Vid Kid

"Vid Kid" was a comic strip in the British comic "Buster", first appearing in 1987 when it replaced "Cliff Hanger" (though when reprints of the latter started appearing in 1992, "Vid Kid" remained in the comic). Drawn throughout by Jack Edward Oliver under the pseudonym "Sue Denim" (as it was a different drawing style than how he usually drew) the strip was about a boy called Vic who owned a special remote control, which could play, pause, rewind, or fast-forward many things, including people.

Though the actual artist behind the pseudonym was originally a secret, some clues were given out about Sue's true identity. Firstly, Jack would draw himself as a background character in every strip. Secondly, in the set of artist profiles printed in "Buster" during 1990 and 1991, Sue's profile revealed that her middle name was "Thisisnotamadeupname", she hates drawing "self portraits (especially those of other people)", and that her favourite artist was J. Edward Oliver. Further evidence was given in Jack's profile, which saw "Vid Kid" (along with "Cliff Hanger" and "Master Mind") clearly in the background of his self portrait. This caused some "Buster" readers to write in to the letters page asking if Sue and Jack were one and the same, which was followed by Jack himself (who wrote the letters page replies) confirming that he was indeed Sue Demin. Despite this, the strips continued to be signed by her until the end.

By this time (starting from the issue dated 16 February 1991) the strip began featuring a deliberate mistake in one of the panels, which would be revealed in the following issue. This changed to the bottom of that week's strip in the mid 1990s. Vic was also seen alerting readers of new video competitions or computer game releases, under the title of "Vic's Vids" or "Vic's Video Game".

Despite it being a reprint by the end, "Vid Kid" lasted until "Buster"'s final issue at the beginning of 2000, although Jack drew one final page ("How It All Ends", which revealed what eventually happened to all the characters) revealing that the millennium bug had affected Vid Kid's remote, meaning the entire universe was turned off after he pressed "Power Off" on it.