Annotations Pages 43-62

Original Cover
The original cover to these twenty pages, when released as Harker issue three a couple of years ago (see left) showed Harker and Critchley sat outside the Museum Tavern, a real pub directly opposite the British Museum and just a few yards away from the original location of Gosh comic shop. This beautiful pub was the work of architect William Finch Hill, known for his music hall designs - you'll find out a little more about him here. In the early eighteenth century a pub called the Dog & Duck stood on the site, its name apparently reflecting the hunting that took place in the surrounding swamps and ponds. The British Museum was built in the 1760's, at which point the pub changed its name to reflect its close neighbour. Past customers apparently included J.B. Priestley, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and Karl Marx. Oh, and also Roger Gibson and Vince Danks.

Page Forty-three
Harker makes the point that the scene before him is particularly cheesy - a plot point that goes right over Critchley's head. As a comic and fantasy film geek, discovering a scene like this has to be a real pleasure for Critchley, and he fully believes in the reality of it, having been brought up on a diet of rubbishy old Hammer films (just as I was). Harker, of course, isn't fooled so easily.

Pages Forty-six - Forty-seven
Here we have the first hint of the true nature of the cult - four of the ten cult members here refer to the sexual aspect of the cult's activities, and you can safely assume the other six are simply being evasive about it. Check out the chap in glasses fourth from the right - that's Mr Johnson, and you'll be seeing him again later. The woman to the right of him is his wife, Mrs Johnson.

Page Forty-nine
The poster behind Simmons in panel five is the cover of Moonchild, a 1917 novel written by famous British occultist Aleister Crowley. The plot involves a war between rival groups of magicians (an echo of our own story) over the fate of an unborn child. Grant Morrison made much of this in his magnificent comic series 'The Invisibles', which I'd highly recommend.

Page Firty
"I'm a dead man. I'm dead." A particularly accurate prediction - Simmons is the next murder victim, as we'll see shortly.

Page Fifty-two
A lovely little detail here from Vince - have you noticed the spider on that pile of books to the left in the top panel?
"Stay away from any Wicker Men" - a wry reference to The Wicker Man, a very wonderful 1973 film featuring Christopher Lee as the leader of a cult on Summerisle, and the terrible fate of policeman Edward Woodward. There was a remake a few years ago, but ignore that travesty and watch the 1973 original.

Page Fifty-three - Page Fifty-four
A slow pan from the steps of the British Museum, through the gates, and across the road to the Museum Tavern, beautifully drawn here by Vince.

Page Fifty-five - Page Sixty
This six page sequence split the critics, half loving it, half a little uncomfortable with it. We knew it would be a little controversial but were keen to give it a go as an experiment in a different kind of storytelling. The pub interior here is the actual real interior of the Museum Tavern. This sequence falls at the direct centre of the book, and as such I think it's one of the most important scenes, summing up the story so far, the difference of opinion between our two detectives, and the relationship between them. Check out the little storylines Vince gives to the other characters in the pub, which I have Harker referring to obliquely in the script.

Page Sixty-one
"Wonder what the bird at the museum is doing tonight?" Clearly she had the evening free, as we'll see shortly...