Cerebus Volume 2: High Society
Went into this one thinking that this was my favorite volume of the series. Obviously, that’s something that I’m not going to know until I read the whole thing again, but this is at the very least in my top two, with whatever else might somehow replace it. The issue where Cerebus is “kidnapped”, the election, the campaign to get elected…. There’s a whole pile of priceless moments here. The volume starts off with Cerebus getting the royal treatment, much to his surprise. Turns out that not very many people get as close to Lord Julius as Cerebus did and people are willing to pay dearly for that kind of influence. If Cerebus was content with that he probably would have been fine but hey, this is Cerebus that we’re talking about. He sets his eye on becoming the Prime Minister based on the advice of a figure from his past, and the rest of the book is about his attempts to win the office (in an election where his only opposition is a goat that is sponsored by Lord Julius). Incredible, dead on political satire is what this is all about. And to think this was written almost 20 years before the election debacle we had this year… You’ll know what I’m talking about when you read it.
I’m not sure what else to say about this one, honestly. It’s perfect. The Roach in a new persona, another Mind Game, the introduction of Astoria (my second favorite character, my favorite if you want to take humor out of the whole equation), Duke Leonardi (Lord Julius’s cousin, a flawless caricature of Chico Marx), his inner conflict between being the Prime Minister and returning to his old ways… It’s all here. If you hate Cerebus, then you hate this volume anyway, and nothing I say here is going to change things. If you love Cerebus, you probably like this book quite a book anyway and agree with me. If you’re undecided and only want to give it one book to decide if you’re going to get the rest of them, get this. Unless you’re one of those hoity toity intellectual types who think that a comic has to have artistic merit beyond the story, in which case you should probably get Jaka’s Story and prepare to be disappointed in about half of the volumes. If you’re going to get them all (or at least the first three or four to make an educated decision), then get the first volume before this one. If you want a more in-depth review, too bad. I’m too busy basking in the glow of a truly great book…
