Cartoon Museum

#80

A cheerful deep-dive into Britain’s wit on paper—from Georgian caricature to newspaper satire, underground comix and today’s graphic storytelling. It’s small, focused and smart: labels decode context, and rotating shows keep the punchlines fresh. Expect originals, process sketches and plenty to read; allow 45–75 minutes (more if you linger in the shop or a workshop).

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Opening Hours

Sunday: 12:00 – 16:00

Tuesday: 10:30 – 17:30

Wednesday: 10:30 – 17:30

Thursday: 10:30 – 17:30

Friday: 10:30 – 17:30

Saturday: 10:30 – 17:30

What's not to miss inside?

Political Satire Wall

Where pictures set the agenda

Hogarth-to-now: artists skewered policy, fashion and power in a single frame.

Pick one cartoon from your birth year and list what still lands—and what needs a label today.

📍 Main gallery

Process Corner

From rough to print

Blue pencils, ink lines and white-outs reveal how gags and pages are built.

Track three changes between a rough and the final—timing is the unseen art.

📍 Drawing & inking displays

British Comics Case

Serial stories that shaped childhoods

Weeklies and graphic novels show how panels teach pacing and voice.

Read one page silently, then again aloud—hear how balloons set rhythm.

📍 Comics & strips section

Library-shop Nook

Take the medium home

Indie anthologies and history primers make great ‘starter stacks’.

Choose one book that predates you and one that’s brand-new—compare punchlines.

📍 Exit level

🤓 Fun Facts

Your ticket typically converts to a 12-month pass—so one visit can become four seasons of new shows.

The museum moved from Holborn to Fitzrovia in 2019, rebuilding its galleries around conservation-friendly lighting for original inks and papers.

British political cartoons helped cement the very idea of the ‘caricature’ market in Georgian London—prints were sold like news.

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