Thursday 3 January 2013

Going In Unto The Light

Cerebus #300 (March 2004)
Art by Dave Sim & Gerhard
DAVE SIM:
(from a letter to Simon R. Green on 26 July 2004, Dave Sim's Collected Letters Vol 2)
...If you refer back to the prologue/dream sequence in the beginning of The Last Day, and the actual creation of the Light and what that meant for all and sundry innocent and semi-innocent bystanders I think it might be a little clearer. I expect that will be a difficult part of the story for some time to come since my own supposition is that the first creation of the light was no cause for celebration and that's very much at variance with most people's ideas of the light or of light in general. The fact that Cerebus had just been the recipient of the entire Origin of Everything dream sequence and suddenly found himself "going in vnto the light" less than a day later is intended to explain his attack of the heebie-jeebies as depicted. And, obviously, I don't have an answer for anyone here, just what I consider a better question. Assuming that this is something we all go through (judging by near-death experiences we have all read about), what's your best guess? Go into the light? Why do you think that's a good idea? Chester Brown told me that he read a story written by someone who had speculated that going into the light just meant that you were going to be reincarnated and who, therefore, cautioned against it....

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

It is about as unsettling an ending to a very long story as I can ever remember reading. What do I do if I see this great white light at the end of my life? If it goes out and I'm left there alone, what then?

I trust that God will give me the answer I deserve. I hope I deserve something other than obliteration.

I quit trying to predict what would happen in Cerebus not long after first reading it because Dave Sim had a way of always surprising me. I knew the end of Cerebus would be something I did not expect, but I was not prepared for that ending at all and it has left me wondering to this day.

David Birdsong