Cerebus #30

Cerebus meets with the Prime Minister of Iest and finds out that he can cancel his debt with one of the companies in the area. Cerebus meets with Mr. Hadden and gets him really drunk and then gets him to agree to cancel the debt. Cerebus and Hadden are arguing when Hadden is crushed to death by the newly arrived MOON ROACH!

Cerebus tries his hand at political speak in this issue and does quite well with it. Cerebus pouring Hadden a half bottle of whiskey was pretty humorous. Overall, not a lot happened in this issue. It served to show Cerebus slowly creeping deeper into the world of politics and continuing to adapt to his surroundings in a pretty quick fashion.

The Roach has taken on yet another persona. I would say the Moon Roach is probably the most well remembered of his personalities. His weapon of choice in this persona is to drop giant rocks on evildoers. He of course, ruined Cerebus' plans here. Not like that's anything new for the Moon Roach though. He will quickly become one of the brightest spots in the High Society story.

Until next time!

Cerebus #29

Cerebus meets the Regency Elf in this issue. He also finds out that the Prime Minister of Iest wants him to pay back the ransom paid for him. Cerebus visits the arrested McGrew Brothers and they say there was never any ransom money. Cerebus is confused by this and the Elf has been claiming the Iest Prime Minister is up to something. Cerebus unsuccessfully tries to blackmail one of the local merchants. At the end of the issue Cerebus tells the Elf that he needs to figure out how to get the money to pay this back.

This is a really good character development issue for Cerebus. He's playing this game where he's appearing to those around him as being a little mentally unbalanced and later explains to the Elf that he learned that from Lord Julius. It's very interesting to see Cerebus start to see the value in the things Julius told him instead of just seeing him as an idiot. Cerebus is obviously a quick study as he's picking up the politics of the region pretty well.

The scene with the McGrew's in this issue was great. They wouldn't answer his questions so Cerebus beat them with a stick in a rather Bugs Bunny fashion and they were suddenly very agreeable. I loved that scene and it's a great example of how good the sense of humor in this book can be at times.

From a plot stand point, I think this is the most interesting the book has ever been. There are some nice plot threads developing with Cerebus trying to figure out what happened with the ransom and how he can also pay it back. This issue really makes me want to pick up issue 30 and see where it all went. In fact, I'll probably start reading it as soon as I'm done posting this.

Until next time!

Cerebus #28

Cerebus is back in the Seventh Sphere with Suenteus Po this issue. They talk about a variety of subjects before Cerebus talks about taking over the Church of Tarim. This was mostly an experimental issue as there was mostly text with some illustrations to the side.

I don't really have much to say about this one. It was a lot of Po talking about the various religions of the region and Cerebus deciding that he could use those to his advantage in the future.

Cerebus disappeared at the end which has meant he woke up the last time. So next issue should be back to dealing with the McGrew Brothers. I was really disappointed with this issue as I wanted to see the outcome to the cliffhanger to issue 27 and got this instead. It wasn't terrible or boring, just not what I was expecting.

Until next time!

Cerebus #27

This issue sees Cerebus meeting the McGrew Brothers and faking his own abduction. A good part of the issue is Cerebus playing Diamondback with the McGrews while waiting for the government to work up the ransom. At the end of the issue, Cerebus is betrayed by the McGrews.

The McGrew Brothers are Yosemite Sam parodies. They talk almost exactly like him and are hilarious. They'll hang around as this storyline progresses. They're up there with Elrod and the Roach as my favorite characters in the series.

The concept of this issue is pretty funny. Cerebus faking his own kidnapping put of boredom was really funny. You can tell he's not amused by the life of the rich and famous. The McGrews outsmarting him at the end was a nice little twist and it will be interesting to see how he gets out of this situation. Obviously, Cerebus will lose out on the ransom, he always does.

Until next time!

Cerebus #26

Cerebus arrives at the Regency Hotel with his gold. He's in a foul mood and looking for a time but once the staff figure out who he is, they give him a room free of charge. Cerebus is besieged by businessmen while he eats. They pay for his time and he finally corners one and finds out that they are interested in him due to his connections to Lord Julius. Cerebus heads out into the night but still can't find anyone willing to fight him. Cerebus finally decides to throw a bag of flour into a bar full of thugs. Local police swarm the bar and Cerebus is thwarted yet again. Cerebus disappointed wanders off into the night.

I had mentioned previously that Cerebus considers life to be about gold and ale. Later on, Weisshaupt had challenged his ideas on life by saying he lacked creativity. If you had power, you could get as much gold as you wanted with barely any effort. In this issue, Cerebus is getting his first taste of influence and power. He doesn't like it at the moment but he made a ton of money with no effort.

You can see the shift in storytelling here. Cerebus is still the same character and the same sense of humor is there. But the barbarian elements are completely gone now. This storyline lasts for a really long time. I think 25-30 issues. It is in my opinion, one of the greatest comic stories ever to be written. The first time I read the phonebook to High Society, I literally could not put this book down until I finished it. I am really excited to climb back into this story.

Cerebus #25

Charles X. Claremont and Cerebus travel the countryside as Claremont rants about revenge and explains what Woman--Thing is going to do as an apocalypse beast. They come across a castle with an artist that spends pages ranting about breasts and using them in art. He also has an apocalypse beast named Sump-Thing. The two monsters end up mating, killing Claremont and Cerebus pretends to be Claremont's friend to weasel some gold out of the artist.

All around good issue here. This officially closes out the Cerebus phonebook. Past this point, the storytelling in Cerebus becomes much more sophisticated and more ambitious. Tomorrow will start the High Society arc which in my opinion is the best Cerebus story told.

Until next time!

Cerebus #24

Madame Dufort reveals herself to really be Charles X. Claremont and his apocalypse beast known as Woman Thing (Man Thing satire). Claremont has been using the girls to channel power for his monster. He originally tried with boys but had little success.

This issue yet again had Cerebus laid up and playing cards with the girls for most of the issue. The girls naive ways clash with the cynicism of Cerebus as the games progress. Theresa mentions that Cerebus has obviously saved thousands of women and Cerebus mentions he used one for a shield once.

They also recount tales about Lord Julius and Elrod where it was obvious that Cerebus actually did the work.

This arc is a little more subdued than some of the previous ones. I think the next issue is going to have some big things with Woman Thing hitting the scene. I'm really excited to see how things play out in the conclusion to this story.

Until next time!