A review by thebobsphere
High Society by Dave Sim

5.0

The second volume of the Cerebus Aardvark epic is really the only one you must own. It is PERFECT. A mix of politics, humour, madcap scenes. All at breakneck speed. The jokes, puns and homages are spot on.

In essence it's a rags to riches story. Cerebus finds himself employed as a plongeur at the Regency Hotel. After a farcical and complex kidnapping attempt, Cerebus actually has to pay the kidnappers AND he is accused of murder.

At this point Cerebus decides that in order to clear himself and pay money he has to be elected Prime Minister of Lest and competes against Emperor Julius.

What ensues is a lot of epic running back and forth between polling stations and houses. This is when the book really comes into it's own as these scenes just sweep you with the chase. Ultimately Cerebus does manage to win the election and does pay back all his dues.

High Society is a multi-layered comic but Sim cleverly manages to make the plot threads both fun and funny. It is a pity that Sim took complexity too far and turned Cerebus into a graphic novel version of a Pynchon story but at this point do invest in High Society. It's pure comic genius.