''High Society'' is the second collected volume, and first volume-length story, of Canadian cartoonist

Dave Sim Dave Sim (born 17 May 1956) is a Canadian cartoonist and publisher, best known for his comic book '' Cerebus'', his artistic experimentation, his advocacy of self-publishing and creators' rights, and his controversial political and philosophical ...

's ''

Cerebus ''Cerebus'' (; also ''Cerebus the Aardvark'') is a comic book series created by Canadian cartoonist Dave Sim, which ran from December 1977 until March 2004. The title character of the 300-issue series is an anthropomorphic aardvark who takes on ...

comic book A comic book, also called comicbook, comic magazine or (in the United Kingdom and Ireland) simply comic, is a publication that consists of comics art in the form of sequential juxtaposed panels that represent individual scenes. Panels are of ...

series. It focuses mainly on politics, including ''Cerebuss campaign for the office of Prime Minister, in the fictional

city-state A city-state is an independent sovereign city which serves as the center of political, economic, and cultural life over its contiguous territory. They have existed in many parts of the world since the dawn of history, including cities such as ...

of Iest in Sim's world of Estarcion. It is generally considered the best book for beginning ''Cerebus'' readers to start reading, and has been called "one of the finest storylines of the 1980s". The story was published in individual issues from May 1981 (issue #26) to May 1983 (#50), with the collection published in 1986. The story is considered a turning point in the ''Cerebus'' series, as Sim moved from the " Conan pastiche" of the stories contained in the ''

'', to making a "piece of political satire," the beginning of Sim moving away from individual issue-focused stories and short, two- or three-issue story arcs, to "longer, far more complex 'novels'" lasting hundreds of pages, that were the focus of the rest of the series. The storyline became the first of the ''Cerebus'' "

phone book A telephone is a telecommunications device that permits two or more users to conduct a conversation when they are too far apart to be easily heard directly. A telephone converts sound, typically and most efficiently the human voice, into ele ...

" paperback collections to be published. Its success led Sim to abandon the '' Swords of Cerebus'' series of four-issue collections in favour of the larger collections for the final format of the 6000-page ''Cerebus'' saga.

Background

In ''

'' #12, Sim announced his intention to continue ''Cerebus'' until December 2003, which, at a bi-monthly pace, would take the series to issue #156. In ''

'' #19, Sim announced that ''Cerebus'' would last 300 issues, and that it would chronicle the life of Cerebus up until his death. Further, the book would be subdivided into "novels". The first of these novels would be ''High Society''one self-contained story that would nevertheless be only one storyline in the larger ''Cerebus'' story.

Synopsis

Arrival in Iest

Cerebus arrives in the

of Iest, where he checks into the high-class Regency Hotel (whose design was based on the Chateau Laurier) and becomes embroiled in political machinations as the Chief Kitchen Supervisor to Lord Julius. Cerebus is kidnapped for ransom by Dirty Drew and Dirty Fleagle McGrew. Cerebus soon arranges with the kidnappers to split the ransom money, but when the time comes to pick up the ransom, Cerebus is betrayed by the brothers and knocked unconscious, and he enters a long

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 ...

where he speaks once again with Suentius Po. When he comes to, Cerebus finds himself back at the Regency Hotel, where he is told that he is expected to pay back the ransom that was paid for his release. He discovers the Regency Elf in his room, who informs him that the brothers have been captured. He goes to talk with them at the prison, but finds out they never got the moneyall they got was a statue of a "duck". With the help of the Elf, Cerebus contrives to get the money to repay his ransom. At the moment that he seems to have schemed the money out of Holland M. Hadden, Hadden is assassinated by the Moon Roach (a new guise of the Roach; a parody of Moon Knight), who is under the control of Astoria. Cerebus is under the Inquisition's suspicion for Hadden's murder, and is only safe due to his diplomatic statusa situation which is complicated by the Moon Roach's assassination of two members of the Inquisition. Astoria takes Cerebus under her wing, telling him she will make him "''embarrassingly'' wealthy".

Campaign

Election

Lord Julius puts forward a goat to run against Cerebus as Prime Minister. Election night ends in a draw, with one vote uncounted. Cerebus sets out with Astoria and the Roach (this time in a caricature of Sergeant Preston of the Mounties to find Lord Storm'send in snowy Northbell to secure the last vote. After talking with Cerebus, Storm'send lights a beacon indicating who he has voted for, but refuses to tell Cerebus whom he has decided on. Cerebus, Astoria and the Roach head back through the snow, but eventually are stopped due to a bridge being out. They check into an inn located by the bridge, where they find out that Cerebus has won.

Prime Ministership

(''Cerebus'' #45-50)

Characters

;Cerebus: A grey anthropomorphic Aardvark, that is introduced to the reader as a kitchen supervisor for the Regency hotel and over time becomes the Prime Minister of the fictional land of Estaricon. His personality is that of an aggressive drunk who has a short temper. ;The McGrew BrothersDirty Fleagle and Dirty Drew:Fighting brothers who at first kidnap Cerebus for ransom money, but later become part of Cerebus' fold. Visually based on Gene Day and his brother Dan, with speech patterns like

Yosemite Sam Yosemite Sam ( /joʊˈsɛmɪti/ ''yoh-SEM-ih-tee'') is a cartoon character in the ''Looney Tunes'' and ''Merrie Melodies'' series of short films produced by Warner Bros. His name is taken from Yosemite National Park. He is an adversary of Bugs ...

. ;The Regency Elf:A childlike, playful spirit who inhabits Cerebus' rooms at the Regency Hotel in High Society; at first, only Cerebus can see her. She helps Cerebus with some of his political scheming, though, as innocent as she seems, it's all just a game to her. She is inspired in part by Elfquest and its creator Wendy Pini. Visually, the Regency Elf is inspired by Debby Harry. ;The Roach:Also called Artemis, the Roach is Sim's vehicle for comic book parodies. In ''High Society'', he follows Astoria, and first comes into the story as Moon Roach (a parody of

Marvel Comics Marvel Comics is an American comic book publishing, publisher and the flagship property of Marvel Entertainment, a divsion of The Walt Disney Company since September 1, 2009. Evolving from Timely Comics in 1939, ''Magazine Management/Atlas Co ...

' Moon Knight), who commits political assassinations for Astoria, and later as Sergeant Preston (a parody of Sergeant William Preston of the ''

Challenge of the Yukon ''Challenge of the Yukon'' is an American radio adventure series that began on Detroit's WXYZ and is an example of a Northern genre story. The series was first heard on January 3, 1939. The title changed from ''Challenge of the Yukon'' to ''Se ...

'' radio program). As Cerebus rises in the political world, the Roach takes on the rôle of his bodyguard, while secretly and jealously believing that Cerebus is stealing Astoria away from him. ;Astoria:A beautiful political manipulator, Lord Julius' ex-wife, and the main driving force behind Cerebus' campaign to become Prime Minister in ''High Society''. ;Lord Julius:Lord of Palnu, a

to which Iest is considerably in debt. Cerebus has attracted a lot of attention as he had been Lord Julius' Kitchen Staff Supervisor, and is believed to have influence with Lord Julius. ;Duke Leonardi:Leader of Serrea, cousin to Lord Julius. A caricature based on Chico Marx.

Publication

Originally published in issues #26-50 of Sim's monthly ''Cerebus'' series between May 1981 and May 1983, ''High Society'' was published as a 512-page paperpack "phone book" collection in 1986, originally with a print run of 6000, printed by Preney Print & Litho Inc. of

Windsor, Ontario Windsor is a city in southwestern Ontario, Canada, on the south bank of the Detroit River directly across from Detroit, Michigan, United States. Geographically located within but administratively independent of Essex County, it is the southe ...

, Canada. Its tenth printing came out in 2005. The eleventh printing was released in March 2015 as a limited edition 30th anniversary Gold Logo edition signed (by Dave Sim) and numbered (out of 850) on a glued-in bookplate inside the front cover. This edition was printed on white paper, with images re-scanned and digitally "cleaned up" using current technology, , UPC 9 780919 359079 53000, originally priced at $30USD. The High Society logo on the front cover was printed in gold foil. Between 1985 and 1988, Sim underwent negotiations with

DC Comics DC Comics, Inc. (doing business as DC) is an American comic book publisher and the flagship unit of DC Entertainment, a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Discovery. DC Comics is one of the largest and oldest American comic book companies, with thei ...

, in which DC offered $100,000 and 10% of licensing and merchandising. During this time, Sim set up a dedicated 800 number and announced in ''Cerebus'' #86 (May 1986) that he would put out the first printing of the ''High Society'' "phone book" through mail order. The book sold out in less than a year, and grossed $150,000, which made DC's offer seem "kind of puny by comparison", according to Sim. Sim's artistic partner, Gerhard had not yet joined him when High Society was being made, but had joined him shortly before the ''High Society'' "phone book" was first published, and so was able to provide the drawing of the Regency Hotel on the wraparound cover. The collection was dedicated to

Barry Windsor-Smith Barry Windsor-Smith (born Barry Smith, 25 May 1949) is a British comic book illustrator and painter whose best known work has been produced in the United States. He attained note working on Marvel Comics' ''Conan the Barbarian'' from 1970 to 197 ...

Neal Adams Neal Adams (June 15, 1941 – April 28, 2022) was an American comic book artist. He was the co-founder of the graphic design studio Continuity Associates, and was a creators-rights advocate who helped secure a pension and recognition for Sup ...

and Mike Kaluta.

Dispute with Diamond Comic Distributors

The book was initially not available through traditional comic-book Direct Market distributors, who felt that ''Cerebus' '' success until then had been largely due to them, and put up "a ''lot'' of resistance" to Sim selling direct. As a result, in 1987 Diamond Comic Distributors chose to drop '' Puma Blues'', which was being published by Sim's Aardvark One International. Diamond's orders accounted for 33% of ''Puma Blues' '' sales. In order to get out of the dispute, the book's creators moved publication to Mirage Studios. Sim didn't relent on having the "phone books" distributed by the Direct Market until well into the 1990s.

Foreign editions

Sim had long disallowed foreign-language editions of ''Cerebus'', saying couldn't be sure of the accuracy of the translations since he couldn't read any language other than English. In 2010, he finally allowed a number of translations.

References

Notes

Sources

*Sim, Dave. ''High Society''. Aardvark-Vanaheim, 1986. *Wolk, Douglas. "Dave Sim: Aardvark Politick". ''Reading comics: how graphic novels work and what they mean''. Da Capo Press, 2007, pages 289-303.
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