''Going Home'' is the ninth novel in

Canadian Canadians () are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of their being ''C ...

cartoonist A cartoonist is a visual artist who specializes in both drawing and writing cartoons (individual images) or comics (sequential images). Cartoonists differ from comics writers or comics illustrators/artists in that they produce both the litera ...

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

's '' Cerebus''

comic book A comic book, comic-magazine, or simply comic is a publication that consists of comics art in the form of sequential juxtaposed panel (comics), panels that represent individual scenes. Panels are often accompanied by descriptive prose and wri ...

series. It is made up of issues #232–265 of ''Cerebus''. It was collected as the 13th and 14th "phonebook" volumes, as ''Going Home'' (#232–250, March 2000) and ''Form & Void'' (#251–265, May 2001). Cerebus has reunited with Jaka, and has agreed to travel with her to Sand Hills Creek, where he grew up. Along the way, they take a ride on a riverboat and meet F. Stop Kennedy, a caricature of

F. Scott Fitzgerald Francis Scott Key Fitzgerald (September 24, 1896 – December 21, 1940), widely known simply as Scott Fitzgerald, was an American novelist, essayist, and short story writer. He is best known for his novels depicting the flamboyance and exces ...

; and later they meet Hamilton Earnestway (

Ernest Hemingway Ernest Miller Hemingway ( ; July 21, 1899 – July 2, 1961) was an American novelist, short-story writer and journalist. Known for an economical, understated style that influenced later 20th-century writers, he has been romanticized fo ...

) and his wife

Mary Mary may refer to: People * Mary (name), a female given name (includes a list of people with the name) Religion * New Testament people named Mary, overview article linking to many of those below * Mary, mother of Jesus, also called the Blesse ...

Background

Cerebus has spent two novels confined to a tavern. At the end of the previous book, Cerebus meets his creator (Sim), who leaves him a packageJaka's doll, Missy. Jaka then appears, and the two are reunited and fall in love. Jaka's tries to convince Cerebus to go to Cerebus' childhood home, Sand Hills Creek, with her. He has to make a decision between his male friends in the tavern or Jaka. He eventually gives in to Jaka, and the two set off.

Synopsis

''Going Home'' was divided into three sections. "Sudden Moves" and "Fall and the River" were collected in the ''Going Home'' "

phonebook A telephone directory, commonly called a telephone book, telephone address book, phonebook, or the white and yellow pages, is a listing of telephone subscribers in a geographical area or subscribers to services provided by the organization that ...

" collection, and "Form & Void" was collected as ''Form & Void''.

Sudden Moves

(''Cerebus'' #232–239) Cerebus and Jaka are together and deeply in love. On their way to Cerebus' childhood home of Sand Hills Creek, they stop at taverns along the way. Jaka's aristocratic status has afforded them protectionCirinists (including a caricature of

Janet Reno Janet Wood Reno (July 21, 1938 – November 7, 2016) was an American lawyer and public official who served as the 78th United States Attorney General, United States attorney general from 1993 to 2001 under President Bill Clinton. A member of ...

) move along to the taverns ahead of the couple to ensure that they have a wonderful time wherever they go. They go shopping for Jaka's outfits each morning and move on by afternoon, never spending more than a day at any location. On their travels, the pair come across pubs run by caricatures of personalities in the comics world such as Greg Hyland,

Rick Veitch Richard Veitch (; born May 7, 1951) is an American comics artist and writer who has worked in mainstream, underground comics, underground, and alternative comics. Biography Rick Veitch is a native of the small town of Bellows Falls, Vermont. One ...

and

Alan Moore Alan Moore (born 18 November 1953) is an English author known primarily for his work in comic books including ''Watchmen'', ''V for Vendetta'', ''The Ballad of Halo Jones'', Swamp Thing (comic book), ''Swamp Thing'', ''Batman: The Killing Joke' ...

. Jaka insists on shopping and seeing the important sites along the way, and Cerebus gets worried as Sand Hills Creek lies on the other side of the Conniptin mountainsthey could get caught in the first snowfall and get snowed in.

Fall and the River

(''Cerebus'' #240–250) Cerebus and Jaka take a riverboat ride, and onboard come across F. Stop Kennedy, a caricature of

Form & Void

(''Cerebus'' #251–265) Cerebus and Jaka find a hunting lodge in which to spend the winter. They are surprised to find out that the famous writer Hamilton Earnestway (a parody of

) and his wife, Mary, are lodging there as well. Cerebus, a fan of Earnestway's, is unabashedly starstruck. Earnestway, however, is in his twilight years, and stricken with depression and writer's block. Cerebus is initially oblivious to Ham's state, but can't help noticing how down and quiet he has become. He is dominated by his boisterous wife. Her speech balloons are dramatic, while his are shaky and small.

Publication

''Going Home'' was published in '' Cerebus'' issues #232 (July 1998) to #265 (April 2001) and collected in two volumes: ''Going Home'' in March 2000, collecting ''Cerebus'' #232–250; and ''Form & Void'' in May 2001, collecting ''Cerebus'' #251–265. ''Going Home'' first printing in limited signed (by both Dave Sim and Gerhard) and numbered (out of 1000) March 2000, . ''Form & Void'' first printing in limited signed (by both Dave Sim and Gerhard) and numbered (out of 1000) May 2001, . All the coversincluding those of the collectionswere done with full-colour photographs taken by

Gerhard Gerhard is a name of Germanic origin and may refer to: Given name * Gerhard (bishop of Passau) (fl. 932–946), German prelate * Gerhard III, Count of Holstein-Rendsburg (1292–1340), German prince, regent of Denmark * Gerhard Barkhorn (1919� ...

. When serialized, Sim included copious amounts of notes on the background research he did into

Background

Synopsis

Sudden Moves

Fall and the River

Form & Void

Publication

References

Notes

Sources

Further reading