Robert’s a real doll… Barbie doll that is!
Here’s another topic carried over from last year’s Led Zeppelin May, which I wanted to get to then, but didn’t: the band’s influence on popular culture over the years. First, take this quartet of demon-like monsters from the manga and later anime Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure.
Manga version, top; anime, below.
The four are named, respectively, Page, Jones, Plant, and Bornnam (in Japanese, Peiji, Jōnzu, Puranto and Bōnnamu.) Bornnam might have taken the place of Bonzo for legal reasons (which may have been null because Peter Grant isn’t around to protect his non-existent band anymore) or been easier to pronounce in Japanese. The creatures themselves were the nemesis of members of the Joestar family, whose descendants battle evil over the centuries. Perhaps the manga’s creator, Hirohika Araki, was influenced by the band’s associations with black magic. The four are killed after being trapped inside a burning chandelier.
A Jimmy Page action figure complete with dragon suit and double-necked guitar.
Here’s a Jimmy Page Tarot card, and of course he’s The Hermit. Robert would be The Sun, Bonzo The Devil, and Jonesy, your guess is as good as mine.
Another Jimmy as a mandolin-strumming centaur, from a bizarre art poster that featured the band members as mythical creatures interspersed with song lyrics.
The cover of this graphic novel about drug addiction research on lab rats plays tribute to the inside sleeve of Led Zeppelin IV. There’s are more artistic influences from that album on the inside, which is fitting when you consider the band’s problems with drugs and alcohol.
In this online comic strip called Edge City,the main character joins a Led Zeppelin tribute band called Led Balloon, but things don’t go the way he’s hoped.
You don’t have to be a groupie to sleep with Led Zeppelin.
Art by spoof-or-not-spoof
Better Led than Red! Or Dead!
In the days of N’Sync this classic rock station had the perfect rejoinder.
