What I know of Cerebus is pretty much limited to the outrageous antics of his creator, Dave Sim, notably his famous misogyny. So I wasn't sure if this issue of Supernatural Law would resonate with me. However, while I'm almost certain I didn't get all the jokes having to do with the stylistic resonance of this issue to an issue of Cerebus, the overall story is one of the stronger ones that Lash has offered up. Without really attacking Sim, Lash creates a story that pokes fun at his more outlandish views and simultaneously incorporates the likable and funny character of Cerebus at the same time.
There's one joke at the center of all this, and that's the misogyny that Huberis exhibits. However, while this could easily be a tired joke, instead it's played off as the wearying lifestyle it must be. Huberis hates women, but he's forced to deal with them on a constant basis, and one almost feels sorry for the poor demon as he suffers what are to him numerous indignities. Though I found his particular bias reprehensible, I could identify with the idea of being forced to confront that which drives you crazy on a regular basis, as I'm sure most people can.
Huberis is actually a rather fun character, and getting the story from his point-of-view makes him a lot more easy to relate to. He's actually not all that bright, having had experiences largely in a completely different realm, and his reaction to the rule of law or modern society is almost cute, almost innocent. At the same time, Lash gives Huberis a pretty nice turn of phrase, putting use his love of language (usually manifested in puns) to great use. The use of the word "dudgeon" and the pairing with the word "dungeon" was particularly clever.
As I said earlier, I haven't read that much Cerebus, but it does seem as if Lash subtly altered his style to evoke Cerebus, at least in the panel layouts, and the result is quite good. The use of Sim's style of panel borders for Huberis's narration was a good way to immediately set that part of the story off, and it seemed like there was a heavier use of shadow on the work in those sections at well. Leaving aside the particularly unusual artwork in those sections, of course, the rest of the art is impressive as well, with the strength of expressions that has been a hallmark of Lash's work.
Supernatural Law tends to have a soap operatic element to it as well, playing up relationships and subplots along with the main stories, and I'm a fan of that style. However, I was also glad to see that in this issue, those elements were toned down, so that this read will be as much fun for Cerebus fans as for regular followers of Supernatural Law.
