History YMMV / CerebusTheAardvark

* AngstWhatAngst: Parodied on the cover of ''Following Cerebus'' #1 where Cerebus [[NoFourthWall calls Sim a pansy]] for, among other things, [[spoiler:getting all weepy over his death in the final issue]].

* TooBleakStoppedCaring: The ''Church & State'' arc. The few sympathetic characters present (Michelle, Storm'send, The Regency Elf, etc) are quickly phased out; everyone who sticks around is either too amoral or too apathetic to really care about.

* UglyCute: Cerebus as a child.
** As an adult he still looks pretty cuddly. ''Looks''.

* TheWoobie: Cerebus as a child.

* BileFascination: Many check out the later issues that contain the creator's legendarily misogynistic rants just to see if they're really that bad. [[UpToEleven They are.]]

* UncannyValley: Sheshep Ankh. He looks perfectly human, until you notice that his feet only have three toes. Also, in the author's notes for the phonebook of ''The Last Day'', Sim noted that he purposely played around with some of the lighting and furniture in Cerebus' bedroom during his talk with Sheshep to give the hint to anyone that noticed that there was something very wrong about Sheshep.

* GoodGirlsAvoidAbortion: [[spoiler:Jaka aborts her and Rick’s baby boy. While the fear of looking “ugly” is implied of being of one of the reasons behind it, the fact that her looks are the only way to provide for her family (since Rick is a lazy bum) it makes sense she took that decision]]

* WhatAnIdiot:
** Red Sophia tearfully talks to Cerebus about [[spoiler:their marital problems]], not in the least bit noticing that Cerebus is in some kind of magical trance and has his head in a glowing sphere.
** Jaka hears the reasons why [[spoiler:Cerebus is being shunned by his hometown (namely, not being there for his father's death and funeral because he was running around with a woman)]], and then hits Cerebus with what amounts to "it's your fault for not doing what you wanted to do." He doesn't take it well ''at all''.

* DarknessInducedAudienceApathy: The ''Church & State'' arc. The few sympathetic characters present (Michelle, Storm'send, The Regency Elf, etc) are quickly phased out; everyone who sticks around is either too amoral or too apathetic to really care about.

* GeniusBonus: Bran Mac Muffin may seem like just a silly name, but it's actually a parody of an obscure pulp fiction hero named [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bran_Mak_Morn Bran Mak Morn]].

* AwesomeArt: There's a lot of things that have sent readers away from the series (see [[Main/TheyChangedItNowItSucks]] below), but it's important to acknowledge the only aspect of the series to be more or less universally praised throughout: Gerhard's beautiful background illustrations.

** On the topic of what sends readers away from the series, we should also look at the only aspect of the series to be more or less universally praised throughout: Gerhard's beautiful background illustrations.

* BrokenBase: Many fans of early ''Cerebus'' disliked [[CerebusSyndrome the direction it took]] with ''High Society'' and ''Church & State''. Many fans of ''High Society'' and ''Church & State'' disliked the direction ''Cerebus'' took afterward. There's also the debate about whether Dave Sim's anti-feminist views are misogynistic, misunderstood, accurate, or irrelevant to the comic.

** [[spoiler:Pope Cerebus killed an infant and an old person to shock the crowds]].

** [[spoiler:Serna betraying her friend Cirin and stealing her identity]].

** Not all readers were pleased with the narrative after ''High Society'' (Volume 2). While they appreciated the heavier political themes and more mature writing of those issues, some disliked the increasingly "cosmic" nature that the series was taking, especially the ending of ''Church and State.'' Not to mention just how unlikable as a character Cerebus had become throughout those volumes, his vile actions including [[spoiler: throwing a baby onto the street]], [[spoiler: a crippled old man off a building]], and perhaps worst of all [[spoiler: raping Astoria in the dungeon.]]
** Those that still appreciated the series during ''Church and State'' were later dissuaded by the following volumes, ''Jaka's Story'' and ''Melmoth''. In the former, Cerebus was reduced to a side character, [[ADayInTheLimelight while the side character Jaka was given full focus]], while the latter wasn't about Cerebus or the rest of the series at all, but rather a fictional representation of the death of Oscar Wilde.
** And after ''Jaka's Story'' and ''Melmoth'', the most common part of the series that spurns readers is the highly controversial ''Mothers and Daughters'' arc. At first, readers turned away from the series by the previous arcs that focused on unrelated side plots were excited at the prospect of an action-packed story returning Cerebus to his main character role. But they were bitterly disappointed as the whole arc became a polemic for Sim's controversial anti-feminist views.

** Not all readers were pleased with the narrative after ''High Society'' (Volume 2). While they appreciated the heavier political themes and more mature writing of those issues, some disliked the increasingly "cosmic" nature that the series was taking, especially the ending of ''Church and State.'' Not to mention just how unlikable as a character Cerebus had become throughout those volumes, his vile actions including [[spoiler: throwing a baby onto the street]], [[spoiler: a crippled old man off a building]], and perhaps worst of all [spoiler: raping Astoria in the dungeon.]]

* TheyChangedItNowItSucks: Some fans said this, in response to a variety of changes.

* MartyStu: [[spoiler:Rick]] is the only character the author deems worthy of Heaven.