Cerebus did indeed die alone, whether he is unmourned is another story. It seems incredible that Dave Sim really was able to complete his epic story, pretty much exactly when he said he would.

While I began reading the title back with #26, there have been times (and I know I'm not the only one who felt this way) that I was close to dropping the book. It wasn't so much the story, although there were times when there was little if any story at all. It was the other things. Sim's increasing misogyny (which he terms 'anti-feminism') and seeming homophobia (something which Sim also blames on 'feminists, in some bizarre logic that I certainly can't follow) was what really bothered me. It became more and more necessary to simply read those pages featuring Cerebus (and in the past couple years those grew less and less, especially during the "Woody Allen" (so okay, it wasn't really Woody, but who else then) sub-plot).

I don't pretend to understand Sim's religious conversion, if that is in fact what it is. He appears to have created (as did his character) his own religion, taking elements from Judaism, Christianity and Islam. If he has truly found peace and fulfillment, then more power to him, but I don't know what he hoped to prove in the end. In his final columns and the letter to his lawyer (taking up the final pages of the last issue, he admits that his audience is possibly alienated from him, yet asks their help. He seems to dare those who have stuck around to prove him wrong and come to his defense in the end.

I don't know what I'll do with my almost complete run of the book at this point. I know that I'm certainly not going to read the FOLLOWING CEREBUS magazine, which will be appearing shortly. I wish him luck and acknowledge the achievement, but I think I'll be one of those folks who do let the book simply disappear.