August 31 2006 Ye Bookes...

Everyone needs to know where their limits are, I guess.

I bought a couple copies of the "Silverfish" issues with Cerebus as the guest star, no problemo; but the idea of Dave reading scripture is just "someone reading scripture" and y'all can knock yourselves out buying up the copies of those bon mots.

August 30 2006 Ye Bookes...

Does this count as an original art production by Dave Sim?


(note the flexible payment options)





eBay item number: 250023928725
Dave Sim Cerebus Scripture reading series dvd Genesis
Seller: tgrace
Price: $24.99 (Buy It Now)

Another major project from Dave Sim! Following the 300 issues of the legendary Cerebus comic, Dave has embarked on a Scripture reading series to benefit the Food Bank of his hometown Kitchener.

Begun in June of 2006, this non-denominational program will see English translations of all of God's Scriptures: Judaism's Torah, Christianity's Gospels & Islam's Koran read aloud in chronological order.

Filmed simply on mini-dv, these readings are then archived on brand-name dvd-r's, playable on virtually any dvd player. A portion of the proceeds will go to the Food Bank of Waterloo region.

This auction is for the 2-dvd set comprising the 50 chapters of Genesis, read on June 11th and 25th, 2006. Dvd's come in a slimcase with a colour insert (pictured). Air Postage is $6 to N.America and $8 Worldwide. Well-concealed cash, International money orders or Paypal welcome.

Your patronage is greatly appreciated.

(happy birthday, j)

August 29 2006 Hail the Daily...

Although I had never quite gotten around to posting them, I am a great fan of the artists who do, and have done, the daily newspaper strip. They are easy to criticize, but given how difficult it is to even blog anything on a daily basis... drawing and being funny or insightful or ironic or even cynical in an interesting way gets my respect. The two that sit linked for not-to-be-missed reading in my Bookmark Bar are "Non-Sequitur" by Wiley Miller and "For Better or For Worse" by Lynn Johnston. Miller is just a genius, and Johnston, like Sim, is, I think, the only person in strip history to actually pursue an extended narrative where her characters change, age, and so on.

Now, finally, open at my art site: strip art. Here's to ya!

August 28 2006 All things, great and small

Thanks to iS for this one:

http://tools.wikimedia.de/%7Eleon/stats/wikicharts/index.php?ns=articles&limit=1000&month=08%2F2006&wiki=enwiki

wikicharts - "This tool shows the articles from the English Wikipedia that are viewed most. Statistics have been running for 2 days. This tool is still being tested. Some of the results may be false or misleading."

Neither "Dave Sim" nor "Cerebus" show up in the top 1000 (hee). Not too shockingly, half of the top 10 (after the main page) have to do with, well, you know.

Views per day Percent Title
912500 ± 18% 4.3849% 1. Main Page
28000 ± 108% 0.1346% 2. Wikipedia
23000 ± 119% 0.1105% 3. Pluto
19000 ± 131% 0.0913% 4. United States
17000 ± 138% 0.0817% 5. List of gay porn stars
15500 ± 145% 0.0745% 6. Sexual intercourse
15500 ± 145% 0.0745% 7. Wii
14000 ± 153% 0.0673% 8. Wiki
13500 ± 155% 0.0649% 9. List of sex positions
13000 ± 158% 0.0625% 10. Kama Sutra
13000 ± 158% 0.0625% 11. Pornography

"Pluto" is a gimme, right now. Everyone's running to see if the entry is updated. Going to the wikipedia to find out what a "wiki" is, is rather symmetrical. I'll confess to having thought that "Wii" must have been a really common misspelling of "Wiki" (oh, the pain of growing both older and increasingly out of it). And I figure "United States" is the most interesting entry. Encyclopedia echo? (what else did you do as a kid besides crib papers out of the encyclopedia... so let's see, after sex, what do you look up?) Or are there that many kids in school and summer school in late August?

August 27 2006 "no sale" again

August 27 2006
eBay item number: 180020467700
Seller: j-m-g
Buyer: no bidders
Starting bid: $99.99

LAST FOR SALE:
end date: August 13 2006
eBay item number: 180015564410
Seller: j-m-g
Buyer: no bidders
Starting bid: $99.99






Zzzzzz...

August 26 2006 Commissions

The word on the street is that Dave is agreeing to two commissions per month.

Which two?

The highest bidders.

Word on the street.

August 25 2006 Chatting with Ger

Ger: ya, I figured you'd know it was a hoax, but you never know... I can certainly do something in black & white. Any requests?

A57: There is an awesomeness to the sort of backgrounds that you do with stone, wood and texture, reflection, etc, as in the battle scenes between Cerebus and Cirin in the throne room, or (in the color pieces) for that wraparound cover from the Following Cerebus, or the commission that was done for "Malcolm" with Cerebus and Jaka... the basement scene on page 44 of the first color Epic story, where young Cerebus swipes the liquor...

But does it make any sense to juxtapose that particular Cerebus figure with that sort of detail? Better question, I guess, is the artistic challenge for doing that...

After working on 250 issues of Cerebus, what do YOU see when you look at that white space? Should there be some panels of things floating on a background...

ooo... idea...

Or, perhaps, is the Cerebus figure standing out in front of 3 or 4 large veritical or horizontal panels in which VERY different and highly detailed Ger drawing sit, representing the different places/venues/etc of Cerebus' life... I kind of like that general idea...perhaps better than trying to integrate this figure into an actual setting, letting it simply stand out because it stands out... (good luck thinking about how to integrate that big lump of black shadow... drawing in white... heh)

could be 4 vertical panels, in true Mucha style, representing the 4 seasons, or ages, of Cerebus... as told by settings...

Should the Cerebus figure receive tone?

Perhaps it's silly not just to commission a swell thing, but I like the idea of presenting the challenge. Actually, I hope it seems interesting to you...

Ger: Thanks for the great suggestions which I will bear in mind when I do my traditional "sit-and-stare-at-the-thing-until-something-ocurrs-to-me" phase. If I can find enough left-over tone I will apply that over the figure if you want. I've got one other commission to finish before starting on yours. I'll keep you posted.

August 24 2006 What a schm...!

CAPTION THIS!

August 23 2006 Zzzzzz...

SNFX...

Hunh? Wha -?

Oh, 'scuse me.

Things are so boring in the art world right now I was napping.

Mmmm, let's see.

That Wolverroach con sketch went right back up, I see.



eBay item number: 180020467700
Seller: j-m-g
Starting bid: $99.99

LAST FOR SALE:
end date: August 13 2006
eBay item number: 180015564410
Seller: j-m-g
Buyer: no bidders
Starting bid: $99.99






Zzzzzz...

August 21 2006 Fun for $32.29

Aug 20 2006
Ebay item number: 130017163350
Seller: cerebusart
Buyer: thepotato
Price: $11.03












Aug 20 2006
Ebay item number: 130017164487
Seller: cerebusart
Buyer: claudeflowers
Price: $5.00

























Aug 20 2006
Ebay item number: 130017165317
Seller: cerebusart
Buyer: meowfisher
Price: $16.26

August 20 2006 Speaking of Rilly.Rilly.Big...

This is one of those pieces that I wish I had a record of buying so I would know what I paid and when. You might have noticed this drawing at my "Museum" site and not really noticed that it was composed of mutliple scans, which would give you a clue that it was huge.

So, in honor of the "no sale" auction for that 2006 Wolverroach drawing, here's a bit of a scaled look at this rilly.rilly.big drawing.

(NOTE to Ger - Don't worry, I am not going to send this one to you for a background commission... I think)

August 19 2006 "no sale" from Aug 13

end date: August 13 2006
eBay item number: 180015564410
Seller: j-m-g
Buyer: no bidders
Starting bid: $99.99

August 18 2006 Delivery to Kitchener

I sent the rilly.rilly.big Cerebus drawing to Canada earlier this week so Ger could inspect the paper for its acceptability for doing ink and/or watercolor work on it. Ger had me send it to him (just to "Gerhard," by the way, one name, all the time) c/o A-V, Inc. Dave was there when the mail came and missed the "to Ger" on the outside of the package, but saw the one on the inside after he opened it, and then got confused pondering why Ger would be receiving a 23-year old convention drawing from me.

Then he figured it out.

Then he decided to share... so I got a nice fax apologizing for opening the package and that he had figured out that I must be asking Ger to do his thing all over the white space.

Apparently Dave used a photo from the 1983 Houston convention that featured him with this drawing at an easel, perhaps on the back cover of an issue from around that era... in case anyone had easier access to their issues than I do, it would be nice to be able to post a copy of that image.

August 17 2006 History

I suppose I could make up a connection to Cerebus or Dave or Ger or something, but the fact is that I just liked this wherever I saw it and I came across it again this morning:

History of Medicine

2000 BC : "Here, eat this root."

1000 BC: "That root is heathen. Here, say this prayer."

1850 AD: "That prayer is superstition. Here, drink this potion."

1940 AD: "That potion is snake oil. Here, swallow this pill."

1960 AD: "The pill is ineffective. Here, take this antibiotic."

2000 AD: "That antibiotic is synthetic. Here, eat this root."

(Come to think of it, I guess I see the connection.)

August 16 2006 The EMU Prof's Decisions

See: August 1-3 "Decisions, Decisions" ... Richard Rubenfeld, a professor at EMU, is putting togehter his third exhibit of comic art, and invited me to contribute a Cerebus piece.

After a couple of rounds of options, Richard had a change of heart about getting "a" piece from The Collection.

Brian,

What a collection!!! While you mentioned that you had other art, I had no idea of the scope of your collection. And the quality.

Would you let us borrow work anything other than Cerebus art?

These are my requests:

Cerebus: Epic 26, pp. 44 and 45.
Marvels 2, p. 32.
Strangers in Paradise 20, p. 16.
Terminal City: Arial Grafitti 3 , cover.
Terminal City 7, cover.
Flaming Carrot, cover.
Concrete, Strange Armor 2, cover.
Batman/Grendel 1, p. 44.
Big Numbers 1, p. 28.
Pogo, 6/11/62.
Peanuts, either 1/23/91 or 11/23/81.

Heh.

No problemo, Richard.

August 15 2006 The REAL Gerhard Treatment

So, did you ever think to do a whois.net search on cerebusart.com to see whose name the domain is registered in (figuring that the DeViouS 50% of Aardvark-Vanaheim was not the one to do it)?

At least the (true) mystery of Ger's name is solved, once and for all.

Bwah hah hah.

August 14 2006 "Snout Out - The Untold Story"

As I have said before, sometime in late 1978, during my first year of grad school at UW-Madison, Bruce Ayres (Capital City Comics) pointed me to Cerebus. I soonafter spread the Good Word to some of my lab buds, including my bestest all-time chum, Wreckless Boy.

Wreckless and I pretty much immediately started picking up the Cerebus-lingo. Our advisor, for instance, became "Famous the Chemist." (nyuk)

We also began to leave secret notes for each other to find around the chemistry building, and the tell-tale was a sketch of a snout. One of these places was on the stark-white tabletop where the NMR machine sat (and where the operator had to do a reasonable amount of sitting and waiting while the spectrum was being traced... so what better to do than pass notes).













(Now, you young'uns got to realize that this is 1978-79... no personal computers, no e-mail, no web, no IM, no text messaging... you want to do clandestine chatting, you etched it anonymously into a table in a public place.)

So began the department-wide fascination with snouts. Now, lots of people used this same NMR machine, and fairly soon in the game there was a small buzz over whatever it was we were writing to each other, and the mysterious symbol that accompanied the messages.

(OK, we were sad, juvenile, geeky-nerd chem grad students... ya wanna make somethin' of it?)

Soon, drawings of snouts started to appear in other public places, most notably on the inside of the elevator, as I recall. And the clear meaning of snout-messages was (light-hearted) derision by grad students toward the "piggy" attitude of their advisors.

Wreckless and I just snickered away at people drawing the Cerebus snout around the chemistry building, watching it take on this independent life.

Well, the rest is history. Snouts were a "thing" associated with the chemistry building and its inhabitants. There were urban legends about why this symbolism started - all of them wrong. And when the department was looking for a theme to use for its inaugural picnic, a pig roast and the "Snout Out" happened in 1984.

"What's really gonna fry your noodle later," to adapt a question, "is whether the idea of a picnic would have happened in the first place if snouts had not been around?"

Twenty-two years later, it's an institution. Most of this year's class of entering graduate chemistry students was pretty much born in 1984 (GAK!) and will participate in this event with no sense of that history (naturally; it's the usual thing).

By the late 80s, one of the particularly irreverent faculty members had been known to wear a latex, elastic-band-around-the-head pig-snout under circumstances where he wanted to ridicule certain of his colleagues for their uptight attitudes. I do not know, but I suspect that he won the latex snout at the first "Snout Out" as a part of the swag he collected as a door prize, or something. When the web finally emerged (from a bunch of tubes, I hear), this particular faculty member used an image of himself - wearing the snout - on his first home page. I wish I had a copy of that... I should write him for it, I suppose.

Maybe I should write a note for the Alum Newsletter just to set the record straight?

Naaaaah...

August 13 2006 "Snout Out - The Untold Story"

Right about this time of year, the Chemistry Department at the University of Wisconsin-Madison holds its annual departmental picnic as part of the -whaddyacall- bonding experiences for the new class of graduate students. This event is filled with the normal merriment, grilled foods, root beer on tap... and the centerpiece of it all is the pig roast.

In fact, the event (as alluded to in the title of this post) is called The Greater Chemistry Snout Out, or just Snout Out, for short. There is even a Snout Out trophy (see below)... bragging rights for the winner of the intra-departmental softball game between groups with arcane-sounding names such as "Analytical-Physical" and "Organic-Inorganic."














I never participated in one of these events; they began in 1984, which was the year I was awarded my degree (and I had already been away from Madison for 2 years at my first academic position - yet another story).

So why am I mentioning this at all?

Is there a connection between something called a "Snout Out" appearing at Madison just after I was in graduate school there and our little grey friend?

You bet your ass there is.

And really, only two people on the whole planet actually know the whole story (hi, Wreckless).

I think it's time to tell the tale.

August 12 2006 "The Gerhard Treatment"

Sure, I'll consider it. Any idea what kind of paper it's on?

-Gerhard

August 11 2006 "The Gerhard Treatment"

You saw this rilly.rilly.nice drawing I got, about a month ago:


















It's rilly.rilly.rilly big (16x20 inch paper, Cerebus figure about 12x12, toes to ears to tail; there's a little more white space below and a bit more, above, given how I cropped the image, FYI). Always trying to think of new genres to spend money on, I was looking at this piece the other day... and all that magnificent white space... and wondering: just what could Gerhard do with all that acreage? Would the paper and ink stand up to watercolor? Could the drawing, which is nicely detailed but certainly not of final quality, be integrated into a fine art setting? Would there be any moral dilemma for NOT involving Dave in the request... after all, I have his part already, albeit from 1983.

Stay tuned.

August 10 2006 Cerebus on eBay in 2000

Six years ago, Dave asked me for my analysis of what the original art market was like for Cerebus stuff on eBay. I recently came across my reply to him.

September 1, 2000

There have been around 7-10 pages per year showing up. There have been 2 covers in the last 2 years (Cerebus in the Wall of the Hotel in Church and State, with Bear looking on; and issue 4). There has been 1 of the pages from the Young Cerebus run in Epic Illustrated. There has been 1 cover from the "Friends of Cerebus" fan magazine (Cerebus in Jaka's lap). There are maybe 12-18 sketches or more complicated art pieces that show up each year. Most of these are convention pieces, I think. Every now and then you also see the premium stuff, sculptures, figurines, the stuffed toys, etc.

Pages without Cerebus or "historical significance" still go for $175-250. I recently picked up the two pages for "Boom!" for $175 each, and the "Rough Pope" splash page with Weishaupt for $200. Then there are the desirable pages with Cerebus and other major characters in them. These run between $350-450. The "Great Dream" page (Issue 72, p 14) I got for $430. The "sketching at the convention" page (Issue 38, p 8) I got for $400. Then there are the ones everyone wants. These pretty much start at $500 and rarely go over $600, but it happens. I paid $600 for the "nyah nyah" page (issue 34, p 4), and $600 for the "good-bye" page from issue 75 (p 20), and $625 for the wonderful full page Cerebus clinging to the raising tower (last page of 102). Most bidders still bail out at $350/400 on these, which I believe is the actual street value.

Hardly enough covers have been around to say too much. I paid $600 5 years ago for the cover to Issue 69 (Cerebus, BooBah and the strange glowing white thing), and $1200 for the cover to Issue 4 (which I consider historically significant). I did not get the Cerebus in the Wall cover with Bear because I heard the guy went off-line with the sale and stopped the auction when someone offered $1200. I paid $400 for the "Friends of Cerebus" cover.

I paid $1025 for the page from Epic, which I love! (issue 26, p 4)

Black and white sketches go for between $25-75.

A black and white detailed drawing can go between $75-125

A colored drawing is generally in the $200 range, although there was a detailed color piece of Cerebus the Pope, on the throne with stained glass in the background, that appeared in Epic, I think, and I paid $350 for that.

Beavers strips run $50-100. I just paid $75 for an unnumbered one that was done by you and Gene Day (at least, unlike the others I have, Day is listed).

Pre-Cerebus pages (I have 4 nearly complete stories now: "Blue Dynamo" and 3 Revolt 3000 stuff) have only shown up as packages of 20-24 pages, and I have been paying $30/page.

That's what I know!

August 9 2006 Cerebus #6 (advert for #7)

August 8 2006
eBay item number: 160014618849
Seller: tomjk
Buyer: no bidders
Opening bid: $2099.99


Was last up for sale:

July 26 2006
eBay item number: 160010582854
Seller: tomjk
Buyer: no bidders
Opening bid: $2499.99

And before that:

June 15 2006
eBay item number: 6636488412
Seller: tomjk
Buyer: no bidders
Opening bid: $2799.99

August 8 2006 Loving Clever Cartoonists

OK, so this is not Dave's work. But there is something about it - the way of thinking and representing such a visually clever idea - that really reminds me of something that Dave would do. It's really his notion of "writing with pictures" that makes this drawing so cool... a written description of this would just lose most of its interesting bits in the translation.

Hat's off, today, to clever cartoonists.

August 6 2006 Cerebus #196 p 18

August 6 2006
eBay item number: 270013581150
Seller: lucia666
Buyer: (none)
Buy it now price: $850 or BO
(two offers were declined)

Last appeared:

May 3 2006
eBay item number: 6626205661
Seller: lucia666
Buyer: (none)
Price: ($490; reserve not met)

Prior to that:

September 17 2005

eBay item number: 6560418892
Seller: meowfisher
Buyer: lucia666
Price: $866

And prior to that:

May 11 2005

eBay item number: 6527737895
Buyer: meowfisher
Price: $511

August 5 2006 Bright Neon Lights

I've been on the road for the last week or so. A consulting gig in Albany, a long weekend with a pal in the Berkshires (and a couple of great concerts at Tanglewood), and then down to NYC for all of this week.

My NYC pattern is always the same: there is no such thing as a free night when there's a show on somewhere to see (excepting when work DOES get in the way, every now and then).

As Liza once sang: "What good is sitting alone in your room...?"

You remember that our friend Dave says that "all stories are true."

Then, he would like the play titled "Faith Healer."



















Three performers. Four Acts. Three soliloquies. One story told three times... or is it three stories?

Act 1: Ray Fiennes in the title role. A spartan stage. He appears to have the power, but it's there by chance.

Act 2: Cherry Jones as his anguished wife. Same tale... yet not the same at all.

Act 3: Ian MacDiarmid (yes... Palpatine...) steals the entire show as his agent. Another telling. Worth seeing for the third act alone.

Act 4: Fiennes returns to complete his story, textured as it is now with the tellings of the other two. Chance plays a part.

It's a challenging play. Dark. Somber. Not laid out. Yet remarkably performed when you realize that these actors have built a relationship with each other on the stage and they never appear together until the curtain call.


Then there is "The History Boys." If I can score another ticket before I leave, I am sure I will see this again on this trip; it's on a limited run. I'm a sucker for the "teacher movie" genre, and this is HIGHLY recommended.












And what would a trip to a city where "Mamma Mia!" is showing be without snagging a half price ticket and seeing it, yet again? Well, it would not be me on that trip, I tell you that.

August 4 2006 "Margaret's recommendations"

And... Margaret's suggestions:

August 3 2006 "Decisions, Decisions..."

This is what I sent to Richard...

OPTION 1: The Re-Creations
OPTION 2: The Epic Pages
OPTION 3: Issue 299 p 20 and #300 p 1, and "in between"
OPTION 4: Covers
OPTION 5: Cool pages