Sticky Step Twenty-Three: Intercontinental Hotel/Proof Vodka Bar - 220 Bloor St. West

About twenty minutes after checking his phone on Augusta Ave. in Kensington Market, stops to lace up a loose sticky boot and watches Toronto's hardest working super-heroine, Mother Wonder. Tearing the roof off a getaway car and foiling the driver's attempt to steal a moon rock from the Royal Ontario Museum (ROM), Mother Wonder really gives him the business after missing out on her scheduled spa night. Meanwhile, Lucas checks his message-less phone again. Just what the heck happened to RooBarb, anyway?

Mother Wonder gets that moon rock back for the ROM, but does she have Proof?

Where exactly is it that Mother Wonder metes out her spa-night justice? I'm not sure, really, but with Lucas's established movements within a very set time-frame and the mention of the ROM by Mother Wonder, I thought the scene may have played out somewhere close by. Like just across the street and a few doors down at 220 Bloor Street West, the Intercontinental Hotel's vodka bar, Proof.

Proof Vodka Bar at 220 Bloor Street West.

At first glance, the location looks similar, but after taking pictures and comparing them with the panel in question, I'm either way off or there's been some changes to the street geography in the past few years. As always, if I do discover I've hunted down the wrong location, I'll be sure to update once I've gotten back on the right track.

Next up: The Human-Lizard finally finds the trouble he's been looking for when he takes on Warshell at the Art Gallery of Ontario!

-DE

Sticky Step Nineteen: Lee's Palace, 529 Bloor St. W.

Just a few blocks to the north and west of Dragon City Mall in Chinatown, while literally hanging out on the back cover of The Pitiful Human-Lizard #1, Lucas disguises his presence in the Bloor Annex neighbourhood like a chameleon by using his sticky gloves and boots to cling to the colourful monster mural that adorns the wall of Lee's Palace, the legendary live music venue at 529 Bloor Street West.

The Human-Lizard blends in with the monster mural art of Alex "Al Runt" Currie.

The building began it's life as a venue in 1919 as Allen's Bloor Theatre and, as ownership changed hands through the years, it was renamed several times. In 1985, the building was purchased by Mr. Chong Su Lee and opened it's doors as Lee's Palace on September 5, 1985. Although Mr. Lee passed away in 2001 and the venue has again changed hands several times since, Lee's Palace continues to endure as one of Toronto's hottest venue's for alternative and local indie bands.

Lee's Palace at 529 Bloor Street West.

Looking a little like a cartoon version of The Garden Of Earthly Delights by Hieronymus Bosch, the entire front of the building was painted by renowned Toronto muralist Alex Currie, who paints under the pseudonym Al Runt, or simply "Runt." While Lee's Palace is perhaps Currie's best known mural work, other examples can be found all over Toronto's neighbourhoods, from Parkdale's Electric Mud BBQ to Kensington Market's Big Fat Burrito, and even as far away as the Niagara Region, where a Runt mural can be found along the side of Park's Furniture in St. Catharines.

Another example of Runt's mural art on the side of 316 St. Paul Street in St. Catharines, ON.

Next up: A new year and a new issue as the locations found in The Pitiful Human-Lizard #2 are explored, starting with the Gladstone Hotel!


-DE

Sticky Step Seventeen: Honest Ed's & Hero Certified Burgers, 571-81 Bloor St. W.

After the Battle of the ROM is wrapped up and recounted by a classroom full of students (and now the Human-Lizard's biggest fans), a one-page backup story follows one of those students home and sheds some light on the trials and tribulations of Mother Wonder, Toronto's busiest and most beloved superhero, as she contends with Rabb the Malevolent outside Honest Ed's, the legendary discount department store at the corner of Bloor and Bathurst streets.

Rabb the Malevolent gives Honest Ed a piece of his mind.

In a parody of the old Hostess Fruit Pie ads frequently found in '70s comics, Mother Wonder manages to subdue Rabb with the promise of a savoury Hot Flaky Cake, which she delivers with a solid right cross directly into Rabb's mouth.

Mother Wonder can't get clean enough after dealing with Rabb.

With an arm now covered in Rabb slobber, Mother Wonder goes straight for the store's entrance to get a good deal on some bleach. Meanwhile, right around the corner, on the Bathurst side of Honest Ed's, it looks like the Human-Lizard may have been trying to help out, but couldn't quite manage the iconic store's enormous sign on the first of two variant covers for The Pitiful Human-Lizard #1.

The Human-Lizard hanging out on the Honest Ed's sign over Hero Burger.

Located at 581 Bloor Street West, Honest Ed's (named for it's founder, "Honest" Ed Mirvish) first opened it's doors to the public in 1948 and has been an iconic Toronto landmark ever since. Following Ed Mirvish's death in in 2007, the store was put up for sale in July 2013 and is scheduled to close it's doors permanently later this week on December 31, 2016.

Next up: Lucas takes in the Toronto skyline from Chinatown on the second variant cover for The Pitiful Human-Lizard #1!

-DE

Sticky Step Four: Toronto BJJ, 813 Bloor St. W. a.k.a. TDOT BJJ

Want to train just like the Human-Lizard, but don't know where to begin? Well, wonder no more! To be in the top fighting form Lucas Barrett needs to fight evil across Toronto, he takes Brazilian Jiu Jitsu classes at TDOT BJJ.

Toronto BJJ (Brazilian Jiu Jitsu) at 813 Bloor St. W. on the corner of Crawford St.

Although Lucas sticks to his classes regularly, he hasn't been able to advance from blue belt to purple in over sixteen months now. Then, when his credit card is declined, his black belt professor Marco suggests that Lucas take it as a sign to give it up.

The entrance to TDOT BJJ and Toronto BJJ seen from Bloor St. W.

Lucas blames being injured for the lack of progress, but in true hero fashion, doesn't waver from his determination to continue his training. After answering an ad in the paper for paid medical testing at Walmer + Corp., Lucas is once again flush with cash and what's more, he finds that his endurance and stamina have increased since the drug testing. What Lucas will also quickly learn is that the injuries he sustains patrolling the city as the Human-Lizard aren't going to hold him back any more, either . . .

The entrance to TDOT BJJ and Toronto BJJ seen from Crawford St.

Aside from a newly planted tree replacing the now-missing mailbox (which should tell you everything you need to know about the current state of Canada Post!), TDOT BJJ is identical to Toronto BJJ Mixed Martial Arts Academy, located across from Christie Pits Park at 813 Bloor St. W.

To learn more about taking classes at Toronto BJJ for Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, Mixed Martial Arts and Muay Thai kickboxing, check out: www.torontobjj.com

Next up: Examining some of the neighbourhood storefronts near The Pitiful Human-Lizard's secret Lizard Lair!

-DE