Cerebus #206

Cerebus #206 brings the "Guys" arc to its sixth chapter, and the cover by Dave Sim and Gerhard sets the tone with dry, deadpan humor to spare. A prominently rendered bottle of "Colonel Julius's Finest Gulping Bourbon" dominates the composition, while a pair of grumbling barflies debate rice cakes in speech bubbles above — one flatly declaring he hates them, another noting bourbon doesn't really improve the flavor. Sim and Gerhard's crisp black-and-white linework gives the whole scene a wonderfully lived-in, barroom atmosphere that makes this 1996 installment feel like a genuine slice of lowbrow camaraderie.