate. He’s also damn funny. This interview was conducted in December 1991 over the phone while Sim was inking parts of issue 154. AMAZING HEROES: What is Mothers and Daughters going to be about? DAVE SIM: It basically serves the same kind of function to the rest of the storyline that Church and State did to High Society. The first half of the novel is sort of playing out of random elements. Then the second half resolves the whole thing . . . the overall Cerebus storyline is like that as well. The first 150 issues is a lot of loose ends. The second half is a lot of tying it up. So Mothers and Daughters is far more of a “tying up of loose ends” kind of storyline than any one of the previous ones have been. AH: I was surprised to see Terim appearing in issue 151. SIM: It shouldn’t be surprising. I’m capable of just about anything. AH: Can you give me an idea what some of the plot lines or general themes of Mothers and Daughters will be? SIM: Well, High Society broke down into political power, basically. Church and State was power and belief; as opposed to an imposed power, it was a power of choice. That’s what religion is. Then Jaka’s Story had the theme of love; Melmoth was death. Mothers and Daughters is birth and rebirth. AH: Birth and rebirth, that’s interesting. SIM: Well, they’re awfully good at it. That’s why it’s Mothers and Daughters. AH: At the climax of Church and State, Cerebus is told that he will die “alone, unmourned and unloved.” Basically, after he comes back to earth he sits in a fog. Does Cerebus get reborn at the beginning of Mothers and Daughters? SIM: Oh yeah. You can certainly see that in issue 150. That was a lot of the point of Melmoth, those parallel deaths going on, and then just before the complete expiration of Cerebus, he snaps out of it. Before that point, he’s sort of the dead sitting up. Everyone dies many, many times before they actually physically die. AH: It seems like Cerebus has had three or four deaths that immediately pop to mind. 50 dave sim: conversations SIM: Oh, sure. I think anybody can examine their own lives and think “a part of...