Citizendia
Your Ad Here

Cover of Viz (issue 57)
Cover of Viz (issue 57)
"VIZ" redirects here. For other uses, see Viz (disambiguation).

Viz is a popular British adult comic magazine that has been running since 1979. The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom, the UK or Britain,is a Sovereign state located Comic magazine may refer to A comic, a periodical containing comic strips published in Europe e

At its best, the comic's style parodies the strait-laced British comics of the post-war period, notably The Beano and The Dandy, but with incongruous language, crude toilet humour, black comedy and either sexual or violent story lines. The Beano comic is a long-running British children's comic, published by D The Dandy is a long running children's comic published in the United Kingdom. Toilet humour, or scatological humour, is a type of off-colour humour dealing with Defecation, Urination, Flatulence, Vomiting Black comedy, also known as black humor or dark comedy, is a sub-genre of Comedy and Satire where topics and events that are usually regarded Sexual intercourse, in its biological sense is the act in which the male reproductive organ (in humans and other higher animals enters the female reproductive tract Violence is the exertion of force so as to injure or abuse The word is used broadly to describe the destructive action of natural phenomena like Storms and Earthquakes It also sends up tabloid newspapers, with mockeries of articles and letters pages. A tabloid is a Newspaper industry term which refers to a smaller newspaper format per spread to a weekly or semi-weekly alternative newspaper that focuses on local-interest It features competitions and advertisements for overpriced 'limited edition' tat, such as a cat that "shits its own weight in gold", as well as obsessions with half-forgotten celebrities from the 1970s and 1980s such as Shakin' Stevens and Rodney Bewes. Competition is a rivalry between individuals groups nations or animals for territory or resources Advertising is a form of Communication that typically attempts to persuade potential Customers to Purchase or to consume more of a particular Brand Shakin' Stevens also known as ' Shaky' (born Michael Barrett, 4 March 1948 in Ely Cardiff, Wales) is a Platinum selling Welsh Rock Rodney Bewes (born November 27, 1938 in Bingley, near Bradford, in the West Riding of Yorkshire) is an English television Occasionally it satirises current events and politicians, but has no particular political standpoint. Current events are contemporary happenings of significance The phrase may also refer to the following Current Events, a journal published by Weekly Reader Publishing A politician (from Greek " Polis " is an individual who is involved in influencing public decision making through the influence of Politics or a person Its success has led to the appearance of numerous rivals crudely copying the format Viz pioneered; none of them has managed seriously to challenge its popularity. It once enjoyed being the third most popular magazine in the UK, but circulation has since dropped to just over 300,000 (from 1. 2 million). This is mainly because its comic remit has become broader and its format more commonplace, but also partly due to the fact that price has increased sharply to £2. 80 and it is now published 'monthly' ten times a year. The falling circulation and rising cover price are often referenced in the comic itself, often by disgruntled contributors to the letters page.

Some of its comedic devices, for example, generating the illusion of an entire comic-strip "universe" with a "one off" strip, often based on a surrealistic pun, were widely employed in the earlier and now-defunct American humour magazine National Lampoon, which was itself more or less a sophisticated version of Mad Magazine. A pun (or paronomasia) is a Phrase that deliberately exploits confusion between similar-sounding Words for humorous or Rhetorical Mad is a monthly American Humor Magazine founded by editor Harvey Kurtzman and publisher William Gaines in 1952

In a recently released coffee table book celebrating 25 years of Viz, cartoonist Graham Dury is quoted as saying: "We pride ourselves on the fact that you're no cleverer when you've read Viz. A coffee table book is a Hardcover Book that is intended to sit on a Coffee table or similar surface in an area where guests sit and are entertained thus Graham Dury (born in Clifton, Nottingham) is a British Cartoonist. You might have had a few laughs, but you've not learnt anything".

Contents

History

The comic was started in Newcastle upon Tyne in December 1979 by Chris Donald who produced the comic from his bedroom in his parents' Jesmond home, with help from his brother Simon and friend Jim Brownlow. Newcastle upon Tyne ( (often shortened to Newcastle) is a city and Metropolitan borough of Tyne and Wear, England Chris Donald (born 25 April 1960 in Newcastle, England) is the founder of and one of the principal contributors to the British Jesmond is a residential suburb and electoral ward just north of the centre of Newcastle upon Tyne, England. Simon Donald is a co-founder and co-editor of the British Comic magazine Viz. Editor Chris Donald himself cannot remember 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, he considered the word "Viz" a very easy word to write/remember as it consisted of three letters that are easily made with straight lines. The word Viz itself comes from the Latin words vide licet, which is usually abbreviated to "viz". Scribal abbreviations ( sigla; singular sigil or more rarely siglum) were Abbreviations used by ancient and medieval scribes writing in It means "more appropriately or accurately; namely" and is often used interchangeably with i. e. For example: "He was a minor Duke in the House of Lords, viz. the Duke of Rochester. "

It came about at around the time, and in the spirit of, the punk fanzines, and used alternative methods of distribution such as the prominent DIY record label and shop Falling A Records which was an early champion of the comic. A punk zine (or punkzine) is a Zine devoted to punk culture most often Punk rock music bands or the DIY punk ethic. A fanzine (see also Zine) is a nonprofessional publication produced by fans of a particular cultural phenomenon (such as a literary or musical genre for the pleasure Falling A Records is a Essex England based Independent record label formed in the late 1970s and heavily involved with the D The first 12-page issue went on sale for 20p (30p to students) in a local pub that hosted punk gigs, and within hours the run of 150 copies had sold out. What had begun as a few pages, photocopied and sold to friends, became a publishing phenomenon. A photocopier (or copier is a machine that makes Paper copies of documents and other visual images quickly and cheaply To meet the demand, and to make up for Brownlow's diminishing interest in contributing, freelance artist Graham Dury was hired and worked alongside Chris Donald. A freelancer, freelance worker, or freelance is a person who pursues a profession without a long-term commitment to any one employer

After a few years of steady sales, mostly in the North East of England, circulation had grown to around 5,000. North-East England is one of the nine official Regions of England and comprises the combined area of Northumberland, County Durham, Tyne and Wear As the magazine's popularity grew, the bedroom became too small and production moved to a nearby Jesmond office. Jesmond is a residential suburb and electoral ward just north of the centre of Newcastle upon Tyne, England. Donald also hired another freelance artist, Simon Thorp, whose work had impressed him. Viz is a popular British adult Comic magazine that has been running since 1979 For over a decade, these four would be the nucleus of Viz. In 1985 a deal was signed with Virgin Books to publish the comic nationally every two months. Virgin Books is a United Kingdom book Publisher 90% owned by the publishing group Random House, and 10% owned by Virgin Enterprises, the company originally In 1987 the Virgin director responsible for Viz, John Brown, set up his own publishing company, John Brown Publishing, to handle Viz. Sales exploded, and at the end of 1989 passed one million, making Viz for a time the biggest-selling magazine 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. Editing Language, Images or Sound through correction condensation organization and other modifications in various media 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, and increased in frequency to ten times a year. Loaded, first published by IPC in 1994, is a British magazine for men that is considered to be the "original lads' mag " James Brown is a former editor and owner of English male-oriented lad mag magazines In 2003 it changed hands again when IFG were bought out by Dennis Publishing. Dennis Publishing Ltd is one of the world’s leading independent publishers

Soon after, Simon Donald quit his role as co-editor, in an attempt to develop a career in television.

Much of the non-cartoon material such as the newspaper spoofs are now written by Robin Halstead, Jason Hazeley, Joel Morris and Alex Morris, the authors of The Framley Examiner' and by James MacDougall and Christina Martin. The Framley Examiner ('Framley's traditional favourite since 1978' is a Parody of a newspaper in a small provincial English town Christina Martin (Born - January 1980 came third in the 2006 Funny Women Awards

Notable strips

For a complete list, see List of Viz comic strips

Roger Mellie is one of the longest running characters in Viz
Roger Mellie is one of the longest running characters in Viz

Many Viz characters have featured in long-running strips, becoming well-known in their own right, including spin-off cartoons. Following is a list of recurring or notable one-off strips from the British adult spoof Comic magazine Viz: Acker Bilk Roger Mellie ("The Man on the Telly" is a Fictional character featured in Viz magazine The word cartoon has various meanings based on several very different forms of Visual art and Illustration. Characters often have rhyming or humorous taglines, such as Roger Mellie, the Man on the Telly, Nobby's Piles, Johnny Fartpants, Buster Gonad, Sid the Sexist or Finbarr Saunders and his Double Entendres. Roger Mellie ("The Man on the Telly" is a Fictional character featured in Viz magazine Nobby's Piles is the name of a Cartoon in the British Comic Viz. Johnny Fartpants was arguably the first character in Viz magazine to achieve UK -wide notoriety and was certainly on a lot of teenagers' T-shirts in the Buster Gonad is the name of a Cartoon character in the British Comic Viz. Sid the Sexist (real name Sidney Smutt is a character from the English comic book Viz. Finbarr Saunders is a long-running Comic strip in the British comic magazine Viz. Others are based on stereotypes of British culture, mostly via working class characters. A stereotype (from Greek: stereo + týpos = "solid impression" is a generalized perception of first impressions behaviors presumed by a group Culture (from the Latin cultura stemming from colere, meaning "to cultivate" generally refers to patterns of human activity and the symbolic Working class is a term used in academic Sociology and in ordinary conversation to describe depending on context and speaker those employed in specific fields or types In addition to this, the comic also contains plenty of 'in jokes' that refer to people and places in and around Newcastle upon Tyne. An in-joke (also known as an in joke or inside joke) is a Joke whose Humor is clear only to those people who are "inside" a social Newcastle upon Tyne ( (often shortened to Newcastle) is a city and Metropolitan borough of Tyne and Wear, England

Many strips appear only once. These very often have extremely surreal or bizarre storylines, and often feature celebrities. Surreal humour is a form of humour, laughingly in a style related to the artistic ambitions of the surrealists, based on bizarre Juxtapositions absurd situations For example: "Paul Daniels's Jet-Ski Journey to the Centre of Elvis", and "Arse Farm – Young Pete and Jenny Nostradamus were spending the holidays with their Uncle Jed, who farmed arses deep in the heart of the Sussex countryside. Paul Daniels (born Newton Edward Daniels on 6 April 1938 is a British magician and television performer Jet Ski is the Brand name of Personal watercraft (PWC manufactured by Kawasaki Heavy Industries Ltd Arse is an informal English term referring to the Buttocks, which is commonly used in English speaking countries such as the United Kingdom, Sussex is a historic county in South East England corresponding roughly in area to the ancient Kingdom of Sussex. . . ". The latter type often follows the style of Enid Blyton and other popular children's adventure stories of the 1950s. Enid Mary Blyton ( August 11 1897 &ndash November 28 1968) was a British children's writer. Several strips were single-panel, one-off puns, such as "Daft Bugger", which featured two bored, disinterested men engaged in the act of buggery; the buggerer then states that he has forgotten his car keys (thus making him "daft"). The English term Buggery is very close in meaning to the term Sodomy, and is often used interchangeably in law and popular speech

Most of the stories take place in the fictitious town of Fulchester. Fulchester is a fictitious town where most of the comic strips in the humorous Viz Comic are based the town being based near Newcastle upon Tyne Fulchester was originally the setting of the British TV programme Crown Court before the name was adopted by the Viz team. Crown Court was an ITV afternoon television courtroom drama that started in 1972 which was the same year the Crown Court system replaced Assize Billy the Fish plays for Fulchester United F. Billy the Fish is a long-running Cartoon strip in the British Comic Viz that first appeared in 1983 C. There is an 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. [1] (A significant number of strips, most of which centre on child characters, are set in the fictional Barnton. )

One of the most pun based strips was "George Bestial", which centered around famous footballer George Best committing bestiality. George Best (22 May 1946 &ndash 25 November 2005 was a Northern Irish professional football player best known for his years with Manchester United. The strip was discontinued after the death of Best.

Viz also lampoons political ideas - both left-wing ideals, in strips such as "The Modern Parents" (and to an extent in Student Grant), and right-wing ones such as "Victorian Dad" and numerous strips involving tabloid columnists Garry Bushell ("Garry Bushell the Bear") and Richard Littlejohn ("Richard Littlecock" and "Robin Hood and Richard Littlejohn"), portraying them as obsessed with homosexuality, political correctness and non-existent left-wing conspiracies to the exclusion of all else. The Modern Parents is a Comic strip from the British Comic Viz. Student Grant is a Cartoon strip in the British Comic Viz featuring a University Student named Grant Wankshaft In Politics, right-wing, the political right, and the Right are positions that uphold traditional values and/or authorities Victorian Dad is a character in the British Comic Viz. First appearing in Viz in the 1990s Victorian Dad lives in the contemporary age but dresses Garry Bushell (born May 13, 1955 in Woolwich, South East London) is a Newspaper Columnist Rock music Richard William Littlejohn (born 18 January 1954 in Ilford, London) is an award-winning British Right-wing journalist Homosexuality refers to sexual behavior with or attraction to people of the same sex or to a Homosexual orientation. Political correctness (adjectivally politically correct; both forms commonly abbreviated to PC) is a term applied to Language, ideas policies or behavior Left-wing conspiracy refers to a purported cohesive network of political Liberals who seek to discredit smear and politically ruin conservatives in a more insidious

In keeping with the comic's irreverent and deliberately non-conformist style, The Duke of Edinburgh was once parodied as a culturally insensitive, dim-witted xenophobe in a one-off strip "HRH The Duke of Edinburgh and his Jocular Larks" which centred on the Duke making outrageously ill-informed comments to a young Chinese victim of a residential housing block collapse.

Occasionally, celebrities get the 'honour' of strips all to themselves. Billy Connolly has had more than one devoted to him trying to ingratiate himself with the Queen; Harold Shipman and Fred West got their own strip as rival neighbours trying to kill the old woman next door and trying to foil each other's plans (Harold and Fred - they make ladies dead! [2]); and Bob Hope had a strip of him trying to think up amusing last words (but ended up with just a load of swearing). Billy Connolly, CBE (born William Connolly Jr on 24 November, 1942) is a Scottish Harold Frederick "Fred" Shipman (14 January 1946 &ndash 13 January 2004 was an English General practitioner and convicted Serial killer Frederick Walter Stephen West (29 September 1941 – 1 January 1995 better known as Fred West, was an English Serial killer. Bob Hope, KBE KCSG ( May 29, 1903 &ndash July 27, 2003) was an American comedian and actor who appeared in The singer Elton John has also appeared frequently in recent issues as a double-dealing Del Boy-like character attempting to pull off small-time criminal scams such as tobacco smuggling, benefit fraud and cheating on fruit machines. Sir Elton Hercules John CBE (born Reginald Kenneth Dwight on 25 March 1947 is an English pop / rock Singer, Composer } Derek Edward Trotter (born July 12, 1948 in Deptford) more commonly known as "Del Boy", is the fictional lead character in the popular 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. Other celebs to have been featured in their own strips include Jonathan Ross, Russell Brand, Esther Rantzen, Stephen Fry, Noel Edmonds, Jimmy Saville (as the headmaster of "Pop School", as "Sir Jimmy Savile, the Owl" and in "Jimmy Savile's Haunted Head"), Johnny Vaughan, Boy George, Freddie Garrity, Steve McFadden, Morrissey (constantly finding daffodils stuck into the seat of his trousers, in parody of his appearances on Top of the Pops), Busted, Eminem, Big Daddy and plenty more. Jonathan Stephen Ross OBE (born 17 November 1960 in London, England) is a triple BAFTA -winning British Russell Edward Brand (born June 4 1975 is a British Comedian, Actor, Columnist and a Presenter of Radio and Esther Louise Rantzen CBE (born) is an English Journalist and Television presenter who is best known for her long stint in That's Stephen John Fry (born 24 August 1957 is an English Humorist, Writer, Wit, Actor, Novelist, filmmaker Noel Ernest Edmonds Sir James Wilson Vincent Savile OBE, KCSG (born 31 October 1926) commonly known as Jimmy Savile (often misspelled Johnny Vaughan (born July 16 1966) is an English Broadcaster and Journalist. Boy George (born George Alan O'Dowd 14 June 1961 in Eltham London) is an English Singer-songwriter, who was part of the English New Freddie Garrity ( 14 November 1936, Manchester, Lancashire, England – 19 May 2006, Bangor Gwynedd Steve McFadden (born 20 March 1959) is an English Actor who is well-known for his starring role as Phil Mitchell in the British Steven Patrick Morrissey (ˈmɒɹɪsiː born May 22, 1959) known primarily as Morrissey, is a British Singer and Lyricist Top of the Pops, also known as TOTP, was a long-running British music chart Television programme, made and broadcast Marshall Bruce Mathers III (born October 17 1972 known as Slim Shady and his primary Stage name Eminem, is an Academy Award -winning

In 2002, British comedian Johnny Vegas sold the exclusive rights to his wedding photographs to Viz for £1, in a sarcastic dig at celebrity couples who sold the rights to their wedding photos to glossy magazines such as OK! for anything up to £1million. Johnny Vegas (born 11 September, 1971 as Michael Joseph Pennington) is an English Actor and Comedian. OK! is a British weekly magazine specializing in celebrity news Viz subsequently printed the 'exclusive' photos of Vegas' big day in their next issue. He claims he never received the money.

Other content

Spoof news stories

Sprinkled throughout each issue are spoof news stories, serving to lampoon the tabloid media and obsess over celebrities. Viz invented a fictitious councillor called Hugo Guthrie, representing the real Black Country town of Tipton. The Black Country is a loosely defined area of the English West Midlands conurbation, to the north and west of Birmingham, and to the south and east of Wolverhampton Tipton is a town in the Sandwell borough of the West Midlands, England, with a population of around 47000 Guthrie would be cited in spoof news stories as designing all kind of manic and incompetent schemes for the town, involving such ideas as a Disneyland to be called TiptonDisney.

There were also fictitious stories of normal events one might find in the paper; for example, one issue of Viz 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 several hundred pounds on the pools, and began living an inordinately lavish lifestyle ("I even paid for a taxi home" from the pub 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 tells" 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, he found a campsite run by Elvis Presley who, when plied with drink, admitted to the Kennedy assassination; another from a retired toilet attendant who described the nature of faeces from various little-known celebrities and an exposé on the sex life of a 'mental hospital outpatient' who claimed to be having affairs with TV puppets such as Basil Brush, the Thunderbirds and Thomas the Tank Engine ("I'd never seen a train's cock before and it was huge. SpecialShortpages.-- A travel trailer or caravan is a trailer towed behind a road Vehicle to provide a place to sleep which is more comfortable and protected than a The assassination of John F Kennedy, the thirty-fifth President of the United States, took place on Friday November 22 1963 in Dallas Texas Feces, faeces, or fæces (see spelling differences) is a waste product from an animal's digestive tract expelled through the Anus A celebrity is a widely-recognized or famous person who commands a high degree of public and media attention Basil Brush is an Anthropomorphic fox best known as a British television character aimed at children Thunderbirds is a British mid-1960s television show devised by Gerry and Sylvia Anderson and made by AP Films using a form of Puppetry Thomas the Tank Engine is a Fictional Anthropomorphic Tank locomotive created by the Rev ").

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's "plastic tits"). Pamela Denise Anderson (born July 1 1967 is a Canadian -born actress, Sex symbol, glamour model, producer, Author, and If one of a select band of frequently referenced stars is mentioned during these stories, they will be named humourously. Among others, Lemmy Kilmister will invariably be referred to as "Lemmy out of Motorhead", Bono as "Bonio" (a brand of dog biscuit) and Sting as "Sting (real name Gordon Sting)", mixing the singer's birth and stage names. Lemmy (born Ian Fraser Kilmister, December 24 1945) also known as Lemmy Kilmister, Ian Willis or Lemmy von Motörhead Bonio is the most popular brand of dog biscuit sold in the United Kingdom Gordon Matthew Thomas Sumner, CBE (born October 2, 1951) better known by his Stage name Sting, is a three time Academy Award

Photos in Viz news stories are often 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 "Motorhead" on the cap). Photos will frequently be captioned only with the name of the subject followed by ", yesterday", e. g. "A train, yesterday".

Following the format common in tabloid newspapers, stories are punctuated by words that, in normal journalism, serve to indicate the theme of the following sections. A tabloid is a Newspaper industry term which refers to a smaller newspaper format per spread to a weekly or semi-weekly alternative newspaper that focuses on local-interest 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 on the high seas, he was able to expel a single unbroken "monster" turd; 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 during bathtime, such as "playing with [his] pork sword"; in this case, when the reader entered the bathroom, she discovered her son had indeed fashioned a sword out of pork and sausages). Viz is a popular British adult Comic magazine that has been running since 1979 Defecation is the final act of Digestion by which organisms eliminate solid semisolid or liquid Waste material ( Faeces) from the Digestive tract Feces, faeces, or fæces (see spelling differences) is a waste product from an animal's digestive tract expelled through the Anus Masturbation refers to Sexual stimulation especially of one's own genitals ( self masturbation) and often to the point of Orgasm, which The penis (plural penises, penes

Many make observations about celebrities (especially those who have recently died; one letter printed after the deaths of Gianni Versace and Princess Diana remarked on both their violent deaths and friendship with Elton John, stating "I tell you what. Gianni Versace ( December 2, 1946 &ndash July 15, 1997) was an Italian Fashion designer and founder of Gianni Versace S Sir Elton Hercules John CBE (born Reginald Kenneth Dwight on 25 March 1947 is an English pop / rock Singer, Composer If I was George Michael right about now, I'd be shitting myself") or current events (a 2000 issue remarked "The Government spent £850 million on the Millennium Bug, and the only thing that crashes is Q [Desmond Llewelyn] out of the Bond films"). Georgios Kyriacos Panayiotou (Γεώργιος Κυριάκος Παναγιώτου (born 25 June 1963 best known as George Michael, is a two-time Grammy Award winning The Year 2000 problem (also known as the Y2K problem, the millennium bug, the Y2K bug, or simply Y2K) was a notable Computer bug resulting Q is a Fictional character in the James Bond novels and films. Desmond Wilkinson Llewelyn ( 12 September 1914 &mdash 19 December 1999 who was a Coal mining engineer

Most employ deliberate misunderstandings for comic effect (e. g. "These so-called speed bumps are a joke. A speed bump (in British English a speed hump, road hump or sleeping policeman) is a velocity-reducing feature of road design to If anything they slow you down. ") 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").

A bizarre series of letters from a J Cursiter of Bristol recounted his hobby of watching passers-by from 'a series of cunningly-disguised hides'. Bristol ( ˈbrɪstəl is a city, Unitary authority and ceremonial county in South West England, west of London It is unclear whether Cursiter is a reader of the comic or a creation of the editors.

Often letters are printed that criticize 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 that looks utterly insincere and forced (Tony Blair featured at least twice. The Sun is a Tabloid daily newspaper published in the United Kingdom and Ireland with the highest circulation of any daily English-language Anthony Charles Lynton "Tony" Blair (born 6 May 1953 is a British Politician who was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 2 May 1997 to ) A similar series was of men who were wearing absurdly ill-fitting wigs. A wig is a head of Hair made from horse-hair human hair wool feathers buffalo hair or synthetic worn on the head for fashion or various other aesthetic and stylistic 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. The English term Buggery is very close in meaning to the term Sodomy, and is often used interchangeably in law and popular speech

Letterbocks also formerly featured correspondence from, and has brought fame to the late Abdul Latif, Lord of Harpole, proprietor of the (real) Curry Capital restaurant (formerly the Rupali), Bigg Market. Abdul Latif, FRSA ( Bangla: আব্দুল লতিফ (1952 &ndash 20 January, 2008) was a British Restaurateur Harpole Northamptonshire, England, is a village 4 miles west of Northampton, in the district council area of South Northamptonshire where it His Lordship often promoted his restaurant with spoof competitions and offers. In December 2006 he appeared in a seasonal broadcast to rival the Queen's very own Christmas message. [3]

Lame to Fame

A semi-regular feature in Letterbocks is the "Lame to Fame" column, where readers can send in "claims to fame" where they explain how they are related to well-known celebrities. However, the relations are purposefully so distant or commonplace that the claim does not make the reader any more notable than any other bloke off the street. for example: "I once had a drink with a bloke who had caught Duran Duran's Simon Le Bon's dog after it had escaped from his big house. Duran Duran are an English Pop rock band famous for a long series of popular singles, albums and vivid Music videos for which they've won two Simon John Charles Le Bon (born October 27, 1958) is the lead singer and lyricist of the pop/rock band Duran Duran and its offshoot Arcadia "

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 that offer domestic and everyday tips to make life easier. In Viz, naturally, they are usually absurd, impractical or ludicrous - for example: "A small coniferous tree in the corner of your living room is an excellent place to store Christmas decorations". Some tips are for ridiculous motives, such as how to convince neighbours that your house has dry rot, whilst others are for possibly sensible motives but with ridiculous and impractical suggestions of how to go about it, such as "convince friends that you have a high powered job in the City 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. In the field of construction dry rot refers to the decay of timber in buildings and other wooden structures by certain Fungi. " and "Save money on sex-lines by phoning up the Samaritans and threatening to kill yourself unless they talk dirty. " Some are totally inexplicable: "To make your husband's trousers heavier, hang onions from the belt loops". Some inspire volleys of running jokes: "Fun-sized Mars Bars make ideal normal sized Mars Bars for dwarves. The Mars Bar is a Chocolate bar manufactured by Mars Incorporated. " -- "Normal-sized Mars bars make ideal fun-sized Mars Bars for giants. " -- "King-size Mars Bars make ideal normal size Mars Bars for giants. " -- "Normal-sized Mars Bars make ideal king-sized Mars Bars for dwarves. "

A more recent trend is for extremely sarcastic tips to be offered that are observations by the readers regarding other people's behaviour, such as someone (obviously a barmaid) who suggested male pub 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. Sarcasm is stating the opposite of an intended meaning especially in order to sneeringly slyly jest or mock a person situation or thing A bartender ( barman, barkeeper, barmaid, mixologist, tapster among other names serves Beverages It really turns us on. "

McDonald's 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. 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 for an undisclosed sum (donated to Comic Relief), however many Viz readers had believed that the comic had given permission for their use, leading to Top Tips submissions such as: "Geordie magazine editors. Comic relief is the inclusion of a humorous character or scene or witty dialogue in an otherwise serious work often to relieve tension Continue paying your mortgage and buying expensive train sets . . . by simply licensing the Top Tips concept to a multinational burger corporation. "

Spoof adverts and competitions

Viz has had many different spoof adverts for various items, such as ornaments, dolls, sheds, china plates and novelty chess sets. Chess is a recreational and competitive Game played between two players. These poke fun at the genuine adverts for such items in magazines found in the colour supplements of Sunday newspapers. Naturally, those found in Viz are absurd, such as a breakfast plate that depicts Princess Diana's face in the middle of a fried egg, "No. A fried egg is an egg (usually that of a Chicken) cooked by Frying, typically in Bacon fat, Butter, Cooking 22 Shit Street" (which was a diorama of a dilapidated council house complete with rabid dog, youthful vandals, and a "gently rusting" washing machine in the front yard), and "Little Ted West", a teddy bear dressed to look like serial killer Fred West. The council house is a form of public or social housing in the United Kingdom. The teddy bear is a stuffed Toy Bear. It is an enduring traditional form of a Stuffed animal, often serving the purpose of comforting children Frederick Walter Stephen West (29 September 1941 – 1 January 1995 better known as Fred West, was an English Serial killer. Recently, Viz actually manufactured some of these items for real and sold them, including a china plate that depicted "The Life Of Christ. . . In Cats", featuring tacky pictures of a cat in various stages of Jesus's life, and the Elvis Presley Dambusters Clock Plate of Tutankhamen, a clock featuring Elvis in the style of Tutankhamun's death mask in addition to Avro Lancaster bomber planes. Jesus of Nazareth (7–2 BC / BCE —26–36 AD / CE) "Lanc" redirects here Distinguish from Lank (adjective and from Amon Lanc (a place in Tolkien's fiction Many Viz gems are tucked away in spoof Terms and Conditions sections or application forms. Wry adverts for mail order "objets de tat" will require prospective buyers to commit to exorbitant, protracted payment arrangements and demand they give up the opportunity to put right their error, once the thrill of actually holding a "Lady Diana Full English Breakfast Plate of Hope" has faded. One "Ticky Box" is labelled "My statutory rights are not important".

Another staple of Viz advertisement parody are the adverts for public and government services 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. A police officer (also known as a policeman or policewoman) is a warranted employee of a Police force. Another ad exhorted male readers to join the British Army, 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 "should just about see [him] right" when it comes to the ladies). The British Army is the land armed forces branch of the British Armed Forces. Belfast ( is the capital city of Northern Ireland and the seat of government in Northern Ireland.

A long running gag has been adverts for sheds, or rather surreal types of sheds ("TV Sheds", "Shed Bikes", "Shed Snakes", etc. A shed is typically a simple single- story structure in a Back garden or on an allotment that is used for Storage, hobbies, or ). (compare with Monty Python's 'Arthur 'two-sheds' Jackson!)

Adverts for loan companies have been parodied frequently since approximately 2000, usually with an absurd twist, such as ones aimed at vagrants, offering loans of between 5 and 10 pence for a cup of tea. See also Vagrancy (biology for an alternative use of the term Tea refers to the cured agricultural product of the leaves leaf buds and internodes of Camellia sinensis, which have been prepared and cured for the market Roger Mellie has frequently starred in such spoof advertisements, both in separate sections in Viz and also his own strip. Roger Mellie ("The Man on the Telly" is a Fictional character featured in Viz magazine Mellie is portrayed as someone who is willing to endorse any product whatsoever for money or freebies.

Scatalogical 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 for Jamaica!"

Genuine competitions have been run by Viz, with proper prizes. Constipation, costiveness, or irregularity, is a condition of the Digestive system in which a person (or animal experiences hard Feces that 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 metric tonne of one and two pence pieces equivalent to a few hundred pounds sterling. This article is about the tonne or metric ton For other tons see Ton. Recently they were giving away a plasma screen television provided by the producers of Freddy Vs. Jason. A plasma display panel (PDP is a type of Flat panel display now commonly used for large TV displays (typically above 37-inch or 940 mm Freddy vs Jason is a 2003 American Slasher film directed by Ronny Yu. Viz poked fun at the movie, describing it as "shite" 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. Shit is one of the most functionally diverse words in the English language, and is also one of the most frequently used nouns

Another spinoff was "Roger's Profanisaurus"[4], a thesaurus of (often freshly coined) rude words, phrases and sexual slang submitted by readers. Roger's Profanisaurus is a compendium of Profanity, featuring the foulmouthed Viz character Roger Mellie the man on the telly. A thesaurus is a book that contains Synonyms and sometimes Antonyms, in contrast to a Dictionary, which contains Definitions and Pronunciations Slang is the use of highly informal Words and expressions that are not considered standard in the speaker's Dialect or Language. It has been published as a book, complete with a foreword by Terry Jones. For other uses see Terry Jones (disambiguation. Terence Graham Parry Jones (born 1 February 1942) is a Welsh This also often features genuine regional slang.

Jimmy Carr is one of the latest targets of Viz, being lambasted as a sham of a comedian by having photographs of himself posing with employees who have won mundane awards at meaningless corporate events. James Anthony Patrick Carr Jr (born September 15, 1972 in Isleworth, London) In issue 160 a genuine advert appeared promoting his latest DVD with the tag-line "When he's not doing corporate gigs, Jimmy Carr is a stand-up comic. "

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 British Computer magazine for the Sinclair range of computers This was done in response to Your Sinclair's competitor, CRASH, giving away a mini-copy of Oink! comic with their issue 42. Crash was a magazine dedicated to the ZX Spectrum Home computer. Oink! was a British comic for children which was published from 3 May 1986-22 October 1988 [1] [2]

Photo strips

Every issue features a photo strip. Fumetti (or photo novels) are a genre of Comics illustrated with Photographs rather than drawings. These parody the format of supernatural and true love British comics that were popular with young girl readers in the late 1970s, such as 'Chiller' and 'Jackie', and the 'real life dilemma' photo strips often found in tabloid newspapers. Jackie was a weekly British magazine for girls The magazine was published by D

One example is a young woman who is convinced 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 her!". The locations for the photo stories are recognisably in the suburbs of Newcastle upon Tyne where the Viz team are based. Newcastle upon Tyne ( (often shortened to Newcastle) is a city and Metropolitan borough of Tyne and Wear, England On occasion, this is explicitly recognised - the one-off strip Whitley Baywatch, a spoof of the popular American TV show Baywatch, is based in the North East coastal resort of Whitley Bay. Baywatch was an American Television series about the Los Angeles County Lifeguards who patrol the crowded Beaches of Whitley Bay is a town in North Tyneside, in Tyne and Wear, England However, other stories purporting to be set in London or without a location are often also identifiably near to the Viz editorial offices in Jesmond. Jesmond is a residential suburb and electoral ward just north of the centre of Newcastle upon Tyne, England. In 'He just loved to dance' (no. 103) for example, Komal's Tandoori restaurant in West Jesmond is visible. thumb|Looking into the mouth of a tandoor A tandoor is a cylindrical clay Oven used in cooking and baking In 'Four minutes to fall in love' (no. 107), the Gateshead Millennium Bridge provides a backdrop to the denouement. The Gateshead Millennium Bridge is a pedestrian and cyclist Tilt bridge spanning the River Tyne in England between Gateshead on the south An occasionally recurring actor in these strips is Arthur 2-Stroke, of the band The Chart Commandos.

One such photo strip was called "I Believe in Father Christmas", where a full grown man believed in the existence of Santa Claus. Santa Claus, also known as Saint Nicholas, Father Christmas, Kris Kringle, or simply " Santa " is the His wife, named Virginia, attempts to convince him otherwise. He visits a department store Santa Claus just like a child, although he asks for either a CD from the Dire Straits or Phil Collins. Dire Straits was a British rock band, formed in 1977 by Mark Knopfler (guitar and vocals his brother David Knopfler (guitar Philip David Charles Collins, LVO (born 30 January 1951 Chiswick, London) is an English Singer-songwriter, Drummer On Christmas night, the man goes downstairs to the living room as he heard noise and figured Santa must have come. However, he is surprised to see that an armed robber has broken into his house, who promptly shoots him and flees. Robbery is the Crime of seizing Property through Violence or Intimidation. His wife in shock tends to her husband as he is badly hurt, who tells her he was wrong to believe in Santa Claus like some small child. However, crying, the wife said that Santa did indeed come, he left presents for them. The strip ends by the husband saying to his wife "Yes Virginia, there is a Santa Claus. "

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 British tabloid newspaper the Sunday Sport tried to provoke media outrage over another photo strip which, taken out of context, could be misconstrued as making light of the problem of illegal drugs being offered to children. The Sunday Sport is a British Newspaper, printed by Sport Newspapers, which established itself in 1986 as a Tabloid.

Trinny and Susannah also threatened to sue the comic after being portrayed as school bullies in a cartoon strip (Fat and Skinny: Suzanna and Trinny). Trinny Woodall (born Sarah-Jane Woodall 8 February 1964 in Marylebone, London) is an English fashion advisor and designer, Television Susannah Caroline Constantine (born 3 June 1962 is an award-winning English fashion guru, style advisor presenter, Bestselling fashion An official Viz spokesman said “We are too busy laughing to comment. ”[5]

Viz in other media

Some of the characters have had their own television cartoon series. They are:

A one-off TV programme "Viz - The Documentary" was shown on Britain's Channel 4 in 1990. Peter Edward Cook (17 November 1937 &ndash 9 January 1995 was an English Satirist, Writer and Comedian. Harry Enfield (born 30 May, 1961 in Sussex, England) is an English Comedian, Actor and Writer Channel 4 is a public-service Television and Radio broadcaster in the United Kingdom centred around a television channel of the same name which began It told the story of Viz in a way that spoofed serious investigative TV shows like Panorama or Dispatches. Panorama is the longest-running current affairs documentary series in the world Dispatches is the British television current affairs documentary series on Channel 4, first transmitted in 1987

A computer game using many Viz characters was produced in 1991 by Virgin Interactive. Virgin Interactive was a successful and influential British Video game publisher.

The Fat Slags appeared in TV ads for Lucozade, a drink that they hate with a passion. Lucozade is an Umbrella name for a series of Energy and Sports drinks These ads included a mixture of cartoon characters (the slags) and live actors (the men who drink Lucozade).

A movie based on The Fat Slags was produced in 2004 [6], but was disowned by the magazine's editors who threatened to stop running the strip in response.

A novelty single [7] was released in 1987 for Viz and its Buster Gonads comic by the band XTC as "Johnny Japes and His Jesticles". XTC was a New Wave band from Swindon, England, active between 1976 and 2005 The A-side was "Bags of Fun With Buster" b/w "Scrotal Scratch Mix".

During the Gulf War of 1991, Sepecat Jaguar GR1A bombers of the Royal Air Force featured such Viz characters as Johnny Fartpants, the Fat Slags and Buster Gonad as nose art. WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft. Please see WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft/page content for recommended layout Nose art is a decorative Painting or design on the Fuselage of a Military aircraft, usually located near the nose and is a form of Aircraft graffiti [8]

Controversy

The comic got in trouble with the United Nations after featuring a strip called 'The Thieving Gypsy Bastards'; unbeknownst to the Viz editorial team at the time, Gypsies are regarded as a race under UK law and thus the comic was guilty of racism. The United Nations ( UN) is an International organization whose stated aims are to facilitate cooperation in International law, International security The Romani people (singular Rom, plural Roma as a Noun; also known as Romanies or Roma people) are an ethnic group with origins [3] During the resultant court case, UK newspaper The Sun ran a story revealing that the principal Roma man who initiated the action against them was in fact also being tried for, and was later found guilty of, handling stolen property.

The strip 'Wanker Watson', a parody of the children's comic book character Winker Watson, led to litigation by D. C. Thomson & Co. Ltd, the owners of the Winker character. Winker Watson is a Fictional character who has his own Comic strip in the UK comic The Dandy. D C Thomson & Co Ltd, is a publishing company based in Dundee, Scotland, best known for producing Oor Wullie, The Broons In retaliation, Viz featured a new character called 'D. C. Thomson The Humourless Scottish Git'. (D. C. Thomson sought revenge by publishing a new cartoon "The Jocks and The Geordies", a revival of an old strip from The Dandy, 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' - a reference to Felix and his Amazing Underpants. )

Sports clothing manufacturer Kappa insisted that the comic drop the name of one of its characters, 'Kappa Slapper', as it had no permission to use the brand name. Kappa also believed that the character in question insulted its customer base. 'Slapper' was an obnoxious, uneducated, highly unattractive and sexually promiscuous 14 year old single mother living on a Tyneside council estate, always donning her Kappa shellsuit. After several runs of the strip, Viz agreed to change her name to 'Tasha Slapper'.

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, and had to have it covered with a sticker by the publishers.

See also

References

  1. ^ The YS Rock'n'Roll Years - Issue 23
  2. ^ CRASH 42 - Index
  3. ^ New Statesman - Fnarr! Fnarr!

External links

Frederick Walter Stephen West (29 September 1941 – 1 January 1995 better known as Fred West, was an English Serial killer. Harold Frederick "Fred" Shipman (14 January 1946 &ndash 13 January 2004 was an English General practitioner and convicted Serial killer
© 2009 citizendia.org; parts available under the terms of GNU Free Documentation License, from http://en.wikipedia.org
 Dapyx Software network: MP3 Explorer | Ebook Manager | Zenithic