Thanks for the kind words. The “rule” in question isn’t from any particular list, I just think it’s common sense to have your captions occur simultaneously with your images, rather than narrate an exciting event, continue with two more paragraphs of narration, and THEN finally show the exciting event.

But I don’t agree that this transition is effective. By placing a (very thickly bordered) inset panel near the top of page 2, Sim visually isolates the top paragraph of narration — practically making it a panel unto itself. It would actually be a textbook example of how to ensure that readers read the caption before reading the image. If that inset panel were removed, I might buy your point — that the whole panorama is a single unit, meant to be absorbed simultaneously.

Also, who said anything about superheroes? The “Marvel-style” reference came up because I was reminded of a specific storytelling mannerism that arose from the specific production process that Marvel creators used in the 60s. It wouldn’t happen in EC comics, for instance, because (in my understanding) EC artists received their assignments with the panels and lettering already completed.

If you’re worried about me trying to read the entire series through the lens of a superhero comics fan… I think you can relax.

I don’t agree with this comment at all. In comics, the picture speaks first, then the words. So, if a story opens with a fight and we don’t know one or more of the parties, we can safely assume the text will tell us who they are. (Or, maybe we’re not supposed to know who they are and the creator is trying to say something else all together.) Maybe addressing the action immediately is a rule of storytelling in superhero comics, but it’s certainly not a rule in comic storytelling.

Also, I think if you limit your analysis to the sort of analysis that pertains specifically to superheroes, you’ll be doing a serious disservice to your project. The approach won’t work as you get farther and farther into the stories. Sim was never very interested in using Cerebus as a stepping stone to the Big 2, so he often went off and experimented with his own ideas. The two page spread you referenced is just such an example. Sim was trying to write Tolkein-like text to accompany the comic art. Did it work? No, not very well. He wasn’t trying to emulate any established superhero creator, though.

I feel analyzing the work solely in the context of Marvel and DC artists is also a mistake. Sim was never just pulling from those sources.

I think what you guys are trying to do here is wonderful in its ambitiousness and I hope you succeed.

Also, Dave never knew if the book would survive from one issue to the next, so inserting long storylines was foolish at that point.

Not just BWS was an inspiration, but Neal Adams – the artist he “rips off” for the spiral descent page you like so much. Adams did tons of stuff like that in Deadman.

The Michael Loubert essays are called The Aardvarkian Age. All fairly short. Excerpts from larger, imaginary works – like the Book Of Stoth. Another nod to Conan-esque word structure.

I made a larger map incorporating all of Loubert’s maps, combined with text references from the series. You can see it at http://www.CerebusTheAardvark.com in the MAPS section.

Michael is also an author who wrote under the name An Clovis (Clovis’ Beard!) and he came up with many of the map names. It was just a fun thing for him to do, so you’ll see echoes of R.E. Howard, Michael Moorcock, etc, throughout the world of Estarcion.