Dave Sim (born 17 May 1956) is a Canadian cartoonist and publisher, known for his comic book Cerebus, his artistic experimentation, his advocacy of self-publishing and creators' rights, and his controversial political and philosophical beliefs.

Sim initially conceived it as a parody of Conan the Barbarian and other sword and sorcery comics, but after two years he began to consider the series a self-contained work that would run for 300 issues and be subdivided into novels.

By the time the 6000-page work was completed in March 2004, Sim had delved into politics, and an examination of feminism and gender, while becoming progressively more sophisticated and experimental in his storytelling and artwork.

He has criticized the use of copyright to restrict creators, and has arranged for his body of work to fall into the public domain following his death.

[6] Inspired by Charles Schulz's Peanuts and Outhouses of the North (a small book of cartoons published by the Highway Bookshop in northern Ontario), Sim spent 1975 and 1976 developing a comic strip called The Beavers.

In December 1977, Sim began publishing Cerebus, an initially bi-monthly, black-and-white comic book series.

During a panel discussion at the 1999 San Diego Comic-Con the editorial staff of The Comics Journal indicted Sim in what Gary Groth characterized as a "Nuremberg-style tribunal designed to bring to light the most deserving criminals who had over the past decade and longer besmirched the good name of the comics art and industry".

In his speech, Sim unabashedly advocated for the speculator boom occurring at the time, a position that Groth felt personified the worst aspects of capitalism and greed.

[14] Sim has called the complete run of Cerebus a 6,000-page novel,[15] a view shared by several academic writers[16][17] and comics historians.

[18] He purchased Gerhard's stake in Aardvark-Vanaheim[19] and has made arrangements for the copyright of Cerebus to fall into the public domain following his death.

One, which he initially referred to only as "Secret Project One", was Judenhass (German for "Jew hatred"), a 56-page "personal reflection on The Holocaust" which was released on May 28, 2008.

[23] The other is glamourpuss, a comic-book series which was a combined parody of fashion magazines (wherein Sim traces photos from real fashion magazines) and a historical study of the photorealist style of comic-strip art, for which he did a promotional "tour" of comics-related forums online in February 2008.

In 2013 it was announced IDW would publish the series in a reworked edition, as well as handle a number of other projects, including a Cerebus cover collection.

Bestowed annually at SPACE (Small Press and Alternative Comics Expo) in Columbus, Ohio from 2002 to 2008[30] the prize consisted of a $500 cash award and a commemorative plaque.

[34][35] During the 1980s and early 1990s, Sim used his sales leverage from Cerebus to act as a major proponent and advocate of creators' rights and self-publishing.

After the Puma Blues distribution incident, he helped write the Creators' Bill of Rights[36] along with Kevin Eastman, Peter Laird, and Scott McCloud.

[38][39] In the course of writing Cerebus, Sim expressed opposition to feminism and made controversial statements regarding men and women.

Inside was a lengthy article written by Jonathan Hagey and Kim Thompson that published responses from comics creators such as Alan Moore, Seth, Rick Veitch, Steve Bissette, and Sim's friend and fellow Canadian Chester Brown.

In the essay in Cerebus #186, Sim characterized fellow self-publishing cartoonist Jeff Smith as an example of a man dominated by his wife.

[42] In it, Sim furthered the themes from "Reads", describing the tangent he contends western society has taken due to the widespread acceptance and proliferation of feminism, beginning in 1970.

[46] In 2008, Sim sent out a self-written form letter to individuals who had sent him mail, detailing his disagreement with being called a misogynist and disenchantment with what he perceived as a dearth of support in refuting those claims to his character.

[47] During a panel discussion at the 1999 San Diego Comic-Con the editorial staff of The Comics Journal indicted Sim in what Groth characterized as a "Nuremberg-style tribunal designed to bring to light the most deserving criminals who had over the past decade and longer besmirched the good name of the comics art and industry".

In his speech, Sim unabashedly advocated for the speculator boom occurring at the time, a position that Groth felt personified the worst aspects of capitalism and greed.

[13] In September 2018, Sim publicly voiced support for Ethan Van Sciver, a leading figure in the Comicsgate movement.