Chariot Of The Queen, Chariot Of The Lovers

Sometimes I think Dave spent more time working on the titles than the actual story. This is one of those issues.

Michelle calls her 'boys' into dinner. I assumed it was workers on her property. The 'boys' are actually Michelle's 'Uncle' Artemis aka The Roach and the McGrew brothers. This is possibly why the sudden appearance of Cerebus in her basement didn't surprise Michelle.

The Roach and his two disciples behave rather like large, squabbling children and Michelle treats them that way.

Once they've eaten and left Michelle sits down with Cerebus and tells him that Weisshaupt gave her something for him. Apparently it was one of his dying wishes that if for some reason Cerebus lost the papacy he wanted him to regain it, it belonged to someone mundane. Even from the grave Weisshaupt is still managing to irritate the aardvark.

In the envelope that Michelle gives to Cerebus is a single sheet of paper, on the paper is a picture of a cannon with the word BOOM written next to it. Cerebus' eyes snap wide open, he now knows how to get his papacy back. The thought of Cerebus with something more lethal than a sword is a frightening one. Michelle looks out the window and to her surprise sees that it is snowing in the middle of Summer.

The Origin of the Wolveroach

Cerebus and the Countess drag the unconscious Wolveroach upstairs and Cerebus deduces that he isn't really the Countesses uncle. One puzzling thing was the Roach's incredible weight. He had been bulky ever since his Captain Cockroach days, but that was all muscle. This time he collapses the bed when they get him onto it.

Aside from Weisshaupt and Cerebus the Countess appears to have the longest association with the Roach. Weisshaupt brought him to her after spiriting him out of Beduin as a wanted felon. The Countess became quite fond of him, which is probably when she adopted him as her 'uncle'.

It was the Countess that Weisshaupt took the Roach from and moulded him into his 'hero of the realm' Captain Cockroach. When Weisshaupt got himself into trouble and went missing the Roach lost all focus and had no idea what to do with himself.

Astoria came to the Countess and said she needed somewhere to stay. She very quickly latched onto Uncle Artemis and seemed to befriend him, what she was doing was giving him someone else to follow, another cause to use his unique abilities to further.

In his Moon Roach guise he would occasionally visit the Countess and stand outside, on the second floor window ledges. The Countess was also aware of his regular personality changes and of Astoria's relationship with Cerebus.

Somehow he managed to escape the clutches of the church when Cerebus' government fell and let the Countess know that had survived by writing to her as Father Artemis Roach. He returned to his original protectoress not long after that. I found it interesting that she referred to him as Artemis all the time. I wonder where the name came from. I don't think it's his actual name and the readers had not been made aware of the businessman's name, the one that Cerebus had first met. Possibly it was a name the Countess made up for him. In any case the Countess' story about the Roach completely invalidates Astoria's Moon Roach origin story.

At this point Cerebus and the Countess are interrupted by the arrival of Weisshaupt. He claims to have entered through the door they left open when Artemis came in. I don't know if the Countess has any retainers, but she should sack them, because they appear to just let anyone wander into the place.

Weisshaupt is his usual supercilious, scheming self. There's a mention of a Sir Gerrik, which is not expanded upon, but promises an interesting story in the future with more than a whiff of scandal about it.

Weisshaupt is at it again, trying to put together his United Feldwar States concept, he offers Cerebus the Prime Ministership of Iest again, which Cerebus refuses, even though Weisshaupt has signed agreements with Lower Felda, New Sepra, Togith, Iest and Palnu. With Lord Julius on side Weisshaupt thinks he can't possibly lose. He doesn't seem to know the wily Palnan bureaucrat very well, even when Julius says he's on your side he probably really isn't.

Weisshaupt believes that the new incarnation he's given the Bug makes him the perfect tool. The Wolveroach combines the best elements of the previous versions. He has the crazed lone wolf aspect of the original Cockroach, he's the product of a scientific breakthrough like Captain Cockroach, although like Captain Cockroach, it's a bogus breakthrough. The character that the Wolveroach was based on; X-Men's Wolverine had an unbreakable adamantium skeleton that combined with his mutant healing factor made him near unkillable. I was wondering how they'd do that in Cerebus' world and the explanation also accounted for his increased weight. Weisshaupt had given him a costume with 200 pounds of moulded lead stitched into it. He also has the deadly assassin part of the Moon Roach in him as well. Weisshaupt has informants in the government who tell the Roach who to kill, they're known as X-Persons. Initially they were to be called the X-Men, but one of them pointed out that no Cirinist would ever work for an organisation that had the word 'men' in it. The fact that if Dave had done this he would have had to contend a massive lawsuit with Marvel is not mentioned. On that point Dave was forced to pull the Wolveroach because Marvel threatened legal action on the grounds that it was too close to their character of Wolverine. They never complained about Captain Cockroach (Captain America) or the Moon Roach (Moon Knight). Dave did eventually make his peace with Marvel, but he was sure ticked off at the time. I can't say I blame him. Captain America was virtually public domain and the Moon Knight was never more than a B list hero, but parody one of their A listers and watch the legal threats fly.

Weisshaupt is ordered out of the house by Cerebus and takes his leave. It isn't mentioned and maybe it was coincidental, but there was a definite resemblance between the Countess and Weisshaupt. It then dawns on the Countess that she accidentally left 'Uncle' Artemis in the same room as her 'fiance' and that can't be a good thing. I was still struck by the speech patterns on her fiance and how he sounded so much like the McGrews. Maybe he's Onlian.

The Countess & The Aardvark

Cerebus arrives at the Countess' estate in the pouring rain.

Given the lack of servants and the spartan look of the house it would appear that the Countess is somewhat impoverished, although that's at odds with the 400 crowns she gave Silverspoon to get Cerebus there in the first place.

The Countess is a rather masculine looking woman, who when she greets Cerebus is actually dressed in a rather mannish manner. It struck me that a number of Dave's women in the books do tend to look rather androgynous, very strong featured. Even Jaka's face is drawn that way at times. It's either a style or something he does unconsciously.

The Countess is intensely interested in Cerebus' book and he's determined to only give very concise answers. He's equally interested in finding out whether she is a Cirinist or a Kevillist. Although both were effectively religions, with Kevillism being an offshoot of Cirinism, at this stage they seem to come across more as political factions. As the book is called Church & State this makes sense. There is very little division between the two.

I think I picked up a continuity error midway through this chapter. Cerebus tells the Countess that he came because she sent him 300 crowns, yet in the previous chapter it is very clearly stated that it was 400 crowns. It could be possible that Cerebus is trying to make the Countess think Silverspoon pocketed the other 100, so that way if she wants her money back he'll still be able to keep that 100, plus what Silverspoon and Rosencrant....sorry Gwane and Trystrim gave him.

The Countess also asks Cerebus questions about what Lord Julius is like. She seems to think he's joking when he replies that Lord Julius is a lot like a bottomless pit you have to keep throwing money into. The Countess seems to think he's being flippant, but the aardvark could not be more serious.

They are interrupted by the appearance of an odd character, who dresses and talks like a McGrew, and seems to be labouring under the misconception that he is the Countess' fiance. He may be crude, but I got the feeling that he bankrolls the Countess.

Dave developed quite a habit of writing parts of his story in prose with one large chunk of it per page. He does that here, with Cerebus writing his memoir. He finishes this entry off with the revelation that Lord Julius moustache is painted on.

When Cerebus encounters the Countess the following day she is wearing sundress, although she still looks like a man, and is in a playful mood, going so far as to push Cerebus into a fountain in her garden. It's a move she soon regrets as we all know what happens when Cerebus' fur gets wet.

That night as the Countess and Cerebus sit in the window talking by the light of the crescent moon we find out a little more about the aardvark's past. He tells the Countess that he lived with a girl for while when he was 18, but she wasn't old enough to marry. He reminisced that she was spoilt and crazy, but never dull. The reminiscences are cut short by a crash downstairs.

Cerebus goes to investigate with the Countess in tow and stops dead. The Countess lets out a shocked cry of Uncle Artemis! Her 'uncle' is the Roach! He's in a different costume and he's unshaven, but it is the Roach. Kevitch still seems to be with him, narrating his movements and promising that they can't miss the secret origin of the Wolveroach! Part one of a three-part miniseries. Then he passes out.

Dave had obviously decided to take on one of Marvel's actually one of comics, biggest heroes of the 80's. The X-Men's Wolverine. The 3 part miniseries was another comic reference. The most popular characters got limited spin off books, usually they showcased the characters origin.

The rest of the story was worth it simply for the appearance of the Roach as an incarnation of Wolverine.