Latter Days (comics)
Encyclopedia
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 (#266-288, November 2003) and The Last Day (#289-300, June 2004).
The novel concludes Cerebus life, as Sim had long announced it would, and is generally considered the most difficult and problematic of the Cerebus novels.
Narrated by Cerebus from sometime later in his life, Latter Days is heavy in religious themes, and also features caricatures of the Three Stooges
and Woody Allen
.
had foretold that Cerebus would "die alone, unmourned and unloved". The main Cerebus story came to an end with issue #200; the final 100 issues served as a dénouement, with Latter Days an "epilogue-to-the-epilogue".
At the end of Going Home
, Cerebus comes to reject Jaka, the woman he has loved almost since the beginning of the series and with whom he has been travelling to his childhood home.
Thirty years following Going Home
, Cerebus, working as a shepherd, is only waiting to die.
Cerebus returns from the north with the intention of provoking the Cirinists into killing him when he is abducted by radical followers of the religion Rick founded in Rick's Story
they turn out to be a trio of caricatures of the Three Stooges
called the Three Wise Fellows. With these followers behind him as an army, Cerebus leads a successful rebellion against the Cirinsts and conquers the continent of Estarcion, setting up a fascist utopia, from which he retires and starts obsessively collecting a Reads called "Rabbi", becoming an expert on the series and setting out to write "The. One. Definite. Guide to Rabbi."
He meets Konigsberg, the Not-So-Good Samaritan (a caricature of Jewish filmmaker Woody Allen
), to whom Cerebus gives his unique interpretation of the Old Testament
, in a mostly textual series called "Chasing YHWH
" in issues #282-290. Cerebus explains that YHWH (which he pronounces "Yoowhoo") is a female deity who believes she is God
.
A hundred years pass, and Cerebus awakens from a dream or vision in which cosmology is seen as a reflection of theology, complete with explanatory footnotes by Sim. Upon waking, Cerebusnow incredibly aged, decrepit, pain-ridden, and mildly senile—makes the laborious trek to his writing desk to write down his new revelation. He then hides the manuscript, and it is implied that nobody will find it for two thousand years., and. He has written instructions on how to carry on his dynasty in a final testament for his son.
Cerebus spends most of the rest of the book trying to persuade his chief of security, Walter O'Reilly (named after Corporal Walter (Radar) O'Reilly from M*A*S*H) to admit his son, Shep-Shep, with whom he remembers sharing an idyllic father-son relationship. However, the Sanctuary is under lockdown due to opposition from a new and even more rabidly "feminist-homosexualist" group led by Shep-Shep's mother, whom Cerebus refers to as "New Joanne", which favors such "rights" as pedophilia
, zoophilia
, juvenile recreational drug use
and lesbian motherhood
. As a result, social values have undergone a complete breakdown.
Cerebus finally goes to bed despairing of seeing his son again, but Shep-Shep manages to sneak into Cerebus' room late that night. Their subsequent conversation shatters Cerebus' last illusions about his son. Shep-Shep has aligned himself with Cerebus' mother who has been conducting genetic engineering
experiments, partly with knowledge gained from Cirin's earlier experimentation. Cerebus is disgusted and horrified when Shep-Shep shows him the results of one of the experiments and explains his mother's plans.
As Shep-Shep leaves Cerebus grabs a knife, intending to kill him, but falls out of bed and breaks his neck, alone, unmourned, and unloved, just as the Judge had predicted. His life flashes before his eyes
in a series of flashback
panels and his ghost sees many of his old friends and enemies waiting for him in "the Light." Jaka, Bear, and Ham beckon to him, and he eagerly rushes to join them, thinking they are in Heaven
, but then he notices the absence of Rick and realizes that the Light may in fact be Hell
. He calls out to God for help, but is dragged into the Light nonetheless.
The Three Wise Fellows:Caricatures of the Three Stooges: Koshie (Curly
), Loshie (Larry
) and Moshie (Moe
). Radical followers of the religion Rick has started, they kidnap Cerebus in the hopes of receiving some sort of revelation from him.
Konigsberg:Caricature of Woody Allen
, to whom Cerebus gives his interpretation of the Torah
.
New Joanne:The female journalist interviewing Cerebus in the first parts of the novel, who bears a striking resemblance to Jaka. After the interview, she and Cerebus get married and have a son. Later, she becomes the leader of a "feminist-homosexualist" opposed to Cerebus' rule and that is causing social breakdown.
Shep-Shep:The son of Cerebus and New Joanne.
Walter O'Reilly:Chief of security. A caricature of Corporal Walter (Radar) O'Reilly from M*A*S*H.
Gerhard had become frustrated with the time restraints on the work at this point, and has said publicly that Sim had lost him as a reader.
caricatures (and their tandential back-story) left some readers cold, as did Cerebus' take on the Scriptures. The fact that it was so text heavy (approximately a third of the book in small fonts) was also considered tiring.
People of Canada
Canadians are the people who are identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be genetic, residential, legal, historical, cultural or ethnic...
cartoonist
Cartoonist
A cartoonist is a person who specializes in drawing cartoons. This work is usually humorous, mainly created for entertainment, political commentary or advertising...
Dave Sim
Dave Sim
David Victor Sim is an award-winning Canadian comic book writer and artist.A pioneer of self-published comics and creators' rights, Sim is best known as the creator of Cerebus the Aardvark, a comic book published from 1977 to 2004, which chronicles its main character in a 6,000-page self-contained...
's Cerebus
Cerebus the Aardvark
Cerebus the Aardvark, or simply Cerebus , is an independent comic book, written and illustrated by Canadian artist Dave Sim, with backgrounds by fellow Canadian Gerhard. Cerebus ran for 300 issues from December 1977 to 2004, and was over 6000 pages long, the longest-running original...
comic book
Comic book
A comic book or comicbook is a magazine made up of comics, narrative artwork in the form of separate panels that represent individual scenes, often accompanied by dialog as well as including...
series. It is made up of issues #266-300 of Cerebus. It was collected as the 15th and 16th "phonebook" volumes, as Latter Days (#266-288, November 2003) and The Last Day (#289-300, June 2004).
The novel concludes Cerebus life, as Sim had long announced it would, and is generally considered the most difficult and problematic of the Cerebus novels.
Narrated by Cerebus from sometime later in his life, Latter Days is heavy in religious themes, and also features caricatures of the Three Stooges
Three Stooges
The Three Stooges were an American vaudeville and comedy act of the early to mid–20th century best known for their numerous short subject films. Their hallmark was physical farce and extreme slapstick. In films, the Stooges were commonly known by their first names: "Moe, Larry, and Curly" and "Moe,...
and Woody Allen
Woody Allen
Woody Allen is an American screenwriter, director, actor, comedian, jazz musician, author, and playwright. Allen's films draw heavily on literature, sexuality, philosophy, psychology, Jewish identity, and the history of cinema...
.
Background
Sim had declared early on that Cerebus would chronicle the life leading up to death of its titular character. The Judge at the end of Church & StateChurch and State (comics)
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 1200-page novel was divided into seven books has been collected in two volumes...
had foretold that Cerebus would "die alone, unmourned and unloved". The main Cerebus story came to an end with issue #200; the final 100 issues served as a dénouement, with Latter Days an "epilogue-to-the-epilogue".
At the end of Going Home
Going Home (comics)
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...
, Cerebus comes to reject Jaka, the woman he has loved almost since the beginning of the series and with whom he has been travelling to his childhood home.
Prologue
(Cerebus #266267)Thirty years following Going Home
Going Home (comics)
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...
, Cerebus, working as a shepherd, is only waiting to die.
Latter Days
(Cerebus #268288)Cerebus returns from the north with the intention of provoking the Cirinists into killing him when he is abducted by radical followers of the religion Rick founded in Rick's Story
Rick's Story (comics)
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...
they turn out to be a trio of caricatures of the Three Stooges
Three Stooges
The Three Stooges were an American vaudeville and comedy act of the early to mid–20th century best known for their numerous short subject films. Their hallmark was physical farce and extreme slapstick. In films, the Stooges were commonly known by their first names: "Moe, Larry, and Curly" and "Moe,...
called the Three Wise Fellows. With these followers behind him as an army, Cerebus leads a successful rebellion against the Cirinsts and conquers the continent of Estarcion, setting up a fascist utopia, from which he retires and starts obsessively collecting a Reads called "Rabbi", becoming an expert on the series and setting out to write "The. One. Definite. Guide to Rabbi."
He meets Konigsberg, the Not-So-Good Samaritan (a caricature of Jewish filmmaker Woody Allen
Woody Allen
Woody Allen is an American screenwriter, director, actor, comedian, jazz musician, author, and playwright. Allen's films draw heavily on literature, sexuality, philosophy, psychology, Jewish identity, and the history of cinema...
), to whom Cerebus gives his unique interpretation of the Old Testament
Old Testament
The Old Testament, of which Christians hold different views, is a Christian term for the religious writings of ancient Israel held sacred and inspired by Christians which overlaps with the 24-book canon of the Masoretic Text of Judaism...
, in a mostly textual series called "Chasing YHWH
Tetragrammaton
The term Tetragrammaton refers to the name of the God of Israel YHWH used in the Hebrew Bible.-Hebrew Bible:...
" in issues #282-290. Cerebus explains that YHWH (which he pronounces "Yoowhoo") is a female deity who believes she is God
God
God is the English name given to a singular being in theistic and deistic religions who is either the sole deity in monotheism, or a single deity in polytheism....
.
The Last Day
(Cerebus #289300)A hundred years pass, and Cerebus awakens from a dream or vision in which cosmology is seen as a reflection of theology, complete with explanatory footnotes by Sim. Upon waking, Cerebusnow incredibly aged, decrepit, pain-ridden, and mildly senile—makes the laborious trek to his writing desk to write down his new revelation. He then hides the manuscript, and it is implied that nobody will find it for two thousand years., and. He has written instructions on how to carry on his dynasty in a final testament for his son.
Cerebus spends most of the rest of the book trying to persuade his chief of security, Walter O'Reilly (named after Corporal Walter (Radar) O'Reilly from M*A*S*H) to admit his son, Shep-Shep, with whom he remembers sharing an idyllic father-son relationship. However, the Sanctuary is under lockdown due to opposition from a new and even more rabidly "feminist-homosexualist" group led by Shep-Shep's mother, whom Cerebus refers to as "New Joanne", which favors such "rights" as pedophilia
Pedophilia
As a medical diagnosis, pedophilia is defined as a psychiatric disorder in adults or late adolescents typically characterized by a primary or exclusive sexual interest in prepubescent children...
, zoophilia
Zoophilia
Zoophilia, from the Greek ζῷον and φιλία is the practice of sex between humans and non-human animals , or a preference or fixation on such practice...
, juvenile recreational drug use
Recreational drug use
Recreational drug use is the use of a drug, usually psychoactive, with the intention of creating or enhancing recreational experience. Such use is controversial, however, often being considered to be also drug abuse, and it is often illegal...
and lesbian motherhood
LGBT parenting
LGBT parenting refers to lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people parenting one or more children. This includes children raised by same-sex couples , children raised by single LGBT parents, and children raised by an opposite-sex couple where at least one partner is LGBT.LGBT people can...
. As a result, social values have undergone a complete breakdown.
Cerebus finally goes to bed despairing of seeing his son again, but Shep-Shep manages to sneak into Cerebus' room late that night. Their subsequent conversation shatters Cerebus' last illusions about his son. Shep-Shep has aligned himself with Cerebus' mother who has been conducting genetic engineering
Genetic engineering
Genetic engineering, also called genetic modification, is the direct human manipulation of an organism's genome using modern DNA technology. It involves the introduction of foreign DNA or synthetic genes into the organism of interest...
experiments, partly with knowledge gained from Cirin's earlier experimentation. Cerebus is disgusted and horrified when Shep-Shep shows him the results of one of the experiments and explains his mother's plans.
As Shep-Shep leaves Cerebus grabs a knife, intending to kill him, but falls out of bed and breaks his neck, alone, unmourned, and unloved, just as the Judge had predicted. His life flashes before his eyes
Life review
A life review is a phenomenon widely reported as occurring during near-death experiences, in which a person rapidly sees much or the totality of his or her life history in chronological sequence and in extreme detail. It is often referred to by people having experienced this phenomenon as having...
in a series of flashback
Flashback (narrative)
Flashback is an interjected scene that takes the narrative back in time from the current point the story has reached. Flashbacks are often used to recount events that happened before the story’s primary sequence of events or to fill in crucial backstory...
panels and his ghost sees many of his old friends and enemies waiting for him in "the Light." Jaka, Bear, and Ham beckon to him, and he eagerly rushes to join them, thinking they are in Heaven
Heaven
Heaven, the Heavens or Seven Heavens, is a common religious cosmological or metaphysical term for the physical or transcendent place from which heavenly beings originate, are enthroned or inhabit...
, but then he notices the absence of Rick and realizes that the Light may in fact be Hell
Hell
In many religious traditions, a hell is a place of suffering and punishment in the afterlife. Religions with a linear divine history often depict hells as endless. Religions with a cyclic history often depict a hell as an intermediary period between incarnations...
. He calls out to God for help, but is dragged into the Light nonetheless.
Characters
Cerebus:The Three Wise Fellows:Caricatures of the Three Stooges: Koshie (Curly
Curly Howard
Jerome Lester "Jerry" Horwitz , better known by his stage name Curly Howard, was an American comedian and vaudevillian. He is best known as a member of the American slapstick comedy team the Three Stooges, along with his older brothers Moe Howard and Shemp Howard, and actor Larry Fine...
), Loshie (Larry
Larry Fine
Louis Feinberg , known professionally as Larry Fine, was an American comedian and actor, who is best known as a member of the comedy act The Three Stooges.-Early life:...
) and Moshie (Moe
Moe Howard
Moses Harry Horwitz , known professionally as Moe Howard, was an American actor and comedian best known as the leader of The Three Stooges, the farce comedy team who starred in motion pictures and television for four decades...
). Radical followers of the religion Rick has started, they kidnap Cerebus in the hopes of receiving some sort of revelation from him.
Konigsberg:Caricature of Woody Allen
Woody Allen
Woody Allen is an American screenwriter, director, actor, comedian, jazz musician, author, and playwright. Allen's films draw heavily on literature, sexuality, philosophy, psychology, Jewish identity, and the history of cinema...
, to whom Cerebus gives his interpretation of the Torah
Torah
Torah- A scroll containing the first five books of the BibleThe Torah , is name given by Jews to the first five books of the bible—Genesis , Exodus , Leviticus , Numbers and Deuteronomy Torah- A scroll containing the first five books of the BibleThe Torah , is name given by Jews to the first five...
.
New Joanne:The female journalist interviewing Cerebus in the first parts of the novel, who bears a striking resemblance to Jaka. After the interview, she and Cerebus get married and have a son. Later, she becomes the leader of a "feminist-homosexualist" opposed to Cerebus' rule and that is causing social breakdown.
Shep-Shep:The son of Cerebus and New Joanne.
Walter O'Reilly:Chief of security. A caricature of Corporal Walter (Radar) O'Reilly from M*A*S*H.
Publication
The novel took up the last 35 issues of Cerebus, from #266 through #300. It was published in two "phonebook" volumes: Latter Days in November 2003, collecting issues #266–288, and The Last Day in June 2004, collecting issues #289–300. The volume The Last Day includes a two-page introduction and 18 pages of annotations.Gerhard had become frustrated with the time restraints on the work at this point, and has said publicly that Sim had lost him as a reader.
Reception
Sim and Gerhard's artistic continuing innovations met with some praise, but the Three StoogesThree Stooges
The Three Stooges were an American vaudeville and comedy act of the early to mid–20th century best known for their numerous short subject films. Their hallmark was physical farce and extreme slapstick. In films, the Stooges were commonly known by their first names: "Moe, Larry, and Curly" and "Moe,...
caricatures (and their tandential back-story) left some readers cold, as did Cerebus' take on the Scriptures. The fact that it was so text heavy (approximately a third of the book in small fonts) was also considered tiring.
Sources
- Wolk, Douglas. "Dave Sim: Aardvark Politick". Reading comics: how graphic novels work and what they mean. Da Capo Press, 2007, pages 289-303. ISBN 978-0-306-81509-6
- Robinson, Sean Michael. "The Craft Behind Cerebus: An Interview with Gerhard", part 1-1 1-2 1-3 2-1 2-2 2-3 3-1 3-2 3-3 3-4. The Comics JournalThe Comics JournalThe Comics Journal, often abbreviated TCJ, is an American magazine of news and criticism pertaining to comic books, comic strips and graphic novels...
, 2011-02-14. Retrieved 2011-04-21. - Cerebus Wiki, set up by Cerebus Fangirl
Further reading
- Latter Days page at Cerebus Wiki
- Cerebus Fangirl