This collects issues 26 - 50 of the Cerebus comic book, in which our aardvarkian barbarian is lured by the trappings of wealth and power and high office when he rises through the ranks of Iestian society and government. This is where the Cerebus graphic novel starts becoming a little ponderous, but there are still some delicious satirical elements here, conveyed by drop-dead perfect takeoffs on Groucho Marx (and Chico), Foghorn Leghorn, Yosemite Sam, the Moon Knight, Batman, Henny Youngman, and several others who escape me now. At the end of the book Cerebus realizes his dream of ultimate power, only to see it slip from his grasp as powerful economic and military forces prove his undoing. At the end he is simply Cerebus the Aardvark again. We do see a long-suspected gentler side as Cerebus shares a couple of tender moments with Jaka, and the Regency Elf. There are times when the Cerebus books are marked by high comic genius, and times when Dave Sim must have been feeling like he was creating High Art. I prefer the former. ( )

the Aardvark comes to town, and meets an entirely higher level of insanity than he's found out there in the bush. It is sharper than Terry Pratchett, but a wonderful comic whirlwind. The most intelligent independent comic book ever! ( )

In the first volume of Cerebus, our aardvark had adventure seemingly thrust upon him at every turn while he just wanted to find a place to get his drink on and spend his days waiting to get his drink on. High Society still gives us the getting-his-drink on aardvark, but we have a Cerebus that now fully participates in what destiny seems to want to thrust upon him. This does not mean that he has any more control over the outcome than he had before. And this, my friends, is the excellent fun that is Cerebus.

In arriving at The Regency, it is quickly discovered that Cerebus is Lord Julius' Kitchen Staff Supervisor. This makes Cerebus a political mover and shaker and open to all manner of attempted political influence. Free meals, wonderful service, drink and all manner of bribe are pushed onto Cerebus even when he limits meetings to mere seconds in hopes of a minor amount of influence with Lord Julius via his Kitchen Staff Supervisor. In no time at all, Cerebus finds himself under the influence of Astoria, ex-wife of Lord Julius, running for Prime Minister in an effort to control the fortunes of Iest. Makes perfect sense, right?

Sims takes on nearly every establishment that you can think of in High Society. Politics, religion, the politicization of working-class values, all manner of -isms, superheroes and media. As our aardvark attempts this time to fully participate in his destiny, finding an inner circle to trust is dubious at best when it consists of an ex-wife of the opponent bent on revenge, a superhero with a split personality and a habit of dropping rocks on opponents and an Elf seemingly visible only to him. As always, Lord Julius's ongoing appearance as Groucho Marx is welcome with a special appearance by Duke Leonardi clearly playing Chico Marx. Their routines during negotiations are not to be missed (if all interest rate negotiations were like this, everyone would watch). ( )

Not as good as the first, but still excellent. ( )

30 ( )