''Viz'' is a British
adult
An adult is a human or other animal that has reached full growth. In human context, the term ''adult'' has meanings associated with social and legal concepts. In contrast to a " minor", a legal adult is a person who has attained the age of major ...
comic magazine Comic magazine may refer to:
* Comics anthology
* ''Comic Magazine'', a 1986 Japanese film
* Comic Magazines, the parent company of Quality Comics
* Franco-Belgian comics magazines
* Japanese manga magazines
* A periodical containing comic strips, ...
founded in 1979 by
Chris Donald
Chris Donald (born 25 April 1960 in Newcastle, England) is the founder of, and one of the principal contributors to, the British comic magazine '' Viz''.
Biography
Donald attended West Jesmond Primary School,http://www.communitychannel.org/con ...
. It parodies British comics of the post-war period, notably ''
The Beano
''The Beano'' (formerly ''The Beano Comic'', also known as ''Beano'') is a British anthology comic magazine created by Scottish publishing company DC Thomson. Its first issue was published on 30 July 1938, and it became the world's longest-runn ...
'' and ''
The Dandy
''The Dandy'' was a British children's comic magazine published by the Dundee based publisher DC Thomson. The first issue was printed in December 1937, making it the world's third-longest running comic, after ''Il Giornalino'' (cover dated 1 Oct ...
'', but with extensive
profanity
Profanity, also known as cursing, cussing, swearing, bad language, foul language, obscenities, expletives or vulgarism, is a socially offensive use of language. Accordingly, profanity is language use that is sometimes deemed impolite, rud ...
,
toilet humour
Toilet humour, or potty or scatological humour (compare scatology), is a type of off-colour humour dealing with defecation, diarrhea, constipation, urination and flatulence, and to a lesser extent vomiting and other bodily functions. It sees subs ...
,
black comedy
Black comedy, also known as dark comedy, morbid humor, or gallows humor, is a style of comedy that makes light of subject matter that is generally considered taboo, particularly subjects that are normally considered serious or painful to discus ...
,
surreal humour
Surreal humour (also called surreal comedy, absurdist humour, or absurdist comedy) is a form of humour predicated on deliberate violations of causal reasoning, thus producing events and behaviours that are obviously illogical. Portrayals of surrea ...
and generally sexual or violent storylines. It also sends up
tabloid newspapers, with mockeries of articles and letters pages. It features parody competitions and advertisements for overpriced 'limited edition'
tat, as well as obsessions with half-forgotten kitsch celebrities from the 1960s to the 1980s, such as
Shakin' Stevens
Michael Barratt (born 4 March 1948), known professionally as Shakin' Stevens, is a Welsh singer and songwriter. He was the UK's biggest-selling singles artist of the 1980s.
His recording and performing career began in the late 1960s, althoug ...
and
Rodney Bewes
Rodney Bewes (27 November 1937 – 21 November 2017) was an English television actor and writer who portrayed Bob Ferris in the BBC television sitcom ''The Likely Lads'' (1964–66) and its colour sequel ''Whatever Happened to the Likely Lads?'' ...
. Occasionally, it satirises
current affairs Current affairs may refer to:
News
* Current Affairs (magazine), ''Current Affairs'' (magazine) a bimonthly magazine of culture and politics.
* Current affairs (news format): a genre of broadcast journalism
* Current Affairs, former name for Behi ...
and politicians, but it has no particular political standpoint.
Its success in the early 1990s led to the appearance of numerous rivals copying the format ''Viz'' pioneered; none of them managed to attain its popularity. Circulation peaked at 1.2 million in the early 1990s, making it the third-most popular magazine in the UK, but
ABC
ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script known as the alphabet.
ABC or abc may also refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media Broadcasting
* American Broadcasting Company, a commercial U.S. TV broadcaster
** Disney–ABC Television ...
-audited sales have since dropped, to an average of 48,588 per issue in 2018. The 300th issue was published in October 2020.
History
![Viz Comics logo](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/3c/Viz_Comics_logo.svg)
The comic was started in
Newcastle upon Tyne
Newcastle upon Tyne ( RP: , ), or simply Newcastle, is a city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England. The city is located on the River Tyne's northern bank and forms the largest part of the Tyneside built-up area. Newcastle is ...
in December 1979 by
Chris Donald
Chris Donald (born 25 April 1960 in Newcastle, England) is the founder of, and one of the principal contributors to, the British comic magazine '' Viz''.
Biography
Donald attended West Jesmond Primary School,http://www.communitychannel.org/con ...
, who produced the comic from his bedroom in his parents'
Jesmond
Jesmond is a suburb of Newcastle upon Tyne, situated to the east of the Town Moor. Jesmond is considered to be one of the most affluent suburbs of Newcastle upon Tyne, with higher average house prices than most other areas of the city.
H ...
home with help from his brother
Simon
Simon may refer to:
People
* Simon (given name), including a list of people and fictional characters with the given name Simon
* Simon (surname), including a list of people with the surname Simon
* Eugène Simon, French naturalist and the genus ...
and friend Jim Brownlow. Donald himself cannot remember exactly where the name of the magazine comes from. The most he can remember is: at the time, he needed to come up with a proper name for it, and he considered the word "Viz" a very easy word to write/remember, as it consisted of three letters which are easily made with straight lines.
![Simon Thorp](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/fe/Simon_Thorp.jpg)
It came about at around the time, and in the spirit of, the
punk
Punk or punks may refer to:
Genres, subculture, and related aspects
* Punk rock, a music genre originating in the 1970s associated with various subgenres
* Punk subculture, a subculture associated with punk rock, or aspects of the subculture s ...
fanzines
A fanzine (blend word, blend of ''fan (person), fan'' and ''magazine'' or ''-zine'') is a non-professional and non-official publication produced by fan (person), enthusiasts of a particular cultural phenomenon (such as a literary or musical genre) ...
, and used alternative methods of distribution, such as the prominent DIY record label and shop
Falling A Records
Falling A Records is a British Essex, England-based independent record label, founded in the late 1970s by Barry Lamb and Peter Ashby.,''Record Collector'', October 2011, no 393, page 54 born out of the D.I.Y cassette movement. It owned a sho ...
, which was an early champion of the comic. The first 12-page issue was produced as a fanzine for a local record label 'Anti-Pop records' run by Arthur 2 Stroke and Andy 'Pop' Inman, and went on sale for 20p (30p to students) in the Gosforth Hotel, which hosted 'Anti-Pop' punk gigs, and the run of 150 copies had sold out within hours. The second issue was published three months later in March 1980, with the next ten issues being published at irregular intervals until November 1984. Issue ten from May 1983 was the first to feature the current ''Viz'' logo.
The 'best' of ''Viz Comics'' issues one to four was published in November 1983 as issue 10½.
After a few years of steady sales, mostly in the North East
The points of the compass are a set of horizontal, radially arrayed compass directions (or azimuths) used in navigation and cartography. A compass rose is primarily composed of four cardinal directions—north, east, south, and west—each sepa ...
of England, circulation had grown to around 5,000 by December 1984. This may have been boosted by the appearance in the BBC2 documentary series 'Sparks' (episode 4 'The Young Guns') which first aired in March/April 1984 and was repeated on BBC1. A further special edition was issued in May 1985 as issue 12a.[
What had begun as a few pages, ]photocopied
A photocopier (also called copier or copy machine, and formerly Xerox machine, the generic trademark) is a machine that makes copies of documents and other visual images onto paper or plastic film quickly and cheaply. Most modern photocopiers u ...
and sold to friends, became a publishing phenomenon. To meet the demand, and to make up for Brownlow's diminishing interest in contributing, freelance artist Graham Dury
Graham Dury (born 1962 in Clifton, Nottingham) is a British cartoonist. He is known for his work with '' Viz'', having contributed to the magazine from its early years. He co-conceived and personally created '' The Fat Slags'', one of the maga ...
was hired and worked alongside Chris Donald.
As the magazine's popularity grew, the bedroom became too small and production moved to a nearby Jesmond
Jesmond is a suburb of Newcastle upon Tyne, situated to the east of the Town Moor. Jesmond is considered to be one of the most affluent suburbs of Newcastle upon Tyne, with higher average house prices than most other areas of the city.
H ...
office. Donald also hired another freelance artist, Simon Thorp, whose work had impressed him. For over a decade, these four would be the nucleus of ''Viz''.
In 1985, a deal was signed with Virgin Books
Virgin Books is a British book publisher 90% owned by the publishing group Random House, and 10% owned by Virgin Group, the company originally set up by Richard Branson as a record company.
History
Virgin established its book publishing arm ...
to publish the comic nationally every two months, starting with the 13th issue, dated August 1985. In 1987, the Virgin director responsible for ''Viz'', John Brown, set up his own publishing company, John Brown Publishing
John Brown Media is one of the world's largest content marketing agencies. While originally formed as a magazine company, the company creates multichannel content for various brands, witincluding social media, film and audio, mobile.
Based in La ...
, to handle ''Viz''. Sales exceeded a million by the end of 1989, making ''Viz'' for a time one of the biggest-selling magazines in the country. Inevitably, a number of imitations of ''Viz'' were launched, but these never matched the original in popularity, and rarely in quality.
Sales steadily declined from the mid-1990s to around 200,000 in 2001, by which time Chris Donald had resigned as editor and passed control to an "editorial cabinet" comprising his brother Simon, Dury, Thorp and new recruits Davey Jones and Alex Collier. In June 2001, the comic was acquired as part of a £6.4 million deal by I Feel Good (IFG), a company belonging to ex-'' Loaded'' editor James Brown
James Joseph Brown (May 3, 1933 – December 25, 2006) was an American singer, dancer, musician, record producer and bandleader. The central progenitor of funk music and a major figure of 20th century music, he is often referred to by the honor ...
, and increased in frequency to ten times a year. In 2003, it changed hands again when IFG were bought out by Dennis Publishing
Dennis Publishing Ltd. was a British publisher. It was founded in 1973 by Felix Dennis. Its first publication was a kung-fu magazine. Most of its titles now belong to Future plc.
In the 1980s, it became a leading publisher of computer enthusia ...
. Soon after, Simon Donald quit his role as co-editor, in an attempt to develop a career in television. In July 2018, Dennis Publishing were bought by Exponent, a British private equity firm.
Much of the non-cartoon material such as the newspaper spoofs are written by the editorial team – Graham Dury, Simon Thorp and Davey Jones – with contributions from Robin Halstead, Jason Hazeley, Joel Morris Jason Hazeley and Joel Morris are a British comedy writing duo. Their work includes a collection of parody Ladybird books, and they have written scripts for many British comedy series and films, including ''That Mitchell and Webb Look'', Charlie Bro ...
and Alex Morris, the authors of ''The Framley Examiner
''The Framley Examiner'' is a parody of a newspaper in a small provincial English town, created as a website and later a book. It is written by Robin Halstead, Jason Hazeley, Alex Morris and Joel Morris.
History
The ''Framley Examiner'' ori ...
'', and by James MacDougall and Christina Martin
Christina Martin (born January 1980) is a British writer and former stand-up comedian.
She came third in the 2006 Funny Women Awards. She was a feature writer for '' Viz'' magazine between 2006 and 2009. Her articles appear in the annuals 'Last Tu ...
.
''Viz'' and several Dennis Publishing titles including ''Cyclist'', ''Expert Reviews'', and ''Fortean Times
''Fortean Times'' is a British monthly magazine devoted to the anomalous phenomena popularised by Charles Fort. Previously published by John Brown Publishing (from 1991 to 2001), I Feel Good Publishing (2001 to 2005), Dennis Publishing (2005 to 2 ...
'' are retained by Exponent when the company and most of its titles were sold to competitor Future plc
Future plc is an international multimedia company established in the United Kingdom in 1985. The company has over 220 brands that span magazines, newsletters, websites, and events in fields such as video games, technology, films, music, photogr ...
in 2021 and by then operating as Viz Holdings Ltd, part of Broadleaf Group.
Metropolis International
Metropolis International Group Limited, established in 1994, is a predominantly UK-based media and technology group specialising in business, consumer, and travel media including awards, events, websites, business software, and reward and benefi ...
acquired several titles from Broadleaf Group in December 2021, including ''Viz''.
Notable strips
Many ''Viz'' characters have featured in long-running strips, becoming well known in their own right, including spin-off cartoon
A cartoon is a type of visual art that is typically drawn, frequently animated, in an unrealistic or semi-realistic style. The specific meaning has evolved over time, but the modern usage usually refers to either: an image or series of images ...
s. Characters often have rhyming or humorous taglines, such as Roger Mellie
Roger Mellie ("The Man on the Telly - who says 'Bollocks!'") is a fictional character featured in '' Viz'' magazine. His catchphrase was originally the same as David Frost's catchphrase "Hello, good evening, and welcome", but very soon degenerat ...
, the Man on the Telly; Nobby's Piles; Johnny Fartpants
The following is a list of recurring or notable one-off strips from the British adult spoof comic magazine '' Viz''. This list is by no means complete as with each issue new characters/strips/stories are introduced.
A–E
*Abel Unstable – ...
; Buster Gonad
Buster Gonad is a cartoon character in the British comic '' Viz''. The strip involves the surreal adventures of "the boy with unfeasibly large testicles". During a storm, Buster's gonads were zapped by cosmic rays which enlarged them to an enor ...
; Sid the Sexist
Sid the Sexist (real name Sidney Aloysius Smutt) is a character from the British satirical comic '' Viz'', first appearing in issue 9 in October 1982. The strip was created and mostly drawn by Simon Donald until he left the magazine in 2003, when ...
; Sweary Mary or Finbarr Saunders
The following is a list of recurring or notable one-off strips from the British adult spoof comic magazine '' Viz''. This list is by no means complete as with each issue new characters/strips/stories are introduced.
A–E
*Abel Unstable – ...
and his Double Entendres. Others are based on stereotype
In social psychology, a stereotype is a generalized belief about a particular category of people. It is an expectation that people might have about every person of a particular group. The type of expectation can vary; it can be, for example ...
s of British culture, mostly via working class characters, such as Biffa Bacon
The following is a list of recurring or notable one-off strips from the British adult spoof comic magazine '' Viz''. This list is by no means complete as with each issue new characters/strips/stories are introduced.
A–E
*Abel Unstable – ...
, and The Fat Slags
''The Fat Slags'' is a British comic strip appearing in the alternative British comic '' Viz''. The characters made their debut in 1989, their first appearance being in issue 36. The eponymous slags are Sandra Burke and Tracey Tunstall, known ...
. Some are aimed upwards, parodying the upper-middle classes and elites, such as the pseudo-leftist but privileged 'Student Grant', 'Nanny No Dumps' and the hypocritical Tory MP 'Baxter Basics'. In addition to this, the comic also contains plenty of 'in jokes
An in-joke, also known as an inside joke or a private joke, is a joke whose humour is understandable only to members of an ingroup; that is, people who are ''in'' a particular social group, occupation, or other community of shared interest. It i ...
' referring to people and places in and around Newcastle upon Tyne
Newcastle upon Tyne ( RP: , ), or simply Newcastle, is a city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England. The city is located on the River Tyne's northern bank and forms the largest part of the Tyneside built-up area. Newcastle is ...
.
Many strips appear only once. These very often have extremely surreal
Surreal may refer to:
*Anything related to or characteristic of Surrealism, a movement in philosophy and art
* "Surreal" (song), a 2000 song by Ayumi Hamasaki
* ''Surreal'' (album), an album by Man Raze
*Surreal humour, a common aspect of humor
...
or bizarre storylines, and often feature celebrities. For example: "Paul Daniels
Newton Edward Daniels (6 April 1938 – 17 March 2016), known professionally as Paul Daniels, was an English magician and television presenter. He achieved international fame through his television series '' The Paul Daniels Magic Show'', whic ...
's Jet-Ski
A personal watercraft (PWC), also called water scooter or jet ski, is a recreational watercraft that a rider sits or stands on, not within, as in a boat. PWCs have two style categories, first and most popular being a runabout or "sit down" whe ...
Journey to the Centre of Elvis
Elvis Aaron Presley (January 8, 1935 – August 16, 1977), or simply Elvis, was an American singer and actor. Dubbed the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, King of Rock and Roll", he is regarded as Cultural impact of Elvis Presley, one ...
", and "Arse
Arse or ARSE may refer to:
* A Commonwealth English slang term for the buttocks
* Arse, the name for the Iberian settlement of modern-day Sagunto
* Arse (district), a district in the South Tapanuli Regency, North Sumatra province, Sumatra, Indonesi ...
Farm – Young Pete and Jenny Nostradamus were spending the holidays with their Uncle Jed, who farmed arses deep in the heart of the Sussex
Sussex (), from the Old English (), is a historic county in South East England that was formerly an independent medieval Anglo-Saxon kingdom. It is bounded to the west by Hampshire, north by Surrey, northeast by Kent, south by the English ...
countryside...". The latter type often follows the style of Enid Blyton
Enid Mary Blyton (11 August 1897 – 28 November 1968) was an English children's writer, whose books have been worldwide bestsellers since the 1930s, selling more than 600 million copies. Her books are still enormously popular and have be ...
and other popular children's adventure stories of the 1950s. Several strips were single-panel, one-off pun
A pun, also known as paronomasia, is a form of word play that exploits multiple meanings of a term, or of similar-sounding words, for an intended humorous or rhetorical effect. These ambiguities can arise from the intentional use of homophonic ...
s, such as "Daft Bugger", which featured two bored, uninterested men engaged in the act of buggery; the buggerer then states that he has forgotten his car keys (thus making him "daft").
The one-off strips often have ludicrously alliterative and/or rhyming titles, for example: "Reverend Milo's Lino Rhino", "Max's Laxative Saxophone Taxi', and "Scottie Trotter's Tottie Alottment". Some strips are built entirely around absurd puns, such as "Noah's Arse" and "Feet and Two Reg".
Most of the stories take place in the fictitious town of Fulchester. Originally the setting of the British TV programme ''Crown Court'', the name was adopted by the ''Viz'' team. Billy the Fish
Billy the Fish is a long-running cartoon strip in the British comic '' Viz'' that first appeared in 1983.
Created by artist Chris Donald and writer Simon Thorp (who later took on both roles), ''Billy the Fish'' is, like many ''Viz'' strips, a l ...
plays for Fulchester United F.C. There is innuendo in the name: the Internet domain fuck.co.uk was at one time held by fans of ''Viz'' who claimed to be promoting the Fulchester Underwater Canoeing Klubb. A significant number of strips, most of which centre on child characters, are set in Barnton.
One of the most pun-based strips was "George Bestial", about famous footballer George Best
George Best (22 May 1946 – 25 November 2005) was a Northern Irish professional footballer who played as a winger, spending most of his club career at Manchester United. A highly skilful dribbler, Best is regarded as one of the greatest pla ...
committing bestiality. The strip was discontinued after the death of Best, but has since reappeared.
''Viz'' also lampoons political ideas – both left-wing ideals, in strips such as "The Modern Parents
''The Modern Parents'' is a comic strip from the British comic '' Viz'' created by John Fardell who both writes and illustrates it. One of the most enduring and frequent strips in ''Viz'', having appeared regularly since the early 1990s, it is a ...
" (and to an extent in "Student Grant
Student Grant is a cartoon strip created by Simon Thorp for the British comic '' Viz''. Grant first appeared in 1992 and became popular, featuring regularly for the rest of the decade. The character is a university student named Grant Wankshaft, ...
"), and right-wing ones such as "Baxter Basics
The following is a list of recurring or notable one-off strips from the British adult spoof comic magazine '' Viz''. This list is by no means complete as with each issue new characters/strips/stories are introduced.
A–E
*Abel Unstable – ...
", "Major Misunderstanding
The following is a list of recurring or notable one-off strips from the British adult spoof comic magazine '' Viz''. This list is by no means complete as with each issue new characters/strips/stories are introduced.
A–E
*Abel Unstable – ...
", "Victorian Dad
The following is a list of recurring or notable one-off strips from the British adult spoof comic magazine '' Viz''. This list is by no means complete as with each issue new characters/strips/stories are introduced.
A–E
*Abel Unstable – ...
" and numerous strips involving tabloid columnists Garry Bushell
Garry Bushell (born 13 May 1955) is an English newspaper columnist, rock music journalist, television presenter, author, musician and political activist. Bushell also sings in the Cockney Oi! bands GBX and the Gonads. He managed the New York Ci ...
("Garry Bushell the Bear") and Richard Littlejohn
Richard Littlejohn (born 18 January 1954) is an English author, broadcaster and journalist. He writes a twice-weekly column for the ''Daily Mail'' about British affairs as observed from reading the news at home in Florida.
Littlejohn has been a ...
("Richard Littlecock" and "Robin Hood and Richard Littlejohn"), portraying them as obsessed with homosexuality, political correctness
''Political correctness'' (adjectivally: ''politically correct''; commonly abbreviated ''PC'') is a term used to describe language, policies, or measures that are intended to avoid offense or disadvantage to members of particular groups in socie ...
and non-existent left-wing conspiracies to the exclusion of all else. Holocaust denier David Irving
David John Cawdell Irving (born 24 March 1938) is an English author and Holocaust denier who has written on the military and political history of World War II, with a focus on Nazi Germany. His works include ''The Destruction of Dresden'' (19 ...
featured as Dick Dastardly
Dick Dastardly is a fictional character who has appeared in various animated series by Hanna-Barbera Productions from 1968 onward. Dastardly's most famous appearances are in the series ''Wacky Races'' (his initial appearance) and its spin-off, '' ...
in the ''Wacky Races
Eccentricity (also called quirkiness) is an unusual or odd behavior on the part of an individual. This behavior would typically be perceived as unusual or unnecessary, without being demonstrably maladaptive. Eccentricity is contrasted with norm ...
'' spoof, "Wacky Racists".
In keeping with the comic's irreverent and deliberately non-conformist style, the Duke of Edinburgh
Duke of Edinburgh, named after the city of Edinburgh in Scotland, was a substantive title that has been created three times since 1726 for members of the British royal family. It does not include any territorial landholdings and does not produc ...
was portrayed as a culturally insensitive, dim-witted xenophobe in a strip "HRH The Duke of Edinburgh and his Jocular Larks", about the Duke making outrageously ill-informed comments to a young Chinese victim of the collapse of a residential block.
Occasionally, celebrities are granted the 'honour' of strips all to themselves. Billy Connolly
Sir William Connolly (born 24 November 1942) is a Scottish actor, retired comedian, artist, writer, musician, and presenter. He is sometimes known, especially in his homeland, by the Scots nickname the Big Yin ("the Big One"). Known for his ...
has had more than one about him trying to ingratiate himself with the Queen and Bob Hope
Leslie Townes "Bob" Hope (May 29, 1903 – July 27, 2003) was a British-American comedian, vaudevillian, actor, singer and dancer. With a career that spanned nearly 80 years, Hope appeared in more than 70 short and feature films, with 5 ...
had a strip featuring the comedian trying to think up amusing last words to utter on his deathbed (but ended up with a torrent of swearing). The singer Elton John
Sir Elton Hercules John (born Reginald Kenneth Dwight; 25 March 1947) is a British singer, pianist and composer. Commonly nicknamed the "Rocket Man" after his 1972 hit single of the same name, John has led a commercially successful career a ...
has also appeared frequently in recent issues as a double-dealing Del Boy
Derek Edward Trotter, more commonly known as Del Boy, is a fictional character from the BBC sitcom ''Only Fools and Horses'' and one of the main characters of its spinoff series, ''Rock & Chips''. He was played by David Jason in the original se ...
-type character attempting to pull off small-time criminal scams such as tobacco smuggling, benefit fraud and cheating on fruit machines. Most recently, he was seen posing as a window cleaner and conning customers to pay him, before being mistaken for a Peeping Tom and given a thorough hiding. The strips always end with Elton being beaten at his own game by one or more of his musical contemporaries from the 1970s and 1980s. Other celebs to have been featured in their own strips include Jonathan Ross
Jonathan Stephen Ross (born 17 November 1960) is an English broadcaster, film critic, comedian, actor, writer, and producer. He presented the BBC One chat show ''Friday Night with Jonathan Ross'' during the 2000s, hosted his own radio show on ...
, Russell Brand
Russell Edward Brand (born 4 June 1975) is an English comedian and actor known for his flamboyant, loquacious style and manner. Brand has received three British Comedy Awards: Best Newcomer (2006), Best Live Stand-Up (2008), and the award for ...
, Esther Rantzen
Dame Esther Louise Rantzen (born 22 June 1940) is an English journalist and television presenter, who presented the BBC television series ''That's Life!'' for 21 years, from 1973 until 1994. She works with various charitable causes, and foun ...
, Stephen Fry
Stephen John Fry (born 24 August 1957) is an English actor, broadcaster, comedian, director and writer. He first came to prominence in the 1980s as one half of the comic double act Fry and Laurie, alongside Hugh Laurie, with the two starring ...
, Noel Edmonds
Noel Ernest Edmonds (born 22 December 1948) is an English television presenter, radio DJ, writer, producer, and businessman. Edmonds first became known as a disc jockey on Radio Luxembourg before moving to BBC Radio 1 in the UK. He has presente ...
, Jimmy Savile
Sir James Wilson Vincent Savile (; 31 October 1926 – 29 October 2011) was an English DJ, television and radio personality who hosted BBC shows including ''Top of the Pops'' and ''Jim'll Fix It''. During his lifetime, he was well known ...
(as the headmaster of "Pop School", as "Sir Jimmy Savile, the Owl" and in "Jimmy Savile's Haunted Head"), Johnny Vaughan
Jonathan Randal Vaughan (born 16 July 1966) is an English television and radio presenter and a film critic. He was the main presenter of ''Capital Breakfast'' alongside Lisa Snowdon on 95.8 Capital FM between 2004 and 2011.
Vaughan currently pr ...
, Adam Ant
Stuart Leslie Goddard, better known as Adam Ant (born 3 November 1954), is an English singer, musician, and actor. He gained popularity as the lead singer of new wave group Adam and the Ants and later as a solo artist, scoring 10 UK top ten ...
, Jimmy Hill
James William Thomas Hill, OBE (22 July 1928 – 19 December 2015) was an English footballer and later a television personality. His career included almost every role in the sport, including player, trade union leader, coach, manager, director ...
, Noddy Holder
Neville John "Noddy" Holder (born 15 June 1946) is an English musician. He was the lead singer and rhythm guitarist of the English band Slade, one of the UK's most successful acts of the 1970s. Known for his unique and powerful voice, Holder co ...
, Boy George
George Alan O'Dowd (born 14 June 1961), known professionally as Boy George, is an English singer, songwriter, DJ, author and mixed media artist. Best known for his soulful voice and his androgynous appearance, Boy George has been the lead singe ...
, Freddie Garrity
Frederick Garrity (14 November 1936 – 19 May 2006) was an English singer and actor. He was best known as the frontman of Freddie and the Dreamers from 1959 until his retirement in 2001.
Biography
Born in Crumpsall, Manchester, the eldest ...
, Steve McFadden
Steve Robert McFadden (né Reid; born 20 March 1959) is an English actor. He is known for his role as Phil Mitchell in the BBC One soap opera ''EastEnders'', which he has played since 1990. He was also the presenter of the game show, ''Britain's ...
, Morrissey
Steven Patrick Morrissey (; born 22 May 1959), known professionally as Morrissey, is an English singer and songwriter. He came to prominence as the frontman and lyricist of rock band the Smiths, who were active from 1982 to 1987. Since then ...
(constantly finding daffodils
''Narcissus'' is a genus of predominantly spring flowering perennial plant, perennial plants of the amaryllis family, Amaryllidaceae. Various common names including daffodil,The word "daffodil" is also applied to related genera such as ''Ste ...
stuck into the seat of his trousers, parodying his appearances on ''Top of the Pops
''Top of the Pops'' (''TOTP'') is a British Record chart, music chart television programme, made by the BBC and originally broadcast weekly between 1January 1964 and 30 July 2006. The programme was the world's longest-running weekly music show ...
''), Busted, Eminem
Marshall Bruce Mathers III (born October 17, 1972), known professionally as Eminem (; often stylized as EMINƎM), is an American rapper and record producer. He is credited with popularizing hip hop in middle America and is critically acclai ...
, Big Daddy, Danny Baker
Danny Baker (born 22 June 1957) is an English comedy writer, journalist, radio DJ and screenwriter. Throughout his career he has largely presented for London's regional radio and television.
Baker was born in Deptford to a working-class fam ...
and plenty more.
In 2002, British comedian Johnny Vegas
Michael Joseph Pennington (born 5 September 1970), better known as Johnny Vegas, is an English comedian, actor, writer, and director. He is known for his thick Lancashire accent, husky voice, overweight appearance, angry comedic rants, and us ...
sold the exclusive rights to his wedding photographs to Viz for £1, in a flippant dig at celebrity couples who sold the rights to their wedding photos to glossy magazines such as ''OK!
''OK!'' is a British weekly magazine that primarily specialises in royal and celebrity news. Originally launched as a monthly magazine, its first issue was published in April 1997. In September 2004, ''OK''! launched in Australia as a monthly ...
'' for anything up to (and over) £1 million.
Serial killers Fred West
Frederick Walter Stephen West (29 September 1941 – 1 January 1995) was an English serial killer, who committed at least twelve murders between 1967 and 1987 in Gloucestershire, most of them with his second wife, Rose West.
All the victi ...
and Harold Shipman
Harold Frederick Shipman (14 January 1946 – 13 January 2004), known by the public as Doctor Death and to acquaintances as Fred Shipman, was an English general practitioner and serial killer. He is considered to be one of the most prolif ...
have also featured in a strip as rival neighbours trying to kill the old woman next door and foiling each other's plans (''Harold and Fred – they make ladies dead!'').
Other content
Spoof news stories
The comic also prints regular satirical pastiches of typical tabloid and local media news stories. One issue featured a small write-up of a wedding. However, in true ''Viz'' style, the wedding featured a lecherous groom marrying his pregnant (and significantly underaged) girlfriend, eyeing up her younger sister while being called a "cradle-snatching cunt" by her father (with the resulting fight prompting the bride's mother to cry out "less it, for fuck's sake" before the police arrived). Another such story revolved around a man who won an inconsequential amount of money on the pools, and began living an inordinately lavish lifestyle ("I bought the wife a new cover for her ironing board" being one such example of his largesse), which collapsed when the money inevitably ran out, much to his chagrin ("I wish I'd never set eyes on the money").
Other stories include ludicrous "kiss and tell" and similar stories by people who are portrayed as mentally disturbed, often with highly bizarre elements; examples include allegations by a man who claimed that, on holiday touring in his caravan
Caravan or caravans may refer to:
Transport and travel
*Caravan (travellers), a group of travellers journeying together
**Caravanserai, a place where a caravan could stop
*Camel train, a convoy using camels as pack animals
*Convoy, a group of veh ...
, he found a campsite run by Elvis Presley
Elvis Aaron Presley (January 8, 1935 – August 16, 1977), or simply Elvis, was an American singer and actor. Dubbed the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, King of Rock and Roll", he is regarded as Cultural impact of Elvis Presley, one ...
who, when plied with drink, admitted to the Kennedy assassination
John F. Kennedy
John Fitzgerald Kennedy (May 29, 1917 – November 22, 1963), often referred to by his initials JFK and the nickname Jack, was an American politician who served as the 35th president of the United States from 1961 un ...
; another from a retired toilet attendant who described the nature of faeces
Feces ( or faeces), known colloquially and in slang as poo and poop, are the solid or semi-solid remains of food that was not digested in the small intestine, and has been broken down by bacteria in the large intestine. Feces contain a relati ...
from various little-known celebrities
Celebrity is a condition of fame and broad public recognition of a person or group as a result of the attention given to them by mass media. An individual may attain a celebrity status from having great wealth, their participation in sports ...
and an elderly woman who blames anti-social behaviour in her area on bored Newsnight
''Newsnight'' (or ''BBC Newsnight'') is BBC Two's news and current affairs programme, providing in-depth investigation and analysis of the stories behind the day's headlines. The programme is broadcast on weekdays at 22:30. and is also availa ...
presenters, as well as a mental home patient who claimed to have had sex
Sex is the trait that determines whether a sexually reproducing animal or plant produces male or female gametes. Male plants and animals produce smaller mobile gametes (spermatozoa, sperm, pollen), while females produce larger ones (ova, oft ...
with a number of children's TV puppet
A puppet is an object, often resembling a human, animal or Legendary creature, mythical figure, that is animated or manipulated by a person called a puppeteer. The puppeteer uses movements of their hands, arms, or control devices such as rods ...
s. Another regular feature is a column by 'Tony Parsehole', a parody of columnist Tony Parsons who frequently writes obituaries about recently deceased celebrities filled entirely with metaphor and empty sentiment which stops abruptly once the required word count is reached (with a note that the invoice is included).
Additionally, there were the usual stories revolving around celebrities, some in the "tell-all" vein (such as a customs agent who claimed he found drugs in Pamela Anderson
Pamela Denise Anderson (born July 1, 1967) is a Canadian-American actress and model. She is best known for her glamour modeling work in ''Playboy'' magazine and for her appearances on the television series ''Baywatch'' (1992–1997).
Anders ...
's "plastic tits"). If one of a select band of frequently referenced stars is mentioned during these stories, they will be named humorously. Among others, Lemmy Kilmister
Ian Fraser Kilmister (24 December 1945 – 28 December 2015), better known as Lemmy Kilmister or simply Lemmy, was an English musician. He was the founder, lead singer, bassist and primary songwriter of the rock band Motörhead, of which he wa ...
will invariably be referred to as "Lemmy out of Motörhead
Motörhead () were an English rock band formed in London in 1975 by Lemmy (lead vocals, bass), Larry Wallis (guitar) and Lucas Fox (drums). Lemmy was also the primary songwriter and only constant member. The band are often considered a precu ...
", Bono
Paul David Hewson (born 10 May 1960), known by his stage name Bono (), is an Irish singer-songwriter, activist, and philanthropist. He is the lead vocalist and primary lyricist of the rock band U2.
Born and raised in Dublin, he attended M ...
as "Bonio
Bonio is a brand of dog biscuit
A dog biscuit is a hard biscuit-based dietary supplement for dogs or other canines, similar to human snack food.
Dog biscuits tend to be hard and dry. Dog biscuits may be sold in a flat bone-shape. The dry an ...
" and Sting
Sting may refer to:
* Stinger or sting, a structure of an animal to inject venom, or the injury produced by a stinger
* Irritating hairs or prickles of a stinging plant, or the plant itself
Fictional characters and entities
* Sting (Middle-eart ...
as "Sting (real name Gordon Sting)", mixing the singer's birth and stage names. One particularly memorable piece of tabloid-esque wordplay parody, involving a fictional plot to assassinate Paul McCartney
Sir James Paul McCartney (born 18 June 1942) is an English singer, songwriter and musician who gained worldwide fame with the Beatles, for whom he played bass guitar and shared primary songwriting and lead vocal duties with John Lennon. One ...
by a disgruntled former roadie, read 'Top Pop Mop-Top Pot Shot Plot Flops', or with a gonad-focused violent encounter with a deranged Mr. T
Mr. T (born Laurence Tureaud, May 21, 1952), is an American actor. He is known for his roles as B. A. Baracus in the 1980s television series ''The A-Team'' and as boxer Clubber Lang in the 1982 film ''Rocky III''. He is also known for his dis ...
and a 1970s playground toy, 'Crackers Baracus turns Macca's knackers into clackers'.
Photos in ''Viz'' news stories are often crudely edited and altered, much to the detriment of the subjects involved (teeth blacked out, facial features shrunken/enlarged, and so on). In the case of the aforementioned Lemmy, for one photo the editors simply took a picture of a man wearing a baseball cap and drew a crude approximation of Lemmy's facial hair and warts on his face (as well as writing "Motörhead" on the cap). Photos will frequently be captioned only with the name of the subject and a comma followed by "yesterday", e.g. "A train, yesterday".
Following the format common in tabloid newspapers, paragraphs within written articles include 'cross heads' which, in normal journalism, serve to indicate the theme of the following sections. In ''Viz'' however, while these words often start out being relevant to the story, they quickly stray for comedic value and therefore have little or no relevance to the following text. The words will often follow a theme, such as TV cops' names or types of curry, and will sometimes spell out a sentence, rarely relevant, if read separately from the story.
Letterbocks
This section features letters both written by the editors and sent in by readers often with ridiculous names, usually in the form of obviously fictitious anecdotes (one reader claimed that by defecating
Defecation (or defaecation) follows digestion, and is a necessary process by which organisms eliminate a solid, semisolid, or liquid waste material known as feces from the digestive tract via the anus. The act has a variety of names ranging fro ...
on the high seas, he was able to expel a single unbroken "monster" turd
Feces ( or faeces), known colloquially and in slang as poo and poop, are the solid or semi-solid remains of food that was not digested in the small intestine, and has been broken down by bacteria in the large intestine. Feces contain a relat ...
; however, nobody wanted to grant him research funds for further attempts) or various observations, such as the "children say the funniest things" type (one issue featured numerous variations of a reader's young son making a reference to masturbation
Masturbation is the sexual stimulation of one's own genitals for sexual arousal or other sexual pleasure, usually to the point of orgasm. The stimulation may involve hands, fingers, everyday objects, sex toys such as vibrators, or combinatio ...
during bathtime, such as "playing with ispork sword"; in this case, when the reader entered the bathroom, she discovered her son had indeed fashioned a sword out of pork sausages). Since Viz claims to offer £5 for the best letter published in a particular issue, many letters end with the inquiry, "Do I win £5?"
Many make observations about celebrities (especially those who have recently died; one letter printed after the deaths of Gianni Versace
Giovanni Maria "Gianni" Versace (; 2 December 1946 – 15 July 1997) was an Italian fashion designer, socialite and businessman. He was the founder of Versace, an international luxury-fashion house that produces accessories, fragrances, make-u ...
and Princess Diana
Diana, Princess of Wales (born Diana Frances Spencer; 1 July 1961 – 31 August 1997) was a member of the British royal family. She was the first wife of King Charles III (then Prince of Wales) and mother of Princes William and Harry. Her ac ...
remarked on both their violent deaths and friendship with Elton John
Sir Elton Hercules John (born Reginald Kenneth Dwight; 25 March 1947) is a British singer, pianist and composer. Commonly nicknamed the "Rocket Man" after his 1972 hit single of the same name, John has led a commercially successful career a ...
, stating "I tell you what. If I was George Michael
George Michael (born Georgios Kyriacos Panayiotou; 25 June 1963 – 25 December 2016) was an English singer and songwriter. He is considered one of the most significant cultural icons of the MTV generation and is one of the best-selling musici ...
right about now, I'd be shitting myself") or current events (a 2000 issue remarked "The Government spent £850 million on the Millennium Bug
The year 2000 problem, also known as the Y2K problem, Y2K scare, millennium bug, Y2K bug, Y2K glitch, Y2K error, or simply Y2K refers to potential computer errors related to the formatting and storage of calendar data for dates in and after ...
, and the only thing that crashes is Q Desmond Llewelyn">/nowiki>Desmond Llewelyn">Desmond_Llewelyn.html" ;"title="/nowiki>Desmond Llewelyn">/nowiki>Desmond Llewelyn/nowiki> out of the Bond films").
Most employ deliberate misunderstandings for comic effect (e.g. "These so-called speed bumps are a joke. If anything they slow you down" or "I went to one of these so called Gentlemen's clubs and was shocked to see it was full of Women. To make matters worse many of them were wearing very little clothing", or the letter whose writer mentioned seeing a TV listing for the film ''The Greatest Story Ever Told
''The Greatest Story Ever Told'' is a 1965 American epic film produced and directed by George Stevens. It is a retelling of the Biblical account about Jesus of Nazareth, from the Nativity through to the Ascension. Along with the ensemble cast, ...
'' and stating their doubt that it would top the story told by their friend about a night spent "with a couple of strippers, a bottle of tequila, and some cocaine"). Often letters feature simple yet absurd statements ("I'm heading off to the pub in a few minutes and wondered if any of your readers fancied joining me for a pint" or "They say size doesn't matter – if that's true, why can't I get these shoes on?"), or improbable situations such as a letter writer responding directly to the letter that preceded theirs in the very same column and issue.
A bizarre series of letters from a J Cursiter of Bristol
Bristol () is a city, ceremonial county and unitary authority in England. Situated on the River Avon, it is bordered by the ceremonial counties of Gloucestershire to the north and Somerset to the south. Bristol is the most populous city in ...
recounted his hobby of watching passers-by from "a series of cunningly-disguised hides". It is unclear whether Cursiter is a reader of the comic or a creation of the editors.
Often letters are printed that criticise Viz, accusing it of "not being as funny as it used to be", condemning it as being offensive or of complaining about the frequent price rises. These are often published and sometimes even framed in a small section titled "Why I Love My Viz!", blatantly mocking ''The Sun'' newspaper's habit of printing (positive) comments in little frames titled "Why I Love My Sun!"
There are often invitations for readers to submit pictures, such as the request for examples of "Insincere Smiles", whereby people sent in pictures cut from newspapers and brochures of celebrities and politicians caught smiling in a manner which looks utterly insincere and forced (Tony Blair
Sir Anthony Charles Lynton Blair (born 6 May 1953) is a British former politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1997 to 2007 and Leader of the Labour Party from 1994 to 2007. He previously served as Leader of th ...
featured at least twice). A similar series was of men who were wearing absurdly ill-fitting wigs
A wig is a head or hair accessory made from human hair, animal hair, or synthetic fiber. The word wig is short for periwig, which makes its earliest known appearance in the English language in William Shakespeare's ''The Two Gentlemen of Verona' ...
. There's also "Up The Arse Corner", where photographs are submitted of people whose pose, and/or facial expression, could be misconstrued as being in the midst of an act of buggery; a notable example of this was when a letter requested a picture of ''Ghostbusters
''Ghostbusters'' is a 1984 American Supernatural fiction, supernatural comedy film directed and produced by Ivan Reitman, and written by Dan Aykroyd and Harold Ramis. It stars Bill Murray, Aykroyd, and Ramis as Peter Venkman, Ray Stantz, and ...
'' actor Ernie Hudson
Earnest Lee Hudson (born December 17, 1945) is an American actor. His roles include Winston Zeddemore in the ''Ghostbusters'' film series, Sergeant Darryl Albrecht in ''The Crow'' (1994), and Warden Leo Glynn on HBO's '' Oz'' (1997–2003). Hu ...
leaning over to sign autographs in front of a cardboard standee of himself, with the writer requesting the picture of "Winston Zeddemore bumming himself".
Letterbocks also formerly featured correspondence from, and has brought fame to, the late Abdul Latif Abdul Latif ( ar, عبد اللطيف, translit=ʻAbd al-Laṭīf) is a Muslim male given name and, in modern usage, surname. It is built from the Arabic words '' ʻabd'' and ''al-Laṭīf'', one of the names of God in the Qur'an, which gave rise to ...
, Lord of Harpole
Harpole is a village west of Northampton, England, along the A4500 road (formerly the A45) about east of the M1 Motorway junction 16.
The village's name means "filthy pool".
Governance
Harpole is in the unitary authority area of West Northa ...
, proprietor of the (real) Curry Capital restaurant (formerly the Rupali), Bigg Market. His Lordship often promoted his restaurant with spoof competitions and offers. One, genuine, offer involved getting a 20% discount on orders at his restaurant by bringing in a copy of the current Viz ad for it and pointing at his picture excitedly. In December 2006, he appeared in a seasonal broadcast to rival the Queen's Christmas message.
''Lame to Fame''
A semi-regular feature in Letterbocks is the "Lame to Fame" column, where writers can send in "claims to fame" where they explain their connection to well-known celebrities. The connections are distant or commonplace; for example: "I once had a drink with a bloke who had caught Duran Duran
Duran Duran () are an English Rock music, rock band formed in Birmingham in 1978 by singer and bassist Stephen Duffy, keyboardist Nick Rhodes and guitarist/bassist John Taylor (bass guitarist), John Taylor. With the addition of drummer Roger ...
's Simon Le Bon
Simon John Charles Le Bon (born 27 October 1958) is a British singer. He is best known as the lead vocalist and lyricist of the new wave band Duran Duran and its offshoot Arcadia. Le Bon has received three Ivor Novello Awards from the British ...
's dog after it had escaped from his big house", and "My sister once shagged Ringo
Sir Richard Starkey (born 7 July 1940), known professionally as Ringo Starr, is an English musician, singer, songwriter and actor who achieved international fame as the drummer for the Beatles. Starr occasionally sang lead vocals with the ...
out of The Bootleg Beatles
The Bootleg Beatles are a Beatles tribute band. They have performed over 4,000 times since their establishment in March 1980.
History
The Bootleg Beatles were formed by Andre Barreau, Neil Harrison and David Catlin-Birch, fellow London cast m ...
."
Top Tips
A long-running segment has been the ''Top Tips'', reader-submitted suggestions which are a parody of similar sections found in women's magazines offering domestic and everyday tips to make life easier. In ''Viz'', naturally, they are always absurd, impractical or ludicrous:
* A small coniferous tree in the corner of your living room is an excellent place to store Christmas decorations
* Why waste money on expensive binoculars? Simply stand closer to the object you wish to observe
* To stop blue tits
The Eurasian blue tit (''Cyanistes caeruleus'') is a small passerine bird in the tit (bird), tit family, Paridae. It is easily recognisable by its blue and yellow plumage and small size.
Eurasian blue tits, usually resident bird, resident and ...
pecking at your milk bottles, don't buy any
* Dead moths make ideal hanggliders for woodlice
A woodlouse (plural woodlice) is an isopod crustacean from the polyphyleticThe current consensus is that Oniscidea is actually triphyletic suborder Oniscidea within the order Isopoda. They get their name from often being found in old wood. ...
* Don't invite drug addicts to your house on Boxing Day
Boxing Day is a holiday celebrated after Christmas Day, occurring on the second day of Christmastide (26 December). Though it originated as a holiday to give gifts to the poor, today Boxing Day is primarily known as a shopping holiday. It ...
. They may find the offer of cold turkey embarrassing or offensive
Some tips are for ludicrous motives, such as "how to convince neighbours that your house has dry rot
Dry rot is wood decay caused by one of several species of fungi that digest parts of the wood which give the wood strength and stiffness. It was previously used to describe any decay of cured wood in ships and buildings by a fungus which resul ...
", while others are for ostensibly sensible motives but with ridiculous and impractical suggestions for their application:
* Convince friends that you have a high powered job in the City
A city is a human settlement of notable size.Goodall, B. (1987) ''The Penguin Dictionary of Human Geography''. London: Penguin.Kuper, A. and Kuper, J., eds (1996) ''The Social Science Encyclopedia''. 2nd edition. London: Routledge. It can be def ...
by leaving for work at 6 am every morning, arriving home at 10 at night, never keeping social appointments and dropping down dead at the age of 36
* Save money on sex-lines by phoning up the Samaritans
Samaritans (; ; he, שומרונים, translit=Šōmrōnīm, lit=; ar, السامريون, translit=as-Sāmiriyyūn) are an ethnoreligious group who originate from the ancient Israelites. They are native to the Levant and adhere to Samarit ...
and threatening to kill yourself unless they talk dirty
Some are just inexplicable:
* To make your husband's trousers heavier, hang onions from the belt loops.
Others inspire running jokes:
* Fun-sized Mars Bar
Mars, commonly known as Mars bar, is the name of two varieties of chocolate bar produced by Mars, Incorporated. It was first manufactured in 1932 in Slough, England by Forrest Mars, Sr. The bar consists of caramel and nougat coated with mi ...
s make ideal normal-sized Mars Bars for dwarves
* Normal-sized Mars bars make ideal fun-sized Mars Bars for giants
* King-size Mars Bars make ideal normal-sized Mars Bars for giants
* Normal-sized Mars Bars make ideal king-sized Mars Bars for dwarves
A more recent trend is for sarcastic tips to be offered that are observations by the readers regarding other people's behaviour, such as a barmaid
A bartender (also known as a barkeep, barman, barmaid, or a mixologist) is a person who formulates and serves alcoholic or soft drink beverages behind the bar, usually in a licensed establishment as well as in restaurants and nightclubs, but a ...
who suggests male public house
A pub (short for public house) is a kind of drinking establishment which is licensed to serve alcoholic drinks for consumption on the premises. The term ''public house'' first appeared in the United Kingdom in late 17th century, and was ...
customers who are "trying to get into a barmaid's knickers" should "pull back your tenner just as she reaches to take it when paying for a round. It really turns us on". In a similar vein, one reader suggested "Old people – are you worried that people in a hurry might be able to get past you on the pavement? Why not try stumbling aimlessly from side to side? That should stop them".
McDonald's
McDonald's
McDonald's Corporation is an American Multinational corporation, multinational fast food chain store, chain, founded in 1940 as a restaurant operated by Richard and Maurice McDonald, in San Bernardino, California, United States. They rechri ...
was accused of plagiarising a number of ''Viz Top Tips'' in an advertising campaign they ran in 1996. Some of the similarities are almost word-for-word:
* Save a fortune on laundry bills. Give your dirty shirts to Oxfam
Oxfam is a British-founded confederation of 21 independent charitable organizations focusing on the alleviation of global poverty, founded in 1942 and led by Oxfam International.
History
Founded at 17 Broad Street, Oxford, as the Oxford Co ...
. They will wash and iron them, and then you can buy them back for 50p. – ''Viz Top Tip'' (published May 1989)
* Save a fortune on laundry bills. Give your dirty shirts to a second-hand shop. They will wash and iron them, and then you can buy them back for 50p. – McDonald's advert
The case was later settled out of court
In law, a settlement is a resolution between disputing parties about a legal case, reached either before or after court action begins. A collective settlement is a settlement of multiple similar legal cases. The term also has other meanings in t ...
for an undisclosed sum (donated to Comic Relief
Comic relief is the inclusion of a humorous character, scene, or witty dialogue in an otherwise serious work, often to relieve tension.
Definition
Comic relief usually means a releasing of emotional or other tension resulting from a comic episo ...
); but many ''Viz'' readers believed that the comic had given permission for their use, leading to ''Top Tips'' submissions such as:
* Geordie magazine editors. Continue paying your mortgage and buying expensive train sets ... by simply licensing the Top Tips concept to a multinational burger corporation.
The magazine published them.
At around the same time, the following ''Top Tip'' was also published:
* McDonald's advertising executives. Why not steal someone else's idea and then claim you overheard it in a bar, you fucking cunts.
In addition, a burger bar ''McWonald's'' was used as a story setting and displayed a large W in the style of an inverted Golden Arches
The Golden Arches are the symbol of McDonald's, the global fast food restaurant chain. Originally, real arches were part of the restaurant design. They were incorporated into the chain's logo in 1962, which resembled a stylized restaurant, and i ...
M. This establishment had spotty-faced teenage staff vomiting and smoking; a child customer informs his mother that he does not want to finish his burger as it "tastes of pigeon and has cigarette butts in it".
In a further attack on the company, the map of ''Cuntinental Europe'', given away free with Issue 118 and showing a large cartoon of stereotype
In social psychology, a stereotype is a generalized belief about a particular category of people. It is an expectation that people might have about every person of a particular group. The type of expectation can vary; it can be, for example ...
s of the British and their neighbours over the relevant geographical areas, displayed the McDonald's logo on potentially insensitive locations, such as the Parthenon
The Parthenon (; grc, Παρθενών, , ; ell, Παρθενώνας, , ) is a former temple on the Athenian Acropolis, Greece, that was dedicated to the goddess Athena during the fifth century BC. Its decorative sculptures are considere ...
and the vicinity of the Leaning Tower of Pisa
The Leaning Tower of Pisa ( it, torre pendente di Pisa), or simply, the Tower of Pisa (''torre di Pisa'' ), is the ''bell tower, campanile'', or freestanding bell tower, of Pisa Cathedral. It is known for its nearly four-degree lean, the result ...
.
Spoof advertisements and competitions
''Viz'' has had many different spoof adverts for various items, such as ornaments, dolls, sheds, china plates and novelty chess
Chess is a board game for two players, called White and Black, each controlling an army of chess pieces in their color, with the objective to checkmate the opponent's king. It is sometimes called international chess or Western chess to disti ...
sets. These poke fun at the genuine adverts for such items in magazines found in the colour supplements of Sunday newspapers. Those found in ''Viz'' are absurd, such as a breakfast plate depicting Princess Diana's face in the middle of a fried egg
A fried egg, also known as sunny-side up is a cooked dish made from one or more eggs which are removed from their shells and placed into a frying pan and fried. They are traditionally eaten for breakfast in many countries but may also be serv ...
, "No. 22 Shit Street" (which was a diorama of a dilapidated council house
A council house is a form of British public housing built by local authorities. A council estate is a building complex containing a number of council houses and other amenities like schools and shops. Construction took place mainly from 1919 ...
complete with rabid dog, youthful vandals and a "gently rusting" washing machine in the front yard), and "Little Ted West", a teddy bear
A teddy bear is a stuffed toy in the form of a bear. Developed apparently simultaneously by toymakers Morris Michtom in the U.S. and Richard Steiff under his aunt Margarete Steiff's company in Germany in the early 20th century, the teddy bear, ...
dressed to look like serial killer Fred West
Frederick Walter Stephen West (29 September 1941 – 1 January 1995) was an English serial killer, who committed at least twelve murders between 1967 and 1987 in Gloucestershire, most of them with his second wife, Rose West.
All the victi ...
. ''Viz'' has manufactured some of these items and sold them, including a china plate depicting "The Life of Christ...In Cats", featuring pictures of a cat in various stages of Jesus's life, and the "Elvis Presley Dambusters Clock Plate of Tutankhamun
Tutankhamun (, egy, twt-ꜥnḫ-jmn), Egyptological pronunciation Tutankhamen () (), sometimes referred to as King Tut, was an Egyptian pharaoh who was the last of his royal family to rule during the end of the Eighteenth Dynasty (ruled ...
", a clock featuring Elvis in the style of Tutankhamun
Tutankhamun (, egy, twt-ꜥnḫ-jmn), Egyptological pronunciation Tutankhamen () (), sometimes referred to as King Tut, was an Egyptian pharaoh who was the last of his royal family to rule during the end of the Eighteenth Dynasty (ruled ...
's death mask in addition to Avro Lancaster
The Avro Lancaster is a British Second World War heavy bomber. It was designed and manufactured by Avro as a contemporary of the Handley Page Halifax, both bombers having been developed to the same specification, as well as the Short Stirlin ...
bomber planes. Many of these adverts had a form with a tick box at the end, with outrageous binding statements in small print that invariably led the purchaser to usury
Usury () is the practice of making unethical or immoral monetary loans that unfairly enrich the lender. The term may be used in a moral sense—condemning taking advantage of others' misfortunes—or in a legal sense, where an interest rate is ch ...
, such as "I enclose £49.50 in an infinite series of escalating payments".
Another staple of ''Viz'' advertisement parody are the adverts for public and government services which one would normally not expect to find advertised; for example, one ad consisted of the words "Raped? Burgled? Run over? Why not call the police", placed next to a picture of a grinning policeman. Another ad exhorted male readers to join the British Army
The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gurk ...
, because "all the birds are gagging for squaddies" (with the fine print on the reply coupon having a tick box where the interested recruit indicates that spending years ducking for cover in Belfast
Belfast ( , ; from ga, Béal Feirste , meaning 'mouth of the sand-bank ford') is the capital and largest city of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan on the east coast. It is the 12th-largest city in the United Kingdo ...
"should just about see imright" when it comes to the ladies). The 'PC Brigade' were also featured as if they were the fire brigade, stating they attended emergencies such as 'collapsed turbans' or freeing gypsies from railings while leaving British people stuck tight. They also carried the slogan 'Fueling middle England's persecution complex since 1958'.
A long-running joke has been small adverts for bizarre sheds ("TV Sheds", "Shed Bikes", "Shed Snakes", etc.). Testament to the quality of these is invariably provided by a Mrs. B. of Essex
Essex () is a county in the East of England. One of the home counties, it borders Suffolk and Cambridgeshire to the north, the North Sea to the east, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent across the estuary of the River Thames to the south, and G ...
.
Adverts for loan companies have been parodied frequently since approximately 2000, usually with an absurd twist, such as ones aimed at vagrants
Vagrancy is the condition of homelessness without regular employment or income. Vagrants (also known as bums, vagabonds, rogues, tramps or drifters) usually live in poverty and support themselves by begging, scavenging, petty theft, temporar ...
, offering loans of between 5 and 10 pence for a cup of tea. Roger Mellie
Roger Mellie ("The Man on the Telly - who says 'Bollocks!'") is a fictional character featured in '' Viz'' magazine. His catchphrase was originally the same as David Frost's catchphrase "Hello, good evening, and welcome", but very soon degenerat ...
has frequently starred in such spoof advertisements, both in separate sections in ''Viz'' and also his own strip. Mellie is portrayed as someone who is willing to endorse any product whatsoever for money or gifts.
Scatological humour also featured heavily in the ads; one ad featured "Clag-Gone", which consisted of a stationary bicycle with no seat. Instead, the rider simply placed his naked bottom onto the "Clag-Gone"'s wire brush wheel, which then cleaned away "winnits", "tag-nuts" and "dangleberries". Another ad featured a tourist package where eggs were served in great quantities; a happy tourist was featured saying "I'm ''egg-bound
Egg binding occurs in animals, such as reptiles or birds, when an egg takes longer than usual to pass out of the reproductive tract.
In birds
In birds, egg binding may be caused by obesity, nutritional imbalances such as calcium deficiency, env ...
'' for Jamaica!".
Genuine competitions have been run by ''Viz'', with proper prizes. One of the earliest was a competition to win 'a ton of money' a pointed satire of tabloid newspapers promising huge cash prizes to boost circulation, the prize was in fact a tonne
The tonne ( or ; symbol: t) is a unit of mass equal to 1000 kilograms. It is a non-SI unit accepted for use with SI. It is also referred to as a metric ton to distinguish it from the non-metric units of the short ton ( United State ...
of one- and two-pence pieces, equivalent to a few hundred pounds sterling. Recently, they were giving away a plasma screen
A plasma display panel (PDP) is a type of flat panel display that uses small cells containing plasma: ionized gas that responds to electric fields. Plasma televisions were the first large (over 32 inches diagonal) flat panel displays to be released ...
television provided by the producers of ''Freddy vs. Jason
''Freddy vs. Jason'' is a 2003 American slasher film directed by Ronny Yu and written by Mark Swift and Damian Shannon, Damian Shannon and Mark Swift. It is a Crossover (fiction), crossover between the A Nightmare on Elm Street (franchise), ''A ...
''. Viz poked fun at the movie, describing it as "shit
''Shit'' is a word considered to be vulgar and profane in Modern English. As a noun, it refers to fecal matter, and as a verb it means to defecate; in the plural ("the shits"), it means diarrhea. ''Shite'' is a common variant in British an ...
e" in the competition description, and described the runners-up prizes of DVDs of the film as "frankly worthless", which led to the producers refusing to hand over the prize, for insulting their film.
Another spin-off was "Roger's Profanisaurus
''Roger's Profanisaurus'' is a humorous book published in the United Kingdom by Dennis Publishing which is written in the style of a lexicon of profane words and expressions. The book is marketed as "the foulest-mouthed book ever to stalk the fa ...
", a thesaurus
A thesaurus (plural ''thesauri'' or ''thesauruses'') or synonym dictionary is a reference work for finding synonyms and sometimes antonyms of words. They are often used by writers to help find the best word to express an idea:
Synonym diction ...
of (often freshly coined) rude words, phrases and sexual slang submitted by readers. It has been published as several books, the 2002 print of which has a foreword by Terry Jones
Terence Graham Parry Jones (1 February 1942 – 21 January 2020) was a Welsh comedian, director, historian, actor, writer and member of the Monty Python comedy team.
After graduating from Oxford University with a degree in English, Jones and ...
. This also often features genuine regional slang. Roger's Profanisaurus has become a popular downloadable app for Apple's iPhone.
In November 1987, a free mini-issue of ''Viz'' was given away with issue 23 of computer magazine ''Your Sinclair
''Your Sinclair'', or ''YS'' as it was commonly abbreviated, was a commercially published and printed British computer magazine for the Sinclair range of computers, mainly the ZX Spectrum. It was in circulation between 1984 and 1993.
History
The ...
''. This was done in response to ''Your Sinclair'''s competitor, ''CRASH
Crash or CRASH may refer to:
Common meanings
* Collision, an impact between two or more objects
* Crash (computing), a condition where a program ceases to respond
* Cardiac arrest, a medical condition in which the heart stops beating
* Couch su ...
'', giving away a mini-copy of '' Oink!'' comic with their issue 42.
Photo-strips
Occasionally photo-strips are included. These parody the format of supernatural and true-love British comics which were popular with young girl readers in the 1970s and 1980s, such as "Chiller" and " Jackie", as well as the "real life dilemma
A dilemma ( grc-gre, δίλημμα "double proposition") is a problem offering two possibilities, neither of which is unambiguously acceptable or preferable. The possibilities are termed the ''horns'' of the dilemma, a clichéd usage, but disti ...
" photo strips often found in the advice column
An advice column is a column in a question and answer format. Typically, a (usually anonymous) reader writes to the media outlet with a problem in the form of a question, and the media outlet provides an answer or response.
The responses are w ...
s of tabloid newspapers.
For example, a young woman is convinced that the spirit of her dead husband has possessed the family dog, and after some soul-searching, begins a sexual relationship with the dog. A running joke in these stories is that they often feature a car accident in which one of the characters is run down. In every case, the same man is driving the car, and always responds with the same line: "Sorry mate, I didn't see him/her!" The locations for the photo-stories are recognisable as the suburbs of Newcastle upon Tyne
Newcastle upon Tyne ( RP: , ), or simply Newcastle, is a city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England. The city is located on the River Tyne's northern bank and forms the largest part of the Tyneside built-up area. Newcastle is ...
where the Viz team are based.
On occasion, this is explicitly recognised: the one-off strip ''Whitley Baywatch'', a spoof of the popular American TV show ''Baywatch
''Baywatch'' is an American action drama television series about lifeguards who patrol the beaches of Los Angeles County, California, and Hawaii, starring David Hasselhoff. It was created by Michael Berk, Douglas Schwartz, and Gregory J. Bonann, ...
'', is based in the North East coastal resort of Whitley Bay
Whitley Bay is a seaside town in the North Tyneside borough in Tyne and Wear, England. It formerly governed as part of Northumberland and has been part of Tyne and Wear since 1974. It is part of the wider Tyneside built-up area, being around eas ...
. But other stories purporting to be set in London, or without a set location, are often also identifiably near to the Viz editorial offices in Jesmond
Jesmond is a suburb of Newcastle upon Tyne, situated to the east of the Town Moor. Jesmond is considered to be one of the most affluent suburbs of Newcastle upon Tyne, with higher average house prices than most other areas of the city.
H ...
. In "He just loved to dance" (no. 103), for example, Komal's Tandoor
A tandoor ( or ) is a large urn-shaped oven, usually made of clay, originating from the Indian Subcontinent. Since antiquity, tandoors have been used to bake unleavened flatbreads, such as roti and naan, as well as to roast meat. The tandoor ...
i restaurant in West Jesmond is visible. In "Four minutes to fall in love" (no. 107), the Gateshead Millennium Bridge
The Gateshead Millennium Bridge is a pedestrian and cyclist tilt bridge spanning the River Tyne between Gateshead arts quarter on the south bank and Newcastle upon Tyne's Quayside area on the north bank. It was the first tilting bridge ever t ...
provides a backdrop to the dénouement
Dramatic structure (also known as dramaturgical structure) is the structure of a dramatic work such as a book, play, or film. There are different kinds of dramatic structures worldwide which have been hypothesized by critics, writers and scholar ...
. An occasionally recurring actor in these strips is Arthur 2 Stroke, now acknowledged as the "Guru of Viz" by Chris Donald founder editor. Arthur, former lead singer of the band The Chart Commandos, still continues to perform with "Big Black Bomb" and is still considered to be an innovating force on the Newcastle music scene.
One such photo-strip was called "I Believe in Father Christmas", where an adult man believes in Father Christmas
Father Christmas is the traditional English name for the personification of Christmas. Although now known as a Christmas gift-bringer, and typically considered to be synonymous with Santa Claus, he was originally part of a much older and unrel ...
. His wife, named Virginia, attempts to convince him otherwise. He visits a department store Father Christmas, just like a child, although he asks for a CD from either Dire Straits
Dire Straits were a British rock band formed in London in 1977 by Mark Knopfler (lead vocals and lead guitar), David Knopfler (rhythm guitar and backing vocals), John Illsley (bass guitar and backing vocals) and Pick Withers (drums and percuss ...
or Phil Collins
Philip David Charles Collins (born 30 January 1951) is an English singer, musician, songwriter, record producer and actor. He was the drummer and lead singer of the rock band Genesis and also has a career as a solo performer. Between 1982 and ...
. On Christmas night, the man goes downstairs to the living room, as he hears a noise and figures Father Christmas must have come. However, he is surprised to see that an armed robber
Robbery is the crime of taking or attempting to take anything of value by force, threat of force, or by use of fear. According to common law, robbery is defined as taking the property of another, with the intent to permanently deprive the perso ...
has broken into his house, who promptly shoots him and flees. His wife, in shock, tends to her husband as he is badly hurt, and he tells her he was wrong to believe in Father Christmas like some small child. However, the wife tearfully says that Father Christmas did indeed come, and left presents for them. The strip ends with the husband saying to his wife " Yes Virginia, there is a Father Christmas".
In his book ''Rude Kids: The Inside Story of Viz'', the comic's creator Chris Donald claimed that the first legal action ever taken against Viz was initiated by a man who objected to the use of a picture of his house (taken from an estate agent's catalogue) in one of these photo-strips, and that the British tabloid newspaper ''Sunday Mirror
The ''Sunday Mirror'' is the Sunday sister paper of the ''Daily Mirror''. It began life in 1915 as the ''Sunday Pictorial'' and was renamed the ''Sunday Mirror'' in 1963. In 2016 it had an average weekly circulation of 620,861, dropping marke ...
'' tried to provoke media outrage over another photo-strip which, if taken out of context, could be misconstrued as making light of the problem of illegal drugs being offered to children.
Actor Sean Bean
Sean Bean (born Shaun Mark Bean on 17 April 1959) is an English actor. After graduating from the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, Bean made his professional debut in a theatre production of ''Romeo and Juliet'' in 1983. Retaining his Yorkshire ac ...
made a one-off appearance in 1996 titled "I've Bean to Paradise" where the main character, unhappy with his long-term relationship, attempts to seek out for more physically attractive women by undergoing a makeover as a lookalike of the actor (played by himself) and passing himself off as the actor with references to his past screen roles.
''Viz'' in other media
Some of the characters have had their own television cartoon series on Channel 4
Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network operated by the state-owned enterprise, state-owned Channel Four Television Corporation. It began its transmission on 2 November 1982 and was established to provide a four ...
. They are:
* The Fat Slags
''The Fat Slags'' is a British comic strip appearing in the alternative British comic '' Viz''. The characters made their debut in 1989, their first appearance being in issue 36. The eponymous slags are Sandra Burke and Tracey Tunstall, known ...
(voiced by Kathy Burke
Katherine Lucy Bridget Burke (born 13 June 1964) is an English actress, comedian, writer, producer, and director. She achieved fame with her appearances on sketch shows such as ''French and Saunders'' (1988–1999) and her recurring role as Mag ...
and Jenny Eclair
Jenny Eclair (born Jenny Clare Hargreaves; 16 March 1960) is an English comedian, novelist, and actress, best known for her roles in ''Grumpy Old Women'' between 2004 and 2007 and in '' Loose Women'' in 2011 and 2012.
Early life
Eclair was born ...
)
* Roger Mellie
Roger Mellie ("The Man on the Telly - who says 'Bollocks!'") is a fictional character featured in '' Viz'' magazine. His catchphrase was originally the same as David Frost's catchphrase "Hello, good evening, and welcome", but very soon degenerat ...
(voiced by Peter Cook
Peter Edward Cook (17 November 1937 – 9 January 1995) was an English actor, comedian, satirist, playwright and screenwriter. He was the leading figure of the British satire boom of the 1960s, and he was associated with the anti-establishme ...
)
* Sid the Sexist
Sid the Sexist (real name Sidney Aloysius Smutt) is a character from the British satirical comic '' Viz'', first appearing in issue 9 in October 1982. The strip was created and mostly drawn by Simon Donald until he left the magazine in 2003, when ...
(voiced by Sammy Johnson
Ronald Samuel Johnson (14 May 1949 – November 1998) was an English actor.
Biography
Johnson was born in Gateshead. the son of Samuel Johnson and Thomasina (Tina) Scott. He was brother to Kenneth (who died in September 1964), Raymond (Jimm ...
)
* Billy the Fish
Billy the Fish is a long-running cartoon strip in the British comic '' Viz'' that first appeared in 1983.
Created by artist Chris Donald and writer Simon Thorp (who later took on both roles), ''Billy the Fish'' is, like many ''Viz'' strips, a l ...
(voiced by Harry Enfield
Henry Richard Enfield (born 30 May 1961) is an English comedian, actor, writer and director. He is known in particular for his television work, including ''Harry Enfield's Television Programme'' and '' Harry & Paul'', and for the creation and ...
)
VHS releases of each series went on sale during the same months of broadcast. Chris Donald revealed in his book ''Rude Kids – The Unfeasibly True Story of Viz'' that the magazine's publishers had pencilled in Student Grant as the next animated release but this never came to fruition. He went on to say that he was pleased that the project did not go ahead as he felt the quality of the previous releases was disappointing.
In December 2011, ''Viz'' produced three animated shorts for Channel 4's ''Comedy Blaps'' with Baby Cow, voiced by Steve Coogan
Stephen John Coogan (; born 14 October 1965) is an English actor, comedian, producer and screenwriter. He is most known for creating original characters such as Alan Partridge, a socially inept and politically incorrect media personality, which ...
, Sarah Millican
Sarah Jane Millican ( King; born 29 May 1975) is an English comedian, writer and presenter. Millican won the comedy award for Best Newcomer at the 2008 Edinburgh Festival Fringe. In February 2013 she was listed as one of the 100 most powerful ...
, Simon Greenall
Simon James Greenall (born 3 January 1958) is an English actor, producer, writer and voice artist. He has portrayed Michael in the BBC television series '' I'm Alan Partridge'', as well as in '' Alan Partridge: Alpha Papa,'' the Caretaker in ...
and Gavin Webster
Gavin Webster (born 13 November 1969 in Blaydon-on-Tyne) is a British stand-up comedian. He made his debut in February 1993 at the Barley Mow pub in Gateshead, on the same bill as Ross Noble although he had been a straight man in a double act c ...
.
A one-off TV programme ''Viz – The Documentary'' was shown on Britain's Channel 4
Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network operated by the state-owned enterprise, state-owned Channel Four Television Corporation. It began its transmission on 2 November 1982 and was established to provide a four ...
in 1990, spoofing serious investigative TV shows like ''Panorama'' or ''Dispatches'' while telling the story of ''Viz''.
A computer game
Video games, also known as computer games, are electronic games that involves interaction with a user interface or input device such as a joystick, game controller, controller, computer keyboard, keyboard, or motion sensing device to gener ...
using ''Viz'' characters was produced in 1991 by Virgin Interactive
Virgin Interactive Entertainment (later renamed Avalon Interactive) was the video game publishing division of British conglomerate the Virgin Group. It developed and published games for major platforms and employed developers, including Westwo ...
. The game sold well; however, the critical response was mostly negative.
The Fat Slags appeared in TV ads for Lucozade
Lucozade is a British brand of soft drink manufactured and marketed by the Japanese company Suntory. Created as "Glucozade" in the UK in 1927 by a Newcastle-upon-Tyne, Newcastle pharmacist, William Walker Hunter (trading as W. Owen & Son), it ...
, a drink which they hate with a passion. These ads included a mixture of cartoon characters (the slags) and live actors (the men who drink Lucozade).
A film
A film also called a movie, motion picture, moving picture, picture, photoplay or (slang) flick is a work of visual art that simulates experiences and otherwise communicates ideas, stories, perceptions, feelings, beauty, or atmosphere ...
based on The Fat Slags was produced in 2004, but was disowned by the magazine's editors who threatened to stop running the strip in response.
A novelty single was released in 1987 for Viz, featuring its Buster Gonad character, by the band XTC
XTC were an English rock band formed in Swindon in 1972. Fronted by songwriters Andy Partridge (guitars, vocals) and Colin Moulding (bass, vocals), the band gained popularity during the rise of punk and new wave in the 1970s, later playing in ...
, with John Otway
John Otway (born 2 October 1952) is an English singer-songwriter who has built a cult audience through extensive touring.
Biography 1970s and 1980s
Otway was born in Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire. Although his first single, "Gypsy"/"Misty Mounta ...
, as "Johnny Japes and His Jesticles". The A-side was "Bags of Fun With Buster" b/w "Scrotal Scratch Mix".
During the Gulf War
The Gulf War was a 1990–1991 armed campaign waged by a 35-country military coalition in response to the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait. Spearheaded by the United States, the coalition's efforts against Iraq were carried out in two key phases: ...
of 1991, SEPECAT Jaguar
The SEPECAT Jaguar is an Anglo-French jet attack aircraft originally used by the British Royal Air Force and the French Air Force in the close air support and nuclear strike role. It is still in service with the Indian Air Force.
Originall ...
GR1A bombers of the Royal Air Force
The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) and ...
featured such Viz characters as Johnny Fartpants, the Fat Slags and Buster Gonad as nose art
Nose art is a decorative painting or design on the fuselage of an aircraft, usually on the front fuselage.
While begun for practical reasons of identifying friendly units, the practice evolved to express the individuality often constrained by ...
.
Controversy
The comic was reprimanded by the United Nations after featuring a strip called "The Thieving Gypsy Bastards". UK tabloid newspaper ''The Sun'' ran a story suggesting that the principal Roma man who initiated the complaints against Viz ("Don't call us thieving gypsies, says thieving gypsy") had been found guilty of handling stolen property at Preston Crown Court. He had, but in truth the man in question had been supportive of the comic in his correspondence with them and had not made any complaint against the strip. In the same issue ''Viz'' ran a short strip called "The Nice, Honest Gypsies", featuring a kindly Gypsy woman selling pegs door-to-door and helpfully returning forgotten change.
The strip "Wanker Watson", a parody of the children's comic character Winker Watson, led to litigation by D. C. Thomson & Co. Ltd, the owners of the Winker character. This was after they had issued several warnings previously about infringement of copyright in earlier parody strips, which Viz had ignored. In retaliation, ''Viz'' featured a new character called 'D.C. Thompson The Humourless Scottish Git'. However, coinciding with DC Thomson’s legal action, and unaware of it, Dandy editor Maurice Heggie published a good humoured strip in response, "The Jocks and The Geordies", a revival of an old strip from ''The Dandy
''The Dandy'' was a British children's comic magazine published by the Dundee based publisher DC Thomson. The first issue was printed in December 1937, making it the world's third-longest running comic, after ''Il Giornalino'' (cover dated 1 Oct ...
'', in which the Geordies (clearly representing ''Viz'') competed with the Jocks (clearly representing Thomson) in a competition to design funny cartoon characters. The Geordies' miserable efforts bore sharp similarity to actual ''Viz'' characters, such as 'The Boy with Big Pants' which was a reference to Felix and his Amazing Underpants. This served to deflate the situation. (Chris Donald's book ''Rude Kids: The Inside Story of Viz'', notes the good-humoured nature of the latter stages of this episode).
Sports clothing manufacturer Kappa
Kappa (uppercase Κ, lowercase κ or cursive ; el, κάππα, ''káppa'') is the 10th letter of the Greek alphabet, representing the voiceless velar plosive sound in Ancient and Modern Greek. In the system of Greek numerals, has a value o ...
insisted that the comic drop the name of one of its characters, "Kappa Slappa", as it had no permission to use the brand name. Kappa also believed that the character in question insulted its customer base. "Slappa" was an obnoxious, uneducated, highly unattractive and sexually promiscuous 14-year-old living on a Tyneside council estate, always wearing a Kappa shellsuit
A tracksuit is an article of clothing consisting of two parts: trousers and a jacket usually with front zipper. It was originally intended for use in sports, mainly for athletes to wear over competition clothing (such as running shirt and shorts ...
. The characterisation was said to be more descriptive than insulting. However, after several runs of the strip, ''Viz'' agreed to change her name to "Tasha Slappa
The following is a list of recurring or notable one-off strips from the British adult spoof comic magazine '' Viz''. This list is by no means complete as with each issue new characters/strips/stories are introduced.
A–E
*Abel Unstable – ...
".
In his book ''Rude Kids: The Inside Story of Viz'', Chris Donald mentions that he was interviewed by police after giving the go-ahead to publish a Top Tip which could have been interpreted as an incitement to carry out a bomb plot. Donald claims that he then accidentally included the offending statement in that year's ''Viz'' annual ''The Sausage Sandwich''. It was covered with a sticker reading "PUBLISHERS. Ensure that your editors have read the proofs of your books before printing a quarter of a million of them. J. Brown, London".
Bibliography
Highlights of the comic are collected into regular annuals, invariably with innuendo-laden titles. There have also been a large number of themed collections published, which focus on a particular character or column.
;Annuals
:*''The Big Hard One'' (Issues 1 – 12)
:*''The Big Hard Number Two'' (Issues 13 – 18)
:*''The Big Pink Stiff One'' (Issues 19 – 25)
:*''The Dog's Bollocks'' (Issues 26 – 31)
:*''The Spunky Parts'' (Issues 32 – 37)
:*''The Sausage Sandwich'' (Issues 38 – 42)
:*''The Fish Supper'' (Issues 43 – 47)
:*''The Porky Chopper'' (Issues 48 – 52)
:*''The Pan Handle'' (Issues 53 – 57)
:*''The Big Bell End'' (Issues 58 – 63)
:*''The Turtle's Head'' (Issues 64 – 69)
:*''The Full Toss'' (Issues 70 – 75)
:*''On the Bone'' (Issues 76 – 81)
:*''The Rusty Sheriff's Badge'' (Issues 82 – 87)
:*''The Thick Repeater'' (Issues 88 – 93)
:*''The Clown's Pie'' (Issues 94 – 99)
:*''The Bag of Slugs'' (Issues 100 – 105)
:*''The Bear Trapper's Hat'' (Issues 106 – 111)
:*''The Hangman's Noose'' (Issues 112 – 121)
:*''The Butcher's Dustbin'' (Issues 122 – 131)
:*''The One String Banjo'' (Issues 132 – 141)
:*''The Pearl Necklace'' (Issues 142 – 151)
:*''The Last Turkey in the Shop'' (Issues 152 – 161)
:*''The Council Gritter'' (Issues 162 – 171)
:*''The Five Knuckle Shuffle'' (Issues 172 – 181)
:*''The Cleveland Steamer'' (Issues 182 – 191)
:*''The Billposter's Bucket'' (Issues 192 – 201)
:*''The Camel's Toe'' (Issues 202 – 211)
:*''The Dutch Oven'' (Issues 212 – 221)
:*''The Otters Pocket'' (Issues 222 – 231)
:*''The Bookie's Pencil'' (Issues 232 – 241)
:*''The Jester's Shoes'' (Issues 242 – 251)
:*''The Pieman's Wig'' (Issues 252 – 261)
:*''The Trumpeter's Lips'' (Issues 262 – 271)
:*''The Wizard's Sleeve'' (Issues 272 – 281)
:*''The Copper's Torch'' (Issues 282 – 291)
:*''The Zookeeper's Boot'' (Issues 292 - 301)
;Themed collections
:*''Holiday Special'' (1988)
:*''The Viz Book of Crap Jokes'' (1989)
:*''Billy the Fish Football Yearbook'' (1990)
:*''The Pathetic Sharks Bumper Special'' (1991)
:*''The Bumper Book of Shite for Older Boys and Girls'' (1993)
:*''Letterbocks Top Tips'' (1994)
:*''The Viz Big Fat Slags Book'' (1994)
:*''Letterbocks Top Tips 2'' (1995)
:*''Sid the Sexist: The Joy of Sexism'' (1996)
:*''The Best of Letterbocks'' (1996)
:*''Roger's Profanisaurus
''Roger's Profanisaurus'' is a humorous book published in the United Kingdom by Dennis Publishing which is written in the style of a lexicon of profane words and expressions. The book is marketed as "the foulest-mouthed book ever to stalk the fa ...
'' (1998)
:*''More Crap Jokes'' (1999??)
:*''Old Gold Rope: The Very Best of Roger Mellie'' (2000)
:*''Summer Special 2000'' (2000)
:*''Summer Special 2001'' (2001)
:*''Wigwatching'' (2002)
:*''Roger's Profanisaurus: The Ultimate Swearing Dictionary'' (2002)
:*''The Sexist Book of Records'' (2002)
:*''Roger Mellie's Ad Break'' (2003)
:*''The Bulging Sack: The Best of Letterbocks'' (2003)
:*''Silver Anniversary Collectors' Edition'' (2004)
:*''Roger's Profanisaurus Rex'' (2005)
:*''Roger's Profanisaurus IV: The Magna Farta'' (2007)
:*''The Magna Fartlet: Viz Roger's Profanisaurus'' (2009)
:*''The Big Hairy Almanackers 2009'' (2008)
:*''Top of the Tips'' (2010)
:*''Roger's Profanisaurus: Das Krapital'' (2010)
:*''Anus Horribilis: A Year of stuff to read on the Thunderbox'' (2011)
:*''Top Tips 2'' (2012)
:*''Viz The Fat Slags Bumper Special'' (2013)
:*''Profanisaurus: Hail Sweary (2013)
:*''The Big Viz Book of Adventure'' (2014)
:*''The Roger Mellie Telly Times'' (2015)
:*''Roger’s Profanisaurus: War and Piss (2018)
;Non-fiction
:*''25 Years of Viz: The Silver Plated Jubilee'' (William Cook, 2004)
:*''Rude Kids: The Unfeasible Story of "Viz"'' (Chris Donald, 2004) (aka: ''The Inside Story of Viz: Rude Kids'')
:*''Him Off the Viz'' (Simon Donald, 2010)
See also
* ''Brain Damage
Neurotrauma, brain damage or brain injury (BI) is the destruction or degeneration of brain cells. Brain injuries occur due to a wide range of internal and external factors. In general, brain damage refers to significant, undiscriminating t ...
''
* British comics
A British comic is a periodical published in the United Kingdom that contains comic strips. It is generally referred to as a comic or a comic magazine, and historically as a comic paper.
British comics are usually Comics anthology, comics antho ...
* '' Smut''
* '' Zit''
* ''Pyton
''Pyton'' was a Norwegian comic book series which was produced by the company Gevion, and afterwards Bladkompaniet, between the years 1986 until 1996. An anthology magazine with no major main character, its style of humor focused mostly on satiri ...
'' was a similar comic from Norway
Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and t ...
which was quite popular in the Nordic countries
The Nordic countries (also known as the Nordics or ''Norden''; literal translation, lit. 'the North') are a geographical and cultural region in Northern Europe and the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic. It includes the sovereign states of Denmar ...
in the 1990s; the Finnish translation of the ''Pyton'' comic continues as the comic ''Myrkky
''Pyton'' was a Norway, Norwegian comic book series which was produced by the company Gevion forlag, Gevion, and afterwards Bladkompaniet, between the years 1986 until 1996. An anthology magazine with no major main character, its style of humor foc ...
''
Notes
References
Review of books commemorating Viz's 25th anniversary in ''The Guardian''
External links
*
The official ''Viz'' print website
containing imagery of many classic ''Viz'' characters and pull-outs
BBC report about ''Viz''
concerning its cartoon based on Fred West
Frederick Walter Stephen West (29 September 1941 – 1 January 1995) was an English serial killer, who committed at least twelve murders between 1967 and 1987 in Gloucestershire, most of them with his second wife, Rose West.
All the victi ...
and Harold Shipman
Harold Frederick Shipman (14 January 1946 – 13 January 2004), known by the public as Doctor Death and to acquaintances as Fred Shipman, was an English general practitioner and serial killer. He is considered to be one of the most prolif ...
Fat Slags celebrate ''Viz'' birthday BBC News
Cartoonist Alex Collier's MySpace
entry
of ''Rude Kids: The Unfeasible Story of Viz'' and ''25 Years of Viz''
Nick Tolson's homepage
''Viz'' and Private Eye contributor
Independent Supply of Back Issues of ''Viz'' Comic and other ''Viz'' related Items
{{DEFAULTSORT:Viz (Comic)
Satirical magazines published in the United Kingdom
Adult humour titles
Comics magazines published in the United Kingdom
Mass media in Newcastle upon Tyne
*
Fictional sports teams
Magazines established in 1979
Black comedy comics
Comics anthologies
1979 comics debuts
1979 establishments in the United Kingdom