{{For, the 2012 Urban Fantasy novel, Paul Cornell ''London Falling'' is a strip published in June-July 2006 in the British comics magazine '' 2000 AD'', created by writer

Simon Spurrier Simon "Si" Spurrier (born 2 May 1981) is a British comics writer and novelist, 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 ...

and artist

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 He created the 4-issue mini-series ''Dar ...

. It explores bogeymen from

English folklore English folklore consists of the myths and legends of England, including the English region's mythical creatures, traditional recipes, urban legends, proverbs, superstitions, and folktales. Its cultural history is rooted in Celtic, Christia ...

and

mythology Myth is a folklore genre consisting of narratives that play a fundamental role in a society, such as foundational tales or origin myths. Since "myth" is widely used to imply that a story is not objectively true, the identification of a narra ...

wreaking havoc in a modern-day setting. The title is a play on The Clash's 1979 album ''

London Calling ''London Calling'' is the third studio album by English rock band the Clash. It was originally released as a double album in the United Kingdom on 14 December 1979 by CBS Records, and in the United States in January 1980 by Epic Records. T ...

''.

Characters

The characters all draw heavily on

, especially the

folklore Folklore is shared by a particular group of people; it encompasses the traditions common to that culture, subculture or group. This includes oral traditions such as tales, legends, proverbs and jokes. They include material culture, ranging ...

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 The Bogeyman (; also spelled boogeyman, bogyman, bogieman, boogie monster, boogieman, or boogie woogie) is a type of mythic creature used by adults to frighten children into good behavior. Bogeymen have no specific appearance and conceptions var ...

. *

Black Shuck In English folklore, Black 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, one of many such black dogs recorded in folklore across the Br ...

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 An elf () is a type of humanoid supernatural being in Germanic mythology and folklore. Elves appear especially in North Germanic mythology. They are subsequently mentioned in Snorri Sturluson's Icelandic Prose Edda. He distinguishes "ligh ...

Hobgoblin A hobgoblin is a household spirit, typically appearing in folklore, once considered helpful, but which since the spread of Christianity has often been considered mischievous. Shakespeare identifies the character of Puck in his ''A Midsummer Nig ...

br>
shown in the story as a shapeshifting monster *

Jenny Greenteeth Jenny Greenteeth a.k.a. Wicked Jenny or Ginny Greenteeth is a figure in English folklore. A river-hag, similar to Peg Powler or a grindylow, she would pull children or the elderly into the water and drown them. The name is also used to descr ...

* 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 The Wild Hunt is a folklore motif (Motif E501 in Stith Thompson's Motif-Index of Folk-Literature) that occurs in the folklore of various northern European cultures. Wild Hunts typically involve a chase led by a mythological figure escorted by ...

br>
* Bucco-Boo, a kind of

Bogeyman The Bogeyman (; also spelled boogeyman, bogyman, bogieman, boogie monster, boogieman, or boogie woogie) is a type of mythic creature used by adults to frighten children into good behavior. Bogeymen have no specific appearance and conceptions var ...

(presumably the name coming via bugaboo) *

Mujina is an old Japanese term primarily referring to the Japanese badger, but traditionally to the Japanese raccoon dog (''tanuki''), causing confusion. Adding to the confusion, it may also refer to the introduced masked palm civet, and in some regio ...

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 East Horndon is a village and former civil parish, now in the parish of West Horndon, in the south of the borough of Brentwood in Essex in the East of England. It is situated just south of the A127 road near Herongate. The village Church of Al ...

who was killed by

James Tyrrell Sir James Tyrrell (c. 1455 – 6 May 1502) was an English knight, a trusted servant of king Richard III of England. He is known for allegedly confessing to the murders of the Princes in the Tower under Richard's orders. William Shakespeare po ...

(who also appears in the series) using mirror polished armour

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)

External links

2000 AD profileDiscussion on the mythology in the series
British comics English folklore European folklore 2000 AD comic strips

Characters

Appearances

See also

External links