Considering most of them can’t actually reference, let alone reproduce, even 50 per cent of its content (Mickey's Monkey Spunk Moped, anybody?), the mainstream media is being very generous to Viz as the controversial comic celebrates its 30th birthday this week.
Rude comic Viz celebrates 30th birthday - The Metro
Viz Comic Celebrates Its 30th Birthday - Sky News
At home with the Fat Slags - The Independent
Viz comic celebrates 30 years of crude, surreal humour - Mirror.co.uk
30 years of Viz - The Spectator
The Spectator, seriously...?
In its late eighties heyday Viz sold over a million copies in the UK before figures began to tumble to 200,000 and below as its status as a British institution waned. All this coverage however, and the nostalgia it is stirring for characters such as Finbarr Saunders or Buster Gonad (whose inappropriateness take on a new level of humour when read in the serious tones of Wikipedia), will likely ensure the 30th Anniversary edition sees bumper sales.
The Viz love-in is a reflection of the age and tastes of commissioning editors.
Students in the mid/late 80s, they are now in positions of influence and are bathing in their own cultural nostalgia.
Personally, it beats the Beeb's obsession with all things Bob Dylan. Every time he's featured on the Today programme my heart sinks.
In fact, you might call it an Auntie Climax...
Jon
Posted by: Jon Bernstein | Oct 30, 2009 at 12:27