Rick's Story | |
---|---|
Series | Cerebus |
Page count | 246 pages |
Publisher | Aardvark-Vanaheim |
Creative team | |
Writers | Dave Sim |
Artists | Dave Sim Gerhard |
Original publication | |
Published in | Cerebus |
Issues | 220–231 |
Language | English |
ISBN | 978-0-919-35918-5 |
Chronology | |
Preceded by | Guys |
Followed by | Going Home |
Cerebus novels |
---|
Phonebooks · Characters |
Cerebus |
High Society |
Church & State |
Jaka's Story |
Melmoth |
Mothers & Daughters |
Guys |
Rick's Story |
Going Home |
Latter Days |
Rick's Story is the eighth novel in Canadian cartoonist Dave Sim's Cerebus comic book series. It is made up of issues #220-231 of Cerebus. It was collected as Rick's Story in one volume in November 1998, and was the 12th collected "phonebook" volume.
Rick, Jaka's ex-husband from Jaka's Story , unexpectedly shows up in the tavern that Cerebus has inhabited for the duration of Guys . Rick is writing a book about his relationship with Jaka. He looks up to Cerebus and constantly pesters him for advice. Cerebus feels like his babysitter and constantly tries to get Rick to leave, even try to get him married off to Joanne from Minds , who has also shown up. Rick has descended into religious madness, and starts telling the story of Cerebus as an angel/demon in faux-King James Bible-style English.
Picking up where Guys left off, Cerebus is confronted with a strangely familiar face. When he can't quite figure out who this character is, he's given a hint: "You once told me that you were in love with my wife." [1]
Rick is writing a book, entitled Rick's Story, about his breakup with Jaka. [2] He was monogamous by nature, and it irrevocably changed him when his marriage with Jaka collapsed at the end of Jaka's Story . He has become an alcoholic, and the story he tells Cerebus of his life since last they met is convoluted and contradictory. He breaks down crying after being hit with a ball when playing Five Bar Gate. Cerebus resents becoming Rick's babysitter and desperately tries to get Rick to suck it up, be a man and get on with life, telling him to "Go on! Beat It! Scram!" which for Rick takes on the character of religious teaching. Following this, Rick begins a Cerebus-centred religion, in which Cerebus represents both god and the devil. [1] [3]
Rick reads out his version of the "Books of Genesis" in a style reminiscent of the King James Version of the Bible. He eventually descends into religious insanity, eventually leading to gory, drunken self-flagellation resulting in mortification. [1]
Rick starts going out with Joanne, and Cerebus tries to convince him to leave with her. Eventually Rick leaves, but not before placing a spell on him and telling him to "go to hell", as Cerebus had told Joanne. He tells Cerebus they will see each other only one more time after that day. [4]
Sim himself appears in the pub and talks with Cerebus, [5] but Cerebus doesn't recognize who he is. Sim leaves Cerebus a package, which turns out to be Jaka's doll, Missy. [4] Finally, Jaka arrives on the scene and tries to convince Cerebus to go with her to Sand Hills Creek, where Cerebus grew up. [6] Cerebus must decide between Jaka and his male companions in the tavern. He decides on going with Jaka. [4]
The story was collected in a single 246-page volume as Rick's Story in November 1998 after being serialized in issues #220-231 of Cerebus . It was the 12th "phonebook" volume. The first printing was a limited signed (by both Dave Sim and Gerhard) and numbered (out of 1000) edition. ISBN 0-919359-18-3 for that printing.
The covers of the issues displayed the current Rick's Story installment number on a bar-sign graphic which, after a turning point in the story, began to grow and engulf the cover, leaving a small bar-sign-shaped area for the actual cover drawing that shrunk every issue. [2]
The book had little impact, and despite some memorable dialogue, one reader called it "the most forgettable of all the books so far", and found the faux- King James passages to be impenetrable, [7] although at Jazz Bastards it was said to be "a chapter in the story of Cerebus that deserves a place with other respected graphic novels." [8]
Cerebus 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 a number of roles throughout the series—barbarian, prime minister and Pope among them. The series stands out for its experimentation in form and content, and for the dexterity of its artwork, especially after background artist Gerhard joined with the 65th issue. As the series progressed, it increasingly became a platform for Sim's controversial beliefs.
Gerhard is the professional name of a Canadian artist known for the elaborately detailed background illustrations in the comics series Cerebus the Aardvark.
Dave Sim 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 beliefs.
Richard Veitch is an American comics artist and writer who has worked in mainstream, underground, and alternative comics.
Flaming Carrot Comics was an American superhero comic book created by Bob Burden, featuring the absurd, surreal adventure of the title character.
A mind is the set of cognitive faculties that enables memory, consciousness, perception, thinking and judgement.
The Creator's Bill of Rights is a document drafted in November 1988 by a number of independent comic book artists, writers, and publishers, designed to protect their rights as creators and publishers and oppose exploitation by corporate work for hire practices and the power of distributors to dictate the means of distribution. Issues covered by the Bill included giving creators proper credit for their characters and stories, profit-sharing, distribution, fair contracts, licensing, and return of original artwork. The signing of the Bill spurred Cerebus creator and self-publisher Dave Sim and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles creators/self-publishers Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird to sell or continue selling collected volumes of their comics directly to readers via their periodic issues, rather than through direct market distributors selling the collections at comic book specialty shops. Comic book professionals that have commented on the Bill conclude that it had little or no impact on the comic book industry.
Journey: The Adventures of Wolverine MacAlistaire is an independent comic book created by William Messner-Loebs about Michigan frontier life in the 19th century. An ensemble piece, it tells the story of the Fort Miami settlement and the characters, both real and fictional, that occupy it. Among these is the title character, Joshua "Wolverine" MacAlistaire.
The Puma Blues was a comic book written by Stephen Murphy and drawn by Michael Zulli. It ran from June 1986 to early 1989, stretching over 23 regular issues and a single "half-issue" minicomic. In 2015 it was re-issued in a collected edition by Dover Comics & Graphic Novels with a new 40-page conclusion by Murphy and Zulli.
The Little Man: Short Strips 1980–1995 is a collection of short works by award-winning Canadian cartoonist Chester Brown, published by Drawn & Quarterly in 1998. It collects most of Brown's non-graphic novel short works up to that point, with the notable exception of his incomplete adaptations of the Gospels.
High Society is the second collected volume, and first volume-length story, of Canadian cartoonist Dave Sim's Cerebus comic book series. It focuses mainly on politics, including Cerebus' campaign for the office of Prime Minister, in the fictional city-state of Iest in Sim's world of Estarcion. It is generally considered the best book for beginning Cerebus readers to start with, and has been called "one of the finest storylines of the 1980s". The story was published in individual issues from May 1981 to May 1983 (#50), with the collection published in 1986.
Cerebus is the first collected volume of Canadian cartoonist Dave Sim's Cerebus comic book series. It is made up of the first 25 issues of Cerebus, plus, as of the 11th edition, some strips that ran in Comics Buyer's Guide featuring Silverspoon, a parody of the comic strip Prince Valiant.
Church & State is the third novel in Canadian cartoonist Dave Sim's Cerebus comic book series. In it, Cerebus once again becomes Prime Minister, and eventually Pope. The story was published in individual issues from July 1983 to June 1988 (#111).
Jaka's Story is the fourth major storyline in Canadian cartoonist Dave Sim's Cerebus comics series.
Melmoth is the fifth novel in Canadian cartoonist Dave Sim's Cerebus comic book series. It follows Oscar in his last days leading up until his death, while Cerebus sits catatonic, clutching the doll of Jaka, the woman he loves but believes has been killed.
Mothers & Daughters: a novel is the sixth novel in Canadian cartoonist Dave Sim's Cerebus comic book series. Sim considers the novel to be the final portion of the main story. It collects Cerebus #151–200 in four volumes, the seventh through tenth volumes of the paperback "phone book" collections of the series, titled Flight, Women, Reads and Minds.
Guys is the seventh novel in Canadian cartoonist Dave Sim's Cerebus comic book series. It is made up of issues #201-219 of Cerebus and was collected as Guys in one volume in September 1997.
Going Home is the ninth novel in Canadian cartoonist Dave Sim's Cerebus comic book series. It is made up of issues #232–265 of Cerebus. It was collected as the 13th and 14th "phonebook" volumes, as Going Home and Form & Void.
Latter Days is the tenth and final novel in Canadian cartoonist Dave Sim's Cerebus comic book series. It is made up of issues #266-300 of Cerebus. It was collected as the 15th and 16th "phonebook" volumes, as Latter Days and The Last Day.
Cerebus phonebooks are the paperback collections that Dave Sim has collected his comic book series Cerebus in since 1986. They have come to be known as "phonebooks" as their thickness and paper stock resemble that of phone books. The format had a large influence on alternative comics publishing and was key in the move from the periodical-centric publishing style that was once dominant.