“Mothers and Daughters Part 2”

Of the first eight books of Cerebus, Women is the strongest thematically and coherently. The title of this volume refers to a debate Sim has alluded to since Book 1 and further explained in the forward of Book 7, Flight , “I could’ve filled the fifty issues of Mothers and Daughters just with an Astoria vs. Cirin debate. That was the genesis of the facing text pages interspersed with the story-line that you will see throughout this and future volumes.”

Astoria and Cirin represent the divergent wings of the feminism, which Sim goes to great lengths to clarify.

Astoria, who initially appeared as the strong female political advisor to Cerebus in High Society, represents the radical and individualist corner of the feminist movement, whose political platform is considered “daughter” to the ruling matriarchy. The leader of that matriarchy, Cirin, is as much a ruling matriarch politically as she is religiously--therefore, her platform is centered on God, or Goddess, and upholds the protection of the Goddess’s image (i.e. women, life) with extreme force. Despite their differences, both Cirin and Astoria are connected to the aspect of the divine known as the Goddess and, thus, vie for her blessing as the true prophet of the Ascension.

Big stuff for a comic about a three-foot tall talking aardvark who drinks, fights, and carries around a stuffed doll named Missy. Where other volumes, such as High Society and Church and State I & II, spoke of a complex and quite incomprehensible explanation of Creation and the importance of three aardvarks in it, this book successfully and quite organically clarifies the situation and nicely sets up the following parts of the “Mothers and Daughters” storyline.

We begin to understand that three aardvarks and Astoria represent the three aspects of the divine: Tarim, God the Father (Cerebus); Terim, the Goddess (Cirin as Mother and Astoria as Daughter); and Illusion (Suenteus Po). While Cerebus is almost unaware of his role in the Ascension and just arrives at divine truth by happenstance, Astoria and Cirin actively combat for that truth and they accuse each other of shortsightedness and blasphemy.

Yet, the only person who seems to have a handle on any of this is Suenteus Po, who first appeared in the Book 1 of Cerebus as a mysterious incorporeal being whom Cerebus would converse with while unconscious or traversing another dimension. Po finally appears in physical form in Church and State II, and he is revealed to be one of the three aardvarks.

So far, his place and purpose in the story is to bring all the players together in some form of resolution. What that resolution will be shall be seen in the succeeding parts of “Mothers and Daughters.”

In terms of writing and art, Sim and Gerhard are astounding. Sim has a way with pitching a line that is always affecting, be it comedy or drama. For instance, when Lord Julius, Sim’s ode to Groucho Marx, plans his meeting with Cirinists, his assistant corrals a suitable speech to the delegation. When the long speech-writing process concludes, Julius buttons the ordeal with, “Hang that big ugly picture of Cirin behind the podium; make sure it’s high enough so you can’t see the holes the darts made.” Sim expertly crafts the funny scene and ends it with a zinger.

Similarly, Gerhard builds the scope of the Papal residence and the city of Upper Felda with so many architectural aesthetics and yet reveals the completeness of his vision with gravitas. As all the characters come together piecemeal, we begin to see the focal point of where they’re heading.

Finally, the structure is revealed and the mood changes, moving from intense to calm as Sim’s story begins to coalesce. With the looming terrain of the mountain and cliff sides, he mixes Gothic, Romanesque, and Baroque into the residential homes and city. The backgrounds on every page are masterpieces in the own right.

Overall, Women was the most enjoyable of the Cerebus series. Although Jaka Story’s remains my favorite, and possibly a good place to start for new readers, this volume successfully makes use of all the theological principles previously expressed, and it coherently ties them to the fate of the main characters.

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