Viz Highlights

[Moj]

The Works usually have the current year's annual at a decent discount off the strategically high cover price. If you wait until after Christmas it'll drop even further. Previous years can usually had for various levels of pittance off eBay etc.

[Video Game Fan 2000]

Curry Hell!

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/tyne/7200235.stm

but he was also a pillar of the local community

imagine having the chance to write "pilaf of the community" and not going for it - where is the license fee going

[Sebastian Cobb]

There's the same joke in a different strip, where the punchline is him working in B&Q.

I used to enjoy it back in the day when something had obviously annoyed or entertained Chris Donald, so the same target would be hit repeatedly in the same issue or a run of a few issues. There's a joke in a Felix and his Amazing Underpants where Felix's dad won't pay £100 for a skip, cue Felix's pants being used as one. Turn the page and there's a Top Tip being petulant about skips costing a hundred fucking pounds, and then it's on Letterbocks next week as well.

Reading Rude Kids again, and I think the deal with Chris Donald is that he can be a bit of a precious cunt, but his turns of phrase are funny enough and his explanations are logical enough that it gets overlooked.

I probably need to read Him Off the Viz to get a different viewpoint, mind you. I tend to side with the narrator when I read things, and it takes quite a lot for me to conclude that they're full of shit.

Chris strongly suggests that he slaved away at comics all the live long day, while Simon lazed about, fucking off on holiday instead of helping with deadlines and such. A rebuttal would be interesting.

What would you say is the most worthwhile book. I keep meaning to read one but also see there's several and never know which one to go for.

[The Bumlord]

imagine having the chance to write "pilaf of the community" and not going for it - where is the license fee going

Pilau of the community, shirley

[13 schoolyards]

What would you say is the most worthwhile book. I keep meaning to read one but also see there's several and never know which one to go for.

I'd also like to know this - and is there one that's more current than the others? From the little I know of the backstory of Viz it sounds like there's been a few biggish changes over the years (weren't they bought by some big publisher and then sold off?)

[badaids]

What would you say is the most worthwhile book. I keep meaning to read one but also see there's several and never know which one to go for.

I've never read Simon Donald's book, but Chris Donald's book is a brilliant read.

[Glebe]

Think it was just Tom Richmond from Mad they poached.. I believe the Viz and Mad guys (well Dury and Thorp and Richmond and Sergio as the respective representatives) first met at a friendly draw-off hosted at the Lakes comic festival in 2017 (I was there and witnessed this first hand) after which they made overtures to Richmond. I agree the results were slightly whiplash inducing but on the other hand there's something conceptually brilliant about getting a pure Mad New Yoik bagels n Lox style caricaturist to produce a pin-perfect rendering of such quintessentially British figures as Harry H Corbett and Wilfred Brambell, as they got him to do for their (barely a) parody, 'Kleptoe and Son'.

Hat absolutely fucked!!

[iamcoop]

I've never read Simon Donald's book, but Chris Donald's book is a brilliant read.

I have Simon's book but gave up reading it about 50 pages in as it just wasn't as good as Chris' one. His is the definitive Viz story I think.

I think Simon just contributed stuff from very early on, but the comic was really Chris' baby. He set it all up and got it going and sorted all the distribution networks in the early days.

[iamcoop]

The Works usually have the current year's annual at a decent discount off the strategically high cover price. If you wait until after Christmas it'll drop even further. Previous years can usually had for various levels of pittance off eBay etc.

I'm just about to get one scribbled on by the lads as they're doing a signing in WHSmith in town. I'll probably have to pay about £25 for it. Bastards.

[Poirots BigGarlickyCorpse]

Think it was just Tom Richmond from Mad they poached.. I believe the Viz and Mad guys (well Dury and Thorp and Richmond and Sergio as the respective representatives) first met at a friendly draw-off hosted at the Lakes comic festival in 2017 (I was there and witnessed this first hand) after which they made overtures to Richmond. I agree the results were slightly whiplash inducing but on the other hand there's something conceptually brilliant about getting a pure Mad New Yoik bagels n Lox style caricaturist to produce a pin-perfect rendering of such quintessentially British figures as Harry H Corbett and Wilfred Brambell, as they got him to do for their (barely a) parody, 'Kleptoe and Son'.

I can hear the voices. This is so good.

[The Bumlord]

He drew this too, despite having no idea what Carry On was.

[extraordinary walnuts]

am I tripping? what the fuck

[beanheadmcginty]

Where does the constant accusation of Jack Straw having a tiny penis come from?

[iamcoop]

I'm just about to get one scribbled on by the lads as they're doing a signing in WHSmith in town. I'll probably have to pay about £25 for it. Bastards.

As it's a gift for my mother I explained to Thorpy that she's teaching herself Violin at the moment (much to everyone else's annoyance) so he kindly drew Biffa Bacon smashing a violin up and saying "fuckin' tek that" which is nice.

[Sebastian Cobb]

:D

[Gurke and Hare]

The Works is selling off the latest annual for £4.

[The Giggling Bean]

Another recommendation for Rude Kids here. It's an absolutely fascinating book with some interesting anecdotes. Chris doesn't really seem to pull any punches either, there's no celebrity schmoozing that I remember but he was honest about the people he met and dealt with.

I keep going back to the chapter "You can't tie an ice cube to your beard" which covers the Vic and Bob Top Tips video. It's a fascinating look at how a dream project can collapse and go so wrong with people who don't share the same vision and sensibilities.

He's very open about the highs and lows of the comic, the toll it took on his mental health and the cultural impact it had and how it was perceived.

He does mention that, during the promotional tour of Uni's (Which he hated) to promote the Sid The Sexist and Fat Slags videos, Simon was in his element, stating that it was like them being rock stars on stage. I've seen that Simon now does Stand Up (although I've never seen him or read his book yet).

Honestly, if you have any interest I'm the history of Viz I can't recommend this enough.

[Good Hank]

Another vote for Rude Kids. My favourite anecdote was when they went along to Pete Waterman's studio to cut a Viz record and they started taking the piss out of a Tight Fit gold disc, only for Waterman to have a massive paddy about how they were dissing his wife.

[Moj]

Another vote for Rude Kids. My favourite anecdote was when they went along to Pete Waterman's studio to cut a Viz record and they started taking the piss out of a Tight Fit gold disc, only for Waterman to have a massive paddy about how they were dissing his wife.

It's better than that. A few years previous the Viz lads had seen Tight Fit being refused entry somewhere, throwing a giant tantrum and actually saying "Do you know who we are? We're Tight Fit!". That was the anecdote they told Waterman to break the ice...

[Brian Freeze]

On the back of this thread I found the hardback of Rude Kids on eBay for under a fiver and am absolutely loving it while I self isolate. Thanks for the recommendations.

[Poirots BigGarlickyCorpse]

There was a letter in... I want to say a 2022 Viz which lamented the fact that one could only wank one's cock, and that it should be possible to wank other body parts, particularly after using them in a strenuous way. As a result, I often get to the end of a long walk wishing I could give my legs a nice relaxing wank.