Tasha Slappa is star of her own
social commentary strip in popular UK 'adult' comic
Viz. Drawn by
Alex Collier, Tasha is a horrendous
satsuma-faced
trollop who, in her own words, "has had more cocks then ye've hed hot dinnahs!".
Originally appearing in Collier's high school comic magazine 'Henry', Tasha's Viz debut was under the title, 'Kappa Slapper', named after the popular line of sportswear worn by Tasha's kind. After a threatened lawsuit (and Collier being punched on the bus), the strip was renamed 'Tasha Slappa'.
Born and bred in Newcastle upon Tyne, Natasha is a jailbait tart of about 15 years of age (give or take, the younger the funnier/more disturbing she is) with a permanent scowl on her pimply face. Her hair is tied back horrendously tight with a scrunchie giving her the famed Essex facelift, apart from a large, almost vertical cowlick which is streaked blonde. From the front, only the cowlick and scrunchied bun are visible. Her face is covered in layers of fake tan and dayglo orange makeup. Typical clothing is a not-Kappa sport shirt and an impossibly short black miniskirt. Tasha accessorizes with gold-plated jewellery, namely lots of rings, chains, and hoop earrings so huge they almost touch her shoulders and give her Buddha-ears. Disturbingly, she boasts little sexual development outside of her two tiny mosquito bite tits.
Tasha seldom attends school except to torture her teachers, ("Gan on Tasha! Dee a shit doon her friggin' blowse!") or sit outside the gates in her boyfriend Nosha's car with Ministry of Sound CDs thumping out of the stereo. Tasha bricked her first teacher, Mr 'Raggytasch' , claming he was 'insulting her intelligencia'.
Outside of school, Tasha hangs around with her equally ugly, fat mate (whom I believe is called Kerry) smoking cheap fags and drinking 'vod'. She enjoys going to boyband concerts and shrieking like a banshee, sitting around the Bigg Market wearing clothing slightly more revealing than a string bikini, and generally being a public menace.
I've only known Tasha to hold down a job for a few panels (at a chip shop no less) but she is sure her Nosha will look after her. She's been pregnant numerous times and abandoned all the babies outside of a Gregg's bakeshop or in a phone booth (one of her babies was born wearing scrunchies and pregnant). Joyriding with Nosha is also a popular pasttime, although she refuses to shag him in someone else's car, as it's disrespectful.
Regular characters include Tasha's equally revolting 'mam', and her apparent brother, Rat Boy. Both have since appeared in their own strips.
Amusing though Tasha is, it is troubling to keep in mind that it's all based on fact - Collier himself admits that the first few strips were all based on events from his own school. A simple stroll through any town centre in the UK will yield several Tasha sightings - young teenage girls in cheap jewellery and sportswear, many pushing babies. The plight of these people has recently entered the public spotlight with the mass of interest in chavs.
If you'd like to read Tasha, you'll have to buy some Viz Annuals as Collier has left the magazine. Keep in mind you might struggle with the dialogue as, like most Viz regulars, Tasha is a working-class Geordie and speaks exclusively in that dialect (I have to translate Tasha strips aloud for my mother who cannot make heads nor tails of the speech).
Sources: Cook, William - 25 Years of Viz: Silver Plated Jubilee
personal knowledge
www.chavscum.co.uk