Friday 24 June 2016

"Cerebus In Hell?" - Comic Strip #2

CEREBUS IN HELL? #0 ships 28th September 2016
(Diamond Order Code: JUL161105)
Read CEREBUS IN HELL? daily at CerebusDownloads.com

CEREBUS IN HELL? strip #2 -
Why have only ONE A Moment of Cerebus insider reference when you can have two?:

Jeff Seiler's Carmen Miranda costume that he wears/used to wear to Jimmy Buffet concerts (and once wore onstage, by invitation WITH Jimmy Buffet) (that is, they were on stage together, not both wearing the Carmen Miranda costume) is a guaranteed cheap laugh-getter here on AMOC as well as a Jimmy Buffet inside joke. Combining that with the fact that "Margaritaville" is the name of the official Jimmy Buffet website means only three people in North America (oddly enough, all living in the Midwest) will "get" this one. 


Okay, that will do it for the INSIDE jokes.  

18 comments:

Stephen R. Bissette said...

Stop me if I told you this one already—got to meet my hero Ray Harryhausen (the stop-motion animator/auteur/co-producer behind gems like THE 7th VOYAGE OF SINBAD, JASON AND THE ARGONAUTS, MYSTERIOUS ISLAND, FIRST MEN "IN" THE MOON, GOLDEN VOYAGE OF SINBAD, etc.) at his London home once, and spent a glorious couple of hours in his studio, talking to the man himself.

When he reached behind his couch (!) and pulled out original charcoal drawings (!!) that had been done for the preproduction of the original 1933 KING KONG (!!!), I mentioned Gustave Doré in reverence. Ray's eyes lit up, and he took me downstairs to show off his complete collection of Doré FIRST EDITIONS, where you could still see the residue on the printed pages of the original graphite lines Doré had drawn onto the stone the engravers etched into... a memorable day, and it prompted me to seek out and buy the one original printing of a Doré book I could find/afford: Doré's illustrated edition of Edgar Allan Poe's THE RAVEN.

Jeff Seiler said...

Thanks(?) for the shoutout, Dave! I was picking up my lunch from the diner (not mac-n-cheese--BLT and hand-cut fries, if you must know), while wearing my Margaritaville Key West cap, when I saw this. Comics metaphysics strike again! But, LOL, it's spelled Buffett! However, the mac-n-cheese referred to could have come from the Buffett Buffet... ;)

Unknown said...

Steve! I was WONDERING what the First Edition Dore prints must look like!

Sandeep has been upgrading the digital images we're using as he finds better copies online. They're jaw-droppers even in fuzzy form and then when you see a clean copy. Wow!

Unknown said...

Jeff! No problem. I'm hoping you can e-mail a photo of you in the costume to Tim W so he can post it with the strip.

And sincere apologies to Jimmy BuffetT fans everywhere!

Unknown said...

That's unbelievable that Harryhausen would have those behind his couch! I guess if you've lived with them since 1933, they really ARE literally just part of the furniture.

Stephen R. Bissette said...

Dave: the first editions are exquisite, and we all forget (1) we're all seeing what the ENGRAVERS did over Doré's pencils and (2) we've never, ever seen what Doré's actual drawings (what HE drew) looked like. The only remnants are partially, faintly visible on the first printings, those printed from the actual original engravings—this was a nuance Harryhausen quite lovingly brought to my attention that day, and I never, ever forgot.

I used the first edition of THE RAVEN in my classroom sometimes, to explain how ancient and how for-granted we all take the principle of "inking" in comics. The engravers were, in reality, the "inkers"—and it's THEIR handiwork, as much as Doré's, we are seeing and responding to. When you spend time with the actual books, where the engravers' signatures are apparent and the stylist differences readily apparent and inescapable, it's a real crash course in how little we know of and appreciate what Doré did, and what incredible artists the engravers were... and that ALL of them were working against insane deadlines.

Some things never change!

Stephen R. Bissette said...

Dave: Yes, Ray had them (framed) stored behind his studio couch.

I know.

And I almost crapped myself on the spot, I think; luckily, I did not. That would have been... embarrassing, to say the least.

Unknown said...

We're doing "funny credits" in the back. "Meet the CEREBUS IN HELL? Team". Originally I wanted to get the names of the engravers who worked on the inferno and put them in as "Work-Made-For-Hire Hall of Fame".

How tight WERE the deadlines? It's an INSANE amount of detail that Panemaker (sp.) in particular was getting in there.

We know the engravers were "Totelbens". Was Dore a "Bissette" or a "Wrightson"?

Jeff Seiler said...

Okay, I *finally* figured out how to send a photo to Tim (go on, roll your eyes, techies), so look for that Carmen photo soon.

What's that, Dave? Oh, you're welcome!

Unknown said...

Just make sure that it's the top AND bottom of the costume.

Some forms of Comic Art Metaphysics were never meant for human eyes.

Jeff Seiler said...

Well, it's not so much what's under the top and bottom that aren't meant for human eyes, it's the FUPA in between...

Sean R said...

A few summers ago I had the opportunity to hold a Dore pen and ink illo original in my hand, at the Louvre graphic arts collection. Man o man could that man draw. It was a preliminary drawing for one of his Men on Swords books—can't remember which one at the moment.

I actually wrote about Dore in relationship to, ahem, Depeche Mode, a while back.

"(Like a band name represents a group of individuals, so we might think of “Gustave Doré” more accurately as a group of men, a kind of syndicate of illustrators and engravers, that shared their collective name with that of their founding member and progenitor.)"

I'm tempted to write more right now, but, ah, I'm saving it for my Dore Secret Project. Dave, would you believe I've been working on this D.S.Project simultaneously with your Cerebus In Hell? work? Here's a hint- it involves First Edition Dore books and my brand new Epson 10000XL...

http://www.hoodedutilitarian.com/2014/05/utility-and-art-satan-and-paradise-depeche-mode-and-gustav-dore/

Jeff Seiler said...

Sean, I will buy that book!

Stephen R. Bissette said...

Harryhausen also had, if memory serves, two original Doré oil paintings, which were completely unlike anything I'd ever seen by the man, and very unusual. The light was sculpted, the paint thickly laid onto the canvas.

Unknown said...

Sean - Having lived inside of Comic Art Metaphysics for this many years, it would surprise me more if you WEREN'T working on a Gustave Dore book!

Anybody up for Sean doing a CEREBUS IN HELL? oversized Artists Edition?

Show of hands?

Unknown said...

Steve - Do you remember the subject matter of the Dore paintings?

Stephen R. Bissette said...

Dave: The one I remember featured massive tree-trunks in a dense forest, backlit by a fire light. The 'carving' of the light over the tree bark was positively three-dimensional, quite tactile and absolutely stunning.

Drew Ford said...

Poor Jimmy Buffet! ;)