Absurd Ascents
Cerebus: Flight
Issues 151-162
October 1991-September 1992
246 pages
Flight begins by
continuing the ending of Melmoth.
This seventh book in the aardvark’s chronicle tells of the failed revolt in the
town of Iest,
follows Cerebus into different dimensions where some workings of the universe
are explained to him, and a parody of the Punisher and vigilante sexual
frustration. The volume shifts from action to the philosophical to funny for a
captivating balance.
Within the issue, a three page sequence captured the themes
and tone of the entire book. This sequence begins on page 62. Seven men armed
with swords, shields, and murderous looks, with and yelling “EYAAAAAA.” These
attackers charge across the cobble-stoned streets toward four sword-wielding
Cirinists (think of them as extremely conservative republican radical militant
feminists). The Cirinists exude an aura of calm. They hold their swords at
relaxed angels and slightly inclined their heads in their space at the bottom
of the page. Disdain is conveyed with no depicted facial features with such
skill that viewers begin to question their self worth.
Page 63 hides the carnage behind block letter words. A whole
page filled with only words. Nothing like this ever appeared in a comic
previously read and few pages since have utilized a similar technique.
Page 64 brings the twist cinched this three page full-page
sequence. Three of the Cirinists gaze directly at the reader (in the context of
the story they’re looking at Cerebus standing on a balcony) and all the
attackers lie dead and bleeding on the street, chopped from life by the
Cirinists.
Of everything from this first book in the Mothers & Daughters storyline, these
three pages hold the themes of the story. The themes multiply from the conflict
suggested in the title and goes on to include the opposition of female and
male, calm set against excitement, individuality set against anonymity (in that
readers can see the faces of the attackers but the faces of the Cirinists are
concealed both by not facing the reader
and by wearing hoods), attack versus defense, motion/change set against
immobility and stasis/stability. Given that the Cirinists easily cut down the
male attackers, without any of the four suffering death or even injury, at this
point in the story the Cirinists/mothers and the list of ideas they represent
from the above paragraph have a pretty secure grip on power and control in the
society.
Cerebus, as he does in so much of the book, escapes this
dichotomy and acts as a wild card. He was the one that incited the attack on
the Cirinists, and he’s the one the Cirinists look up to in the lower panel of
page 64. But the look up contains no admiration, but based on the angle of
Cirinist eyebrows, contains rather annoyance and disdain that such a trickster
would dare exist and upset the order of Cirinist rule. Cerebus, in the first
compact panel of page 65 appears too surprised by the easily defeated
rebellion. Juxtaposing this small panel after the three large expansive pages
of the Cirinists in action, aids in the emphasis of Cerebus limited power (in
comparison with the Cirinists) and also conveys the unbalanced ratio set with
another dichotomy of order (Cirinists) and chaos (Cerebus). The above ideas
ooze throughout the storyline, an impressive bit of work for four panels at the
beginning of a 49 issue story arc.
When rereading this volume another welcome aspect is the
greater clarification of the larger idea and universal workings taking place in
the story and that have been limited and alluded to in previous pages:
glowing
coins
the hooded
aardvark
the scrawny
wrinkly aardvark with bad hair
Astoria
Suenteus Po
various
tribes, groups, idols, etc.
While the explanation is greatly welcome, it creates the
concern of how to
1. Speak/write about the profound without sounding trite
2. What images to use in tandem with this weighty and lengthy
exposition
3, How to make this massive (but welcome) info dump from
being too boring
Sim and Gerhard masterfully apply the absurd (and not for
the first time) and the surreal to match and accompany the written explanations
to provide apt and attention holding visuals, but also visuals that connect to
the conveyed ideas that provide a bit of grandeur that enhances the written
word. A giant celestial chess game hints
at some rules to the universe and some control over one’s destiny without any need
for melodramatic belittling explanations. During Cerebus’s ascent through the Nth
Spheres thin columns of images offset the text which is displayed like a long
dense Robert Creely poem. Lots of white space stretches across the page and
this emptiness works a double duty. Not only does it mirror the otherworldly journey
of Cerebus, it also doesn’t overwhelm the reader with a page packed tight with
complex text and images. Here distinct equal spaces reside on the page and Cerebus: Flight comes as close as
possible to squaring the circle in comic books by composing an equal area for
the image and the word.
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