“Take On Me” p 5 (2019) by Carson Grubaugh and Gerhard

“Take On Me” p 5 (2019)
by Carson Grubaugh (1981- ) and Gerhard (1959- )
and written by Brian P Coppola (1957- )
11 x 17 in., ink, wash and watercolor on board

My collection (as you can see) includes art from Cerebus the Aardvark, a 6000-page graphic novel that came out in 300 issues and 16 collected volumes between 1977-2004. The series was created and produced by Dave Sim, and Gerhard joined as the environmental artist and co-creator starting with issue #65.
In fact, a page from Cerebus was the first original comic art I bought (1982).

As of 2019, Gerhard is freelancing and Dave Sim is working on The Strange Death of Alex Raymond and You Don’t Know… Jack in collaboration with Carson Grubaugh, who has replaced Dave’s wonky wrist as the representational artist in these projects.

I also like to work on commissions with artists.

As a commemoration of the 40th anniversary of the start of the 300-issue “Cerebus” saga (1977-2004), I wrote a 5-page story outline and commissioned Gerhard and Carson Grubaugh as collaborators.

With me more or less cheering from the sidelines, waving my billfold, they turned the idea into a comic story.

On the surface of it, the story is simple. In taking on the drawing chores with Dave, Carson is entering “the world of Cerebus” and taking on part of the Sim role. Using a “Wizard of Oz” framing sequence, Carson get clocked on the noggin and spends one panel visiting an iconic moment from each of the 16 Cerebus books. The title “Take On Me” is a nod to the famous music video to the a-ha song which features movement from the real world in and out of a comic story – just the same way Carson “takes on” the world of Cerebus.

Hi-res images of this 5-page story, suitable for printing, along with some other artwork, and a Director’s Cut text on developing the story, are all available for no cost and no obligation (see one of the additional images for details). A pretty acceptable print-on-demand (non-profit) hard copy version of the Director’s Cut is also available for the price of printing and shipping.

Page 5: Latter Days and The Last Day, after which, there is no place like home.