You've Gotta Start From The Start
"I swear I was only there to get issue #67 of "Swamp Thing", but this was a little too hard to pass up!"
This is exactly what I told my wife as she perplexedly stared at the short box I was carrying up the stairs. I had headed out of town a few hours prior with the plan being to stop at the comic book shop a few towns over and get the one issue of Rick Veitch's "Swamp Thing" run that I was missing. That was it, one comic.
What happened, I guess, is one of those right place, right time sort of things. See, I was quick to find the issue I went looking for, which gave me some extra time to poke around in the shop, and as a shop that I don't frequent as often as several others, I hadn't already drained it of most of the back issues on my want list.
As I made my way to the counter with my small pile of books (mostly odd Cave Carson appearances from the 90's and early 2000's), I noticed a sign above several short boxes proclaiming, "All Comics In These Boxes 50 Cents." Ah, what the heck, I'll take a look.
At first, what I found struck me dumb. The boxes were mostly filled with issues of "Cerebus", and not just an issue here and an issue there like I was used to finding in bargain boxes as a kid, but good 20+ issue runs with issues going back as early as #23. I started sorting out the duplicates and came to the realization that between original issues and reprints such as "Cerebus Bi-Weekly" and "Church and State", there were roughly 200 issues of "Cerebus" here, roughly 2/3 of the series!
Now, "Cerebus" has been a series that my best friend, Matt Dow, has been singing the praises of for years, and when it ended he made a trip out west to finally meet Dave Sim and present him with a gold watch for his retirement from the series. He's a die hard who truly loves this series, and is always looking to share it with others.
I had assured him that at some point I'd get around to taking on all 300 issues of Dave Sim's epic. I just didn't realize that on a Tuesday in late May of 2017, I would finally take the plunge.
The Goal:
To read and review all 300 issues of "Cerebus". Yes, some will be quick to point out that there are lots of people who have done this, but as Matt pointed out to me, most of the reviewers have blogged about their re-reads of the series. I will be bringing the fresh perspective of someone who has never read the saga of the Earth Pig Born: Starting from his origin as a Conan inspired barbarian in issue #1, to his eventual death in issue #300.
So sit back, relax, and enjoy. I've got a feeling we're all in for one long strange trip!
-Kevin
This is exactly what I told my wife as she perplexedly stared at the short box I was carrying up the stairs. I had headed out of town a few hours prior with the plan being to stop at the comic book shop a few towns over and get the one issue of Rick Veitch's "Swamp Thing" run that I was missing. That was it, one comic.
What happened, I guess, is one of those right place, right time sort of things. See, I was quick to find the issue I went looking for, which gave me some extra time to poke around in the shop, and as a shop that I don't frequent as often as several others, I hadn't already drained it of most of the back issues on my want list.
As I made my way to the counter with my small pile of books (mostly odd Cave Carson appearances from the 90's and early 2000's), I noticed a sign above several short boxes proclaiming, "All Comics In These Boxes 50 Cents." Ah, what the heck, I'll take a look.
At first, what I found struck me dumb. The boxes were mostly filled with issues of "Cerebus", and not just an issue here and an issue there like I was used to finding in bargain boxes as a kid, but good 20+ issue runs with issues going back as early as #23. I started sorting out the duplicates and came to the realization that between original issues and reprints such as "Cerebus Bi-Weekly" and "Church and State", there were roughly 200 issues of "Cerebus" here, roughly 2/3 of the series!
Now, "Cerebus" has been a series that my best friend, Matt Dow, has been singing the praises of for years, and when it ended he made a trip out west to finally meet Dave Sim and present him with a gold watch for his retirement from the series. He's a die hard who truly loves this series, and is always looking to share it with others.
I had assured him that at some point I'd get around to taking on all 300 issues of Dave Sim's epic. I just didn't realize that on a Tuesday in late May of 2017, I would finally take the plunge.
The Goal:
To read and review all 300 issues of "Cerebus". Yes, some will be quick to point out that there are lots of people who have done this, but as Matt pointed out to me, most of the reviewers have blogged about their re-reads of the series. I will be bringing the fresh perspective of someone who has never read the saga of the Earth Pig Born: Starting from his origin as a Conan inspired barbarian in issue #1, to his eventual death in issue #300.
So sit back, relax, and enjoy. I've got a feeling we're all in for one long strange trip!
-Kevin
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