comic youre ashamed you havnt read

[Reptisaurus!]

I bought the two Maus hardcovers for a song in a local show last year and haven't gotten around to reading it. I guess the subject matter is keeping me away.

It's a surprisingly brisk read. Really. Maus is way less dense then Watchmen or Fun Home.

[Spike-X]

No shame, but I really do need to get around to some of the pre-Vertigo stuff. Swamp Thing, Doom Patrol, Animal Man...

*le gasp*

[Spike-X]

I need to get onto the Invisibles. I've only read the first tpb.

[Spike-X]

I should probably also finish Cerebus at some stage. I gave up when it turned into What Dave Reckons About Famous Dead Authors.

[Reptisaurus!]

I should probably also finish Cerebus at some stage. I gave up when it turned into What Dave Reckons About Famous Dead Authors.

The first time or the second time? (Melmoth is honestly one of my favorite arcs - But the Hemingway stuff started to lose me a bit.)

[Spike-X]

The first time or the second time? (Melmoth is honestly one of my favorite arcs - But the Hemingway stuff started to lose me a bit.)

Fair point. Yeah, I meant the Hemingway rubbish.

[Reptisaurus!]

Fair point. Yeah, I meant the Hemingway rubbish.

Uh-huh. I think it took me a month? Two months? T' get through that bit. And some of the Biblical interpretation stuff that came after I still haven't quite worked up the gumption to slog through.

[Spike-X]

Geez, I hadn't even heard about that.

[FanboyStranger]

Uh-huh. I think it took me a month? Two months? T' get through that bit. And some of the Biblical interpretation stuff that came after I still haven't quite worked up the gumption to slog through.

It's definitely tough going. I think what actually got me through it was that Sim's lettering made his insane exegesis look beautiful.

[Spike-X]

Dave Sim is one of the greatest letterers ever.

[SJNeal]

Once upon a time, my grandparents gave me a set of Watchmen in singles that they'd picked up at a garage sale. My 10 yr old self flipped through them, said "WTF is this?" and promptly traded them to a kid at school for a few packs of Marvel Masterpieces cards.

Fast forward 2 decades and I've yet to read Watchmen, despite having the trade on my shelf for a good 4-5 yrs now...

[adam_warlock_2099]

I've read through Church and State II but have yet to buy more. Finances willing, I am going to finish it someday. I've really enjoyed what I have read, and think this could be the kind of literature that should be remembered. I'm really anxious to see Jaka's story, and Astoria is one of my favorite characters.

[shaxper]

Fair point. Yeah, I meant the Hemingway rubbish.

The end of that volume will make it worth it. Possibly the high point of the series, as well as the unexpected climax of the series volumes and volumes after you'd thought the excitement was over.

After that, Latter Days is a tough read. At first, I found Sim's explanation of the Old Testament original and fascinating (even if ill informed in some parts and downright crazy throughout), but about halfway through the volume I just started skipping over the excerpts from Cerebus' religious texts. I just couldn't take it anymore. Pretty good story outside of that, though, and it had another unforgettable ending for me.

The Last Day, the final volume, is utter pain for me. I hated it. But it's the last volume, and it's short, so you pretty much have to cross the finish line at that point.


Still, I truly believe Cerebus is the greatest work of literature the comic book medium has ever seen. In spite of the dips and lags, the psycho soap-box ramblings and random tangential homages to literary figures (though F Stop Fitzgerald was kind of fun), this comic did so much that no other comic has ever come close to trying. I find it so much deeper, bolder, and visionary than most literature written within the past hundred years.