Cerebus #12: Two for the price of one

I said in my last review that I was looking forward to seeing the Cockroach again. I just didn’t realize it would be the next issue.

Cerebus heads back to the merchant’s house to retrieve the gold that might still be there. The gold is gone, but Cerebus does find a tunnel leading off from the hiding place. Following it, he quickly finds himself in the Cockroach’s prison cell, with the Cockroach sitting on a pile of gold. In an effort to placate the Cockroach’s anger at him, Cerebus tells the Cockroach that his parents had been killed. Cerebus tells him: “Mom and dad were circus performers, acrobats. The red claw cult cut through their trapeze ropes…the ropes snapped in mid-air and they fell…then one of the red claw climbed up to the safety net and beat them to death with a club.” Sound familiar? Well most of it anyway….

Cerebus convinces the Cockroach that they need to move the gold, saying “Elrod of Melvinbone plans to come and steal your gold tomorrow.” (Can you see what’s coming?) As they’re moving the gold to the boat, the Cockroach says at one point, “Thank you, old chum!” I swear I heard that line in Adam West’s voice. When the Cockroach decides that the job is too dangerous for the “short, grey wonder”, Cerebus gives chase and there is much running and shouting. Then, of course, Elrod shows up.

The Cockroach attacks, or at least attempts to attack, Elrod for trying to steal his gold. The normally clueless Elrod is even more lost here. There follows much comedy with the Cockroach and Elrod. These two are a perfect fit for each other and will, in fact, spend much time together in future issues. Eventually the guards show up and everyone gets knocked out except for Elrod and Cerebus. As Cerebus is rowing away with the gold, Elrod just has to add, “Some day, I say, some day, son, we’re going to have a long talk…and you can explain what in the heck just happened here….”

Just as Cerebus seems triumphant, just as he exalts in escaping with a boatful of gold, the boat splinters and all of the gold falls to the bottom of the river. Cerebus is surprisingly more resigned to his loss than bitter. He focuses more on getting out of the city than dwelling on it. Though Dave Sim can’t resist adding a little extra pathos for Cerebus at the end. As he’s floating off down the river, the narration adds: “All things considered, muses the earth-pig, it’s been one hell of a lousy twenty-seventh birthday….”

Looking back on the issues so far, we do seem to have a recurring theme of Cerebus rarely getting what he’s after in the end. He’s only truly triumphed in two of the twelve issues so far. In issue #4, he collects the sack of gold Henrot promised him for making Feras suffer and he does get the Black Blossom Lotus in issue #10. Interesting that they’re both Red Sophia stories. I wonder if that means anything or if it’s just a coincidence. I’ll have to think about that one a little. In all the other issues so far, Cerebus has only gotten a small fraction of what he is after or nothing at all. And while I do like ironic or unhappy endings, I think it does run the risk of becoming too much of a downer for many readers.