The sixth (of six, so far) installment of Dave's answers. If after reading these you've got that burnin' desire to ask Dave a question or two, send them to me (jim [o--v--i] at [um.cc.umich.edu] OR [bv 446] at [cleveland.freenet.edu] -- I check this one much less frequently though) and I'll send them on. As usual, upcoming tour dates are listed at the end of this posting. *** kreme ([k--e--e] at [isis.cs.du.edu]) -- Why don't you have access to the Usenet? I would think it would be amusing for you to read all these posts, especially if no one knew you were there! :-) Dave Sim -- I really don't think computers are possible, so I don't own one. It's already getting to be quite a chore just to get through the morning mail every day. I'm sure you guys will let me know if I miss anything important. David Wald ([w--d] at [theory.lcs.mit.edu]) -- Are there any plans to (or definite reasons why you won't) release the Cerebus phone books in a more solid, hardback form? Dave -- We are a very small business entity and it costs just about every penny we make above and beyond our salaries to keep the reprint volumes in print as is. If we ever became big enough to invest in hardcover printings, I'm sure we would do it. I only do those things with Cerebus which won't jeopardize the book's financial health. Hardcover reprintings, colour reprintings of the Epic stories and reprintings of the covers would constitute an enormous and risky expense. Hector Lee ([h k lee] at [magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu]) -- Do you plan to have extra printings of the issues that are in between the phone books, like issue 51 or the prologue to Jaka's Story, etc.? Dave -- At this point, I am planning a slim reprint volume which would reprint the "in-between" stuff. Issue 51, 112/113, 137, 138, Demonhorn, the Silverspoon strips, "What Happened Between Issues 20 and 21". On the other hand, maybe it won't be _that_ slim. First we have to get all of the "phone books" to the distributors by the end of the year, so it would be 1993 at the earliest. Hector -- Will you be at MARCON? I would put you up in my living room. Only Jim, me, and Carla would have heard of you, so you can talk non-shop easily. Dave -- I'm afraid not. Only the Tour this year. Twenty-one cities in 12 months is about enough for anyone's plate who is still doing a monthly title. Also, when I go to another town, I go to talk shop EXCLUSIVELY. One of the reasons we're losing the battle to Marvel and Image and what-not is that the people who care about the medium and who can make a difference have been slacking off (myself included). "Conditions are too bad to be hip any more; It's time to start working again." (Randy Newman). Jeremy Holstein ([j--ls--i] at [skidmore.EDU]) -- You and Gerhard seem to work well as a team on the drawing board (strike the well, your work is fucking great), but outside of that we hear much from you as the guiding force of Cerebus, but little from Gerhard. A few questions about him: Has he made a commitment to stay with the project until #300? Dave -- You're very kind. Gerhard and I are very firm believers in freedom as an absolute. He's free to walk out at any time, maintaining his fifty percent ownership of the work we've done together. I would no more ask him to make that commitment than I would ask him to sign a contract. Jeremy -- How much input does he have into the storyline? Dave -- None. He's a good audience and he knew the direction and ending of Church & State, Jaka's Story and Melmoth ahead of time. Mothers & Daughters I'm just springing on him one page at a time. Jeremy -- And when are we going to hear from him in his own words? For Gods sake, when does Spunky SPEAK? Dave -- Our situation has evolved to the point where Gerhard is very much the background guy on the book and in the business. What he has to say, he says in his art, which is a damn sight more eloquent than any five volumes of opinions. I would imagine he would be happy to do an interview if asked, he just doesn't get asked. Mmm. Scratch that. He'd probably do an interview if forced to, but it would just be another damn thing on his desk he'd have to pay attention to. Jeremy -- How long is Mothers and Daughters planned to run for (approximately)? Dave -- Approximately fifty issues; to issue 200. Jeremy -- After Mothers and Daughters has run its course, how many more books are planned? Dave -- One long one, which will probably get broken up into two or three small ones, but which will be one long one for all of that. Jeremy -- How are your relations with Diamond these days? Dave -- My relations with Diamond are fine and have been for the last several years. I am in regular communication with Bill Schanes about ways to improve Diamond's orders and our immediate plans. They're giving me a half hour to address the Diamond Trade Show in Baltimore in June, which is really pretty generous of them. I'm hoping to be able to talk about all the things I've learned at the warehouses and stores on the tour. Jeremy -- Goddammit, Dave. Are you ever going to explain those fucking fire-sneezes? (In Church and State, remember?) Dave -- I've been explaining the fire-sneezes for about two years now, but I promise to continue to do so, until everyone understands. Stay tuned. Jim Ottaviani (jim [o--v--i] at [um.cc.umich.edu]) -- Are there any writers that you would like to draw for, or any artists that you would like to write for? Not necessarily on Cerebus- -in 2005, perhaps. Are there any past writers/artists that you would have liked to work with had you been able (or even aliveI)? Dave -- I was thinking of offering to do the last issue of _Sandman_ if Neil promises never to work for those Infernal Bastards again. I haven't because I almost definitely couldn't find the time and I'd probably develop a painful rash and locusts would devour the back yard of the Off White house. After 2004, I'd like to do a story with Alan Moore or Neil Gaiman. I wish I had done more stories with Gene Day when he was alive; you never know the clock is ticking, do you? We always meant to have a picture taken of us together, as well, but never got around to it. Jim -- A related question: What, if any, collaborative work have you enjoyed the most (besides working with Gerhard)? Dave -- Doing the Jam stories, most especially with Colleen and Will Eisner. The Flaming Carrot cross-over; doing twenty pages in ten days after having my heart broken by the same chick for the third time (stupid, stupid, stupid) was very, very rewarding. C'mon, Bob, shake a leg, we're a page and a half behind schedule. Jim -- Who wrote "And his shadow on the border of the pond...triumphant reassumption." that the Jules Feiffer character quotes as "one of my favorite authors" (page 1197 of Church & State)? Dave -- That was whatsisname from "Sons and Lovers". Not Steinbeck. Ooh, fuck. WHAT IS HIS NAME!? I hate this. The book is in the apartment, too. Blanking on a name that makes me look like an illiterate boob. Anyway it's in "Sons and Lovers", unless I've got the title wrong too. Jim -- Will we be seeing Jaka's sister ("The Beguiling") again? Dave -- Probably between issues 200 and 300. Karen Williams ([b--n--n] at [cerebus.ras.amdahl.com]) -- I have a question for you. Given your views on feminism, and the current storyline in Cerebus, I was wondering what your relationship was/is like with your mother? any sisters? your girlfriends? Dave -- Oh no. It's YOU again. Well, Karen, I owe you one for being one of a handful of Persons who kept me from getting hanged from a Metaphysical Feminist Lamp-post in the last couple of years (Are You Not Now, Or Have You Ever Not Been A Member of the Feminist Party, Mr. Sim). Here goes... WAS -- I was always my mother's favourite; she always encouraged any interests that I had and certainly went out of her way to accommodate and make allowances for my interest in comic books. I was left pretty much to my own devices, which was good. She used to print up fanzines for me on the copier at the school where she worked, typed up my Marvel Universe Bio stuff I used to write by the ton when I was a kid. She also threw out my Zap comics when I was about thirteen years old. I retrieved them and hid them. That was a major rift. IS -- I have dinner with my parents once a month or so, sometimes less often D.H. LAWRENCE!! Yahoo!! I did it!!. D.H. Lawrence. My mother and sister are both rhetorical feminists. Not nearly as bad now as they were a couple of years back, but that's true of most of Them. Retrenching probably. When my father was in the Emergency ward a couple of years ago, I was instantly in charge. Dave, you call and see how he's doing. Dave, you talk to the doctor. What do you think, Dave. The moment the crisis stage had passed it suddenly turned into a little feminist collective again. Well, _I_ think we should do this. Well, we decided we're going to do such and so. I told them the next time they're on their own. Send me a postcard. I firmly believe that feminism can only be fought within the family, because it's the only place you can really hurt them. They need that One Big Happy Family shit tucked right next to their We Get To Do Whatever We Want Because Anything Else is Discrimination. Consequently the only Achilles Heel is the One Big Happy Family. Like the fourteen dead feminists in Montreal. Call men every name under the sun for three weeks and then have A Big Happy Family Dinner Where We All Love Each Other. (Christmas, I mean.) Psycho. Mondo psycho. My sister keeps making little overtures that we should be Good Buddies again. I can't think of a thing I would have to say to her. She's got Margaret Thatcher's false joviality down pat. Girl-friends? Sex. If the sex is good, I can put up with anything, like most men. They're all Too Young For Me. They've only got three tricks to assert control; causing jealousy, withholding sex and beating you over the head with their fan club (TYou'd really like my friend, Steve.' I loved the line on SEINFELD when Elaine says that, and Jerry says, TI don't like anybody, why would I like Steve?'). They also all want to be liked for something besides their physical attributes. I wrote a line for Oscar in Jaka's Story that I ended up not finding a space for. "Men want to be loved for their bodies, which is funny. Women want to be loved for their minds, which is funnier." *** Upcoming tour dates: May 31 Kansas City, Marriott -- Metcalf Ave. in Overland Park June 7 Minneapolis, Marriott Bloomington -- I-495 at Cedar Ave. June 21 Albany, Holiday Inn -- 205 Wolf Rd. July 12 Indianapolis, Sheraton -- 7701 East 42nd St. July 26 Detroit, Marriott -- 200 W. Big Beaver in Troy, MI jimO