Viz

This comic for adults was started in 1979 in Newcastle in the North East of England, building it's circulation slowly at first after ten years sales peaked at 1 million. Nowadays it is still selling a respectable 300,000.

Have not bought a copy for over a decade but was reminded of it when I got an email of selected readers letters.

Hard to describe to someone who has never seen a copy but this extract from it's Wiki entry gives a good overview.

“At its best, the comic's style parodies the strait-laced British comics of the post-war period, notably The Beano and The Dandy, but with incongruous language, crude toilet humour, black comedy and either sexual or violent story lines. It also sends up tabloid newspapers, with mockeries of articles and letters pages. It features competitions and advertisements for overpriced 'limited edition' tat, such as a cat that "shits its own weight in gold", as well as obsessions with half-forgotten celebrities from the 1970s and 1980s such as Shakin' Stevens and Rodney Bewes. Occasionally it satirises current events and politicians, but has no particular political standpoint.”

So here is a selection of reader's letters that made me grin:

So Princes Harry and William are throwing a party to celebrate the 10th anniversary of their mother’s death. I’m glad that they can finally laugh about it, but throwing a party seems a bit harsh.
D Antarctica , Rhyll

I think Sir Paul McCartney should try to put his current predicament into perspective. In olden days, if you were unfortunate enough to be robbed by an omniped, it would almost certainly be a pirate. At least he’s going to come out of this alive.
Stella Matlock

If the failed 21/7 bombers had just waited three more days, we’d all be calling them the 24/7 bombers. This would imply that they blow things up all day every day and, despite their actual lack of success, make them at least sound like they were good at bombing.
Christina Martin, London

THIS new police knife amnesty is a bloody nightmare. I dutifully handed all my knives in and now I’ve got nothing to eat my dinner with.
Richard Karslake, Oxfordshire

TO THE zookeeper in 1978 who replied “I’ll tell you when you’re older” when I asked him why one of the monkeys stuck its tongue up another one’s arse: I’m 36 now and still waiting for that explanation.
Joe McKeown

I HAVE just returned from a diplomatic trip to the Congo and I can testify that at no point did I see anyone drinking Um Bongo.
Neil Palmer

I’M A terrorist, and when ID cards come into force I will probably employ great cunning and not declare that as my job. I’ll probably say I’m a grocer or something.
A Terrorist