Note From The President, Cerebus 88, July 1986

So, there I am, barreling (sic) along through this issue. No room for improvisation; I’ve had every panel in mind since the campaign issues of High Society. I wasn’t so much writing this issue as transcribing it. Boom boom boom; the wall is filling up with pages. Damn the Aardvark Comments, Spunky, full speed ahead. Three pages a day and I’m doing it with ease. Lookit me, ma, I’m drawin!

I’m Psyched, I’m up for it, I’m in there, I’m hot, I’m getting down, I’m on the edge.

Spunky’s psyched, he’s up for it, he’s in there, he’s hot, he’s getting down, he’s on the edge.

And that’s when I hear about the Penthouse Apartment that’s suddenly available. So while Spunky is booting it through the rest of the pages, I’m buying furniture and doing sketches of how I want the living room done, buying framed prints (including two of Marilyn Monroe for the guest bedroom, now christened the Monroom), moving all my clothes (an Herculean task, believe me), getting movers for everything else, arranging delivery of an Akai turner/amp/compact disc player/cassette layer/turntable/VCR/television entertainment centre and within ten days from the time I saw the place, ten days mind you, everything is in place, working and I’ve got the perfect home for someone whose hobbies are pacing, musing out loud, philosophizing dangerously and cackling to himself for no particular reason.

Now what does this all mean for you, the gentle reader?

Well, at the time that I heard about the apartment it was August 18 and I was just about finished this, the July issue,#88. Had I started in on#89 the next day as originally planned, Ger and I would’ve been working on the August issue in August. And we might’ve had a start on the September issue in September. But it is September 1st today and I pencilled the first four pages of the August issues yesterday. So we now hope to have the August issues done by the middle of September when we leave for the U.K. Tour(l7th) which means you could be reading it by September 30th or so (Deni’s birthday). If, however we don’t get it done by the time we leave for England we won’t be able to finish it before October 6th or so (Deni’s and my and my mum and dad’s wedding anniversary) and you won’t be reading it before October 22nd or so (my dad’s birthday).

But.

After that, Ger and I (except for maybe spending a couple of days in New York at the end of November) will have most of October and November and December to produce the September, October, November and December issues which means if we can produce the January, February, March and April issues while we’re gone to New Zealand for January, February and March, we can come back in April right on schedule for issue #97

Or maybe we’ll go to Hawaii for the winter.