London Falling

Summary

London Falling is a strip published in June-July 2006 in the British comics magazine 2000 AD, created by writer Simon Spurrier and artist Lee Garbett. It explores bogeymen from English folklore and mythology wreaking havoc in a modern-day setting.

The title is a play on The Clash's 1979 album London Calling.

Characters edit

The characters all draw heavily on mythology, especially the folklore from north west Europe. They include:

  • Jack Capelthwaite is a family man just getting on with his life but his old life is going to catch up with him as Capelthwaite is a shapeshifting monster, a bogeyman.
  • Black Shuck is the leader of the gang and his name comes from the East Anglian version of the black dog
  • Hedley Kow, a form of Elf or Hobgoblin [1], shown in the story as a shapeshifting monster
  • Jenny Greenteeth
  • Peter Struwwel, a character from a 19th-century German children's picture book authored by Heinrich Hoffman
  • The Tailor, a bogeyman from The Story of Little Suck-a-Thumb from the same book
  • Tommy Rawhead is an Irish hobgoblin with a taste for children
  • Black Annis
  • Cailleach Bheur
  • Dando the Huntsman, a Cornish priest connected with ideas of the Wild Hunt [2]
  • Bucco-Boo, a kind of Bogeyman (presumably the name coming via bugaboo)
  • Mujina is a Japanese bogeyman, that can take on the form seen in the series, a faceless ghost
  • Horndon Worm was a dragon from East Horndon who was killed by James Tyrrell (who also appears in the series) using mirror polished armour [3]

Appearances edit

Each episode of London Falling is given an individual title:

  • Part 1: City Folk (in 2000AD #1491)
  • Part 2: Loredogs (in 2000AD #1492)
  • Part 3: Let Me Take You By The Hand (in 2000AD #1493)
  • Part 4: That Go Bump (in 2000AD #1494)
  • Part 5: Smoke and Mirrors (in 2000AD #1495)

See also edit

External links edit

  • 2000 AD profile
  • Discussion on the mythology in the series