The Cartoon Museum 

Car(e) to(on) visit this museum with us? 

The Cartoon Museum is situated on Wells Street, just off Oxford Street. When I was walking to the museum, I almost missed it because its exteriors blended with the rest of the commercial buildings, and the signs were so low-key that I had a hard time locating them.

So be sure to keep alert when heading over there! 

When you enter, you will notice a flight of stairs going down, with fun comic characters on the walls to welcome you into the museum's reception and gift shop.

There, you can get your student tickets for only £4, an adult ticket for £9.50, or free if you have the National Art Pass. Children under 18 can also enter for free, so it could be a good excursion for people with kids.

The staff at the counter were really friendly and were happy to explain what events/exhibitions were currently going on in the museum.  


Currently, they have ‘The British Invasion of American Comics’, where you will learn how the British comic artists and writers have incorporated American favorites, such as DC superheroes, into British Newspapers.

Comics from the Batman, Spider-man, and Superman franchises were displayed; it was fun to see the sketching phases and early manuscripts of the popular comics.

Even the sketches were already impressive and detailed, showing that the artists and writers had put a lot of effort into entertaining the public. 


If you’re not interested in superheroes, that’s fine because this exhibition also shows the introduction of romance, crime, and horror comics after the Second World War.

There was the classics such Popeye the Sailor Man, Frankenstein (comic version) and Disney icons like Snow White and Mickey Mouse. 


I also liked that the exhibition had interactive elements. Kids and adults could create their own superheroes or write their own comics using the templates given at the designated tables.

The exhibition was quite short, so there was enough time to view the Cartoon Museum’s display.


The history behind the term ‘cartoon’ is interesting because cartoons were meant to observe, report, satirize, and entertain.

The Cartoon Museum houses comics and prints of all these qualities, from satirical panels of political figures and jokes about common human behaviors to war comic reports at the time.

There were also modern comics, such as the Dog in the Burning Room meme, and early prints of events during the Georgian/Victorian era. 


I personally liked the war comics because you can clearly tell that the artists were trying to convey the news in fun, satirical ways to lighten the tension of that time.

It was interesting to learn how the artists felt about the war situation and how they were aiding the public in providing a visual understanding of the war. 


Today, there was a special event at the museum, where comic artist/author, Edward Ross, was hosting a workshop of making a wall-size comic in celebration of launching his book Graphic Novel Builder.

It was a fun workshop because we are given three bowls—in each a character, situation and character description—to pick out from to make a comic theme.

Once you picked your theme, you can get started on your own comic like I did! Edward was really nice and was encouraging with the drawing process.

Overall, the museum was really fun and I recommend it to people who like comic or just have an interest in satirical arts. It was definitely worth the £4!

Be sure to check out their gift shop as well because they have such a range of comics and little paraphernalia of different comic icons.

‘The British Invasion of American Comics’ ends on the 19th of October but I am sure there are many other fun exbitions and events coming up so be sure to check out the museum’s website


Location:

63 Wells Street, London W1A 3AE

Written by Althea Scully



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Vivienne Westwood: The Personal Collection