Cerebus: High Society
Cerebus High Society
Issues 26-50
May 1981-May 1983
512 Pages
High Society
lingered in my memory only as some funny political jibes and a larger theme that
lurked in the background that I knew I was completely missing. These indistinct
impressions remain from a reading two decades distant of a text over three
decades old. This present reading of
Cerebus’s second collected adventures revealed the humor I remembered, it still
evoked laughs despite the years passed, and an investigation of power lurched
forth as a theme which escaped my earlier perceptions.
High Society
doesn’t seem to advance a detailed theory of power in the same sense as
Machiavelli’s Prince, or Krishna in the Bhagavad-Gita.
Instead it offers vignettes of power, short studies of the effect and reactions
that occur when power’s grasped.
Summary: In
brief, High Society chronicles the
tale of Cerebus serving as governor of the town of Iest and his political campaign to become
Prime Minister. The volume begins with the earth-pig aiding two minor thugs in
his kidnapping, and follows this antic with his political campaign against a
goat for prime minister of Iest. He achieves his position, but through some
labyrinthine economical links he abdicates his position and vacates the Regency
Hotel, his seat of power during his brief political career.
Setting: The
Regency Hotel establishes a magical setting, complete with its Place doesn’t secure power.
own mystical
creature (a flying cheery mildly vindictive elf), an open bar, and insulation
from the rabble beyond the doors. This environment illustrates the division between
those holding political power and the populace that must suffer their decisions. The physical remove from the everyday-real-world functioning has Cerebus isolated from the general populace. He has more interactions and conversations with the Elf than any of those who must live with the consequences of his policies. The possession of power creates a chasm between the rulers and the ruled. The outcome of dwelling in this fantasy realm results in abandonment by all his followers and a Regency Hotel surrounded by armed troops.
Voters: During election campaign for prime minister
of Iest, the newspapers print simple sensational headlines in connection to the
campaigns. The depth of inquiry remains so shallow in the media that it would
be difficult to dampen a bare sock. If a
citizen voter of Iest wanted political understanding, the newspapers offer
nothing.
In-depth political insight might be lost however on the
population of Iest. The citizens accept a
wild The intelligence of the voting populace plummets
further when the majority can’t distinguish between the goat and the aardvark
when casting their ballots. So, while desiring Cerebus for prime minister and verbally
denouncing and railing against Lord Julius’s goat, they’re at the same time (unawares)
voting for the goat.
When touring and giving publish speeches, Cerebus drew
crowds and roused the listeners into some kind of fervor. The audience remained clueless about the
speech’s message (and even who was speaking, many thought Cerebus was the goat)
but responded with ignorant mob enthusiasm. Audiences gained no understanding or conviction. Power through speech aims to convince an
audience but rather to exert a fleeting sphere of influence to manipulate voters
to act in the desired manner. Power here
isn’t transformative or empowering but rather manipulative and abusive and deceptive. Power, political power in Iest, destroys the
many for the exaggerated perceived benefits of the few.
Political Deeds: Governance supposedly provides some efficient
orderly method to accomplish tasks on a large scale. This efficiency doesn’t exist in Iest or the
surrounding areas. Alliances between
cities involve a complex manipulation of an economy that has the opacity and
logic of a magical illusions performed by crazed followers of Da-Da. All cities carry massive debts that gain
security by borrowing money from other cities with massive debts. To further complicate matters, no one
understands the details of the economic relations and functions. Such a situation results in permanent
monetary crisis.
Attempting to deal with this economic matter directly,
Cerebus as prime minister of Iest invades neighboring cities with the intention
of using their money to pay off Iest’s debts. His military attacks are managed by two competent
mercenaries whom Cerebus praises for the swiftness and effectiveness of their
work.
Yet even these concrete actions and acquisitions of tangible
goods (cash and land) the bureaucratic cabal renders worse than useless; instead
of alleviating Iest’s debt, the grabs of power only increased the debt as
Cerebus becomes responsible for the lands he acquired. Power hides consequences that manifest only
when used.
Motivation:
High Society’s exploration of power
considers the ambition of the powerless (Astoria)
and a figure head (Cerebus). Astoria
reveals she wants to use her position to create women’s suffrage; Cerebus wants
“more money than anyone else has.” From
these two desires, much creative budget buttressing, manipulation, and
compromise leave both main characters of this story arc dissatisfied and
disgusted at the conclusion of issue 50.
Astoria: The cold façade Astoria maintains throughout
the book unsettled me during the initial She’s never without a plan, or
a back-up plan for her back-up plan. All
of Astoria’s
power comes from influencing others, all men (and an aardvark). Her progressions from Lord Julius to Artemis
to Cerebus place her in the proximity of power, but she only ever holds and
wields it second hand. Such a
combination warps her humanity into something close to nonhuman.
Astoria’s
lager desire for using her position of influence to expand gain women a
political vote receives derision and flip dismissal by the individuals she
helped elevate to power. Her goal is
never achieved. From the sequence of
events Astoria’s
goal, while noble in one regard, appears foolish when the greedy corrupt
workings and universal ignorance of the entire political body or Iest enters
into consideration. Whether foolish or
not, Astoria
ends the book with nothing (with the possible exception of hidden embezzled
cash), not even an avaricious aardvark to manipulate.
Cerebus: Cerebus’s
goal of having more money than anyone else also fails—he leaves the Regency
with just a sword and even tosses the duck—the object that could gain and grant
him the wealth sought—to shatter on the rocks.
Direct or indirect exercise of power in politics both bring
about a bad end. As does dialogue and war. A noble or ignoble motivation for seizing
power also ends with destruction. Radical
fringe political elements like the Anarcho-Romantics offer no hope for a better
system of governing. No rational
possibility for power exists in High
Society.
Rational Political
Chaos: Rational use of power erupts into farce in High Society. Cerebus drinks (and tricks others into
drinking) copious amounts of whiskey as a method for coping with the illogical
world of politics. The entire system of
governance reveals itself as a dark and subversive joke directed towards all
involved with political process. As an
escape from this comedy High Society offers two solutions.
The first is putting as much distance between oneself and
politics as possible. The hermit who lives
in the distant hills exemplifies this approach. Yet even he can’t escape the
political reach of Iest, and he ends up getting slugged in the gut by Cerebus for
his participation in political process.
The other solution involves fighting fire with fire. Sitting at the Parnassus
of political power, the wild random actions of Lord Julius mirror the amusing
farce of political operation. Power is a
cruel joke with no consistent logic. Lord
Julius recognizes the situation and adopts the best method to manipulate and
maintain power; laugh and act utterly duck-soup crazy.
For orientation in comics during the three-year publication
of High Society Wikipedia offers:
Eagle Awards
for comics published in
1981:
- Best New Artist: Bill Sienkiewicz[12]
- Roll of Honour: Roy Thomas
- Favourite Artist (UK): Mick Austin[13]
for comics published in
1982:
Favourite Artist: Bill Sienkiewicz[8]
Favourite Artist (UK): Brian Bolland
Best Comics Writer: Alan Moore, V For Vendetta (Warrior,
Quality Communications)
Best New Book: Teen Titans, by Marv Wolfman and George Pérez (DC Comics)
Best UK Title: Warrior, edited by Dez Skinn
Best Story: V for Vendetta, by Alan Moore and David Lloyd (Warrior,
Quality Communications)
for comics published in
1983:
American Section
- Favourite Artist (penciller): Frank Miller
- Favourite Artist (inker): Terry Austin
- Favourite Writer: Frank Miller
- Favourite Comicbook: Daredevil
- Favourite Character: Wolverine
- Favourite Group or Team: X-Men
- Favourite Villain: Darkseid
- Favourite Supporting Character: Elektra
- Character Most Worthy of Own Title: The Spectre
- Favourite Single or Continued Story: Wolverine #1-4 (miniseries)
- Favourite New Comic Title: Camelot 3000
- Favourite Comic Cover: Doctor Strange #55
- Favourite Specialist Comics Publication: PASS
British Section
- Favourite Artist: Brian Bolland
- Favourite Writer: Alan Moore
- Favourite Comic: Warrior
- Favourite Comic Character: Marvelman
- Favourite Villain: Kid Marvelman
- Favourite Supporting Character: Zirk
- Character Most Worthy of Own Title: Judge Anderson
- Favourite Single or Continued Story: Marvelman (Warrior #1-3, 5 & 6)
- Favourite New Comic: Warrior
- Favourite Comic Cover: Warrior #7
- Favourite Specialist Comics Publication: PASS
Roll of Honour
- Will Eisner
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