Cerebus #10: She’s back

After the more serious tone of the last couple of issues, #10 is mostly humor of the Red Sophia variety. The plot concerns her attempts to steal the Black Blossom Lotus, a powerful magic item, from a travelling merchant. Sophia eventually manipulates Cerebus and two other men into helping her. Well, I guess it’s fairer to say that she manipulates the two men. Cerebus decides to join her of his own volition — in fact, he would prefer to steal the Lotus without Sophia — and he is more caught up by her treatment of the two men than by any of her attempts to control him.

Cerebus is eventually able to separate himself from the three of them. He then lures the other guards away from the caravan and simply strolls up to the merchant, easily taking the Lotus at the point of his sword.

Dave Sim again mines much humor playing incompetent characters against competent ones. And it’s a rich vein to mine: the ease with which Meirgen is controlled by Sophia, his laughable attempts to assert himself against Throgo, the Tcapmin guard who’s joined them. (Cerebus does try to stop him, though I’m not really sure why. Meirgen is really of no use to them, except for the fact that the Lotus used to belong to his father.) This is a comedic theme that Dave will visit on many occasions, usually successfully.

One thing I appreciated about this issue, aside from the humor, was this is the first one where Cerebus really shows respect for another character. He is genuinely impressed by the “twenty-year” men of the Tcapmin guards defending the caravan (the twenty years refers to their service defending their homeland.) And he recognizes Throgo as a worthy opponent. The Tcapmin, in turn, recognizes the competence and general common sense of the aardvark — as opposed to Meirgen, who he refers to as “the wimp.”

I also liked seeing Cerebus use his wits to win the Lotus instead of the sword. Don’t get me wrong, I do enjoy seeing him in action. But it’s nice to see more evidence that he’s more than just a barbarian with a sword.