Happy VIZ-mas!

It must be November if the Christmas issue of Viz is on the stands. Yes, the king of the top-shelf has snow on its logo and seasonal goodwill in its heart from characters such as The Fat Slags, Eight Ace, The Real Ale Twats, Johnny Fartpants and more. PLUS their traditional pull-out calendar, which this time features art from past covers by the brilliant Simon Thorp. 

Simon also provides the cover for this issue too of course, and it's another "cracker", eh, chums? 

This issue will also be the 40th anniversary edition but I didn't notice any mention of the occasion. Well, congratulations to them anyway. Not many comics reach that landmark!

Contributors include Davey Jones, Tom Paterson, Paul Palmer, Simon Ecob, Alex Collier and many more. 

That's Viz No.291, 52 pages plus calendar for £3.70. Out now! 

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People First!

Art by Doctor Who storyboard artist Mike Collins.

I've just been informed of this superb auction for a worthy cause. The People First Merseyside Charity Auction has 30 pieces of original comic art from some of the top names in comics to raise money for people with learning difficulties.

People First Merseyside is an organisation for people with learning disabilities, managed by people with learning disabilities. They are a registered charity and a limited company.


People First has supported adults in Merseyside for more than 20 years. People First Merseyside started in 1988 and their members come from Liverpool and Sefton.

Art by Viz comic's Simon Thorp. 

The pieces for the auction have been drawn on the blank cover variants of various comics, and include an impressive array of talent: Simon Bisley, Dan Brereton, Nick Brokenshire, Mark Buckingham, Mike Collins, Boo Cook, Jonathan Edwards, Hunt Emerson, Duncan Fegredo, Cully Hamner, John Higgins, Kev Hopgood, Frazer Irving, Jock, Christopher Jones, Cam Kennedy, Roger Langridge, David Lloyd, Brendan McCarthy, John McCrea, Luke McGarry, Jim Mahfood, Alex Maleev, Brett Parson, Sean Phillips, Seth, Declan Shalvey, Simon Thorp and Steve Yeowell!

You can see all the covers here:
https://peoplefirstmerseyside.co.uk/2018/11/people-first-merseyside-comic-art-auction/

...and you can find the links on which to bid by visiting this page:
https://www.charity.ebay.co.uk/charity/People-First-Merseyside-Company-Limited/3196509

I've already agreed to contribute a cover for their next auction, but for now, don't miss your chance to bid on these. The auction runs until 8th December.

VIZ UNMASKED at the Lakes Festival

Via John Freeman....


The ever-irreverent VIZ team are promoting their Lakes Festival exhibition plans with this satirical take on the British Library's recent Comics UnMasked poster by Jamie Hewlett. Image: Graham Dury/Simon Thorp

Kendal, UK, 18th August 2014:  Hot on the heels of the British Library's "Comics UnMasked" exhibition comes the Lakes International Comic Art Festival's very own homage to art and anarchy in the UK - "VIZ Unmasked".



VIZ Unmasked will, amongst other things, reveal the dark art of how a VIZ comic is made through a fully interactive, animatronic, state-of-the-art museum experience.

"It's been a long-held ambition by the VIZ team to create and present this unique installation," notes Festival Director Julie Tait, "and they are delighted that LICAF has enabled this dream to be realised.

"I suggested they could do a spoof poster of Comics Unmasked," Julie says of the tongue-in-cheek promotional image from Graham Dury and Simon Thorp. "They went for it – I just hope Comics UnMasked's co-curator Paul Gravett and artist Jamie Hewlett appreciate it!"



The exhibition will form a major part of a new, and still emerging,"Pop Up" Fringe over the Festival weekend (17th - 19th October 2014), aiming to reinforce its distinctiveness and respond the creative ideas of its supporters and collaborators.

VIZ have also lent their name to this year's special Comic Festival beer inspired by their long-running Biffa Bacon, the label art drawn by Graham Dury and Simon Thorp. The beer will be on sale during the Festival weekend at select outlets, including the Brewery Arts Centre, Castle Green, Wetherspoons, Ruskins and still-to-be-revealed venue for the "Pop Up Fringe".

Tickets for all the events at the Lakes International Comic Art Festival (17th - 19th October) are on sale now. For the full guest list, details of events and exhibitions and bookings visit: www.comicartfestival.com

Tom Paterson arrives in the Christmas Viz

Veteran humour artist Tom Paterson makes his very welcome first appearance to the pages of Viz in the Christmas issue that goes on sale today. 

Tom, a highly respected cartoonist who has worked in the comics industry for 40 years, is well known for his hilarious artwork on strips such as Sweeny Toddler for Whoopee! and Calamity James for The Beano. Now he's turned his hand to the adult comic market to produce Jasper the Gasper for Viz.

If the name sounds familiar it's because it's a spoof of the classic Ken Reid strip, Jasper the Grasper from Wham! But where Ken's character was a grasping Victorian miser, Tom's Jasper is gasping for a fag. Don't worry if you're not familiar with Ken Reid's 1965 strip; Tom's character is brilliant in its own right.

The excellent strip runs to two packed pages, with Tom using a similar style to that which he developed in the 1990s for Buster's Watford Gapp, King of the Rap.

The latest Viz also features many other strips by creators such as Paul Palmer, Davey Jones, Simon Thorp and myself. Out now. £3.20 with a free 2014 calendar. 

Cover by Simon Thorp

VIZ No.216 - Out now!

  
The new issue of Viz is in the shops now. (You'll find it on the top shelf where it'll only corrupt tall kids.) It's another 52 pages packed with strips, satire, and adverts - but mostly strips and satire. 

I'm pleased to say that I have a Felix and his Amazing Underpants page in this issue what I wrote and drew. Here's a preview...

This issue also features regulars such as Roger Mellie, The Fat Slags, Major Misunderstanding, The Drunken Bakers, and new characters such as Large Breasted Wet T-Shirt Pneumatic Drill Girl and your fun chum Cardinal Padraig O'Lourdes, the Archbishop of Edinburgh. Here's a preview of the Cardinal on the road to hilarious consequences from the masterful pen of Davey Jones...

There's also the return of The Kewl Chix by (if I'm not mistaken) Mr. Alex Collier...

The centre pages of this issue are adorned by a truly fantastic double page spread by Simon Thorp. Farmer Palmer's Free Festival is an illustration of a busy pop festival and is tightly packed with numerous gags. Really an amazing piece of artwork that, no hyperbole, is well worth the price of the comic alone.

Viz No.216 - out now - £3.20.

Visit the Viz website for more details: http://www.viz.co.uk/