Church and State (comics)
Encyclopedia
Church & State is the third novel in Canadian
cartoonist
Dave Sim
's Cerebus
comic book
series. In it, Cerebus once again becomes Prime Minister, and eventually Pope.
The 1200-page novel was divided into seven books has been collected in two volumes. Church and State I (June 1987, 592 pages ISBN 0-919359-09-4) collects Books One through Three (Cerebus #52-80); and Church and State II (July 1988, 630 pages ISBN 0-919359-08-6) collects Book Four through Seven (Cerebus #81-111), and starts with page 595, emphasizing Sim's intention that the two volumes make up one novel.
, Cerebus rose to power, with the help of Astoria, in the city-state
of Iest, eventually becoming prime minister. His brief time in power came to an end and he made his way away from the city.
Cerebus, while writing his memoirs, is interrupted by Lord Julius' son Lord Silverspoon and two companions. After playing (and losing) a "cute" game of cards with them, Cerebus loses his temper and scares them off. Later, they hunt him down again, accidentally letting it known that the Countess Michele, with whom they planned to stay, will only let them come if they bring Cerebus. Cerebus manages to scam the trio out of the money that the countess sent them, as well as the rest of the money they had, and travels to the Countess's alone.
The Countess lives alone—the Count is dead, and the Countess has no need for servants. Cerebus decides to stay and finish his memoirs, while the Countess tries to get information out of him about what he's writing. His answers are very terse and to-the-point. Her questioning is cut off with the sudden, dramatic appearance of whom the Countess calls "Uncle Artemis"—the Roach, this time in the garb of the Wolveroach, a parody of the Marvel Comics
character Wolverine
, who announces the beginning of a three-part miniseries
on the origin
of the Wolveroach (also a parody of 1980s superhero comics trends).
Weisshaupt and the Countess had long known each other. The Countess had helped out Weisshaupt by helping Artemis build himself up into Captain Cockroach, but when Weisshaupt had been run out of Beduin, Artemis had nowhere to turn, so the Countess took him in. At some point, Astoria came to stay. She befriended the Roach, and made use of him as Moon Roach until Cerebus entered the picture in High Society
. After Cerebus fell from power, Artemis returned to Michele. As this is all being related by the Countess, Weisshaupt barges in, again with his grandiose plans for a United Feldwar States, using the Wolveroach as a hero for the masses, and with the hopes of getting Cerebus to become Prime Minister again, which Cerebus refuses.
After scrapping with a group of soldiers, Cerebus finds the Roach in the Michele's basement. Professor Charles X. Claremont is using the Roach's body as a host for his spirit, as his own body was destroyed by his Apocalypse Beasts. Cerebus and Michelle's relation is strained, and Cerebus decides to make a stand by moving on. Michelle gives him a pouch with a thousand crowns in it, and he makes off.
Cerebus wakes up, seemingly after a bender
, to find himself in bed with Red Sophia. He has been drugged by Weisshaupt and married to Sophia. Divorce
is illegal, except by the permission of the President—Weisshaupt himself. Cerebus agrees to become Prime Minister again and do Weisshaupt's bidding in order to be granted (eventually) a divorce from Sophia. The marriage is stormy, especially between Cerebus and Mrs. Henrot-Gutch—a "vicious, old, fat, ugly woman" who is Sophia's mother and Henrot's ex-wife.
Cerebus and Sophia move back into the Regency, and Cerebus meets up again with the Regency Elf. Cerebus is a mere puppet
of Weisshaupt, even more so than he had been with Astoria. Cerebus is summoned to Pope Harmony IV, who babbles incoherently about Cerebus, Weisshaupt, Cirin, Lord Julius and others, and claims that Cirin, not Weisshaupt, will triumph. Harmony reveals that he is a Cirinist, and is shot down with a crossbow
by a man in the employ of the mysterious Lion of Serrea.
Bishop Powers demands Weisshaupt for a new candidate for Pope, but Weisshaupt bluffs the Bishop, who leaves with a candidate. After getting overly drunk one night, Cerebus discovers that Powers has nominated him for Pope.
The Tower is spinning, breaking away and rising away. Cerebus, clutching the golden sphere, is holding on desperately while being watched by everybody, from the Cirinist Abbes far away with a viewing device, to those living in the Upper and Lower Cities of Iest. Eventually Cerebus gets his bearings and makes his way up the inside of the Tower. Whether real or imagined, he keeps coming across the face of Weisshaupt. In a rare crossover
, Flaming Carrot comes to his rescue and leads him to the top of the tower, when he comes across Fred, Ethel and the "Fellow with the Hair", who knocks Cerebus' gold sphere off the Tower, and tries to knock Cerebus off, too. The Tower grows narrower and narrower until the top eventually breaks off, and the three-headed creature plummets towards the Earth, leaving Cerebus alone to complete the Final Ascension.
Cerebus crash lands on the Moon
and discovers there, not Tarim, as he had expected, but a balding, moustachioed man dressed as a judge. He explains to Cerebus that he has been on the moon for aeons, watching the Earth, from the time of sentient, walking redwoods and the time of dinosaur
s to the present day. He is disappointed that Cerebus succeeded at the Ascension rather than Weisshaupt.
Cerebus is unable to speak on the airless moon, but the Judge answers his questions nonetheless—for example, he assures Cerebus that he will not, in fact, conquer the known world. The Judge goes on at length about the history of Suenteus Po, most of which Cerebus misses as he wanders off around the moon. The Judge then goes on to explain to Cerebus the nature of Tarim, the Void, and male deity, who the Judge tells Cerebus is real, as is Terim, the Light, who the Cirinists worship and who Cerebus believed didn't exist. The Big Bang
was a result of their meeting. Now, the Light is slowly coming back, and the Void is awaiting her arrival—"Part of the void plans their reunion and part of the void plots his revenge".
This is followed up with an accurate description of the space race
that happened in the real world, and concludes in an undisclosed future with the destruction of the sun
at the push of a button. As for Cerebus, while he has been on the moon, his deadline for the end of the world has come and gone without incident; his followers have left him; the Cirinists have invaded Lower Felda and Iest, and taken all of Cerebus' gold. Cerebus himself will live only a few more years. He will "die alone, unmourned and unloved", and if he ever thinks his fate is unfair, he is told to remember his second marriage.
Bishop Powers:
Boobah:
Mick and Keef:Caricatures of Mick Jagger
and Keith Richards
of the Rolling Stones.
The Judge:Drawn to look like Lou Jocobi in the film version of Jules Feiffer
's play Little Murders
.
Sim was sent a cease and desist
order by Marvel Comics
over the Wolveroach, his parody
of Marvel's popular Wolverine
character, although they had never given Sim any trouble over his parodies of Marvel's Captain America
or Moon Knight
.
Sim's artistic partner, Gerhard joined him starting with issue #66, and therefore was a major contributor to most of the novel.
, as they would only have to do one front and back cover, and one letters page.
The story is mostly done in pantomime
, and thus is a very quick read. Cerebus returns to the hotel he had used when he was Pope, and finds it destroyed and deserted. He explores the area, coming across a note from Boobah and the fly-ridden, rotting corpse of Bran Mak Muffin. Remembering the Judge's last words to him, he contemplates suicide
, but stops himself. He falls asleep outside, but after a dream sequence
returns to the hotel to sleep. In the morning he finds a single gold coin, which he takes with him. He leaves the hotel, and while making his way down the mountain comes across a tavern
whose single patron is griping about the conditions under Cirinist rule. When the patron asks when it when all end, Cerebus informs the patron (as the Judge had informed Cerebus): "Someone pushes a button and blows up the sun", and continues down towards the Lower City.
The July/August issue was released in August, 1988, and provided what Sim agrees is an epilogue
to the Church & State story. Sim says he had talked to his printer about including it in later printings
of Church & State Volume II, but the binding
would have been too strained if an extra 40 pages were added to what is already the thickest of the Cerebus "phonebooks". As of 2011, the story has yet to be collected with the rest of the series, although it has been collected with the other in-between issues in Cerebus Number Zero.
for Cerebus starting with issue #66.
For the first several issues together, Gerhard experimented with different techniques and textures, trying to find out what style would both mesh well with Sim's, and reproduce correctly when printed. He experimented with laying two layers of screentone on top of each other, crosshatching
over stippled screentone, stippled screentone over crosshatching—adding and discarding different tricks until he had a repertoire that worked.
People of Canada
Canadians are the people who are identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be genetic, residential, legal, historical, cultural or ethnic...
cartoonist
Cartoonist
A cartoonist is a person who specializes in drawing cartoons. This work is usually humorous, mainly created for entertainment, political commentary or advertising...
Dave Sim
Dave Sim
David Victor Sim is an award-winning Canadian comic book writer and artist.A pioneer of self-published comics and creators' rights, Sim is best known as the creator of Cerebus the Aardvark, a comic book published from 1977 to 2004, which chronicles its main character in a 6,000-page self-contained...
's Cerebus
Cerebus the Aardvark
Cerebus the Aardvark, or simply Cerebus , is an independent comic book, written and illustrated by Canadian artist Dave Sim, with backgrounds by fellow Canadian Gerhard. Cerebus ran for 300 issues from December 1977 to 2004, and was over 6000 pages long, the longest-running original...
comic book
Comic book
A comic book or comicbook is a magazine made up of comics, narrative artwork in the form of separate panels that represent individual scenes, often accompanied by dialog as well as including...
series. In it, Cerebus once again becomes Prime Minister, and eventually Pope.
The 1200-page novel was divided into seven books has been collected in two volumes. Church and State I (June 1987, 592 pages ISBN 0-919359-09-4) collects Books One through Three (Cerebus #52-80); and Church and State II (July 1988, 630 pages ISBN 0-919359-08-6) collects Book Four through Seven (Cerebus #81-111), and starts with page 595, emphasizing Sim's intention that the two volumes make up one novel.
Background
In High SocietyHigh Society (comics)
High Society is the second collected volume, and first volume-length story, of Canadian cartoonist Dave Sim's Cerebus comic book series. It focuses mainly on politics, including Cerebus campaign for the office of Prime Minister, in the fictional city-state of Iest in Sim's world of Estarcion...
, Cerebus rose to power, with the help of Astoria, in the city-state
City-state
A city-state is an independent or autonomous entity whose territory consists of a city which is not administered as a part of another local government.-Historical city-states:...
of Iest, eventually becoming prime minister. His brief time in power came to an end and he made his way away from the city.
Apres State
(Cerebus #52-55)Cerebus, while writing his memoirs, is interrupted by Lord Julius' son Lord Silverspoon and two companions. After playing (and losing) a "cute" game of cards with them, Cerebus loses his temper and scares them off. Later, they hunt him down again, accidentally letting it known that the Countess Michele, with whom they planned to stay, will only let them come if they bring Cerebus. Cerebus manages to scam the trio out of the money that the countess sent them, as well as the rest of the money they had, and travels to the Countess's alone.
The Countess lives alone—the Count is dead, and the Countess has no need for servants. Cerebus decides to stay and finish his memoirs, while the Countess tries to get information out of him about what he's writing. His answers are very terse and to-the-point. Her questioning is cut off with the sudden, dramatic appearance of whom the Countess calls "Uncle Artemis"—the Roach, this time in the garb of the Wolveroach, a parody of the Marvel Comics
Marvel Comics
Marvel Worldwide, Inc., commonly referred to as Marvel Comics and formerly Marvel Publishing, Inc. and Marvel Comics Group, is an American company that publishes comic books and related media...
character Wolverine
Wolverine (comics)
Wolverine is a fictional character, a superhero that appears in comic books published by Marvel Comics. Born as James Howlett and commonly known as Logan, Wolverine is a mutant, possessing animal-keen senses, enhanced physical capabilities, three retracting bone claws on each hand and a healing...
, who announces the beginning of a three-part miniseries
Limited series
A limited series is a comic book series with a set number of installments. A limited series differs from an ongoing series in that the number of issues is determined before production and it differs from a one shot in that it is composed of multiple issues....
on the origin
Origin story
In comic book terminology, an origin story is an account or back-story revealing how a character or team gained their superpowers and/or the circumstances under which they became superheroes or supervillains....
of the Wolveroach (also a parody of 1980s superhero comics trends).
Weisshaupt and the Countess had long known each other. The Countess had helped out Weisshaupt by helping Artemis build himself up into Captain Cockroach, but when Weisshaupt had been run out of Beduin, Artemis had nowhere to turn, so the Countess took him in. At some point, Astoria came to stay. She befriended the Roach, and made use of him as Moon Roach until Cerebus entered the picture in High Society
High Society (comics)
High Society is the second collected volume, and first volume-length story, of Canadian cartoonist Dave Sim's Cerebus comic book series. It focuses mainly on politics, including Cerebus campaign for the office of Prime Minister, in the fictional city-state of Iest in Sim's world of Estarcion...
. After Cerebus fell from power, Artemis returned to Michele. As this is all being related by the Countess, Weisshaupt barges in, again with his grandiose plans for a United Feldwar States, using the Wolveroach as a hero for the masses, and with the hopes of getting Cerebus to become Prime Minister again, which Cerebus refuses.
After scrapping with a group of soldiers, Cerebus finds the Roach in the Michele's basement. Professor Charles X. Claremont is using the Roach's body as a host for his spirit, as his own body was destroyed by his Apocalypse Beasts. Cerebus and Michelle's relation is strained, and Cerebus decides to make a stand by moving on. Michelle gives him a pouch with a thousand crowns in it, and he makes off.
Back to Iest
(Cerebus #56-63)Cerebus wakes up, seemingly after a bender
Binge drinking
Binge drinking or heavy episodic drinking is the modern epithet for drinking alcoholic beverages with the primary intention of becoming intoxicated by heavy consumption of alcohol over a short period of time. It is a kind of purposeful drinking style that is popular in several countries worldwide,...
, to find himself in bed with Red Sophia. He has been drugged by Weisshaupt and married to Sophia. Divorce
Divorce
Divorce is the final termination of a marital union, canceling the legal duties and responsibilities of marriage and dissolving the bonds of matrimony between the parties...
is illegal, except by the permission of the President—Weisshaupt himself. Cerebus agrees to become Prime Minister again and do Weisshaupt's bidding in order to be granted (eventually) a divorce from Sophia. The marriage is stormy, especially between Cerebus and Mrs. Henrot-Gutch—a "vicious, old, fat, ugly woman" who is Sophia's mother and Henrot's ex-wife.
Cerebus and Sophia move back into the Regency, and Cerebus meets up again with the Regency Elf. Cerebus is a mere puppet
Puppet state
A puppet state is a nominal sovereign of a state who is de facto controlled by a foreign power. The term refers to a government controlled by the government of another country like a puppeteer controls the strings of a marionette...
of Weisshaupt, even more so than he had been with Astoria. Cerebus is summoned to Pope Harmony IV, who babbles incoherently about Cerebus, Weisshaupt, Cirin, Lord Julius and others, and claims that Cirin, not Weisshaupt, will triumph. Harmony reveals that he is a Cirinist, and is shot down with a crossbow
Crossbow
A crossbow is a weapon consisting of a bow mounted on a stock that shoots projectiles, often called bolts or quarrels. The medieval crossbow was called by many names, most of which derived from the word ballista, a torsion engine resembling a crossbow in appearance.Historically, crossbows played a...
by a man in the employ of the mysterious Lion of Serrea.
Bishop Powers demands Weisshaupt for a new candidate for Pope, but Weisshaupt bluffs the Bishop, who leaves with a candidate. After getting overly drunk one night, Cerebus discovers that Powers has nominated him for Pope.
The Final Ascension
(Cerebus #102-106)The Tower is spinning, breaking away and rising away. Cerebus, clutching the golden sphere, is holding on desperately while being watched by everybody, from the Cirinist Abbes far away with a viewing device, to those living in the Upper and Lower Cities of Iest. Eventually Cerebus gets his bearings and makes his way up the inside of the Tower. Whether real or imagined, he keeps coming across the face of Weisshaupt. In a rare crossover
Crossover
-Fiction and media:* Fictional crossover, a storyline combining characters or settings from separate fictional properties** Fictional crossovers in video games* Crossover , a 2002 documentary by Justin Lin...
, Flaming Carrot comes to his rescue and leads him to the top of the tower, when he comes across Fred, Ethel and the "Fellow with the Hair", who knocks Cerebus' gold sphere off the Tower, and tries to knock Cerebus off, too. The Tower grows narrower and narrower until the top eventually breaks off, and the three-headed creature plummets towards the Earth, leaving Cerebus alone to complete the Final Ascension.
Walking on the Moon
(Cerebus #107-11)Cerebus crash lands on the Moon
Moon
The Moon is Earth's only known natural satellite,There are a number of near-Earth asteroids including 3753 Cruithne that are co-orbital with Earth: their orbits bring them close to Earth for periods of time but then alter in the long term . These are quasi-satellites and not true moons. For more...
and discovers there, not Tarim, as he had expected, but a balding, moustachioed man dressed as a judge. He explains to Cerebus that he has been on the moon for aeons, watching the Earth, from the time of sentient, walking redwoods and the time of dinosaur
Dinosaur
Dinosaurs are a diverse group of animals of the clade and superorder Dinosauria. They were the dominant terrestrial vertebrates for over 160 million years, from the late Triassic period until the end of the Cretaceous , when the Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event led to the extinction of...
s to the present day. He is disappointed that Cerebus succeeded at the Ascension rather than Weisshaupt.
Cerebus is unable to speak on the airless moon, but the Judge answers his questions nonetheless—for example, he assures Cerebus that he will not, in fact, conquer the known world. The Judge goes on at length about the history of Suenteus Po, most of which Cerebus misses as he wanders off around the moon. The Judge then goes on to explain to Cerebus the nature of Tarim, the Void, and male deity, who the Judge tells Cerebus is real, as is Terim, the Light, who the Cirinists worship and who Cerebus believed didn't exist. The Big Bang
Big Bang
The Big Bang theory is the prevailing cosmological model that explains the early development of the Universe. According to the Big Bang theory, the Universe was once in an extremely hot and dense state which expanded rapidly. This rapid expansion caused the young Universe to cool and resulted in...
was a result of their meeting. Now, the Light is slowly coming back, and the Void is awaiting her arrival—"Part of the void plans their reunion and part of the void plots his revenge".
This is followed up with an accurate description of the space race
Space Race
The Space Race was a mid-to-late 20th century competition between the Soviet Union and the United States for supremacy in space exploration. Between 1957 and 1975, Cold War rivalry between the two nations focused on attaining firsts in space exploration, which were seen as necessary for national...
that happened in the real world, and concludes in an undisclosed future with the destruction of the sun
Sun
The Sun is the star at the center of the Solar System. It is almost perfectly spherical and consists of hot plasma interwoven with magnetic fields...
at the push of a button. As for Cerebus, while he has been on the moon, his deadline for the end of the world has come and gone without incident; his followers have left him; the Cirinists have invaded Lower Felda and Iest, and taken all of Cerebus' gold. Cerebus himself will live only a few more years. He will "die alone, unmourned and unloved", and if he ever thinks his fate is unfair, he is told to remember his second marriage.
Characters
Michele:Bishop Powers:
Boobah:
Mick and Keef:Caricatures of Mick Jagger
Mick Jagger
Sir Michael Philip "Mick" Jagger is an English musician, singer and songwriter, best known as the lead vocalist and a founding member of The Rolling Stones....
and Keith Richards
Keith Richards
Keith Richards is an English musician, songwriter, and founding member of the Rolling Stones. Rolling Stone magazine said Richards had created "rock's greatest single body of riffs", and placed him as the "10th greatest guitarist of all time." Fourteen songs written by Richards and songwriting...
of the Rolling Stones.
The Judge:Drawn to look like Lou Jocobi in the film version of Jules Feiffer
Jules Feiffer
Jules Ralph Feiffer is an American syndicated cartoonist, most notable for his long-run comic strip titled Feiffer. He has created more than 35 books, plays and screenplays...
's play Little Murders
Little Murders
Little Murders is a 1971 black comedy film starring Elliott Gould and Marcia Rodd, directed by Alan Arkin. It is the story of a girl, Patsy , who brings home her boyfriend, Alfred , to meet her severely dysfunctional family amidst a series of random shootings, garbage strikes and electrical outages...
.
Controversy
Sim drew the ire of many readers over certain scenes in Church & State, notably when Cerebus threw a baby from the steps of the hotel before a crowd of followers, and more infamously when Cerebus raped Astoria while she was in prison chained to a wall.Publication
Originally published in issues #52-111 of Sim's monthly Cerebus series from July 1983 to June 1988, Church and State was published as two paperpack "phone book" collections: Church and State I in June 1987, and Church and State II in July 1988. The novel was sandwiched between two issues (#51 and the #112/113 double issue) that have not been collected in the series of "phone book" collections, although Sim considers 112/113 to be an epilogue to Church & State.Sim was sent a cease and desist
Cease and desist
A cease and desist is an order or request to halt an activity and not to take it up again later or else face legal action. The recipient of the cease-and-desist may be an individual or an organization....
order by Marvel Comics
Marvel Comics
Marvel Worldwide, Inc., commonly referred to as Marvel Comics and formerly Marvel Publishing, Inc. and Marvel Comics Group, is an American company that publishes comic books and related media...
over the Wolveroach, his parody
Parody
A parody , in current usage, is an imitative work created to mock, comment on, or trivialise an original work, its subject, author, style, or some other target, by means of humorous, satiric or ironic imitation...
of Marvel's popular Wolverine
Wolverine (comics)
Wolverine is a fictional character, a superhero that appears in comic books published by Marvel Comics. Born as James Howlett and commonly known as Logan, Wolverine is a mutant, possessing animal-keen senses, enhanced physical capabilities, three retracting bone claws on each hand and a healing...
character, although they had never given Sim any trouble over his parodies of Marvel's Captain America
Captain America
Captain America is a fictional character, a superhero that appears in comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character first appeared in Captain America Comics #1 , from Marvel Comics' 1940s predecessor, Timely Comics, and was created by Joe Simon and Jack Kirby...
or Moon Knight
Moon Knight
Moon Knight is a fictional character, a mercenary-turned-superhero appearing in comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character exists in the Marvel Universe and was created by Doug Moench and Don Perlin...
.
Sim's artistic partner, Gerhard joined him starting with issue #66, and therefore was a major contributor to most of the novel.
Cerebus 112/113: Square One
After spending five years on Church & State, Sim and Gerhard took a few weeks off. Sim decided they would do a double issue between Church & State and Jaka's StoryJaka's Story (comics)
Jaka's Story is the fourth novel in Canadian cartoonist Dave Sim's Cerebus comic book series.There is danger in the air, as the fascist matriarchal Cirinists have conquered the city of Iest. Cerebus hides from them halfway between the Upper and Lower cities in the mountainside home of Jaka, the...
, as they would only have to do one front and back cover, and one letters page.
The story is mostly done in pantomime
Pantomime
Pantomime — not to be confused with a mime artist, a theatrical performer of mime—is a musical-comedy theatrical production traditionally found in the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, Jamaica, South Africa, India, Ireland, Gibraltar and Malta, and is mostly performed during the...
, and thus is a very quick read. Cerebus returns to the hotel he had used when he was Pope, and finds it destroyed and deserted. He explores the area, coming across a note from Boobah and the fly-ridden, rotting corpse of Bran Mak Muffin. Remembering the Judge's last words to him, he contemplates suicide
Suicide
Suicide is the act of intentionally causing one's own death. Suicide is often committed out of despair or attributed to some underlying mental disorder, such as depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, alcoholism, or drug abuse...
, but stops himself. He falls asleep outside, but after a dream sequence
Dream sequence
A dream sequence is a technique used in storytelling, particularly in television and film, to set apart a brief interlude from the main story. The interlude may consist of a flashback, a flashforward, a fantasy, a vision, a dream, or some other element. Commonly, dream sequences appear in many...
returns to the hotel to sleep. In the morning he finds a single gold coin, which he takes with him. He leaves the hotel, and while making his way down the mountain comes across a tavern
Tavern
A tavern is a place of business where people gather to drink alcoholic beverages and be served food, and in some cases, where travelers receive lodging....
whose single patron is griping about the conditions under Cirinist rule. When the patron asks when it when all end, Cerebus informs the patron (as the Judge had informed Cerebus): "Someone pushes a button and blows up the sun", and continues down towards the Lower City.
The July/August issue was released in August, 1988, and provided what Sim agrees is an epilogue
Epilogue
An epilogue, epilog or afterword is a piece of writing at the end of a work of literature or drama, usually used to bring closure to the work...
to the Church & State story. Sim says he had talked to his printer about including it in later printings
Edition (book)
The bibliographical definition of an edition includes all copies of a book printed “from substantially the same setting of type,” including all minor typographical variants.- First edition :...
of Church & State Volume II, but the binding
Bookbinding
Bookbinding is the process of physically assembling a book from a number of folded or unfolded sheets of paper or other material. It usually involves attaching covers to the resulting text-block.-Origins of the book:...
would have been too strained if an extra 40 pages were added to what is already the thickest of the Cerebus "phonebooks". As of 2011, the story has yet to be collected with the rest of the series, although it has been collected with the other in-between issues in Cerebus Number Zero.
Artwork
Gerhard, who used to deliver art supplies to Sim, did backgrounds and colours for the stories Sim had been commissioned to do for Epic Magazine. Due to the succes of the stories, Sim asked him to take over the duty of drawing backgrounds and laying down screentoneScreentone
Screentone is a technique for applying textures and shades to drawings, used as an alternative to hatching. In the conventional process, patterns are transferred to paper from preprinted sheets, but the technique is also simulated in computer graphics...
for Cerebus starting with issue #66.
For the first several issues together, Gerhard experimented with different techniques and textures, trying to find out what style would both mesh well with Sim's, and reproduce correctly when printed. He experimented with laying two layers of screentone on top of each other, crosshatching
Hatching
Hatching is an artistic technique used to create tonal or shading effects by drawing closely spaced parallel lines...
over stippled screentone, stippled screentone over crosshatching—adding and discarding different tricks until he had a repertoire that worked.
Reception
The end of Church & State was met quietly. Sim said, "Virtually no mail came for a month or two." Heidi MacDonald ran a review that called the ending "too darn cosmic"—a comment Sim found "moronic[...]in a medium where the blowing up of the universe and getting superpowers from radioactivity are the norm rather than the exception."Foreign editions
| Language | Title | Publisher | Date | Translator | ISBN | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Spanish Spanish language Spanish , also known as Castilian , is a Romance language in the Ibero-Romance group that evolved from several languages and dialects in central-northern Iberia around the 9th century and gradually spread with the expansion of the Kingdom of Castile into central and southern Iberia during the... |
Iglesia y Estado I | Ponent Mon | 2011 | Andrés Moon | Hardcover | |
Sources
- Sim, DaveDave SimDavid Victor Sim is an award-winning Canadian comic book writer and artist.A pioneer of self-published comics and creators' rights, Sim is best known as the creator of Cerebus the Aardvark, a comic book published from 1977 to 2004, which chronicles its main character in a 6,000-page self-contained...
; Gerhard. Church and State I. Aardvark-VanaheimAardvark-VanaheimAardvark-Vanaheim is a Canadian independent comic book publisher founded in 1977 by Dave Sim and Deni Loubert. It is best known for publishing Sim's Cerebus....
, June 1987. 592 pages. ISBN 0-919359-09-4 - Sim, Dave; Gerhard. Church and State II. Aardvark-VanaheimAardvark-VanaheimAardvark-Vanaheim is a Canadian independent comic book publisher founded in 1977 by Dave Sim and Deni Loubert. It is best known for publishing Sim's Cerebus....
, July 1988. 630 pages. ISBN 0-919359-08-6 - Sim, Dave; Gerhard. Cerebus Number Zero. Aardvark Vanaheim, June 1993.
- Wolk, Douglas. "Dave Sim: Aardvark Politick". Reading comics: how graphic novels work and what they mean. Da Capo Press, 2007, pages 289–303. ISBN 978-0-306-81509-6
- Robinson, Sean Michael. "The Craft Behind Cerebus: An Interview with Gerhard", part 1-1 1-2 1-3 2-1 2-2 2-3 3-1 3-2 3-3 3-4. The Comics Journal, 2011-02-14. Retrieved 2011-04-21.
- Cerebus Fangirl
- Cerebus Wiki, set up by Cerebus Fangirl
- Travels Through Iest
Further reading
- Church & State I and II pages at Cerebus Wiki
- The Comics JournalThe Comics JournalThe Comics Journal, often abbreviated TCJ, is an American magazine of news and criticism pertaining to comic books, comic strips and graphic novels...
#124 (FantagraphicsFantagraphics BooksFantagraphics Books is an American publisher of alternative comics, classic comic strip anthologies, magazines, graphic novels, and the adult-oriented Eros Comix imprint...
, August 1988) has a review of issues #107-111 ("Walking on the Moon") by R. Fiore