Church and State II

Cerebus #4

by Dave Sim, Gerhard

Reprinting Cerebus Issues 81-111Church and State, Volume II , is the second part of a story that exists as a whole and as part three of the Cerebus the Aardvark series. Many consider this volume to be Dave Sim and background artist Gerhard's best visual work to date. The action picks up right after the cliffhanger at the end of part one of Church and State . Cerebus attempts to regain his lost throne amidst warnings of a larger crisis. Mountain climbing, the introductions of Prince Mick and Prince Keef (exactly who you might think they are), the Super Secret Sacred Wars, and an Ascension to Vanaheim mark this second half of the Church and State opus. The major plot lines, which started 10 years earlier in Cerebus and High Society , are resolved (to some degree). The ending sets the stage for the more restful and introspective volumes-- Jaka's Story and Melmoth --that follow.

Genres: Comics, Graphic Novels, Fantasy, Fiction, Graphic Novels Comics, Comix, Comic Book

630 pages, Paperback

First published July 1, 1988

About the author

David Victor Sim is a Canadian comic book, artist and publisher, best known as the creator of Cerebus the Aardvark.

Reviews

[Baba · Rating 2 out of 5]

So here I am working my way through this highly rated supposedly seminal read, and I just don't get it. Admittedly the artwork improves with each volume, but so does the weak plotting, lack of coherence, misogyny and overall sense of self importance of the creator (I read al the editor prefaces and some of the reader submitted letters and responses. So why continue reading? Well for one, I get the sense that each 'book' is different tackling different themes; and two I feel much noted and/or revered works should be consumed as a whole for fairer contemplation. Saying al that, this is the weakess of the series so far - a 4 out of 12, Two Star read for me.

2025 read

[Dan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Short review - it's amazing. This is the longest sub-story in the whole Cerebus project (unless you count Mothers & Daughters as one book instead of four). It starts with Cerebus as houseguest and ends with, well, everything.

I mentioned in my High Society review that a lot of core Cerebus was still waiting to be introduced at that book's end. This is where it all happens. We finally see the military force of the matriarchal Cirinists, and learn exactly what Cirin is (ahem). Cerebus' magical nature comes into focus, things like the tiny Cerebus appearing to Astoria, or the sneezing fire (and how good is the sequence where he picks up the one coin supposedly minted by Tarim, and the other coins start ripping their way out of the sacks and flying towards him?), and the preoccupation with cosmology starts. If I remember right, Dave has three attempts at explaining the beginnings of the universe throughout the 300 issues, and I'm not sure any of them have the impact of the amazing double page "that's what left of her" spread here.
It's a running theme of the book that Cerebus is his own worst enemy and Church & State makes that clear. His vanity and greed ruin his chances again and again, not least with the sphere that melts while he is distracted by the artists. It's this quality that make him so manipulable as well. As in High Society, he is set on his path through the book by the actions of others. For someone who doesn't have a huge amount of screentime, Weisshaupt is perhaps the most influential character in the series thus far. I love that Dave is confident enough in his worldbuilding to show us the consequences of actions we didn't see, without the overexplanation and infodumping of lesser works.

There is more foreshadowing scattered throughout the book. Dave must have planned this (the first 200 issues at least) down to the smallest details. I am constantly amazed at this laying of groundwork for things that wouldn't be fully explained for another six or seven years. Once again, Elrod's first appearance contains a seemingly throwaway line that means an awful lot more once you've read a few books on, as does one of the sequences in Cerebus' dreams shortly afterwards. Even little things like Boobah thinking something fell in the pantry resonate with knowledge of what's to come. Possibly the most extreme is the way one illustration in the first volume suggests that Dave had a pretty good idea of the way he was going to draw the key moments of issue 300 even back at this point. And as for "You live only a few more years. You die alone. Unmourned. And unloved." - well, we'll see, won't we?

I could sit and pick out highlight after highlight ("Oy should wont to boy drogs wif moy 'alf", "Sounds like my ex-wife" "It is"), but my favourite part of the whole book is the Astoria's trial sequence. The rising tension and sense of something hugely disruptive approaching is expertly handled, and the way the page layout forces you to read quicker and quicker is masterful. In fact, the rhythms of the storytelling throughout are phenomenal, and then Gerhard's appearance partway through the first volume is the final piece of the jigsaw. His backgrounds - hotel, tower, moonscape - are just exquisite. In fact, almost everything here is wonderful. There's philosophy, comedy, cosmology, drama, a sharp understanding of power and institutions, plus the sheer quality of the characterization, the dialogue, the art, the structure - this is quite possibly as good as comics get. Not bad for a funny animal book.

[Nate D · Rating 4 out of 5]

Well, here's the epic at the center of the series, part two of the 12,000 page arc that makes up Church and State, wherein Cerebus, in his grasping after power, glory, wealth, and base desire, becomes the most powerful person on Earth at the expense of all humanity (advaarkity?). Intricate political and theological satire spaced out with throwaway gag sections that feel odder and better chosen here than at some prior points, and all approaching the metaphysical, in a glitteringly universe-spanning and empty climax to end all thoughtless and brutal ascents, we might wish.

The next volume pulls back into an intimately constructed chamber drama, then it all starts to fall apart as Sim becomes lost in echo chambers of his own worst thinking, but for this early-middle stretch at least, the series was something utterly unique. The fraught history, and epiphanic self-immolation, makes this arguably more fascinating if less redeemable 30-year project, even if there are large later chunks I'd rather read about than actually read.

[slauderdale]

Book 4 in the Great Cerebus Reread. Some thoughts:

The opening is pretty damn poky, and Cerebus comes off as incredibly passive at the start of this volume. To be charitable, he did fall off a cliff at the end of C&E#I, so perhaps he just needed a stout drink afterward? Ehhhh. I think this is around when Cerebus just stops showing that gift for conniving from his younger barbarian days. Or maybe we are to conclude that he lost his smarts when he started regularly having sex.

Just finished reading the Ascension (next up: “Walking On the Moon”), and like at least one other reviewer, I’m bemused by the depiction of the artist, “the little fellow with the hair.” His characterization in this book isn’t really compatible with anything that we have seen of him before. The lasting value of the first 25 issues of Cerebus is how Sim will mine them repeatedly for wacky cameos, surprise reveals and dei ex machina throughout the series. This is one of those instances, but it’s not an especially successful one.

…unless there is side-matter about the little fellow and his weird merger with Fred and Ethel out there, material that also accounts for his brief reappearance during High Society, which I am not prepared to rule out. One of my (First World) problems with the Great Cerebus Reread is that I keep rando-googling and finding more one-offs and sidestories Sim produced that I didn’t know about, plus everybody-and-his-Aardvark-uncle’s thoughts on Cerebus. I’m reading at least as much about Cerebus as I am reading the comic itself, and I really shouldn’t, because it interferes with the reading experience considerably. Nonetheless, sites I keep coming back to: A Moment of Cerebus, CerebusFanGirl, sundry companion aides by Alexx Kay, and too many random blog posts and comments. I always wanted to prowl through the Cerebus Yahoo!Group: I did join back in the day but held back from reading/participation because I was being puritanical about spoilers for the last two volumes (HAH.) Now I doubt any material from that group exists anymore, unless someone knows something that I don’t.

Not that she doesn’t have some messed up political views of her own, but Astoria is so much more baller than Cerebus or just about anyone else in this series. Also, and I think everyone knows this, but it was rape. Unless we are supposed to ignore the thoughts attributed to her during the assault. Later, in Reads, Astoria will refer to "when I provoked you into 'raping' me", which most people read as a poor retcon attempt by Sim, but which I interpreted for the longest time as Astoria rewriting events in her own mind: needing to believe she was in control of the situation all along because she couldn’t accept what had happened. But that really doesn’t fit with her depiction in Reads as a character who has achieved a clear and quiet mastery of self.

[Hamish · Rating 4 out of 5]

I feel like I'm becoming a broken record with my Cerebus reviews (I'm rereading the whole thing and it's been a few years since I last looked at them). Same complaints as with past volumes: too decompressed, lack of needed explanations, plot developments that don't really make a lot of sense (seriously, how did the artist, who was super good-natured and we last saw doing sketches at a convention turn into an evil megalomaniac with his head stitched to man-thing and swamp thing parodies?).

That said, these faults bothered me the least in this volume. It moves faster and is way more absorbing than any other part of the series thus far, so I guess the decompression does serve a purpose. And yeah, it's frustrating that a lot of the mystery never gets explained (either now or in the future), but you have to admit that it's a wonderful mindfuck when (no spoilers) somethings falls, not to mention the whole chapter leading up to that. Flaws and all, this is definitely the best volume in the series. Excellent art, rousing climax (even if the bit following the climax is a bit of a let-down), monster mindfucks, bizarre theology, this one has it all. I realize I've given them all 4 stars so far, and this one isn't quite deserving of 5, but I guess it's a higher 4 than the other volumes.

P.S. Sim misses the mark with a lot of his parodies (the Mick/Keith parody in this book comes to mind), but oh my god is that Dark Knight Returns parody hilariously on-point.

[Rex Hurst · Rating 5 out of 5]

Church and State II wraps up the largest and most ambitious arc in Cerebus’s run. Comprising issues 85 -111 of the series, it brings forth and defines the tone for the rest of the series. Cerebus, our anti-hero, is ulitmarly a failure. Though surrounded by greatness he is ultimately doomed to fail and will die, as the Judge proclaims “alone, unmourned, and unloved.” Oh… spoilers I guess… but considering the end happened in 2004 and was written in 1988, I suppose it should be called foreshadowing, though of a very blunt variety.

This is the time in Cerebus’s original publication history when sales began to take a significant drop. There were a number of reasons for this. The first being oversaturation of the market, direct sales meant a lot of smaller players could flood the distributors with fast and cheap products. This caused the whole industry to take a slump in sales, everyone had to deal with a much smaller slice. The second was that Cerebus is not a series that you can just jump into midstream. To understand, beyond the vaguest idea, of what is happening you really do need to absorb it all from the beginning, or at least start at the second volume High Society.

The book takes its time in developing its plot. It makes hints, adds things, but doesn’t really get underway for about 300 pages, (thought those pages are beautiful to look at). When I first read it, I thought the story dragged considerably, as I was anxious to get the get to the good stuff or some sort of explanation, but on a second read (or third, I can’t remember) I enjoyed it much more. Knowing the end, I can see much more merit in the journey.

And to keep up with our Roach count. The character now becomes a religious fanatic, the Super Secret Wars Roach. The character is a perfect parody of the superhero genre in comics. He is a deeply fanatical towards the cause he is championing. He is powerful, superhumanly strong, and beats up anyone that opposes him (with the exception of Cerebus himself), but essentially he is ineffective as an agent of change. He changes from one persona to the next, but cannot alter the world. He is, in a sense, a failed Cerebus, as our anti-hero changes everything just by walking near it.
We finally catch a glimpse of the second Aardvark, or Earth Pig born, in the veiled character of Cirin who has founded the Cirinist movement, a female-centric religious fanatic organization, which Astoria (we remember her as Cerebus’s Hillary Clinton character) split off from on doctrinal grounds. She formed the rival Kevillist movement and two have been at odds ever since. This division will be explained more in future posts, as it is developed in greater detail in later volumes.

There is a cross-over issue here, with the character of Flaming Carrot popping up during Cerebus’s ascent to the moon. Younger readers may not remember, or even have heard about, this indie sensation, as his popularity dried up with the comics book’s bust in the mid 90s. The character is a Don Quixote type, a man who reads too many comic books and ends up trying to be superhero with mixed results. The character had a spin off, Mysterymen, which was eventually made into a good film - one that was actually better than its source material. At the time of this meet-up, the character was being published by Aardvark-Vanaheim which produced Cerebus as well. So if anyone is confused as to what the hell is happening in that issue, it was a promotional thing, placed in such a way as to suggest it may be a delusion or mystic vision at Cerebus climbs the Black Tower.

With the Ascension underway we see various aspects of religious thought emerge. Essentially it is a race (in this case literally) to the top of the mountain to see who will meet and then be Tarim. As was mentioned before the name Tarim refers both to the deity and the prophet. Which they expect to meet and/or become is vague and even the players themselves don’t seem to understand. In this author offers a discussion on the nature of messianic figures. In this case it is a job title, not an ordainment of a predestined chosen one by a celestial being. Anyone who fits the qualifications can potentially get the position.

This is partially a reflection of the time of Jesus’s crucifixion. Judea at the time was lousy with messiahs. Such as Simon of Peraea, a former slave turned revolutionary and was likewise crucified, Moses of Crete who persuaded the Jews of Crete to walk into the sea, ala his namesake, to return to Israel. The results were disastrous and he soon disappeared. Simon bar Kokhba who lead a revolt against the Romans and died defending his fledgling Jewish state. And so on. Many with signs and portents and miracles attributed to their name. But being eligible for the top job is not enough, one has to have the right stuff. That something extra. This view is demonstrated by the fact that when Cerebus finally ascends to the moon there is another applicant waiting to try and kick him off.

The series steadily develops its major theme of the struggle between male and female aspects of reality. Primarily demonstrated in the argument between Astoria (on trial for the assassination of the Western pope) and Cerebus. Strangely enough their argument descends into an is-to\is-not spat over the correct terminology for their deity Tarim (the masculine) and Terim (the feminine). This verbal jousting, as always, leads nowhere, as one viewpoint cannot win out over another without a physical show of force to beat the other into silent submission. As the author postulates the entirety of life is a flux between male and female, void and form, essences. This struggle is eternal and all concurrent struggles are a reflection, or ripple, of the initial one. This is hinted during Astoria’s interrogation, a temporal slip occurs where she is the male Aardvark prophet and Cerebus is the female condemner. This struggle for control, for enlightenment, for peace has been going on as long there has been mankind with no end in sight.

An interesting aspect is that when Cerebus ascends to the higher plane to meet the divine entity, he goes to the moon. Traditionally this heavenly sphere is associated with the feminine and yet the creature he meets there is a male. This does fit in with a yin-yang aspect to the night the sky. The black void is male, but the most prominent feature, the moon, is the female form emerging. And this is represented in both of the messiah claimants who eventually take part in the launch sequence and leave earth. Both physically represent male and female traits. The first, an Alan Moore characiature who is fused with both a male and female apocalypse beast (seen in the first volume of the series), and Cerebus himself is a hermaphrodite- though this is not revealed for a least a hundred more issues.

Which brings us to the story’s culmination Cerebus’s meeting with the Judge. Personality wise based on playwright Jules Feiffer's character Judge Stern in Little Murders, physically the Judge was based on character actor Lou Jacobi , who played the role. While he is called the Judge, he should be referred to as the judgemental as inevitably all of his pronouncements are negative and pessimistic. The character talks much, discussing the nature of creation between Tarim and Terim and their accidental generation of the Big Bang, interpreted as act of forcible sex (very nice play on words) and reproduction.

The character itself is an exercise in futility. He claims that he is there to observe mankind and to judge them, but he already knows what will happen in Cerebus’s future and the eventual extinction of all life in the solar system so what is the point of him observing? What is the point of him judging? For whose benefit? And who set him on the task. In his discussions of Terim and Tarim it is obvious that neither of these entities were responsible. The answer, of course is: Dave, the author, placed him there to be a cut-out, a buffer. As the author eventually becomes a character in his own series, we will have to view him as the ultimate and flawed architect of this universe.

One may see the Judge as a comment on religious exercise in general. All of this effort, all of this strife and death, for ultimately an unsatisfying and pointless encounter. Does how the creation of the world matter? Does knowing the spiritual why of things off-set the reality of what a person needs to do on a day-to-day basis? In the case of our anti-hero, it absolutely does not.

Many have claimed that the author, Dave Sim, is a misogynist who hates women, an all too common term tossed about nowadays. But after reading the Judge's viewpoints here I don't see it. He simply comes across as a person who will offer more than one perspective on an issue. Therein lies the problem. Any deviation from a preconceived societal norm offers immediate attack and ostracization. And Dave Sim was one of the first of many public whippings in the progressive press for thoughtcrime.

[StrictlySequential · Rating 3 out of 5]

Seventh printing = February 1998

He knew he had to bring the laughs after the inevitable fall from such a dramatic peak did so with splendid timing! He had the wisdom to layer the goofballs into the story so that he could spread the comedy over many pages-which keeps you either giggling, chuckling, cackling or getting your breath back (while he sows the serious plot) throughout the first few issue/chapters.

The Early Highlights:

-"The Bug/Roach" as new super-hero persona
++Dirty Drew and Fleagle as his uniformed sidekicks

-Bickering wizards

-Lord Julius with Astoria as the "straight man"

-The best parody I've seen of Mick Jagger
+Keith Richards who is being "babysat" by MJ
++Absurdly uniformed Elroy meets the duo!

Here is your payoff IF you're of those unfortunates who actually followed (read their popular titles enough to know specifics about what was going on throughout their "universes") the "capes and tights" comics of DC and Marvel in the late 1970s-1980s.

But- You will be mildly frustrated if you don't have any idea what the "Secret Wars" were about and ONLY know "the first thing" about the popular characters of the surrounding years. That's the case with me but I don't hold that against the story or his writing in any way.

I must mention that it's been that way (heavier on the "sword & sorcery" early on) since page one but this is where the disadvantage is -at least so far- most profound.


But then it gets back to serious -WAY TOO SERIOUS- for dozens of pages and then ends.

[Luc · Rating 4 out of 5]

At the end of this book, Dave sim writes: "Much of what has been written about Dave Sim remains true today". Looking back, I notice that I wrote that he is an asshat. Wouldn't you know it? It still holds true!

So I have mixed feelings about this book. Parts of it are just weird (like the "Utter Nonsense" issue) and all the ascenscion stuff is a little too metaphysical for my taste. The Judge characters draws some of Sim's world origin and lays the groundwork for what will reveal to a controversial topic in coming issues.

There's still a lot of those cameos that annoy me. I don't know which I hate most: Prince Keef and Prince Mick or the characters I know are cameos but can't recognize.

Nevertheless, it has a couple of great moments.

Unfortunatelly, it also reaches some pretty gross lows, mostly during Cerebus's second mariage when the characters goes from despicable to reprehensible, borderline unredeemable.

In all long forms series, some readers look for a good place to stop, looking for a place where a series jumps the shark. I think such a reader could stop here (or maybe after Minds). Yes, there will be some frustration from not having reached a final conclusion but I think the High Society / Church and State books are where Sim shone the most.

[Felix · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ok, phew, I finished this massive, impossibly long story-arc stretched well over a thousand pages and contained in two weighty volumes. Was it worth it? Yes definitely! Wonderful artwork, well-written dialogues and a well-balanced mixture of slapstick-comedy and thought-provoking 'serious' stuff make it a joy to follow Cerebus' rise and fall as he becomes first pope of the Eastern division of the church of Tarim and then, after his opponent, the pontiff of the Western church, has been assassinated, of the now united church.

While the war of the sexes is part of the storyline's background, the book has not yet deteriorated into a mysoginist pamphlet. Rather, while the matter-of-fact way the rape-scene was narrated made me cringe, the ensuing passages+conversations make it clear that it serves a narrative function and is embedded in a critique of an abuse of masculine power. I admit that this critique came as a surprise to me, but a pleasant one at that. It really is pity that the later part of the series became so unbalanced and could not keep up to the high standard of narrative force, complexity and technical brilliance shown here.

[The_Mad_Swede · Rating 5 out of 5]

Collecting issues # 81­–111 of Dave Sim's 300 issues limited series Cerebus the Aardvark and being the first half of the Church & State story arc, this volume picks up right after the previous one, and in effect forms one big book (even the pagination continues from the previous volume, and the title is of course only Church & State volume II unlike the later multi-volumes story arc Mothers & Daughters). As such it to at least some degree makes little sense reviewing this item separately from its predecessor, and I would like to refer to my review of the first volume which, I would argue, is relevant to this one as well. The ending of this lengthy tale might not be everyone's cup of tea, but personally I find it both perfect and quite chilling.

[Elizabeth Wallace · Rating 5 out of 5]

As with many David Sim books, I don't always know what's going on. And towards the end of the series he got crazy. (Not "fun and interestingly weird" crazy, but "Good holy god what the hell is he talking about and why is he not locked up someplace" crazy.) But this early on in the series he was in his prime; great artwork, fantastic storylines, and enough creepy images to make things interesting.

You'll want to start with the first book, of course, if you want to have any hope of knowing what's going on (good luck with that) but this one always stands out in my head as being one of the best.

[Andrew Taylor · Rating 5 out of 5]

Church & State raises the watermark even higher from the formidable accomplishments of High Society. In addition to satirizing politics and religion, Sim digs deeper into philosophy and theology, playing with elements of fable. And yet, he somehow never forgets to be funny and entertaining. I read part II of C&S almost in one sitting. I could not put it down. I was literally inhabiting that world to the exclusion of all else. By now, it is clear that Sim is something of a questing visionary - he demolishes every false idol in sight, not because he wants to destroy things, but because he wants, on a very deep level, to see if anything real remains.

[Casey Hansen · Rating 4 out of 5]

For me this was the best Cerebus book so far, less characters to keep track of and more plot combined with wonderful art. It always amazes me how Sim refuses to deviate from the character of Cerebus no matter how unlikeable he becomes, his "second Marriage" goes to show that Cerebus is still very selfish and does not care about society or its morals. This book was a great end to the overall story started in High Society, recommend reading at least Church ans State Vol 1 before this, High Society helps with character building but I felt it was not essential.

[Leif · Rating 4 out of 5]

It just keeps getting better. Really just the second half of the whole work. I probably should have reviewed them as one...but its a "book" and I read it, so it qualifies as something to mention on Goodreads.

[Drew Canole · Rating 3 out of 5]

I started to find that the 'note from the editor' was more interesting than the comic itself. Sim has rants about women, non-smokers...

[Little Timmy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fantastic fantasy/comedy comic. Basically a parody on Conan and many other fantasy characters. Highly Recommended

[Rockito · Rating 5 out of 5]

Everthing set up pretty much since Cerebus 1# blows up here. Dave goes full metaphysical and takes Cerebus from "Likeable douchebag" to a point of no return.

[Mauricio Garcia · Rating 5 out of 5]

After a controversial scene about ⅔ into the book (would it be still considered a spoiler if that issue was released nearly four decades ago?) I was left with a bittersweet feeling, specially given Sim's infamous reputation, and his egocentric, pedantic ways in the intro message and letters reply on every issue. But I gotta be honest, starting with the gender swap on Astoria's trial —so Incredible — up to the last "book" of Church and State (Walking On The Moon) removed any sense of uneasiness for me and the end (with its Neo-Architect meeting precursor) was one of those things where you feel the impact of what you just read or watch or whatever and you're floored as you reflect on what just happened. That's a feeling I don't have often, and that double page skyline ("That's what's left of her") is just achingly beautiful. I've read that eventually Sim's cosmogony is a mess, misogynistic and excruciating to read, but as of this point it is unique and refreshing and just a thing of fiction (stars as the corpse embodiment of a dead Goddess, that's just cool) and an exciting proposition —It is just so good, that whatever flaws (as there are many in the plot, the cadence, the characterisation...) this tome has, it's all countered by the good ending and the great, great artwork by Gerhard (I also liked the deuteragonist Weisshaupt and the tragic Bran Mac Mufin).

I'm guessing this is the high watermark for the overall Cerebus series.

[Dominick · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sim and Gerhard really hit it out of the park with formal experimentation here, both in page/issue design and in narrative form. There's still a lot of episodicity here, but there's also much more formal coherence across all of Church & State than there was across the much shorter High Society. There are nevertheless weird asides (e.g. the pointless appearance of Mick and Keef). I'm also still not convinced that everything really makes sense. That cold be because Sim is very interested in a) subjectivity and b) violating narrative expectations that significant events will be depicted. The reader tends to share Cerebus's outsider status as bewildered as to the bigger picture. The payoff on the moon offers up the first of the series' creation myths in its interesting take on God as rapist and masculine power/authority as destructive--easy to forget given the antifeminist (or if you prefer, misogynist) tack or later story arcs. Sim's critique of/commentary on gender politics is more clearly present here than I remember it being at the time; I haven't read this since the series concluded, and probably hadn't reread it even during the serialization of the latter half of the series. Still one of the high-water marks of independent comics of the 1980s, even with its excesses and eccentricities. Sim's parody of Frank Miller is one of his best.

[John · Rating 2 out of 5]

You could read through this volume and you'd have a more or less complete story. A lot of the plot threads are wrapped up, and we even learn about some ultimate fates.

We get a little more heavy-handed super hero satire at the beginning. Not that the dawn of the massive comics crossover didn't deserve satirizing. We get some decent storytelling after that, and some truly funny bits here and there, along with some really beautiful art.

Unfortunately, we also get about a half dozen pages of a SA, along with several scattered pages that include the victim in the aftermath. Some of those pages featuring attempts at comedy. There are two non-bad factors in this. One, at least it isn't played for titillation (or if it was, the artist failed horribly). Two, it is indicated that Cerebus will pay for his actions at some point. I'd kind of like to say that the scene could be removed, but it actually plays into a major theme of the rest of the volume.

If I had been leaning towards recommending this to anyone, this would have pushed me back the other way.

[Gilly Singh · Rating 3 out of 5]

The artwork continues to be gorgeous in this volume but the storytelling trails off in comparison to Church and State II.

At the beginning, the scenes with Keef and Mick feel like too much of a diversion and, although this volume continues to be easy to read, it feels like there is much here which could have been missed out.

The discourse on philosophy, towards the end, also feels somewhat overblown.

Whilst this volume is certainly worth reading, to get the end of this story arc, you can begin to see the outlines of what would become Sim's downfall as "Cerebus syndrome" starts to set in earnestly. You feel spent by the time you get to the final page and in need of respite. Jaka's Story, the next volume in the seriee provides a nice narrative palette cleanse after approx 1200 words worth of a graphic novel.

[Shehroze Ameen · Rating 5 out of 5]

We are introduced, for the first time, to the Tarim analog in this series. We also have an amazing take on the nature of Ardvarks in this universe, and how the philosophy of Sendopius Po (not actual name, but close enough) actually works. Some panaromic shots in this work are exceptionally good, and really capture the helplessness of Cerebus as the phylosophy of this universe, and even the exploration of his character, is put forth. It is an overall, worthwhile capstone and conclusion to Church and State, and marks the beginning of the Cirinist capture of the world which Cerebus inhabits.

Best to read this after completing High Society and Church and State I

[Thomas Radigan · Rating 3 out of 5]

A draggy continuation from the previous phone book. Cerebus reclaims the papacy, confronts Astoria in prison, is tricked into "raping" her (Astoria says so herself later in the series), then ascends to the Moon to meet the Judge, who makes dire predictions for Cerebus before he is sent back to Earth.

A few touches of humor relieve this, but by this time the series starts becoming less entertaining and more pretentious, with overwritten text starting to smother everything. Davis Sim is losing his mojo and will never reclaim it again.

[Jeff Lorentz · Rating 4 out of 5]

Concluding the church and state storyline, this volume delves deeper into religious debates as our hero bumbles through the church's political hierarchy. This is also the moment where you stop seeing Cerebus as a "hero" as he just keeps gaming the system for his selfish ambitions and takes advantage of those around him. Church and State is where Cerebus as a character really takes a turn for the worse.

[I.D. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Some excellent art in a sprawling story that starts as a parody of secret wars and ends on the moon talking about the Big Bang. It’s very big in scope and ambition but I’m not sure how much it’s going to appeal to just anyone. You have to be there for the Rolling Stones references and the moving between slapstick , philosophy and dark commentary. If you’re there then it’s got to be considered great but if not it may just be considered long.

[John · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book continues and completes the story startef in C & S volume 1.
The artwork and comedy are sharp as ever but there is a darker edge to the story's conclusion and events which foreshadow big changes in the tone and philosophy of the book.
There is still much to love about thr book and Cerebus remains interesting, but this is probably the last truely great book of the series.

[Michael · Rating 4 out of 5]

Truly witty work, parodying political infighting, super-heroes, Mick & Keith, and anything else that strikes Sim's fancy. I'm continually amazed by how great his cartooning is, with wildly creative and subtle page layouts that really move the story forward. Terrific work, although a slightly confused and not 100% satisfying ending. But the first 1200 pages are SUPERB.

[Vincent Griffin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absolutely astonishing. Goes from Cerebus shooting a cannon in Thrunks face, to a whole secret wars spoof, to raping Astoria, then finally meeting God who tells Cerebus he will die in few years time unloved, unmourned, and suffering.

And if he ever thinks that his suffering has been paid for… he should remember his second marriage….

Coldest line in a book EVER

[J. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Such a strange book. Gorgeous art, hilarious humor. But also whiplash storytelling that jerks back and forth from the silly to the serious, the timeless to the timely. Bizarre cameos. A protagonist that--by the end of this volume--is downright detestable. But consistently intriguing throughout.

[Ben Brackett · Rating 2 out of 5]

if I had purchased these issues individuals I would have been even more pissed about the drawing out and unnecessary page filling. And a story that really isn't worth sticking with throughout all that.