In 1977 an unknown Canadian named Dave Sim opened his new comic book with the lines above and imperecptably started a revolution in the comic industry. Over time Cerebus has grown in readership and influence like a snowball rolling down a hill. What Dave was trying to do had never been done. describing it in his own words he said

       'If you read three hundred issues of Superman or Spider-Man they dont make sense as a story or a life. When I started Cerebus in 1977, uppermost in my mind was the thought that i wanted to produce 300 issues if a comic book series the way i thought it should be done; as one continuous story documenting the ups and downs of a character's life. A series that would conclude with the death of the title character in the final issue'

      For those of you who think that this short grey aardvark is just some cute fuzzy character in some kidee comic let me dispell that right now. One of the concepts that Cerebus has gone to great lengths to dispell is the idea that comics are 'just for kids'. Early on Dave decided to make his comic in this manner After I finished the fifth issue I embarked on an extremely lengthy process of applying adult sensibilities to each issue of Cerebus, trying to approach every plot problem on as mature a level of communication as I could. It was not easy and still isnt. but at the very least I wanted to feel that each issue of Cerebus advanced our (the comic industry's) cause.

           I think that dave might not have known what he was getting himself into because I have read him complaining many times over a wide stretch of issues. In 1984 Dave Sim enlisted the help of a fella named Gerhard (Dont ask me if that his fisrt name or last) who since then has drawn backgrounds for the comic. Gerhard's work on the backgrounds can only be described as art and is an excellent match for the world of Cerebus and his creator.

      One thing you might notice when reading Cerebus is a large number of parodied characters. Besides being immensly entertaining these parodies have a covert purpose; They ease the work load for Dave. Again in his own words: 'Characters who are based on other characters in Cerebus tend to be the easiest to write. Once you catch the rhythm's of their speech, you're halfway home to the kind of interaction that sells comic books'

In the rest of this site I will try to give you a taste of the world that Dave Sim has created, so click on an area to the left and let the tour begin.