This year's Viz annual, The Billposter's Bucket, will be in bookstores soon. Once again it's a nice thick 160 page hardback, just like comic annuals used to be. It has a nice busy cover by Simon Thorp featuring numerous characters, evoking memories of the sort of thing that Wham! Annual and the like used to do many moons ago.
Inside, the pages are packed with choice strips and satirical features from issues 192 to 201 with contributions from Graham Dury, Davey Jones, Christina Martin, Alex Collier, Lee Healey, Barney Farmer, Paul Palmer, myself and many others. (My contribution is a Pathetic Sharks page from Christmas 2010 if you were wondering.)
The new issue of Viz (No.219) will also be hitting the shelves any day now. Under an eye-catching cover by Simon Thorp (who also does The Pathetic Sharks strip this issue) the contents include Drunken Bakers, The Fat Slags, Angela's Merkin, 8 Ace, and much more.
My contribution this issue is the revival of Unlucky Frank (Lucky Frank's unlucky twin brother). And for the benefit of those who say today's comics only feature a few panels per page (and quite often they're right), Unlucky Frank has 12 panels in a half page. Do I spoil you or what?
Viz: The Billposter's Bucket has a R.R.P. of £10.99
Viz No.219 is priced at £3.20
Got the new Viz comic yesterday, and I haven't laughed at anything as much as I did that Pathetic Sharks strip in a LONG time! Terry Wuckfitt's great as well, and I'll never get bored of the Drunken Bakers...
ReplyDeleteAs for the annual... Already?? I've started putting my Xmas List together in September with all these annuals coming out so early.
Annuals have always been released around September, in plenty of time for Christmas.
ReplyDeleteThe Viz book isn't out until next month, but I received an advance copy so I previewed it here.
Loved your Unlucky Frank - brilliant. But is Davey Jones taking a back seat? He seems to have had fewer strips in recent issues, and I see that he's now listed as a contributor rather than one of the "editors" (changed a few issues back). I hope not, as his strips are always my favourites!
ReplyDeleteDavey is no longer on the editorial team but he's still very much a contributor. I agree, his work is brilliant. I've liked it since the days he was contributing to John Freeman's 'Scan' comic in the 1980s.
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