Cerebus #2: More of the same, really

The plot of this one’s rather similar to #1. Cerebus hires himself out as a mercenary to a military expedition bound for the northern land of Boreala. At least Dave Sim has started naming his locations, though the people Cerebus is travelling with are merely referred to as “Southlanders”. This band is easily wiped out by Borealan fighters, with Cerebus the only survivor. Showing no regard for his felled companions, Cerebus quickly offers his services to the Borealans.

The Borealan chieftain recognizes Cerebus’ fighting abilities, but demands that Cerebus defeat one of their own in single combat. This leads to easily the funniest panel in this issue. The chieftain insists that “sacred tradition demands that you fight with a two-foot length of cloth held between your teeth”. Gripping the longer cloth, Cerebus is left dangling with his feet well clear of the ground, his feet even with the knees of his opponent. After the chieftain decides that a six-foot length would be just as sacred, Cerebus is easily able to knock out his opponent and then kills him, showing no hesitation toward killing an unconscious man.

Cerebus marches off with the Borealans and they are soon confronted with an “ensorcelled” army. As the bewitched fighters attack the Borealans, Cerebus is cut off and falls into an underground chamber. While trying to find his way out, Cerebus spies “The Eye of Terim”, which is said to be guarded by Khem the Dark Demon. Though wary of the guardian, Cerebus decides to steal the gem, “the most precious of the five spheres of the gods”. Cerebus struggles to remove the sphere from the chamber and, as in the first issue, the jewel is not what it seems.

The Eye of Terim is naught but an iron ball inhabited by a succubus. The succubus attempts to consume Cerebus’ soul, but is unable to find Cerebus’ soul as his “nature” is different from those of her other victims. He manages to fight the succubus off until it is defeated. Cerebus emerges from the caverns to find only the bodies of the Borealans and the skeletal remains of the soldiers whose souls the succubus had stolen. Now alone, Cerebus sets off toward the nearest town and its taverns.

So, like the first issue, Cerebus is hired for his fighting ability and faces off against illusion and sorcery in quest of a jewel that turns out to be worthless. I would’ve liked something a little different in the plot. And, a minor quibble, the issue is titled “Captive in Boreala”, but Cerebus is only on his way to Boreala when he is captured by the Borealans. But a minor quibble.

And, again, there is an awful lot of narration in this one. Perhaps Dave felt that he needed a lot of narration to help set up the story as this was a new comicbook. Or perhaps he simply grew more confident of his ability to tell the story without as much as the comicbook progressed.

One more thought and I’m going from vague memories here. The god Tarim — mentioned by the wizard in issue #1 and again by Cerebus in this issue — will become an important part of the story in later issues. When Cerebus eventually becomes pope, he will be “serving” Tarim. But I think that Terim, as a rival deity, will be part of this too. Though my thoughts on this are a little vague and uncertain, it is interesting to note. As I mentioned before, I wonder if Dave Sim has planned at least some of this out in advance or if he simply decided to use these names once he came up with the deeper storyline.