MARGARET LISS:A few years ago I scanned all of Dave Sim's notebooks. He had filled 36 notebooks during the years he created the monthly Cerebus series, covering issues #20 to 300, plus the other side items -- like the Epic stories, posters and prints, convention speeches etc. A total of 3,281 notebook pages detailing his creative process. I never really got the time to study the notebooks when I had them. Just did a quick look, scanned them in and sent them back to Dave as soon as possible. So this regular column is a chance for me to look through those scans and highlight some of the more interesting pages.
We've already looked at notebook #3 a few times, most recently last December in
His First Firth Notebook Notes. It covers issues #52 to 59 and had 158 pages scanned. This week we're looking at two bits of Cerebus merchandise: one that was made and another that wasn't.
First up is page 58, on which we see a sketch for what would become the Official Elrod the Albino t-shirt.
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| Notebook #3, page 58 |
The sketch is pretty close to the finished shirt:
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| Official Elrod the Albino t-shirt |
The one difference is Elrod's left hand - on the notebook page it is extended out and on the t-shirt it is pointed to the shirt he is grabbing. The text in his word balloon is also different, but the text on the t-shirt is on the notebook page as well - just up above the 'Albino Lover" text.
The other bit of Cerebus merchandise, which never was published, is the "Untold Tales of Cerebus". It shows up on the next to large page of the notebook:
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| Notebook #3, page 157 |
As much as part of me would have wanted to see more Cerebus stories, part of me is glad this never saw the light of day. I just wouldn't want to see Dave piling more work on top of his already busy schedule. Though if other creators were to do it? Perhaps, but would they be able to live up to what Dave and Gerhard did? I find it hard to think they would.
