Ratford-Upon-Avon Urinal - circa 1995

I was young and angry in 1995.

Working on a zero hour contract in a call centre for Merit Direct (who would later become Sitel) in Stratford-Upon-Avon - because they were the town's only real employers of young people- and having been pretty much forced to return to the town post-university by an economic recession and parental pressure, what else could I do but take out my frustration on a copy of then local newspaper The Stratford Upon Avon Journal, transforming it into The Ratford Upon Avon Urinal?



(I could have got myself a girlfriend, to be fair. But penniless and bitter aren't attractive qualities in a would-be partner).

It is of its time: kids today won't be aware that back in the day, 'cut 'n' paste' actually meant 'cut' (carefully with a pair of scissors) and 'paste' (carefully again, with a tube of Pritt Stick or even Copydex, if you were feeling daring). If you wanted a particular font you had to STEAL that font from newspaper headlines- maybe saving papers from week to week just so's you would have enough letters to spell out your bile.

As for the following, I merely blanked out the 'b' in 'beat drugs' and there was the story. It was the mid 90s, practically everyone in the town was off their faces on e and local clubs such as The Wildmoor and Celebrities were nothing but a joke to the new kids pushing up.

I hope the enormous Grey Dove gives the whole thing a proper 90s vibe (I hear that's retro right now).

It is not as good as Neil Codling's 'Glen Coinlid Easter Special 1991', I'll be frank with you.

Neil worked long and hard on 17 pages of angry cut'n'pasting as a spin-off from my own 'Vim' 'Rumpy' 'Rim' comic, many years before Suede smoothed the worries from his furrowed brow.

But I never got round to publishing it because the cat did a wee on the photocopier.

Two years ago, I found the printer's proof for his Special (it had been in a box in my mother's loft for 15 years) and scanned it.

If I get clearance from Neil, a.k.a 'Glen', I will attempt to finally publish it. I think it far superior to his work with Suede. But hey. Satire's loss was floppy-haired androgynous poseur pop's gain.

And even if I don't hear from him, I'll probably stick it up eventually out of click bait anyways.