Cerebus #297

This December 2003 issue from Aardvark-Vanaheim presents one of the most quietly unsettling covers in the long run of Cerebus — a darkened room dominated by a large four-poster bed, with the small, recognizable form of Cerebus himself just barely visible lying beneath the covers, rendered in the meticulous collaborative linework of Dave Sim and Gerhard. The stillness of the image is striking: shadows swallow almost everything, and that tiny, motionless figure at the center carries an unmistakable weight. As the series approaches its landmark conclusion, "Latter Days 32" — issue #297 — reflects the somber, contemplative mood Sim and Gerhard brought to this final chapter of a truly singular comics achievement.