Debt

Cerebus is still hanging out with the Elf discussing his situation, she thinks he should try and track down the statue of the duck. Cerebus asks her how much a statue of a duck can be worth. With typical Elf logic she replies ‘What if it were made of diamonds?’ Two things struck me about the duck. Firstly Cerebus probably should try and find it, after all he only has the unreliable word of the McGrews to believe that it was a statue of a duck. Those two idiots wouldn’t know a valuable piece of art if it jumped up and bit them on the behind, they only understand cold hard cash, or as they might term it: ‘Crownies!’ The second thing was a question: was Dave’s mentioning it again a signal that it was important and going to become prominent later on? That’s how he works, after all.

The discussion about the duck closed Cerebus goes hunting with the Prime Minister of Iest on his private game preserve. I wondered why the Prime Minister kept a game preserve, he’s clearly such a poor shot with a crossbow that he’s never actually hit anything. The Prime Minister is impressed by how businessman Ned Greely leapt to Cerebus’ defence, however he tells Cerebus that whatever ‘leverage’ he used on Greely it was the wrong businessman. The Prime Minister is in debt up to his eyeballs, but Greely is not one of his debtors. However Holland M Hadden of Hadden, Hadden & Dipp is, to the tune of 29,000 crowns. Now if Cerebus were to use some of his ‘leverage’ on Hadden then the matter of the 12,000 crown ransom may very well disappear.

No problem thinks Cerebus, ask the Elf and away we go. However this is when Cerebus discovers the true nature of the Elf. She doesn’t have any malice in her. She genuinely thinks that Ned Greely’s mistress is his wife, she didn’t really understand that Cerebus was blackmailing him, at least that’s how I read her. Beyond his name, his company and that she thinks he’s a nice man the Elf doesn’t know anything about Hadden.

Cerebus invites Hadden to his suite to discuss Hadden’s obsession: gold plated street lamps, he suggests that if Hadden were to forget the 29,000 crowns the Iestan government owes his firm then they may be able to rush through approval for not gold plated street lamps, but solid gold ones! The fact that he suggests this while pouring the better part of a bottle of Boreala’s finest whiskey into Hadden doesn’t hurt either.

Cerebus feeling very pleased with himself is pouring the inebriated Hadden into a cab when a large stone crescent moon falls from above and smashes Hadden flat into the pavement, killing him instantly. A stunned Cerebus looks up to see a familiar figure silhouetted in the fading light, he’s wearing a different costume, he calls himself the Moon Roach, and he’s hissing about ‘unorthodox economic revenge’, but it is most unmistakably the Cootie!

The last two pages of Debt are brilliance. I wasn’t expecting the moon, no one was, All of sudden there it is WHAM! It makes you jump back in your seat. Had Dave ended it with that panel it would have worked, but then to follow it up with shock number 2 the reappearance of the Cootie that just made it perfect and allowed a seamless segue into the next issue.