London Falling
Encyclopedia
London Falling is a strip in 2000 AD
, created by comic book writer Simon Spurrier
and Lee Garbett
the artist. 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
.
, especially the folklore
from north west Europe. They include:
2000 AD (comic)
2000 AD is a weekly British science fiction-oriented comic. As a comics anthology it serialises a number of separate stories each issue and was first published by IPC Magazines in 1977, the first issue dated 26 February. IPC then shifted the title to its Fleetway comics subsidiary which was sold...
, created by comic book writer Simon Spurrier
Simon Spurrier
Simon Spurrier is a British comics writer, who has previously worked as a cook, a bookseller and an art director for the BBC.Getting his start in comics with the British small press, he went on to write his own series for 2000 AD, like Lobster Random, Bec & Kawl, The Simping Detective and Harry...
and Lee Garbett
Lee Garbett
Lee Garbett is a British comic book artist born in the West Midlands. He has worked on British comics. As of February 2011, he is working freelance after a period of exclusivity with DC Comics.-Career:...
the artist. It explores bogeymen from English folklore
English folklore
English folklore is the folk tradition which has developed in England over a number of centuries. Some stories can be traced back to their roots, while the origin of others is uncertain or disputed...
and mythology
Mythology
The term mythology can refer either to the study of myths, or to a body or collection of myths. As examples, comparative mythology is the study of connections between myths from different cultures, whereas Greek mythology is the body of myths from ancient Greece...
wreaking havoc in a modern day setting.
The title is a play on The Clash's
The Clash
The Clash were an English punk rock band that formed in 1976 as part of the original wave of British punk. Along with punk, their music incorporated elements of reggae, ska, dub, funk, rap, dance, and rockabilly...
1979 album London Calling
London Calling
London Calling is the third studio album by the English punk rock band The Clash. It was released in the United Kingdom on 14 December 1979 through CBS Records, and in the United States in January 1980 through Epic Records...
.
Plot
London, 2006. Jack Capelthwaite seems to be an ordinary man with a boring office job and married with a wife and two kids. It appears that he is no different from any of the other hundreds of city-dwellers. But Jack is a very, very different man with a terrifying secret past. And with the release of his friend and leader Shuck, Jack and his friends' secret past is quickly re-emerging...Characters
The characters all draw heavily on mythologyMythology
The term mythology can refer either to the study of myths, or to a body or collection of myths. As examples, comparative mythology is the study of connections between myths from different cultures, whereas Greek mythology is the body of myths from ancient Greece...
, especially the folklore
Folklore
Folklore consists of legends, music, oral history, proverbs, jokes, popular beliefs, fairy tales and customs that are the traditions of a culture, subculture, or group. It is also the set of practices through which those expressive genres are shared. The study of folklore is sometimes called...
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 bogeymanBogeymanA bogeyman is an amorphous imaginary being used by adults to frighten children into compliant behaviour...
. - Black ShuckBlack ShuckBlack Shuck, Old Shuck, Old Shock or simply Shuck is the name given to a ghostly black dog which is said to roam the coastline and countryside of East Anglia...
is the leader of the gang and his name comes from the East Anglian version of the black dogBlack dog (ghost)A black dog is the name given to a being found primarily in the folklores of the British Isles. The black dog is essentially a nocturnal apparition, often said to be associated with the Devil, and its appearance was regarded as a portent of death. It is generally supposed to be larger than a normal... - Hedley Kow, a form of ElfElfAn elf is a being of Germanic mythology. The elves were originally thought of as a race of divine beings endowed with magical powers, which they use both for the benefit and the injury of mankind...
or HobgoblinHobgoblinHobgoblin is a term typically applied in folktales to describe a friendly but troublesome creature of the Seelie Court.The most commonly known hobgoblin is the character Puck in Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream. Puck, however, is only another name given to a much older character named Robin...
http://www.sacred-texts.com/neu/eng/efft/efft48.htm, shown in the story as a shapeshifting monster - Jenny GreenteethJenny GreenteethJenny Greenteeth is a figure in English folklore. A river hag, similar to Peg Powler, she would pull children or the elderly into the water and drown them. She was often described as green-skinned, with long hair, and sharp teeth...
- Peter StruwwelStruwwelpeterDer Struwwelpeter is a popular German children's book by Heinrich Hoffmann. It comprises ten illustrated and rhymed stories, mostly about children. Each has a clear moral that demonstrates the disastrous consequences of misbehavior in an exaggerated way. The title of the first story provides the...
, 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 RawheadBloody BonesBloody Bones is a boogeyman feared by children, and is sometimes called Rawhead and Bloody-Bones, Tommy Rawhead, or "Rawhead". The term was used "to awe children, and keep them in subjection", as recorded by John Locke in 1693...
is an Irish hobgoblin with a taste for children - Black AnnisBlack AnnisBlack Annis, also known as Black Agnes, is a bogeyman figure in English folklore. She is imagined as a blue-faced crone or witch with iron claws and a taste for human flesh...
- Cailleach BheurCailleachIn Irish and Scottish mythology, the , also known as the Cailleach Bheur, is a divine hag, a creatrix, and possibly an ancestral deity or deified ancestor...
- Dando the Huntsman, a Cornish priest connected with ideas of the Wild HuntWild HuntThe Wild Hunt is an ancient folk myth prevalent across Northern, Western and Central Europe. The fundamental premise in all instances is the same: a phantasmal, spectral group of huntsmen with the accoutrements of hunting, horses, hounds, etc., in mad pursuit across the skies or along the ground,...
http://www.mysteriousbritain.co.uk/folklore/dando.html - Bucco-Boo, a kind of BogeymanBogeymanA bogeyman is an amorphous imaginary being used by adults to frighten children into compliant behaviour...
(presumably the name coming via bugaboo) - MujinaMujinais an old Japanese term primarily referring to the badger. In some regions the term refers instead to the Japanese raccoon dog or to introduced civets...
is a form of tanukiTanukiis the common Japanese name for the Japanese raccoon dog . They have been part of Japanese folklore since ancient times...
, a Japanese bogeyman, that can take on the form seen in the series, a faceless ghost - Horndon Worm was a dragonEuropean dragonEuropean dragons are legendary creatures in folklore and mythology among the overlapping cultures of Europe.In European folklore, a dragon is a serpentine legendary creature. The Latin word draco, as in constellation Draco, comes directly from Greek δράκων,...
from East HorndonEast HorndonEast Horndon is a village in the south of the Brentwood borough of Essex and in the East of England. It is situated just south of the A127 road near Herongate...
who was killed by James TyrrellJames TyrrellSir James Tyrell was an English knight, a trusted servant of King Richard III of England. He is known for 'confessing' to the murders of the Princes in the Tower under Richard's orders. However, his statement may have been taken under torture, so the confession might not be genuine...
(who also appears in the series) using mirror polished armour http://www.foolishpeople.com/foolishpeople/2005/11/british_dragon_.html
Appearances
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)