Cerebus #209

The cover of this 1996 Aardvark-Vanaheim issue splits neatly into two distinct visual zones: above, a heavyset, bearded man in a paper hat — shirt reading "Tung. Tung. Tung." — balances a frying pan, rendered in Dave Sim and Gerhard's characteristic black-and-white linework; below, a woman's backside in a black thong takes center stage, a colorful comic book tucked into her waistband and a text block bemoaning distribution woes. It's a characteristically irreverent Cerebus cover that pairs barroom melancholy with sly self-aware humor, right at home in the long-running "Guys" storyline reaching its ninth chapter.