Comics UK

Posted: **04 Oct 2009, 13:47**

Hi There,

Hopefully this will be of some interest to comic fans, those who don't read the Viz may like to know which of their favourite comic characters have recieved the Viz treatment in the past. I'll reference the artists too although they all write the stuff together mostly, with the exception of a few freelancers

Ive picked up the last 3 issues to get the ball rolling, feel free to add to this Viz fans.

Issue 187

Barry the Cat a Billy the Cat parody by Simon Thorp

The Pointless **** of St Bridgets a bit like something out of Bunty or Tammy or some girls comic from the early 70's. Davey Jones often does these although this one is particularly funny especially if your not a fan of Eamonn Holmes!

Issue 188

Lady Chatterleys Brother more of a film parody, dont know if its worth mentioning all these film parodys? a one off by Alex Collier

The Michael Jackson Story by Simon Ecob, Jackie-esq popstar profile

Issue 189 current issue! go and buy it!

Copper Bolt by Paul Palmer, already discussed Tom Paterson parody.

The McBrowntrouts a Broons parody, you can probrably guess the joke. by AH-CH I ve been told who it is but have forgotten since then!

Not very accurate I know but hopefully I've set the ball rolling for everyone else to either correct me or add their own from past issues

Steve

Posted: **04 Oct 2009, 14:39**

I had to laugh at The Pointless **** of St Bridgets.

Surely the best-ever girls' story parody concept was called something like "The Forty-Nine Marys" though I believe it may have been in one of the short-lived wannabe VIZ rip-offs. Not enough info to google it.

I can't provide all the reference information for these (e.g. issue number, artist). Sorry if you would expect that, but maybe someone can provide it if you need it.

Tinribs is, of course, a parody of a really rubbish Brassneck.

Gilbert Ratchet. Timothy Tester (though not in look).

(AFAIK the two above appear regularly, while these others were one-offs)

The VIZ parody of Winker Watson was very, very close - they only had to change one letter, too. Watson supplied a certain kind of magazine to Tim Trott and the others of the Remove whilst foiling Mr. Creep.

Billy Punter was very close to the 1950s strip as per this site's little icon - even Nugent, Cherry and Wharton were there as well as Mr. Quelch, though I don't recall the ladies of the night in the original, being left to cool on windowsills etc.

One issue had Korky the **** on the cover - my copy got torn so I no longer have it - the other characters in the strip were disappointed that Korky just acted like a normal cat, e.g. defecating on the carpet, instead of, from memory, lowering a magnet "with all arrows coming out" to fish for a cooling pie on a windowsill.

The Adventures of Rolf Harris the Cat was like Oor Wullie, but with a beard.

My Teacher's a Wardrobe (not Walrus) must be one of the funniest things I have ever seen. Just as with the original, it's the concept that does it!

There's a Holness in my Pocket (I've only just got the "hole" gag!

) was reminiscent of all the strips where the main character has a helper, but maybe particularly Pete's Pocket Grandpa (not in its "look") and Pete's Pockets.

The Posh Street Kids (boys in toppers with monocles)(Teacher: "Now, I hope you all brought your P.E. horses in for polo this afternoon") - needn't give what it parodies, though the "look" of the strip is not so much a parody of that original...

The Three Blairs...(stealing beans from Gordon Brown's store)

The Three Shakespeares - trying to steal verses from Christopher Marlowe but eventually getting a slap-up feed off Francis Bacon, portfolios and mash style - "Slobber. Our favourite - dramatic monologues composed in iambic decasyllabic blank verse. And mash."

Greedy ****. Greedy Pigg.

Harold and Fred - they Make Ladies Dead - like a Film Fun Charlie Chaplin or Radio Fun Arthur Askey strip with Harold Shipman and Fred West as love rivals for the lovely lady they want to kill. However, she reveals herself to be 1950s American serial killer Ed Gein in a skin suit.

...is that the kind of thing?

EDIT

Biffa Bacon - Bully Beef and Chips

Posted: **04 Oct 2009, 15:03**

Unfortunately Pointless ... of St Bridgets, Korky the ..., and Greedy ... got bleeped. Seems those titles are too rude for this forum!

Posted: **04 Oct 2009, 15:11**

Digifiend wrote:Unfortunately Pointless ... of St Bridgets, Korky the ..., and Greedy ... got bleeped. Seems those titles are too rude for this forum!

I self-bleeped mine. This is a comics forum, after all. Speaking as the n00b, I don't want to get the site onto the kind of "not suitable for children" / "not suitable for work" blacklists.

The Korky word rhymes with Cat and the Greedy one rhymes with Codd.

Posted: **04 Oct 2009, 15:42**

Looks like the VIZ section is likely to be a real pandora's box.....

Posted: **04 Oct 2009, 16:30**

ISPYSHHHGUY wrote:Looks like the VIZ section is likely to be a real pandora's box.....

We know what Roger Mellie would post.

I think VIZ and family-friendly don't mix very well without scrupulous self-censorship by posters.

I never do an "unsafe" search myself - just looking for something innocuous, like a towel, can be bad enough. You have to activate f'narr f'narr mode when searching to avoid all distress.

It's not even clear where to find VIZ at Tesco's (I didn't say "Smith's"

) as there is no "grown-ups who really should know better" section. (To tell the truth, the section exists and can be recognised from a distance by the amount of pink...)

As for Pandora's Box, to say this section may unleash all the evils in the world onto the site might be to mistake it for Pandora's Mirror of Society going for a Walk along the Road.

but what about new VIZ character Pandora? No, the more I thought about where she had unleashed all her evils from, the more I decided against it. And how would we find Hope?

Posted: **04 Oct 2009, 16:38**

welcome to the site, Pat.

In comparison to reading about Nazi atrocities, [to take an extreme example] VIZ is 'kid's stuff' though their best work was a breath of fresh air, blowing away the cobwebs of much of the stuffiness of traditional UK comics......

they had their fair share of duff material ['MILLIE TANT'] but I quite liked FINBAR SAUNDERS -----funny, no mention of the 'FAT SLAGS' on here as yet.........

Posted: **04 Oct 2009, 17:09**

ISPYSHHHGUY wrote:welcome to the site, Pat.

Thanks!

In comparison to reading about Nazi atrocities, [to take an extreme example] VIZ is 'kid's stuff' though their best work was a breath of fresh air, blowing away the cobwebs of much of the stuffiness of traditional UK comics......

I would characterise it as a cloud of pump gas blowing things away. Without the Beano et al, (mainly in their earlier guises, e.g. pre-Bash Street Kids) VIZ makes no sense. VIZ's lack of taste is, in fact, variable - on the one hand, we have the Fat Slags, Biffa Bacon and Kappa (Tasha) Slappa - on the other, we have genuinely funny stuff that could be criticised only for being weird, and doesn't rely on tastelessness for the laugh, which is what I love best - Playtime Fontayne (my favourite), The Critics, the Modern Parents, Roger Irrelevant etc.

So you could easily put together a VIZ compilation with no swearing and no visual crudery.

I wouldn't want my kids reading VIZ. When they were old enough, they probably wouldn't "get" it, anyway...

The swearing issue is a relevant one for the site. Search engines can blacklist sites containing unsuitable content and make them difficult to access.

Thanks for the welcome!

Posted: **04 Oct 2009, 18:32**

patpending wrote:
Digifiend wrote:Unfortunately Pointless ... of St Bridgets, Korky the ..., and Greedy ... got bleeped. Seems those titles are too rude for this forum!
I self-bleeped mine. This is a comics forum, after all. Speaking as the n00b, I don't want to get the site onto the kind of "not suitable for children" / "not suitable for work" blacklists.

Pointless... was also bleeped in Steve Henderson's post (looks like he did likewise, used preview to check, looks like the filter leaves at least one character intact i.e. f***), so I assumed a swear filter had done it.

Viz itself isn't suitable for children anyway, so I wouldn't worry too much about strip titles being too rude to mention.

Posted: **04 Oct 2009, 18:45**

you're more than welcome, Pat! I felt that VIZ teetered into somewhat dubious territory a few years back, when it started introducing black-as-the-ace-of-spades type humour: ie: a macabre satire featuring those arch do-badders HAROLD SHIPMAN and FRED WEST. This reeked of desperation...perhaps circulation figures were dipping at that point.....

It has to be said, though, that VIZ's achievement of hitting the one million mark around 1990 was no mean feat [especially considering it cost a princely pound at the time: fairly expensive].

The comic often gave great value though, with much detail crammed into pages of often 5 rows of panels.

I remember one non-fan mate of mine saying that 'the drawings are cr*p' but I felt some of the artwork was pretty good [the geezer who draws most of the covers is very good]----I'm sure someone on here can name him.....

here's an eggzample of his work:

I can spot the aforementioned ROLF HARRIS cat above.

Posted: **04 Oct 2009, 19:01**

I actually submitted strips to VIZ twice: and was rejected twice. The first was a double-set called 'KORRUPT KOPPA' which on reflection, was too x-certificate for the publication laws of our great nation......a second effort, 'NECROPHILLIAC JACK' detailed the misadventures of a wholesome lover of the dead, who robbed tombs. I was quite pleased with this effort, but the person who replied said that VIZ seldom take on unknown artists. I expected a real sarky reply, but the tone of the rejection was almost apologetic, and I still have this rejection somewhere......bet they still get loads of submissions, however......

Posted: **04 Oct 2009, 22:40**

Simon Thorp does all the paintings. I self censored the word ***t (didnt do it there no doubt the f***ing censoring filter thing will do it)

Heres a quick run through, you should recognise the artists style by comparing it to their other characters. Sometime other artists may do them but its unlikely

Simon Thorp - 8 Ace, Big Vern, Fru T Bunn, Mrs Brady, Finbar Saunder, Student Grant i.e anything with tonnes of details

Davey Jones - Tinribs, Elton John, Gilbert Ratchett, Real ale t***s i.e anything with a vicar being mutilated

Graham Dury - Fat Slags, Spoilt b******, Roger Mellie, The Bacons i.e anything with someone wearing cowboy boots (I'm running out of 'anything withs')

Simon Donalds (he left about 5-6 years ago) old stuff is shared out however Paul Palmer usually steps in, Graham does a lot of Chris Donalds old stuff (Roger Mellie ect) although Lew Stringer does Suicidal Syd and Pathetic Sharks and Felix, not all Chris Donalds but certainly written when he was gaffer.
Simons characters are, Sid the sexist, Millie Tant, Ivan Jerical, Johnny Fartypants.

Alex Collier - Ratboy, Tasha Slappa, Tashas Mam, Tashas Dad, Tashas budgie, Billy No Mates, and he used to do a load of celebrity mickey takes, Russell Brand and Ant from Ant and Dec being his best.

on the one hand, we have the Fat Slags, Biffa Bacon and Kappa (Tasha) Slappa - on the other, we have genuinely funny stuff

Alex will love to see that quote ha ha

Simon Ecob - Jack Black, Viz Careers office or How a ..... Works, very good artist

There are Loads of other artists but thats just the main few thats should help you recognise who does what.

Posted: **04 Oct 2009, 22:44**

ISPYSHHHGUY wrote:I actually submitted strips to VIZ twice: and was rejected twice. The first was a double-set called 'KORRUPT KOPPA' which on reflection, was too x-certificate for the publication laws of our great nation......a second effort, 'NECROPHILLIAC JACK' detailed the misadventures of a wholesome lover of the dead, who robbed tombs. I was quite pleased with this effort, but the person who replied said that VIZ seldom take on unknown artists. I expected a real sarky reply, but the tone of the rejection was almost apologetic, and I still have this rejection somewhere......bet they still get loads of submissions, however......

Do you know of P.C Hopper the bent copper? he's an infrequent Viz character thats been in a few times maybe that was the reason behind it. I often have ideas get really giddy over them then realise that someone else has done them before, its a right pain!

Posted: **05 Oct 2009, 00:02**

Steve Henderson wrote:Simon Thorp does all the paintings. I self censored the word ***t (didnt do it there no doubt the f***ing censoring filter thing will do it)

Heres a quick run through, you should recognise the artists style by comparing it to their other characters. Sometime other artists may do them but its unlikely

Simon Thorp - 8 Ace, Big Vern, Fru T Bunn, Mrs Brady, Finbar Saunder, Student Grant i.e anything with tonnes of details

Davey Jones - Tinribs, Elton John, Gilbert Ratchett, Real ale t***s i.e anything with a vicar being mutilated

Graham Dury - Fat Slags, Spoilt b******, Roger Mellie, The Bacons i.e anything with someone wearing cowboy boots (I'm running out of 'anything withs')

Simon Donalds (he left about 5-6 years ago) old stuff is shared out however Paul Palmer usually steps in, Graham does a lot of Chris Donalds old stuff (Roger Mellie ect) although Lew Stringer does Suicidal Syd and Pathetic Sharks and Felix, not all Chris Donalds but certainly written when he was gaffer.
Simons characters are, Sid the sexist, Millie Tant, Ivan Jerical, Johnny Fartypants.

Alex Collier - Ratboy, Tasha Slappa, Tashas Mam, Tashas Dad, Tashas budgie, Billy No Mates, and he used to do a load of celebrity mickey takes, Russell Brand and Ant from Ant and Dec being his best.
on the one hand, we have the Fat Slags, Biffa Bacon and Kappa (Tasha) Slappa - on the other, we have genuinely funny stuff
Alex will love to see that quote ha ha

Aye. I genuinely loved it!

Pretty exhaustive list there Steve. Good work fella!

Posted: **05 Oct 2009, 07:33**

ys, thanks for the list of artists, Steve.....Simon Thorp is my favourite VIZ artist [no disrespect to Alex and the others]. Thanks for the info on the PC Hopper character, which I wasn't aware of....I still have my NECRIPHILLIAC JACK original inkings....maybe I'll scan it in here sometime.

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