From an adult comic sold in the pubs of Gosforth, Viz has become a literary classic. So it is fitting that it is the subject of an exhibition in Newcastle’s most esteemed literary establishment. Gavin Engelbrecht charts its rise to respectability.

THE schoolyard humour of Viz magazine has completed its journey to respectability with the opening of an exhibition in the one of the North- East’s most esteemed literary establishments.

Viz has opened a display of original artwork from 30 years of the Newcastle “grown-ups” comic at the Lit and Phil Library in the city.

From its beginnings being sold in the pubs of Gosforth, Viz has grown to become a cult classic, selling a m i l l i o n copies an issue at its peak and it is now a firmly established, fearlessly irreverent part of British culture – and is still produced in Newcastle.

The Viz 30 exhibition features more than 70 pieces of original artwork, with classic characters including Roger Mellie (The Man on the Telly), Sid the Sexist and The Fat Slags, below.

In the late Eighties and Nineties, Viz was outsold only by the Radio Times and TV Times.

A Viz spokesman said: “We are delighted that the Lit and Phil is going to stage the exhibition of Viz artwork that was first shown at the London Cartoon Museum.

“It’s a great privilege for us to have our decidedly un-literary (and notparticularly- philosophical) cartoons on show in such beautiful and historic surroundings as the Lit and Phil.

“We had to buy the frames, and they were about two grand. So it’s nice to get more than one use out of them.”

Ward Hadaway – Viz’s favourite firm of corporate laywers – is sponsoring the exhibition.

The Lit and Phil Library, in Westgate Road, which dates back more than 200 years, boasts 160,000 volumes, an extensive music collection and holds a range of literary and theatrical events.

Librarian Kay Easson said: “While this may be seen as a departure from our norm, Viz and The Lit and Phil are both great North-East institutions and we’re delighted to be working together.”

In addition to the exhibition, the Lit and Phil is holding events including cartoon and comic workshops, a Q&A session with the Viz artists and a talk by Simon Donald, one of the founders. For more details visit litandphil.org.uk Chris Donald, who first produced the comic from his bedroom in his parents’ Jesmond home with the help of his brother, Simon, and friend Jim Brownlow in December 1979, said: “I can think of no better venue for the exhibition than the Lit and Phil, because it is undiscovered – even though it has been here for so long. It is a sort of hallowed place, where George Stephenson first demonstrated the miner’s safety lamp in 1815 and where Joseph Swan demonstrated the incadescent light in 1880. A gentlemen’s and ladies’ club in the middle of Newcastle.”

He added: “I must admit, it was a bit of a culture shock hearing the president of the Lit and Phil swearing and some of the speeches, which included four-letter words.

“It is a bit strange how things have changed in the past 30 years.”

Lit and Phil president Christina Sharp said it was not an unusual venue for the exhibition. She said: “The Lit and Phil is the sort of place where we encourage new and real talent and these are people who have the most fertile imaginations.

“We have got members who are just as funny, just as amusing, just as entertaining and just as eccentric and we can relate to all these things.

“More people have heard of the Viz than the Lit and Phil and it is a pretty smart marketing move on our part.”

■ The exhibition runs until September 4. Admission is £4, with concessions and Lit and Phil members £2.