Welcome to the Cheeky Weekly blog!


Welcome to the Cheeky Weekly blog!
Cheeky Weekly ™ REBELLION PUBLISHING LTD, COPYRIGHT ©  REBELLION PUBLISHING LTD, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED was a British children's comic with cover dates spanning 22 October 1977 to 02 February 1980.

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Thursday 29 September 2011

The Pages - Page 11

Page 11 in the first issue of Cheeky Weekly was home to the third page of 6 Million Dollar Gran's debut adventure, as was page 11 in the following issue. Gran took a break from page 11 in the 05 November 1977 comic, allowing the Old Comic feature to appear on that page, showcasing a Deed-a-Day Danny strip from Sun Weekly.

Gran was back on page 11 for the next 2 weeks, after which the synthetic senior citizen never returned to this location.

In the 26 November 1977 comic, the Friends of Cheeky competition, in which 500 Cheeky T-Shirts were to be won, was the subject on page 11.  Tuesday then moved into page 11 for 2 weeks, after which the advertising feature What's New, Kids enjoyed a 2 week run.

In the first Christmas issue, dated 31 December 1977, the second page of the final episode of the first James Bold adventure, Fangs of Fear, came to rest on page 11, and in the following week's comic, the second page of the first instalment of Bold's second adventure, The Ghost Highwayman, appeared on that page.

The Suddenly feature then moved in for 2 weeks, but was interrupted in its page 11 run in the 28 January 1978 issue, when the 4 Comics Competition (500 first prizes of Peter Powell 'Junior Stunter' kites) blew in to page 11.

Suddenly was then back for a further 5 weeks until a competition to win a copy of the Basil Brush LP, Boom-Boom it's Basil Brush, turned up, sharing page 11 with an ad for Look and Learn.

There then followed a tussle for control of page 11 between the indefatigable James Bold and the resilient Suddenly.  This titanic struggle culminated in Suddenly conceding defeat and exiting from the comic for good after its appearance in the 24 June 1978 issue.  However, the mighty Bold didn't emerge from this protracted clash entirely unscathed, as he was never to return to page 11...

Date Details
18-Mar-78Suddenly - Art Frank McDiarmid
25-Mar-78Suddenly - Art Unknown Cheeky Artist 1
01-Apr-78James Bold 2/2 'Tower of Terror' 3 of 6 - Art Mike White
08-Apr-78James Bold 2/2 'Tower of Terror' 4 of 6 - Art Mike White
15-Apr-78Suddenly - Art Frank McDiarmid
22-Apr-78Suddenly - Art Frank McDiarmid
29-Apr-78James Bold 2/2 'The Frightened Village' 1 of 9 - Art Mike White
06-May-78Suddenly - Art Frank McDiarmid
13-May-78James Bold 2/2 'The Frightened Village' 3 of 9 - Art Mike White
20-May-78Suddenly - Art Barrie Appleby
27-May-78Suddenly - Art Dick Millington
03-Jun-78James Bold 2/2 'The Frightened Village' 6 of 9 - Art Mike White
10-Jun-78James Bold 2/2 'The Frightened Village' 7 of 9 - Art Mike White
17-Jun-78James Bold 2/2 'The Frightened Village' 8 of 9 - Art Mike White
24-Jun-78Suddenly (final appearance) - Art Barrie Appleby

Just a reminder that in the table above 2/2 means it's the second page of a 2-page feature in that week's comic, and 6 of 9 means it's the 6th episode of a 9-episode tale.

On 01 July 1978, the 4-week mini comics promotion began, and for this and the 3 subsequent issues, the third page of each week's mini comic was the occupant of page 11…

Date Details
01-Jul-78Whizzer and Chips mini comic (single appearance) 3/4 'Joker' - Art Tom Williams 'Fuss Pot' - Art Tom Williams
08-Jul-78Buster mini comic (single appearance) 3/4 'X-Ray Specs' - Art Mike Lacey 'Kid Gloves' - Art Rob Lee
15-Jul-78Whoopee mini comic (single appearance) 3/4 'Supermum' - Art Jack Clayton 'Claws' - Art Artie Jackson
22-Jul-78Mickey Mouse Mini Comic (single appearance) 3/4 'Goofy' 'Donald'

In the issue dated 29 July 1978, the first post-mini-comic-promotion issue, Tuesday was featured on page 11.  The following week, Paddywack moved in, and he remained there for the 2 subsequent issues until the debut of the Teacher's Teasers filler feature moved in on 26 August 1978.

Paddywack then returned for a week, after which Tuesday was back on page 11 for one issue before Paddywack got in again on 16 September 1978.

Joke-Box Jury made its first page 11 appearance in the 23 September 1978 comic, after which Mike Lacey's Skateboard Squad took up residence for 2 weeks.

For the following 2 issues, page 11 was the home of ads for 2000AD, which shared the page with an ad for Bassett's sweets in the 14 October 1978 issue, and an ad for companion comic Shiver and Shake in the comic dated 21 October 1978.

Dynamic trio the Skateboard Squad then resumed their tenure of page 11 for another 2 weeks before being ousted by a page consisting of the Silly Snaps feature (another filler) and an ad for another title from the IPC stable, Whoopee!

Whoopee! was being advertised on page 11 again the following week, along with a Shredded Wheat ad, after which the Skateboard Squad rolled back onto page 11.

Page 11 was home to yet another competition in the 02 December 1978 issue, when the Big Four Saint competition (prizes were Corgi models of Simon Templar's white Jaguar car, from TV series The Saint) was featured.

The 09 December 1978 issue was the first to have a reduced page count due to industrial action.  The consequent upheaval resulted in the Mystery Boy feature alighting on page 11 for the only time in its 52-issue run.

Following a 3 week break in publication due to an escalation of the aforementioned industrial dispute, the 06 January 1979 comic had an ad for IPC's latest promotion across its humour titles, with various cut-out-and-keep features appearing in next week's issues of Whoopee!, Whizzer and Chips (now with Krazy) and, of course, Cheeky Weekly.  In the following issue a further ad for this promotion appeared on page 11 along with an ad for Shreddies.  Shreddies were advertised again on page 11 the week after, this time paired with and ad for IPC's footie comic, Roy of the Rovers.

The 27 January 1979 issue carried a filler on page 11 in the form of the Spaghetti Junction maze, a nice piece of artwork by Steve Bell, but not really anything to do with Cheeky Weekly apart from the pasted-in image of the toothy funster.  Another filler feature, Silly Snaps, occupied page 11 the following week,

Intellectually-challenged Paddywack then found his way back to page 11 for 3 weeks, until another filler, this time the Tease Break puzzle feature, moved in for one issue.  An ad for Trebor Double Agents sweets then moved in, but was deposed the following week (17 March 1979) by a Burpo Special focussing on Krazy Town's TV addict, Square Eyes.

On 24 March 1979, two IPC ads occupied page 11 - one for Mickey Mouse comic, and the other for a comic aimed at boys of slightly more advanced years, Battle Action.  The following week Skateboard Squad made a return to page 11, after which the front page of The Mystery Comic, featuring our plump pal, Tub, featured on page 11 for 3 weeks.

The Star Guest feature, a device used by IPC to promote characters from their other humour titles, was the occupant of page 11 in the 05 May 1979 issue, featuring in this instance the Buytonic Boy from Whizzer and Chips with Krazy.  The following week an ad for the Fun-Maker, another attempt by match manufacturers Bryant and May to break into the toy market (I've discussed their Woodcraft Village construction kit ad here).  Apparently "every Fun Maker kit has 2000 coloured wood sticks (matches, by any chance?), plenty of big wood spars (long matches?), red feathers, googly eyes, furry wires (aka pipe cleaners?), glue and a big coloured sheet of hints and ideas to start you off".  Plus a coupon for 20 Rothmans (only joking).

Star Guest then returned, this time featuring the Dads as Lads strip from Whoopee!  In the following week's issue dated 26 May 1979, the revamped Skateboard Squad, now dubbed Speed Squad, appeared on page 11 in the concluding part of a page-and-a-half story which was their debut under the new name.  Sharing page 11 in that issue was an ad for IPC's Jackpot comic.

There then followed some more Star Guest appearances interspersed with ads for the Stickits, which was a comic-strip ad (in the rather archaic style of pictures with word balloons and explanatory text underneath) promoting tubes of glue with paper character features contained within.  You stuck the eyes, nose, feet etc on the outside of the tube to create a cowboy, princess or pirate character.

Date Details
02-Jun-79Ad: The Stickits (first appearance)
09-Jun-79Star Guest 'Lazy Bones'
16-Jun-79Ad: The Stickits
23-Jun-79Star Guest 'Paws'
30-Jun-79Star Guest 'Supermum' - Art Dicky Howett
07-Jul-79The Gang (first appearance) 2/2
14-Jul-79The Gang 2/2
21-Jul-79Star Guest 'Sammy Shrink' - Art Terry Bave
28-Jul-79Star Guest (final appearance) 'Bookworm' - Art Barry Glennard

As you can see above, the second page of the first The Gang strip to appear in Cheeky Weekly appeared on page 11 on 07 July 1979. The Gang was of course a reprint of the Double Deckers feature from Whizzer and Chips. The final Star Guest feature occupied page 11 in the comic dated 28 July 1979.

The second page of a Stage School story featured on page 11 in the 04 August 1979 issue, but for the following 3 weeks, the second page of Joke-Box Jury 2-pagers came to rest in that location.

A turbulent period on page 11 followed as a variety of ads and features came and went...

Date Details
01-Sep-79Tuesday - Art Mike Lacey
08-Sep-79Speed Squad - Art Mike Lacey
15-Sep-79Disaster Des - Art Mike Lacey
22-Sep-79Tuesday - Art Frank McDiarmid pencils
29-Sep-79Ad: Palitoy 'Star Wars Collection' 1 of 3
06-Oct-79Ad: IPC 'Whoopee Guy Fawkes mask' 3 of 3 Ad: 'Whizzer and Chips 10th birthday issue'
13-Oct-79Speed Squad - Art Mike Lacey

Disaster Des, who had earlier been limited to the centre pages as one of the features in The Mystery Comic, until that idea came to an end in June 1979, made a bid to control page 11 for the next 2 issues.  However in the 03 November 1979 issue an ad for IPC's "5 Top Comics" (Cheeky Weekly, Jackpot, Whoopee!, Buster and Whizzer and Chips with Krazy) kept Des off page 11, although he was back on page 11 in the following issue, although in this location for the final time.

Sadly, Cheeky Weekly was resorting to a number of fillers and reprints by this time, and on page 11 in the 17 November 1979 issue, Soggy the Sea Monster, reprinted from Shiver and Shake, made his first Cheeky Weekly appearance.  In this first reprinted Soggy strip to appear in the toothy funster's comic, the art was by Terry Bave, but for the next 2 weeks, the Soggy reprints were drawn by the artist most associated with the character, Robert Nixon.  After a week in which page 11 was host to Joke-Box Jury and a Whoopee! ad, Soggy was back for a further 2 weeks until his aquatic adventures on page 11 were interrupted by the surprise reappearance of Tuesday in the 29 December 1979 comic.

Soggy was yet again back on page 11 the following week, but in the next issue, page 11 was home to an ad for IPC's girls' title, Penny, plus an ad advising Cheeky Weekly readers to place a regular order with their newsagent.

Soggy made his last appearance on page 11 in the 19 January 1980 issue, after which ads for IPC's boys' adventure title, Tiger, and Pop-A-Points pens shared page 11 in the 26 January 1980 comic.

The final issue of Cheeky Weekly had another reprint on page 11, this time Terry Bave's Ringer Dinger, reprinted from Whizzer and Chips, the third Ringer Dinger strip to feature in Cheeky Weekly.

Count of Elements (or distinct combinations thereof) appearing on Page 11

Elements Total
Suddenly14
James Bold 2/29
Soggy the Sea Monster7
Star Guest7
Paddywack6
Skateboard Squad6
Advertisement: IPC5
6 Million Dollar Gran 3/34
Disaster Des4
Tub4
Tuesday4
Joke-Box Jury 2/23
Advertisement: Shreddies\Advertisement: IPC2
Advertisement: The Stickits2
Paddywack 2/22
Speed Squad2
The Gang 2/22
Tuesday 1/22
What's New, Kids2
4 Comics competition1
Advertisement: 5 Top Comics1
Advertisement: Bassett's\Advertisement: IPC1
Advertisement: Big Four Saint Competition1
Advertisement: Fun-Maker1
Advertisement: Palitoy1
Advertisement: Pop-A-Points\Advertisement: IPC1
Advertisement: Shredded Wheat\Advertisement: IPC1
Advertisement: Trebor1
Basil Brush competition\Advertisement: IPC1
Buster mini comic 3/41
Friends of Cheeky competition1
Joke-Box Jury1
Joke-Box Jury\Advertisement: IPC1
Mickey Mouse Mini Comic 3/41
Mystery Boy1
Old Comic1
Ringer Dinger1
Silly Snaps 1/21
Silly Snaps\Advertisement: IPC1
Spaghetti Junction maze1
Speed Squad 2/2\Advertisement: IPC1
Stage School 2/21
Suddenly\Advertisement: IPC1
Teacher's Teasers 2/21
Tease Break1
The Burpo Special1
Tuesday 2/31
Whizzer and Chips mini comic 3/41
Whoopee mini comic 3/41

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