References In Stickleback Parts 1 & 2

With part 3 of Stickleback out already, I thought it might be fun to share some of the stuff we’ve referred to so far in the series. Ian often drops little references into his scripts, and though sometimes they'll appear in small panels that make them too tiny to read (not to mention I'm horribly bad at likenesses), I always have a go at fitting them in.

Part One

Gog and Magog
There are numerous myths and legends surrounding the names Gog and Magog all around the world - in Stickleback we're referring to the tradition in which Gog and Magog are two giants who are the defenders of London (figures of them are carried in the Lord Mayor's Show to this day).

See Wikipedia entry for Gog and Magog

Ian must have a bit of thing for these two; if you look carefully, statues of Gog and Magog can also be seen on either side of the door to the Martian's chamber in the last chapter of Scarlet Traces .


Victorian London
Our rather fanciful version of the city, laced with overhead walkways, draws inspiration from the set design (by John Box?) for Carol Reed's 1968 film of Lionel Bart's Oliver!








Abdul Alhazred
Readers of the work of H. P. Lovecraft will be familiar with the name of Abdul Alhazred the Mad Arab, translator of the dreaded Necronomicon.








Part Two

Will Hay, Moore Marriot and Graham Moffatt
The trio of comic actors, here more-or-less reprising their roles as Buggleskelly, Harbottle and Albert from the 1937 film Oh Mister Porter!










PC 49 and Sgt. George Dixon
Practically impossible to make out, these two - PC 49 (Police Constable Archibald Berkeley-Willoughby) was the eponymous hero of a popular BBC radio series which ran from 1947-53.

George Dixon was the lead character of the television series Dixon of Dock Green. Played by Jack Warner, the character was first introduced in the 1949 Ealing film The Blue Lamp, and featured in a stage play and a series of one-off television plays before the BBC commissioned a regular television series, which ran from 1955 to 1976.



The Jolly Cripple Pub
Happy haunt of the crew from Red Seas, this is the first hint that Stickleback shares a universe with Ian Edginton and Steve Yeowell's popular strip for 2000AD.








Background Characters in The Jolly Cripple
You'd do well to spot them, but background left are meant to be Janus Stark and Blind Largo (Valentine Bey spills Stark's pint as he staggers out of the pub on the last page of this episode). Sat just behind Len Chipps is someone who might be Adam Eterno, and on the wall is a picture of the former proprietress (Mistress Meg?) from Red Seas.



Tonga the Pygmy
Inspired by the Andaman Islander from Conan-Doyle's The Sign of the Four.