Graham Dury (born 1962 in

Clifton Clifton may refer to: People * Clifton (surname) * Clifton (given name) Places Australia *Clifton, Queensland, a town ** Shire of Clifton *Clifton, New South Wales, a suburb of Wollongong * Clifton, Western Australia Canada * Clifton, Nova Sc ...

Nottingham Nottingham ( , locally ) is a city and unitary authority area in Nottinghamshire, East Midlands, England. It is located north-west of London, south-east of Sheffield and north-east of Birmingham. Nottingham has links to the legend of Robi ...

) is a British

cartoonist A cartoonist is a visual artist who specializes in both drawing and writing cartoons (individual images) or comics (sequential images). Cartoonists differ from comics writers or comic book illustrators in that they produce both the literary and g ...

. 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 ''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 t ...

'', one of the magazine's most famous strips. Dury earned a degree in

botany Botany, also called , plant biology or phytology, is the science of plant life and a branch of biology. A botanist, plant scientist or phytologist is a scientist who specialises in this field. The term "botany" comes from the Ancient Greek w ...

, and then enrolled in a PhD programme at the

University of Leicester , mottoeng = So that they may have life , established = , type = public research university , endowment = £20.0 million , budget = £326 million , chancellor = David Willetts , vice_chancellor = Nishan Canagarajah , head_lab ...

. While genetically engineering tomato and tobacco plants for disease and drought resistance,Leistershire Lala: Graham Dury is a lovely man
/ref> he was the first cartoonist to be offered a full-time job at ''Viz'' by co-creator

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/c ...

in April 1988, when royalties began to make the magazine a profitable business. However, Dury had been contributing to ''Viz'' since as early as 1985, often delivering his cartoons by hand to Donald's house. Early creations, Donald noted, tended to have names that rhymed such as ''Tristam Banks and his Jocular Pranks'' or ''Albert Gordon the Traffic Warden''. He also noted Dury's fondness of, and impressive ability to draw, cowboy boots. Dury originally worked with Donald in Donald's small office (formerly his bedroom) at his parents' house 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 ...

. As the success of the comic book grew he became a member of the so-called ''Viz'' editorial cabinet, theoretically headed by Chris Donald, but which also included - for most of its run - Dury, Simon Donald and

Simon Thorp ''Viz'' is a British adult comic magazine founded in 1979 by Chris Donald. It parodies British comics of the post-war period, notably ''The Beano'' and ''The Dandy'', but with extensive profanity, toilet humour, black comedy, surreal humour an ...

. Dury currently draws such cartoons 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 – ...

'', '' Spoilt Bastard'', '' Postman Plod'' and '' Roger Mellie''. He took over drawing the latter strip from Chris Donald when he gave up day-to-day duties in 1999.

References

British cartoonists Underground cartoonists British comics artists British comics writers Alumni of the University of Leicester Living people 1962 births People from Clifton, Nottinghamshire {{UK-cartoonist-stub