The long awaited (I hope) ninth installment of the Dave Sim
Usenet Interview. Dave has been suffering from a severe 
case of jet lag and has a monthly book to get out. Thanks 
yet again to him for taking the time out to answer our 
questions.

For those of you new to this, welcome. 
We've been doing this since March of '92, and some
interesting "conversation" has resulted. Folks from all over
the world have read this and asked Dave questions, often
following up from Dave's response to another person's. If
you've any questions for Dave, send them to me at 
   [jim ottaviani] at [um.cc.umich.edu] 
(or [bv 446] at [cleveland.freenet.edu], though the umich address
above is much better for me) and I'll
forward them to Dave -- unless they're repeats of previous
questions, in which case you'll want to read the end of this
post to find out how to get those answers...

                           ***

Though this wasn't really a question but a comment (to a comment on a 
comment on Interview VIII+) I laughed out loud when I read it and took 
the liberty of sending it to Dave. He liked it too...

>So that means that in issue 300, when Cerebus dies, Cerebus will die in
>Cerebus' presence, thus meaning that Cerebus will resurrected. Now we
>know what Dave Sim plans to do when he's done with issue 300: 
>CEREBUS II:
>The Aardvark Reborn. :-)
>
>--
>                                         Karen Williams
>                                         [b--n--n] at [cerebus.ras.amdahl.com]

Dave Sim -- The effect doesn't work on Cerebus for the same reason that 
Doug Gilmour can't get an assist on his own goal. Nice try, though.

Hope that was ok, Karen. On to the "real" questions:

                           ***

Dani Zwieg ([d--i] at [netcom.com]) -- Dave, when you first founded your 
company, did you have to conduct a careful search to sure you 
werent in conflict with all the other companies named Aardvark-
Vanaheim?

Dave -- Actually, when we started the company, there was no need for a 
name search. Incorporating requires a name search however. There weren't 
too many that were even close, as I recall.


mfterman ([m f terman] at [phoenix.Princeton.EDU]) -- What sort of 
question would you like to get from your readership that you havent 
got yet?

Dave -- I've been waiting since Jaka's Story for someone to ask if 
Gerhard and I are gay.


mfterman -- What would be the answer to said question?

Dave -- The answer to the question would be definitely not. Friends of 
mine in California told me that cat yronwode had been circulating that 
rumour. She is an absolute fiend for gossip. I remember sitting in a 
room at a convention where she was "holding court". It was eerie the way 
that people started volunteering the most sordid and unsubstantiated 
tid-bits once the affair got rolling. Being a direct sort of person, I 
have asked the individuals being discussed if there was any truth to 
what was said. Their reaction was, universally, uncomprehending 
disbelief. I've always felt that the personal lives of people in comics 
are outside the boundaries of discussion. I'll discuss my personal life 
in a forum of this kind to the extent that I want to and no further. 
Personal details about others you couldn't get out of me with a tractor 
pull.


Alexx ([A--e--x] at [world.std.com]) -- On earth, Popes take on new "holy" 
names when they ascend to the papacy. It would seem that Estarcion 
follows the same practice, as why else would they have three (at 
least) "Harmony"s in a row. Did Cerebus take on a different name 
that was never mentioned, or is this just another part of tradition 
that he ignored?

Dave -- Just another tradition that he ignored; including moving his 
Church to a hotel and addressing his followers in person. A real "pope 
of the people."


Jeff Odum ([j--f--o] at [zappa.nic.ddn.mil]) -- I saw you in September in 
Virginia (I was the guy who wanted a sketch of Cerebus kicking 
George Bush's ass). Thanks for coming out to meet the unwashed 
masses. I was amazed at how friendly you were and how much time 
you spent with each person after you've been on tour for so long. It 
was a pleasure to meet you and Gerhard. Thank you again.
     Anyway, onto my questions, nothing too cerebral (no pun 
intended)...Does it worry you that you don't have any of the overall 
plot written down anywhere? I mean, what if you get hit in the head 
or something?

Dave -- Very nice meeting you as well.
No, it doesn't worry me in the least. On the one hand, I have twenty 
some-odd thousand people willing me to stay alive. It also provides an 
exit clause for the upper chessboards. If I really start to become a 
complete pain in the ass, one large bus with failed brakes should do the 
trick. Structurally, by showing creators that they don't NECESSARILY 
need businessmen to disseminate their work and earn a living and having 
people with the popularity of Kevin and Peter, Todd McFarlane and others 
accomplish this on a much larger and more noticeable scale, I'm pretty 
extraneous at this point. The viewpoint has been institutionalized and 
now the world need only enjoy/suffer the consequences to come. Knowing 
what I intend to say through Cerebus, I couldn't fault 
anyone...er...Anyone with the ability to make brakes fail for doing so. 
Whatever I have finished to that point will see print. You might want to 
make careful note of the last panel they let me get away with.


Jeff -- Has anyone ever approached you with the idea of a Cerebus 
game? Not a board game, but a D&D type role playing one. Maybe 
computer-based. Or even a basic hack & slash arcade type thing. I 
just think GAUNTLET (an old ATARI arcade game) with Cerebus, 
Bear, Elf, and Necross roaming around hacking monsters and 
collecting treasure would be a guilty pleasure for a lot of your fans. 
Let me know if you have any interest. Just a thought...

Dave -- An unfortunate by-product of having one person in control; I 
don't really like role-playing games, so I always deny permission to 
anyone sniffing around after the rights. I thought of doing an 
election/legislature game where you had to elect a certain number of 
members and then pass legislation, stuffing your own bank account and 
others the whole time and selling the city-state of Iest down the river 
in the process, but the time it would take makes it a very remote 
possibility. I suppose if someone came up with a game that I could play 
and enjoy, I might change my mind. More like Monopoly with politics than 
some brainless thing like Nintendo.


Jeff -- I personally prefer rereading the issues in the phone books, 
just because I hate having to stop and re-bag the just finished issue 
and un-bag the new one etc. I don't miss the letters much, since I'm 
reading for the story; if I want discussion, I'll dig up the individual 
issues. What I do really miss, though, are the covers. Would you 
consider including B&W prints of the covers in any future reprint 
volumes (either in their proper places between issues, or collected in 
the back like an appendix)? I don't think it could add too much to the 
overall page count, and would it would make the great cover art 
available to fans who can't buy all the back issues (like me).

Dave -- The page counts on the reprint books are at the breaking point 
as is. I might have to reckon with making the covers available in some 
way since there are so many requests for it, but it is certainly nowhere 
near the top of my mental agenda. Always open to suggestions, though.


Jeff -- What books have you enjoyed writing/drawing the most? 
Are there any that you are especially looking forward to?

Dave -- Like most writers, I don't enjoy writing; I enjoy having 
written. Drawing and writing, I enjoyed Jaka's Story, particularly the 
Oscar/Lord Julius confrontation. I can tell that Snuff and Swoon are 
going to be a great deal of fun. Book Four of Mothers & Daughters is 
going to be the biggest double challenge since Walking on the Moon (for 
a lot of the same reasons). I can't wait to see how and if I can bring 
it off to my satisfaction.


Hector Lee ([h k lee] at [magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu]) -- You seem to have 
had a large amount of painful relationships. Where do you meet 
these women? And are there particular songs associated with each 
one?

Dave -- All of my relationships have been painful, but there really 
haven't been that many of them considering I'm approaching forty years 
of age. Love happens when you least expect it, so I've trained myself to 
expect to fall in love every minute of every day. Occasionally, I'll 
forget and just start thinking how much I enjoy my life; hanging out 
with Mike and Eric and the guys at Peter's Place and Stages, grabbing a 
quick sandwich, drinking like a fish a couple of nights a week; living 
and dying with the Blue Jays six months of the year and the Maple Leafs 
the other six months; talking for hours on the phone with Bissette, 
Marder, McFarlane and above all writing and drawing Cerebus. Then BAM! 
Oh no I forgot to expect to fall in love. Reading the new biography of 
Keith Richards I was amazed reading the description of his wife. 
Fortunately, she's probably the only one in the world who is like that. 
In my experience women want to be competitors, buddies, room-mates, Ma-
dame Sim (in the grand tradition), Queen Bee, impediment, adversary, 
provocateur...and combinations thereof. Since I've got a housekeeper, a 
secretary and I eat in restaurants all the time, the most they have to 
offer me is sex and support; neither of which are in the top ten of 
priorities for the Nineties Woman. They don't want to be with me, they 
want to be  with the me they want to change me into. Feminism has been a 
great blessing in that way, really, it has made women completely un-
tempting. Plus it doesn't cost anything to stare at a short skirt or an 
amazing pair of eyes. I'm also old enough to realize that a sex partner 
will come along eventually. The longer you have to wait, the more you 
enjoy it.

                           ***

Upcoming tour dates:

  November 1
  Portland, The Marriott -- 1401 S.W. Front Street
(Future Dreams -- East Burnside on October 31)

  November 15
  New York, Ramada Hotel -- 33rd & 7th
(Jim Hanley's Universe -- W. 32nd Street on November 13, 
Jim Hanley's Universe -- Staten Island on November 14)

  November 22
  Cleveland, Ramada Inn -- 24801 Rockside Road in Bedford 
Heights
(Super City Comics on November 21)

  December 13
  Houston, Sheraton Grand -- Westheimer Exit at I-610
(Paper Heroes -- Killeen on December 11, Bedrock City on 
December 12)

                           ***

I sent a check for $100.93 to the Comic Book Legal Defense 
Fund last month -- The "profit" from the Usenet Interview 
mini-comics so far. Thanks to all of you who have ordered. 

For those of you who haven't ordered yet, I have about 20 
of them left. Here's the original posting. The Diamondback 
decks are of course LONG gone -- the first six orders were 
for either 5 or 10 copies!

Thanks again for your interest, and help me sell these things 
and send another large check to CBLDF before the end of the 
Tour.

>> The mini-comic is finished, and is advertised for sale in
>> rec.arts.comics.marketplace. I won't tell you much about
>> it here since I dare not risk the flaming. What I will say
>> is it turned out well, we sold a lot at Dave's Detroit
>> appearance, the first four orders of 5 (or more) will get
>> a free Diamondback deck, all proceeds go to the Comic Book
>> Legal Defense Fund, and Dave said nice things about it.
>> Thanks again, Dave.
>>
>> Agh!
>> The flames are starting to lick at my heels. Better stop
>> for now. See you over in rec.arts.comics.marketplace.
>
>So, the Usenet interview of Dave Sim, held from March to June
>of this year on rec.arts.comics, is now available in print
>form. It costs only one thin dollar, and includes the
>amazing origin letter and some fairly nifty artwork, if I
>do say so myself. To get your copies -- perfect for friends, 
>neighbors, and having Dave sign at tour stops -- send a check
>for $1.62 (you can send cash but I may never get it and
>then you AND I will be mad) to
>
>     Jim Ottaviani
>     1100 H.H. Dow Bldg.
      Engineering Library
>     University of Michigan
>     Ann Arbor, MI 48109-2136
>
>(The extra 62 cents is for postage and an envelope.)

>If you live outside the U.S., please send me some
>extra money for stamps. I'll put anything above the
>mailing cost into the CBLDF fund.

Sorry to post the .marketplace message here, but I got at 
least 20 responses from folks who don't receive that 
newsgroup, and got tired of sending my address to them.


I also apologize for the huckstering -- I feel kind of like an 
announcer on some desperate NPR station with two days 
left in the fund drive. 

I look forward to your new questions and orders.

seeya
jimO
--