Issue 6
From CerebusWiki
| Oct 1978 / Nov 1978: The Secret | |
| |
| Issue 6 | |
| Writer & Artist | Dave Sim |
| Publisher | Deni Loubert |
| Circulation | unknown |
| Cerebus | |
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Contents |
Issue Summary
Cerebus finds some guy dying on the street of Iest and is accosted by the strong arm Turg who Cerebus beats in a fight. Turg's friend and "brains" of their duo, E'Lass offers Cerebus a drink in order to find out what the dying man said to Cerebus.
In the tavern the dancer, Jaka is performing. After E'Lass has put a couple drugs in Cerebus' ale, Cerebus is open to suggestions. One of which E'Lass tries is "Jaka is said to be the most beautiful woman east of the Sofim".
Immediately Cerebus falls in love with Jaka and cannot be moved from her side. As Cerebus leaves with Jaka, the Black Sun Priests show up at the tavern looking for E'Lass and Turg. The pair manage to get away with a few bruises and E'Lass meets up with Jaka later, as the two have some back history. E'Lass makes a deal with Jaka to get her to find out where the treasure is in the temple, which is what he assumes the dying man told Cerebus.
After Cerebus finds out that E'Lass threatened Jaka if she didn't find out this information, Cerebus beats up E'Lass and tells him to leave Jaka alone. Cerebus makes plan to get the treasure and start a life with Jaka. While he is at the market the drugs E'Lass gave him wear off.
Cerebus runs into Jaka, who asks where he as been. Since the drugs have worn off, Cerebus cannot remember who Jaka is and he tells her to leave him alone. She gives him a bottle of apricot brandy in the hopes that he would one day remember her and return..
Characters
- Cerebus (last seen in Demonhorn, next appearance in issue 7)
- E'Lass (first appearance; next appearance in issue 16)
- Jaka (first appearance; next appearance in issue 36)
- Turg (first appearance; next appearance in issue 16)
Locations
- Iest -- where the issue takes place
- Wall of T'si, Smina, the T'capmin Kingdom -- places Cerebus promises to take Jaka to.
Artist Notes
Introduction to issue 6, Swords of Cerebus, Volume Two
Regarding the events of the first page: "How about this: The guy was a renegade Priest of the Black Sun and realized that someday the Priest[s] would find the hidden gold and use it for furthering their death-worshipping ways. Giving the word to a complete stranger was preferable to their running across it one day by accident. Fair enough?"
"I couldn't picture Cerebus fans reading twenty issues of Cerebus sitting across the street from Jaka's house."
Dave Sim, 1992, The Usenet Interview
"Musical instruments are something that I've intentionally left out of the Cerebus story-line, although not many people have noticed. A part of it is that comics is a "mute" medium and I like to reflect that. It would be impossible to do Jaka's Story in any other narrative form because you would have to have musicians to accompany the dancing which would spoil the balance of the cast. Part of it is that I despise music unless I'm drunk or stoned. I stopped listening to it while drawing several years ago and I think this has brought a definite improvement to my work. I get a lot of music tapes in the mail, I think because people figure that with all the bands getting mentioned on the letters page that I must be a really big fan of music. Call it wishful thinking; that at some point in the distant past music didn't exist and never evolved. My own personal heaven."
Aardvark Comment in Issue 10
Philip C: "...you skiimped womewhat on the non-farcical parts of the plot. E.G., who was that guy bleed at the beginning (I can make guesses) and why was he so anxious to tell his secret?"
Dave: "How about this: The guy was a renegade Priest of the Black Sun and realized that someday the Priest would find the hidden gold and use it for further their death-worshipping ways. Giving the to a complete stranger was preferable to their running across it one day by accident."
Annotations
- In Aardvark Comment Dave mentions that Michael Loubert helped plot this issue.
- Apparently Cerebus doesn't have a navel.
- Later on, in Jaka's Story, Cerebus fans would read twenty issues of Cerebus as a house guest Jaka's house and then 11 issues of Cerebus sitting outside a tavern during Melmoth.
- Cerebus was apparently very happy when he beheaded his first Borealan. See Issue 157, pages 4-5.
- Although the treasure is mentioned as gold in this issue by E'Lass and also in Dave's comment, Issue 7 establishes it as being uncut diamonds.
- Issue 36 shows that Jaka still remembers Cerebus' promise to kill Jaka a yak for her supper. Unfortunately, it also notes that Cerebus didn't return even when he did remember.
- "Tchens, Trebu and Lohi" Rather simple anagrams of the names "Hitchens" and "Loubert". Loubert is referring to Deni Loubert, Dave's fiancee at the time. Hitchens is either Sara Hitchens (later creator of the Cerebus stuffed doll) or a relative of hers who was Dave's mistress at the time, and was the basis for Jaka. This whole story was, among other things, a coded message from Dave to Deni, warning her about Dave's romantic instability. (Alexx)
- Jaka, like Cerebus, doesn't use pronouns when referring to herself. It's later established that this was an act -- she has no such affectation in her next appearance.
- The fate of the bottle of apricot brandy is unknown.
