Word Net
whizz n : someone who is dazzlingly skilled in any field [syn: ace, adept, champion, sensation, maven, mavin, virtuoso, genius, hotshot, star, superstar, whiz, wizard, wiz]Verb
1 make a soft swishing sound; "the motor
whirred"; "the car engine purred" [syn: whiz, whirr, whir, birr, purr]
Verb
whizz- alternative spelling of whiz
Billy Whizz is a fictional
character in a comic strip
in the UK
comic
The
Beano, first appearing in issue 1139, dated 16 May 1964, when it replaced
The
Country Cuzzins. Billy, the title character, is a boy who can
run extraordinarily fast. He also has a younger brother called
Alfie Whizz of similar appearance. Alfie used to be able to run
faster than Billy, but later became a normal boy (though why this
happened was not explained in the comic). Billy does not live in
Beanotown
but in neighbouring Whizztown.
The strip was originated by Malcolm
Judge, who had previously drawn Colonel
Crackpot's Circus, and would go on to create several more
popular strips, including Ball Boy, The Numskulls and The Badd
Ladds. Judge's style tended to be typified by a wide variety of
styles in which Billy's speed was depicted, including trails of
dust, motion blur, multiple copies of Billy in a panel, and more
besides.
Upon Judge's death in 1989, Barrie
Appleby very briefly took over the strip, before David
Parkins took it over at the turn of the year. Parkins
overhauled the strip somewhat, making the effects of Billy's speed
more destructive to his surroundings, giving him a slightly
alien-looking tracksuit, and a more laid-back attitude. Parkins
started to share his duties with Trevor
Metcalfe in 1992, and they were
both forced to quit the strip the following year due to an
excessive workload. Vic Neill
started drawing the strip thereafter, giving Billy a very
inoffensive attitude (which was quite strange for Neill, who
typically depicted anarchistic characters) and playing up the more
alien aspects of his appearance. He continued to draw the strip
until he died in 2000, and G. Hall took it
up afterwards, continuing Neill's overall style, albeit with a bit
less detail.
By March 2003, the strip's
popularity had faded badly, and the comic's editors were giving
serious consideration to dropping it. Instead, it was decided that
the strip would be given a stay of execution, albeit under a new
artist. Wayne Thompson took over from the following month.
Thompson's work was styled closer to that of Malcolm Judge, and
gave a new life to the character and feel of the strip. However due
to his commitments with fellow Beano character Joe Jitsu and
Jak for the
Dandy, the strip was understudied again by Trevor Metcalfe, who,
aided with a Wacom tablet, drew the strip in a mixture of his own
and Thompson's style. Metcalfe later drew the strip full time until
his sudden departure from the comic in 2007, after which the Beano
started running re-prints of the strips drawn by David
Parkins.
Because of the comic strip, "Billy Whizz" is also
British slang for the
restricted drug amphetamine (aka "speed").
It is also the nickname of dual code rugby international Jason
Robinson due to his pace.