Church and State (comics)
| Church & State | |
|---|---|
Cover to the first volume of Church & State (Aardvark Vanaheim, 1987)
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| Series | Cerebus |
| Publisher | Aardvark-Vanaheim |
| Creative team | |
| Writer | Dave Sim |
| Artists | |
| Original publication | |
| Published in | Cerebus |
| Issues | 52-111 |
| Date of publication | July 1983 to June 1988 |
| ISBN |
(Vol. I) (Vol. II) |
| Chronology | |
| Preceded by | High Society |
| Followed by | Jaka's Story |
Church & State is the third novel in Canadian cartoonist Dave Sim's Cerebus comic book series. In it, Cerebus once again becomes Prime Minister, and eventually Pope. The story was published in individual issues from July 1983 (issue #52) to June 1988 (#111).
The 1200-page novel was divided into seven books has been collected in two volumes. Church and State I (June 1987, 592 pages ISBN ) collects Books One through Three (Cerebus #52-80); and Church and State II (July 1988, 630 pages ISBN ) collects Book Four through Seven (Cerebus #81-111), and starts with page 595, emphasizing Sim's intention that the two volumes make up one novel.
In High Society, Cerebus rose to power, with the help of Astoria, in the city-state of Iest, eventually becoming prime minister. His brief time in power came to an end and he made his way away from the city.
The novel is divided into seven parts:
(Cerebus #52-55)
Cerebus, while writing his memoirs, is interrupted by Lord Julius' son Lord Silverspoon and two companions. After playing (and losing) a "cute" game of cards with them, Cerebus loses his temper and scares them off. Later, they hunt him down again, accidentally letting it known that the Countess Michelle Detin, with whom they planned to stay, will only let them come if they bring Cerebus. Cerebus manages to scam the trio out of the money that the countess sent them, as well as the rest of the money they had, and travels to the Countess's mansion alone.
The Countess lives alone—the Count is dead, and the Countess has no need for servants. Cerebus decides to stay and finish his memoirs, while the Countess tries to get information out of him about what he's writing. His answers are very terse and to-the-point. Her questioning is cut off with the sudden, dramatic appearance of whom the Countess calls "Uncle Artemis"—the Roach, this time in the garb of the Wolveroach, a parody of the Marvel Comics character Wolverine, who announces the beginning of a three-part miniseries on the origin of the Wolveroach (also a parody of 1980s superhero comics trends).
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