Dave Sim, High Society , Blackvelvet 2010 (518 pp., € 30) The translation of "Cerebus" is, bluntly, an event. So far Dave Sim had never agreed to have translated this endless saga in comic books (more than six thousand pages, made during nearly thirty years, from 1977 to 2004, divided into three hundred numbers and then collected in sixteen large volumes, ironically dubbed by Sim same "phone books, telephone directories ). A real "work-world", as defined in the introduction.
But let's order.
"Cerebus" was founded in 1977 as a parody of style heroic fantasy "Conan the Barbarian", and remains so for the first year. The protagonist, in fact Cerebus is an aardvark (ie, here this beast) anthropomorphized and represented as a cynical barbarian, brutal and devoid of moral scruples, even if, in its way, sympathetic.
It was with this "High Society" that the series definitely changed direction and raised his own ambitions.
does not even attempt to summarize the plot, which is complicated: suffice it to say that it is a single, structured narrative in which Cerebus Iest arrives in town, populated by a cast of inept bureaucrats who spend their time to pocketing bribes and to devise Machiavellian political machinations. Taken under the protection of the ambiguous and manipulative Astoria, is faced with the unscrupulous Lord Julius (who has exactly the features and modes of Groucho Marx in Duck Soup ) for the post of prime minister. Will be elected, but with her manners barbarous, will cause a catastrophe.
Everything is seasoned with bitter irony, over the top characters (among many: a superhero disguised as a schizophrenic Cockroach, a vain albino swordsman, sexy elf, a sect of worshipers dell'oritteropo gorilleschi brothers and two mercenaries) a clockwork plot and designs that can make us believe this crazy world and grotesque, through a series of daring narrative and graphic inventions.
Oh, by the way: "Cerebus" was entirely self-produced by Sim, who made (almost) all by myself, texts and drawings. Meanwhile, the consumer has gone from freak di sostanze psichedeliche a cristiano fondamentalista, ostile al femminismo e alla società contemporanea.
Il genio ha sempre un prezzo.
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