#tassili rock art

KANEKO’S CRIB NOTES XXIII: GOGMAGOG

Here’s one that’s been on the KCN hit-list for as long as we’ve been in business: Gogmagog, the giant menace of Albion from way back when.

Pictured above is one of the many samples of prehistoric art adorning the walls of Tassili n’Ajjer - quite a trip from the British isles. This one in particular is an example of the manycarvings of “giants” found around sites such as Jabbaren, some panning out at a whopping eighteen feet high. Or perhaps you’ve seen them referred to elsewhere as “Martian gods”, placing the poor saps within an entire realm of delightful crackpot silliness. 

Gogmagog himself lacks any really compelling iconography of his own to till from, so it’s no surprise that Kaneko felt the need to look elsewhere for inspiration. The connection might seem fairly tenuous to begin with, but the prehistoric art motif makes for a comfy match with his evolutionary hombre, Albion.

Shout-out to dijeh for providing the hot tip on this one, via this series of translations - design comments straight from the horse’s mouth. Go check it out if you haven’t already!