Viz (comics) and Christina Martin. Many "Viz" characters have featured in long-running strips, becoming well-known in their own right, including spin-off cartoons. Characters often have rhyming or humorous taglines, such as Roger Mellie, the Man on the Telly; Nobby's Piles; Johnny Fartpants; Buster Gonad; Sid the Sexist; Sweary Mary or Finbarr Saunders and his Double Entendres. Others are based on stereotypes of British culture, mostly via working class characters, such as Biffa Bacon, Cockney Wanker and The Fat Slags. In addition to this, the comic also contains plenty of 'in jokes' referring to people and places in and around Newcastle upon Tyne.
Raffles, the Gentleman Thug notorious section of South East London) and Clarence, 3rd Earl of Burberry (a reference to Burberry, stereotypically the fashion brand of choice for Britain's 'chavs'). Raffles' character is inspired by E. W. Hornung's Raffles the Thief. The "Raffles" strip is noted for its substitution of formal language in common slang phrases. For example: Raffles found himself in many situations featuring famous characters and events from the 19th century and early 20th century: Raffles, the Gentleman Thug Raffles, the Gentleman Thug is a comic strip featured in the British publication "Viz", the central character of which is a 19th-century nobleman given