Albatross

The Albatross found by Cerebus in Artists' bag.

The Albatross was a statue of a little white bird sought by representatives of both the Eastern and Western Churches. There was at least one counterfeit statue created.

History

An Albatross statue was the ransom paid to the McGrew Brothers as part of Cerebus' kidnap plot. Lord Storm'send later stated that that statue was a fake.

Father Gesolde, an official representative of the Lion of Serrea, visited Cerebus with a message from the Lion asking him to secure the Albatross for the Western Church.

Quotes

• "th'ransom the McGrew Brothers picked up for you - that one was a fake. . .the Kevillists sent that one hopin' you'd think it was the real one and tip your hand early. Twenty people died afore sumbuddy had the sense to chip off the enamel t'find out it was only lead underneath." - Lord Storm'send
• "My dear Prime Minister, since the Exodus Inward of our Eastern brethren is now a reality, the albatross becomes of paramount importance to us both. We propose, therefore, that a pact of non-aggression be struck, to prevent the unleashing of chaotic forces sure to result from one of the other of us seeking to become preeminent." - message from the Lion of Serrea

Basis

• The Albatross and the search for it bear a strong resemblance to the plot of the classic film The Maltese Falcon.

Dave Sim on the Albatross

The Albatross brought to Cerebus by Bishop Powers.

• Q2: Why can an Albatross be used to reunite the Eastern and Western churches?

DAVE: Because it is the most formidable power object in the known universe: a wildly improbable plot device. Like the Maltese Falcon only more politically formidable. In a Real World context, I called my notebooks my Albatrosses because I was as saddled with them much like Coleridge’s Ancient Mariner. So I was declaring in a way—by making the albatross statue that significant in High Society—that I was ambitious enough to want to do something of remarkable significance with all the half-witted notions and half-baked philosophies I was sketching out and jotting down in my own “albatrosses”. “Invoke often,” is the first rule of the sort of mysticism that one finds in used paperbacks in 5 for a dollar bins. Unless one is in a New Age bookstore, in which case one can pay 50 dollars to be told the same thing between hemp-derived hard covers.

References

Albatross From issue 90, brought to Cerebus by Bishop Powers. Art by Dave Sim and Gerhard