Daily Constitutional editor Adam continues his Cartoon & Comic Book Tour of London…
You can catch up with all 30 previous stops at the Cartoon & Comic Book Tour of London blog here cartoonandcomicbooklondon.blogspot.co.uk.
If you are on older reader returning to comic books after a period away – which is my own back story, having rediscovered drawing through my daughter a couple of years ago – then you're in for a wild ride… unless you keep the following three words in mind at all times:
Rebirth, reboot, relaunch.
In the world of 21st century comic books
it's back-to-the-drawing-board time-and-again with new artist/writer teams
reimagining the famous names in superheroes on a regular basis. Back-stories are plundered and
retooled; new-look costumes are drawn; fresh slants – social, political and
personal – are found on the pantheon of characters.
Wonder Woman is no exception.
Which is why she turns up here on this
blog.
These days Wonder Woman is a Londoner.
Keep an eye out for her on the Jubilee,
Bakerloo or Northern lines out of Waterloo Station, she has a pad near Big Ben…
It would seem that her 70 year career as a
superhero has served her rather well, what with the cost of renting properties
in central London ranging from £350 - £3,230 per week.
Suffice to say that your average comic book
creator is more likely to live in humble (and wonderful) Brockley than in a
riverside penthouse.
But then, in a fictional world where the
protagonists sit and have a chat atop The Gherkin…
… even the price of London property seems
reasonably realistic.
The first frame above is taken from Wonder
Woman The New 52 by Brian Azzarello, Cliff Chiang & Tony Akins dating from
2011 in which the character's origins in Greek mythology are brought to the
fore. It's a field of research that I've always been very fond of, and one that
comes up as a theme when I lead my Sherlock Holmes tour for London Walks (more
from Holmes on another day, in the meantime catch up with Daffy Duck's take on the great consulting 'tec HERE).
Before it all gets a bit high falutin',
there's also a really splendid battle with Poseidon in the form of a sea monster in the Thames by Tower
Bridge…
That's London Bridge in the background of the first frame and some nice detailing of the Tower itself as well as Tower Bridge in the third. And the "Bong"? Well that's the chimes o' Big Ben carried on what must have been a particularly forceful west-to-southwesterly wind to ring out over the London traffic nearly three miles away.
(Here we go again! Tower Bridge and Big Ben
will soon have to pay rent on this blog, appearing as often as they have done. See also posts on Scooby Doo & Disney & Marvel & The Fantastic Four & Über & Danger Mouse.)
 |
| The author of this blog, nonplussed at all the kissing in his comic book |
The image featuring The Gherkin (above) is from
Superman/Wonderwoman by Charles Soule and Tony S. Daniel (2013) – in which WW
and the Man of Steel get all kissy-kissy, have tiffs and do all soppy stuff. Yuk.
By which I mean their characters and
relationships are explored in a depth never before seen in mainstream superhero
comics.
Nah, I was right first time: they get all
kissy-kissy. Yuk.
Despite the kissing (yuk), it is a fascinating take on the
most traditionally squeaky-clean of superheroes and lets us in to see their hidden weaknesses.
Long before she acquired her flat in Zone 1 (does she have to pay congestion charge on her invisible plane?) Wonder Woman visited London on a number of occasions. You should also check out the great fun
Sensation Comics No.9 (you can buy a digital version HERE) in which Wonder Woman takes on Catwoman at the
British Museum, where the latter is planning to steal the Golden Fleece…
(I visited The BM earlier in this
series, in Panel No.15 on The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen.)
Going back further yet, Wonder Woman swung by the capital about 2000 years ago when she joined Queen Boudicca, the Iceni Queen, in
fighting the Roman army.
WW's intervention sent the guys with the funny brush helmets home to Rome about 400 years ahead of their time.
WW's intervention sent the guys with the funny brush helmets home to Rome about 400 years ahead of their time.
Of the locations above, I'll chose the Gherkin to add to my Cartoon and Comic Book Tour of London…
You can catch up with the earlier "stops" on the tour here…
You can catch up with the earlier "stops" on the tour here…
A Cartoon and Comic Book Tour Of London Panels 1 - 30
Panel 1: Hogarth & Gin Lane – Bloomsbury
Panel 2: George Du Maurier – Hampstead
Panel 3: Private Eye – Soho
Panel 4: Scooby Doo – Wimbledon
Panel 8: Disney – Regent's Park
Panel 9: Sir David Low – Kensington
Panel 13: Deadpool & Spiderman – London Bridge
Panel 14: V For Vendetta – Old Bailey
Panel 17: Gosh! Comics & Soho
Panel 21: The Vinyl Underground – Archway Road Bridge
Panel 22: The Fantastic Four – Big Ben
Panel 23: Rivers of London – Putney
Panel 24: Über – Big Ben
Panel 25: Danger Mouse - The Thames & The City
Panel 26: Henry Cole – Old Bond Street
Panel 27: The House of Illustration – King's Cross
Panel 28: Cry Havoc – Dalston
Panel 29: Mr Punch – The National Gallery
Panel 30: M. Sasek – St Paul's Cathedral
A London Walk costs £10 – £8 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.
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