Issue #2 of Here Be Dragons is out now, the second part of a four-issue miniseries by me, published by Titan Comics and set in the world of Ben Aaronovitch’s Rivers of London – part urban fantasy, part modern-day police procedural.
Written by me, with guidance from Ben, script editor Andrew Cartmel (Doctor Who, The Vinyl Detective series) and senior editor David Leach (Death’s Head, Warhide), the story features interior art by José María Beroy (Deadman, Star Trek, Heavy Metal) and covers by Veronica Fish (Spider-Woman, Archie, Blackwood) and Patricio Clarey (Escape from Alcatraz, Secrets of the Library of Doom).
In issue #1, magic cop Peter Grant faced off against an aerial attack in the skies over London, and as the story continues, the mystery surrounding the threat to his city deepens…
With each issue in the Here Be Dragons series I’ll be posting an “author commentary” piece to highlight and annotate some of the concepts that appear in the comics.
Spoiler Warning! These notes give away story points from issue #2 of Rivers of London: Here Be Dragons and other stories from the Rivers series!
The title of issue #2’s story is “Midnight Lightning”, once again referencing a song by Jimi Hendrix.
P.1 – Peter’s idealized imaginings of his confrontations with strange creatures reference Hammer Horror movies, Jurassic World, Conan the Barbarian and the table-top roleplaying game Dungeons & Dragons. “A&E” is short for “Accident & Emergency”, the department of a British hospital to which you’d report if you had a run-in with something nasty…
P.2 – Inevitably, in a comic with the word “Dragons” in the title, there’s going to be references to George RR Martin’s mega-epic Game of Thrones. Peter also name-checks the cult 1982 movie Q: The Winged Serpent, which was one of the inspirations for this story.
P.3 – Peter owns a copy of the Fiend Folio, a sourcebook of monsters and creatures for the Dungeons & Dragons RPG.
P.6 – Veteran roadie Plugs mentions several of the pop stars he worked with during his career, including David Bowie, Peter Gabriel of Genesis, Suzi Quatro and Posh Spice (aka Victoria Beckham) of The Spice Girls. He also references the classic videogame Space Invaders.
P.7 – Busker Mick Spooner refers to the Force from the Star Wars saga. The unnamed man seen accompanying Plugs in flashback is, of course, none other than rock legend Jimi Hendrix.
P.8 – The writing on Spooner’s guitar pick is a reference to the first album by The Jimi Hendrix Experience.
P.10 – Sahra Guleed’s comment about Peter crashing a helicopter into Big Ben is a reference to Jose Beroy’s amazing cover art for issue #1 of Here Be Dragons. Peter’s reputation for property damage comes from his exploits in the novels, including the flooding of Covent Garden (Rivers of London), the destruction of Skygarden Tower (Broken Homes) and more! The Fey refer to the police as the “Issacs”, a reference to Sir Issac Newton, the father of the modern British magical institution, and to Peter Grant as “the Starling”. As for the question of who “Shaun” is… We can only say, he’s probably a Cylon.
P.14 – Winter Wonderland is an annual year-end fair held in London’s Hyde Park, featuring amusements, rides, live music and festive markets. Peter Grant’s cousin Abigail, her friend Simon and the talking fox Indigo all appear in the novella What Abigail Did That Summer. Abigail’s fondue joke is a reference to South Park.
P.15 – The song playing over the speakers in this scene is “Foxey Lady”, from the album Are You Experienced? by The Jimi Hendrix Experience.
P.17-18 – The Cock Tavern pub on Phoenix Road and Plugs’s flat in nearby Ossulton Road are situated in the NW1 district in London.
P.19 – Plugs plays another Jimi Hendrix album, Electric Ladyland; the track he’s listening to is “And The Gods Made Love”.
Issue #3 of Rivers of London: Here Be Dragons arrives on September 6th; more details here at Titan Comics.
