Our new series for 2015! Daily Constitutional editor Adam takes us on a Cartoon & Comic Book Tour of London - 20 stops on a metropolis-wide search for all things illustrated.
He'll be taking in everything from Gillray and Hogarth, to Scooby Doo and on to Deadpool and beyond! In addition he'll guide you to the best in London comic book stores as well as galleries that showcase the best in the cartoonist's art.
I've already pointed you in the direction of Orbital Comics in the Cartoon & Comic Book Tour of London. And before our 20-part series ends, you should also check out Gosh!
Gosh! is not only a great comic book store - well-stocked and friendly - but their events are top notch, too. This evening, for example, sees the launch do for Princess Decomposia & Count Spatula, a lovely looking book by Andi Watson.
Andi Watson will be signing copies but if you can't make it along you can reserve or order a signed copy by emailing [email protected].
There has been a Gosh! comic book store in London for as long as I can remember. Its former home was near the British Museum but it can currently be found doing its bit for turning back the tide of corporate dullness in Soho.
Another thing to love about Gosh! is that they give pride of place to indy comics, right at the top of the stairs - you can't miss 'em if you're heading down to the comic book and back issues section. Support your local comic book store and support your local comic book artists and creators at the same time.
(Indeed the next comic book we'll feature in our tour gives Gosh! Comics a starring role in the narrative. Metroland was recommended to us by Camilla at Orbital Comics and it will be the next stop on our Cartoon & Comic Book Tour of London.)
Soho itself provides rich pickings for cartoons and their creators. Being an iconoclasts' paradise Soho is a natural home for cartoonists - Private Eye is based here (s ee earlier blog post). The defining events of 19th Century Soho, the cholera epidemics, also inspired some famous and angry cartoons. Perhaps most famous of all is A Court for King Cholera ...
... by John Leech, published in Punch 1852. Twenty years earlier George Cruikshank had already poked fun at a profiteering medical profession in an earlier outbreak of the disease...
A London Walk costs £9 - £7 concession. To join a London Walk, simply meet your guide at the designated tube station at the appointed time. Details of all London Walks can be found at www.walks.com
