Cartoon Museum

I can only imagine the number of dissapointed children who’ve been taken to the Cartoon Museum over the years, as when they say cartoon here they’re talking about the UK’s tradition of satirical cartoons, rather than anything that’d show up on Saturday morning TV.

There are a couple of token superhero mannequins, almost as an apology, but the place really isn’t for kids. Fortunately though I’m not a kid and had a great time!

You’ll see a gallery of cartoons stretching from the 1800s to the present day, satirising everything from the Napoleonic Wars to COVID-19. Above all you’ll leave with a feeling that that, in the world of politics, nothing ever changes. Many of the modern cartoons seem, if anything, a little tame compared to the biting caricatures of yore.

The Windsor Tapestry

A visual history of King Charles III through 98 cartoons by Steve Bell, displayed on a 28-metre long tapestry alongside original artworks.

Comic Reading: There Was Screaming Everywhere

Lily Blakely, Ethan Llewellyn, and Jan Blum present their comics about mosh pits, kinky robots, and society’s voyeurism, with a chance to buy signed copies.

Sambourne House

Located in Kensington

Edward Linley Sambourne was a cartoonist for Punch and some (well, I found one) of his cartoons can be seen in the Cartoon Museum. His house is open to the public and as well as featuring many of his cartoons the house provides a window into how he drew them.

Sambourne was an early user of the camera and he’d get his staff to pose in costume to act as reference material, leaving behind a collection of photographs showing serious looking Victorian people attempting gloriously ridiculous poses.