Graham Dury (born 1962 in Clifton,

Nottingham Nottingham ( , East Midlands English, locally ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area in Nottinghamshire, East Midlands, England. It is located south-east of Sheffield and nor ...

) is a British

cartoonist A cartoonist is a visual artist who specializes in both drawing and writing cartoons (individual images) or comics (sequential images). Cartoonists differ from comics writers or comics illustrators/artists in that they produce both the litera ...

. He is known for his work with '' Viz'', having contributed to the magazine from its early years. He co-conceived and personally created '' The Fat Slags'', one of the magazine's most famous strips. Dury earned a degree in

botany Botany, also called plant science, is the branch of natural science and biology studying plants, especially Plant anatomy, their anatomy, Plant taxonomy, taxonomy, and Plant ecology, ecology. A botanist or plant scientist is a scientist who s ...

, and then enrolled in a PhD programme at the

University of Leicester The University of Leicester ( ) is a public university, public research university based in Leicester, England. The main campus is south of the city centre, adjacent to Victoria Park, Leicester, Victoria Park. The university's predecessor, Univ ...

. While genetically engineering tomato and tobacco plants for disease and drought resistance, he was the first cartoonist to be offered a full-time job at ''Viz'' by co-creator Chris Donald in April 1988, when royalties began to make the magazine a profitable business. However, Dury had been contributing to ''Viz'' since as early as 1985, often delivering his cartoons by hand to Donald's house. Early creations, Donald noted, tended to have names that rhymed such as ''Tristam Banks and his Jocular Pranks'' or ''Albert Gordon the Traffic Warden''. He also noted Dury's fondness of, and impressive ability to draw, cowboy boots. Dury originally worked with Donald in Donald's small office (formerly his bedroom) at his parents' house in

Jesmond Jesmond ( ) is a suburb of Newcastle upon Tyne, Tyne and Wear, England, situated north of the city centre and to the east of the Town Moor. Jesmond is considered to be one of the most affluent suburbs of Newcastle upon Tyne, with higher aver ...

. As the success of the comic book grew he became a member of the so-called ''Viz'' editorial cabinet, theoretically headed by Chris Donald, but which also included - for most of its run - Dury, Simon Donald and Simon Thorp. Dury currently draws such comic series '' Biffa Bacon'', '' Spoilt Bastard'', '' Postman Plod'' and '' Roger Mellie''. He took over drawing the latter strip from Chris Donald when he gave up day-to-day duties in 1999.

References

Underground cartoonists British comics artists British comics writers Alumni of the University of Leicester Living people 1962 births People from Clifton, Nottinghamshire {{UK-cartoonist-stub