Cerebus No. 39

Cerebus the Aardvark No. 39
High Society 14
Writer	Dave Sim
Artist	Dave Sim
Published	June, 1982
Publisher	Aardvark-Vanaheim
Publication order
Previous	Cerebus No. 38
Next	Cerebus No. 40

Cerebus the Aardvark No. 39 is an issue of Cerebus published by Aardvark-Vanaheim.

Stories

"Petuniacon Day Three"

Harmon Blakely, a man of some influence in Iest, comes to see Cerebus in order to determine whether or not he should back Cerebus' run for Prime Minister. A series of visitors interrupts the discussion, starting with Lord Julius Tavers. Lord Julius confuses Blakely in his normal bungling-that-isn't-bungling manner. Next it's the McGrew Brothers, newly escaped from prison and looking for revenge. It just so happens Moon Roach is on the scene to take care of the brothers, and then take care of himself. The last visitor takes a flight around Blakely's head before Cerebus convinces the Regency Elf to leave. It's Cerebus' tactical denial of even having seen the Elf that convinces Blakely to back Cerebus.

"Slark"

by Bob Conway, based on the song by Stackridge

An unnamed elf meets a monstrous being called Slark, who carries the elf away to a fateful meeting with a beautiful, magical woman.

Additional

• "A Note from the Publisher by Deni Loubert
• "Aardvark Comment"; including an illustration of Cerebus and Marvel Comics character S'ym by reader Tony Gervasio

Characters

• Baskin (last seen in Cerebus No. 38; next appearance in Cerebus No. 43)
• Harmon Blakely (last seen in Cerebus No. 37; next appearance in Cerebus No. 41)
• Astoria (last seen in Cerebus No. 38; next appearance in Cerebus No. 40)
• Cerebus (last seen in Cerebus No. 38; next appearance in Cerebus No. 40)
• Regency Elf (last seen in Cerebus No. 33; next appearance in Cerebus No. 41)
• Elrod (last seen in Cerebus No. 38; next appearance in Cerebus No. 43)
• Lord Julius Tavers (last seen in Cerebus No. 38; next appearance in Cerebus No. 40)
• McGrew Brothers (last seen in Cerebus No. 29; next appearance in Cerebus No. 40)
• The Moon Roach (last seen in Cerebus No. 33; next appearance in Cerebus No. 40)

Locations

• Iest

Story Notes

• Blakely's line is the first confirmation we have that the Grand Inquisitor was one of the inquisitors that talked to Cerebus and was then killed by the Roach in Issue 31.
• Blakely also confirms that the Exodus Inward has happened.
• Elrod's "Black Sun Punch" was last mentioned in Issue 7.
• Lord Julius's mention of "infer and or imply" shrewdly wards off that rejoinder that was used in Issue 33 and Issue 36.
• The cab driver, Blake Jockley, turns out to be the Roach, even though it appears to be the same cab driver that we saw in Issue 26 and Issue 34. It is not inconceivable that the cab driver was one of the Roach's many identities, although some things (such as not recognizing Elrod in Issue 34 would point against that). Dave does say in the Q&A session for High Society that the cab driver is in fact the Cockroach (question #4, posted on the High Society page).
• "The Moon Roach knows" is a reference to The Shadow's catchphrase.

Publication Notes

• Reprinted in Cerebus: High Society No. 14. "Petuniacon Day Three" is reprinted in the High Society phonebook and in Cerebus: High Society - The Digital Audio/Video Experience.

Dave Sim on...

• "My admiration for this man’s work prompted me to render the cover of #39 in the Neal Adams style he was doing to perfection at that time in Moon Knight. I used a reverse Neal Adams signature parody on that cover.

The irony of doing a parody of Neal’s signature as a tribute to Bill Sienkiewicz escaped me at the time. This issue I stole Bill’s own very distinctive signature for the cover as a tribute, not to his ability to do a faithful and spontaneous variation on a seminal influence (it makes sense, I think, read it again) but rather for his own role as a seminal influence for a new generation of comics professionals (and aspiring professionals). As probably the single greatest influence on my thinking at this juncture of our story-line (page fourteen of this issue is page 1500, by the way) such a tribute was long overdue. A brilliant, brilliant individual and my closest friend in the field (after Gerhard)."