“Mothers and Daughters Part 4”

The tenth volume of Dave Sim’s epic finds Cerebus floating in space, holding on to an arm of the papal throne. Beside him is his worst enemy, Cirin, clutching onto the other arm as much for the sake of owning the throne as holding on for her own life. Surrounded by the vastness of the galaxy, these two arrogant aardvarks must face the one thing that blocks their Ascension: the Truth.

“An uncomfortable truth is always preferable to a comfortable lie,” explains Dave Sim speaking to Cerebus inside the three-foot-tall earth-pig’s head. The dominant theme of this book, as well as the entire “Mothers and Daughters” arc, is the necessity and validity of truth and its consequences. This examination is delineated in two concepts: Cerebus’s belief that Jaka will make him happy and Cirin’s denial of who she is exactly.

Cerebus’s relationship with Jaka is problematic. When they met, he was a cuddly and charismatic fur ball. In actuality, this persona was the effect of a “spell” that made him affectionate, loving, and nothing like himself. Yet, the fact anyone could love him remained with Cerebus. Every so often, he and Jaka would meet and try vainly to rekindle that passion. He even continued to push himself on her despite the fact that she had a husband. Cerebus equates Jaka with happiness (i.e. being married to her, being with her, et cetera).

Yet, this equation is the same problem that Cerebus has invariably had with everything he’s viewed as contentment. From prime minister to pope, power and control has not given him the happiness and worry-free life he’s wanted. It’s only brought on more pain and more discomfort, which results in an even greater a desire for contentment. Being with Jaka is just another role for him to play in his quest for happiness.

Now, through authorial intrusion, Dave Sim steps in to try to help his little aardvark. Arguably, this is the most charming moment in the series as Sim takes Cerebus on “A Christmas Carol”-like journey through Cerebus’s past, present, and possible future. Cerebus becomes so disgusted with his own possible actions that he begs Sim at one point to not allow him to hit Jaka ever again.

The bottom line is that Jaka will not make Cerebus happy. he has to realize that the acquisition of power (in this case possessing Jaka) is not happiness. He has to take responsibility for his own happiness and not look to someone else for it.

Sim uses some classic comic book motifs to get his point across to Cerebus. At one point, he presents a close-up of Cerebus’s eye, which he explains is “an archetype of extreme brutality and establishing its perpetrator as an individual devoid of the basics of human empathy.” The image becomes more intensified when he brings in the classic “injury to eye” motif with a scalpel and a syringe brought in to alleviate a bump under Cerebus’s eye.

Sim’s argument for change is visually orchestrated by the focus on the eye; the effect leaves the reader squeamish and actually quite hesitant for Sim to remove the growth on Cerebus’ eyelid. By taking this approach, Sim allows the emotions felt by the character’s personal state to be felt by the reader through the visual metaphor. Despite being already ten volumes into the Cerebus , you can’t help feeling closer to the character in this moment.

As for Cirin, her journey deals more with denial and how the desire for power has literally made her into someone else. Without giving away the big reveal, Cirin chose power at the cost of the truth, and she has effectively lost sight of what is real and what are the lies that she has created for herself. She refuses to believe Sim’s explanation of the truth--even trying to change the author’s words in her favor. As Cirin changes her history in order to validate her desire for power, her struggle obviously falls into the theme of anti-feminism and leftist politics,.

In the past, when I was an active member in a communist group, I remember many occasions in which I would question a certain comrade’s stance on a given issue. That fellow member’s answer resulted in a retelling and reevaluation of a historical fact that demonized him. I’m not saying that the person was lying, but his political views relied on a history that differed from the one I had known. Similarly, I see Cirin’s reshaping of her past as a parallel to the reliance that leftist politics (which includes feminism) has on relatively unknown, vindicating histories.

The conclusion of Cerebus: Minds is far stronger and more amicable in terms of spirituality than the 1000-page-plus Church and State, which ended with a convoluted and somber explanation of the universe. Here the reader sees Cerebus choosing to do the right thing: taking responsibility for his actions.

The maturation of the character is poignant and invigorating. Minds is an intimate journey of discovering what happiness is and learning that first is step is doosey.

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