Sticky Step Thirteen: Golden Diamond Chinese Restaurant (formerly Bright Pearl Restaurant, now closed), 346 Spadina Ave.

Sometimes you get a goldmine of photos and sometimes you get nothing, or very nearly close to it. Sadly, that's the case with the next two locations I went on the hunt for. The first is the rooftop patio where the Human-Lizard briefly interacts with three young women (one of whom, Barb, will have a much more important role in the comic as it unfolds) while grappling with a giant worm monster.

Barb and friends on a rooftop patio barely tolerating the Human-Lizard's efforts to protect them.

I just couldn't for the life of me figure out where the rooftop patio in question is in Toronto. Jason Loo, creator of The Pitiful Human-Lizard, may have mentioned to me where the setting was, but if so, it was a part of town I'm less familiar with and I've completely forgotten since. Trying to locate it on my own has proven impossible because there are so many rooftop patios in the city, it could literally be anywhere. What's interesting is that this is a recurring theme with Barb's character, because as I've read through the series and studied each of Barb's appearances, I've discovered that she lives up to the self-appointed title of "street ninja" by nearly always being someplace I'm completely unable to identify.

Barb dismisses the Human-Lizard with a word, and the giant worm monster with a thought.

The second disappointment was discovering that the restaurant Lucas and his parents go to dinner at, Golden Diamond Chinese Restaurant (located in the centre of Toronto's Spadina Ave. Chinatown district), has since closed down. Hopefully it will reopen again in the near future and, if luck holds out, the interior will continue to be the same as it has been since the restaurant went by the name Bright Pearl.

The interior of the now-closed Golden Diamond restaurant at 346 Spadina Ave.

Until then, however, I've had to satisfy myself with just a shot of the sign which still hangs from the front of the building at 346 Spadina Ave. The exterior of the building known as the Hsin Kuang Centre does feature in a later chapter of The Pitiful Human-Lizard and I've taken a bunch of photos, but I'll save those for another day.

The "Gold Diamond" sign still hangs in front of the Hsin Kunag Centre at 346 Spadina Ave.

Next up: Things get crazy at the Royal Ontario Museum (ROM) when Bodyrocks tussles with Majestic Rat!

-DE

Sticky Step Twelve: Fairmont Royal York, 100 Front St. W.

While Lucas battles with a giant monster alongside Mother Wonder in front of The Dufferin Street Tunnel and Parkdale Amphitheatre, his parents, Hugh and Lauren Barrett, are at home across town watching a news story covering Hugh's early career as the Lizard-Man, Toronto's "first superhero."

The Fairmont Royal York at 100 Front St. West.

In truth, Hugh was really the founder and one-time head of a local glue manufacturer, Barrett Strong Adhesives, and the Lizard-Man was just a gimmick he'd come up with to sell more of his stock-in-trade. By applying his glue to the gloves and boots of the Lizard-Man suit, Hugh could then effortlessly scale the sides of various iconic Toronto buildings to draw attention and demonstrate the quality and strength of his product.

Hugh Barrett makes a deal with the manager of the Fairmont Royal York.

In an interview during the news story, Hugh recounts the publicity stunt that propelled him to local stardom. He'd made a wager with the manager of the Fairmont Royal York that he could climb the outside of the hotel all the way to the top. With 28 floors and over a thousand rooms, the historic hotel was the largest and tallest building in the city when it was first built in 1929, and the east wing expansion during the mid-'50s increased that room total to 1,600.

The Lizard-Man: triumpant!

So, before the construction of the CN Tower and the proliferation of skyscrapers to follow, it would still have been one of the most prominent edifices along the Toronto skyline in the late '60s and early '70s and would have presented the greatest challenge for Hugh's sticky gloves and boots.
 

The Fairmont Royal York seen from the observatory level of the CN Tower.

Of course, Hugh was more than up to that challenge and won himself and Lauren a week in the hotel's Royal Suite, traditionally reserved for Queen Elizabeth II and other members of "The Maple Crown" when visiting the city. They then enjoyed a period of celebrity status which included in-costume visits to kids in the hospital, partying with the stars of the day and continuing to scale the sides of famous Toronto buildings, like Honest Ed's during Ed Mirvish's famous thanksgiving turkey handouts.

Honest Ed signs from a bygone era.

Next up: The Human-Lizard takes on a worm monster and then meets up with his parents for dim sum at Golden Diamond Chinese Restaurant (formerly Bright Pearl Restaurant).

-DE