This is the first book in a long series of comics written and drawn (at least in this book) totally by Dave Sim. You can see his partner Gerhard's work on the cover of the book (He does the great backgrounds with tightly knit crosshatching) But his work on the book ends there. This is a very large graphic novel, over 400 pages in length, and you get to see Dave Sim develop as both a writer and artist. In the first few issues, cerebus seems to be only a parody of Conan the barbarian, substituting the "earth-born pig" for the heavily muscled man. But as the story progresses, Dave Sim seems to find his beat, and the stories begin to take on more detail - both in concept and in illustration.

Cerebus wanders the land, forever in search of gold and ale. He seems to have extra-ordinary fighting skills, with brains to match. He runs into many adventures on his journey, and you start to get an idea of the different towns and cities that exist in the Cerebus world, such as Palnu, Iest, and Beduin, all of which he visits at different times. His fortunes rise and fall many times, and he takes it all with the same stoic furrowed brow.

I found the characters created in this book to be delightful, such as Elrod the albino, the Cockroach (who changes costumes several times, poking fun at marvel super-heroes) Red Sophia, Henrot the magician, Bran Mak Muffin, who worships cerebus, and many others.

It is my opinion that this book is the most enjoyable of the cerebus series (with the sequel High Society close behind) After the first two books, I found that the books became more and more dense and, forgive me Dave.. Boring. I would however suggest you find and buy both Cerebus and High Society, as they are both great works in their own right, and it's even more amazing that it was (And still is.. I think) independently produced by Dave Sim.

Recommended:
Yes