[Reposted from my blog 72 Pins]

It’s unfortunate that by the time its planned 300 issue run reached its conclusion, the image of Cerebus had been tarnished by what many perceived as Dave Sim’s misogynistic beliefs. Part of my reason for undertaking a reading of the entire series is to draw my own conclusions about Sim’s attitude toward feminism and women in general.

Here in issue #3, we get our first taste of sexism, though it could hardly be called systematic. It’s not that Red Sophia exists in part to satirize the trope of the warrior woman who vows to become a servant to the man (or aardvark) who can defeat her in battle. If the character were no more than that, she would be completely defensible. No, it’s that the first woman we see in the pages of Cerebus is a stereotypical nag and motormouth, and her status as a brave warrior comes only from the fact that none of the men in her town could fight their way out of a room full of kittens.

Reading this issue, you’d be excused for thinking that it was published in the early ’60s and not the late ’70s. Within minutes of meeting Red Sophia, Cerebus finds himself being forced to carry all of her traveling gear (like a cartoonish pile of shopping bags) and endure her constant stream of inane small talk. When the two finally come to blows, Cerebus defeats her in seconds, and spends the rest of the story being nagged to accept sexual favors from the now-servile warrior. The plot revolves around Cerebus being hired by Sophia’s father to torture to death a man who has “besmirched” the honor of his daughter. When he meets the lovestruck man, though, Cerebus “cleverly” decides that the best torture would be to leave him with Sophia.

Despite all I’ve just said, the sexism on display here comes across as more quaint than malicious. That doesn’t excuse it, of course, but the overall effect is one of cluelessness more than anything. And when Cerebus and Sophia camp for the night, there’s something almost cute about the way the two of them argue, which is instantly subverted by the series’s funniest moment so far.

Despite that great line, though, issue #3 is the series’s first real misstep. As a parody of Red Sonja, it isn’t particularly imaginative, and taken on its own merits, it was behind the times even when it was originally published. From what I gather, though, the casual sexism on display here is like a day at Lillith Fair compared to what comes later. Stay strong.

Even though I never planned for “My Year With Cerebus” to be a daily feature here (after all, there are only 300 issues, which astute readers will note is less than the number of days in a year), I’m surprised at how quickly writing these posts has become a part of my morning routine. But since the members of my tabletop gaming group got a bit more scattered around the tri-state area, the Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Years holidays have all become binges of dice, paper and beer as everyone comes back to town again. Which is just a long way of saying not to expect any more activity here until Monday.