Christenings/Weddings/Funerals/Jumble Sales

Three or four weeks ago, I got a book - Roger Sabin's Adult Comics - An Introduction (ridiculously expensive on Amazon so I won't bother providing a link). In the customary three paragraphs he took to dismiss the various Viz clones, there was something I'd never heard of:

"Winebibber was another anomaly, and was published by a fundamentalist group within the Church of England. It included strips like the dismal 'Barry Belf - He Evangelises Himself'."

I mentioned it in conversation with Adam Smith, who promptly found a compilation/"Best Of" kind of thing on Amazon. For two pounds, why not? Now that it's here, I'm sort of wishing I didn't bother...

Read on, read on, for the worst thing to happen to comics since Jockstrap.

Bob's Beano

Seeing as how Bob Dewar's so fantastic and everything, here's some more of his stuff - all of this is from the 1993 Beano book (as in, from 1992). Possibly my favourite Beano book ever, along with the 1990 and 1992 ones... It's like Sophie's Choice, really!

He has a LOT of pages in this book:

For those not "in the know", scanning annuals is HARD.

And here's Bob Dewar's first ever interview from earlier this year, thanks to Adam Smith for the link:

Bob Dewar on Life as a Cartoonist and Illustrator

The Castle of King Splud

Just so there's not a massive amount of time with nothing happening while I'm preparing the next article, and in a massively desperate attempt at "topical relevance", here's a feature-length adventure from my favourite Scottish cartoonist (or maybe favourite cartoonist all round), Mr. Bob Dewar. Taken from the 1990 Beezer book (meaning it was published in 1989).

It was only after scanning these pages that I noticed my scanner appears to have hairs on it, hence, we have hairy pictures there. Sorry about that - one of the few disadvantages of living with a cat.

Problems for youngsters

It's 1991, and these adverts are appearing in various magazines across the land...

Be prepared, it's a big fat thing about Acne, as in, Viz for kids, sort of. That's how it was marketed anyway, much in the same way that Oink! was perceived. Only this one has more swearing in it - here's your first issue's cover:

Look, it's Bart Simpson getting smacked in the face. Acne is about as "Nineties" as it gets:

See? Carry on reading, this is going to be a long one...