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.

Quick links...
Basic Stats
Cheeky Weekly Index - Cheeky Annuals and Specials Index
Cheeky Weekly Artist Index
Features by Number of Appearances
Cheeky Weekly Timeline
Major Characters from the Cheeky pages
Features Ordered by Date of Commencement

*** ALL IMAGES COPYRIGHT ©  REBELLION PUBLISHING LTD, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. Used with permission. ***
*** CHEEKY WEEKLY, KRAZY, WHOOPEE!, WHOOPEE, WOW!, WHIZZER AND CHIPS and BUSTER ARE ™ REBELLION PUBLISHING LTD, COPYRIGHT ©  REBELLION PUBLISHING LTD, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. ***
Thanks for reading the blog.

Sunday 23 December 2018

Cheeky's First Christmas - part 3

This concluding part of my short series examining Cheeky's festive doings in the Christmas 1976 edition of Krazy brings us to Cheeky's third strip appearance in that issue. The Krazy Gang, who numbered Cheeky among their assorted human, avian and alien members, had appeared in Krazy from the first issue. When Krazy folded in April 1978, the Gang were among the survivors to be absorbed into Whizzer and Chips, where their adventures (still including our toothy hero) continued until February 1986.

However, all this upheaval lay in the future as readers of that first festive Krazy anticipated a seasonal escapade with Cheeky and his Gang colleagues...

Krazy 25 December 1976
Art: Ian Knox



It's always good to see Cheeky without his usual amused grin and I like the expressions of sheepishness on display in this strip. This is Pongo Snodgrass' second encounter with the Gang in this issue, and both feature similar final panels. Not quite the seasonal rapprochement one might have expected.

Don't eat too many chocolates, and have a merry Christmas, Pals!

Saturday 22 December 2018

Cheeky Upfront Yet Again!

Our toothy pal is certainly enjoying a high profile at the moment as, following cover appearances on recent issues of Comic Scene and Fanscene, next year he'll be gracing the cover of (and presumably be included among the reprints inside) a special Free Comic Book Day publication titled Funny Pages which you can read about on Lew Stringer's blog.

Sunday 16 December 2018

Cheeky Upfront Again

Art: Mark Wayne Barrett


Not long after appearing on the cover of Comic Scene issue 2, our toothy pal can be seen on the front page of another publication. This time Cheeky is gracing FANSCENE’s '50th anniversary of UK Comic Cons' issue (free to download - although a donation to the charity of your choice is encouraged - here). As is explained inside the ‘zine, the collection of characters depicted above have all performed the role of ‘editor’ of either a comic or letters page. Cheeky was of course the editor of the Chit-Chat letters page.

Unfortunately, other than a mention on the page that identifies all the comic greats gathered on the cover, Cheeky is not featured inside this issue – not really surprising as the focus is on recollections of various Comic Cons through the years. Sadly, CheekyCon has yet to be organised (although it can only be a matter of time - just think of the cosplay possibilities).

Friday 14 December 2018

Cheeky's First Christmas - part 2

In the second part of this short series examining Cheeky's contributions to the Christmas 1976 edition of Krazy, we skip ahead to page 19, the site of 2 reader participation features. Our grinning pal joins his Krazy Gang chums to deliver a selection of readers' gags in the Krazy News-Pound.


Krazy Agony Column Art: Nick Baker
Krazy News-Pound Art: Ian Knox



Over the page Cheeky is in the spotlight as his own 4-page  'Ello, It's Cheeky strip commences. We know from Cheeky Weekly dated 19 January 1980 that Frank McDiarmid enjoys drawing snow, and the toothy funster's festive stroll around Krazy Town allows Frank to indulge himself in plenty of wintry scenes.

Art: Frank McDiarmid
The bottom left panel contains the
payoff to the gag set up at the bottom
right of the News-Pound page shown above.


This page features the un-named
occasional character I refer to as Brother Girl


We'll leave Cheeky heading home to enjoy some more Christmas pressies, but join me again in a few days as I examine more Cheekiness from Christmas '76.

Monday 10 December 2018

Terry Bave 1931 - 2018

I was so sorry to read on Lew Stringer's blog of the sad passing of the mighty Terry Bave. Terry of course drew Calculator Kid for Cheeky Weekly and the successful character continued in Whoopee! after Cheeky's comic came to an end. There was a time when it seemed Terry had artwork appearing in just about every comic in publication, with a never-ending roster of hugely popular characters created in collaboration with his wife Shiela. I always found Terry's artwork to be very appealing, and he depicted a world that was, despite the regular appearance of bullies who were a staple of comic scripts of the period, very cosy and reassuring as justice was always served by the end of the story. This time of year I particularly remember Terry's Christmas strips into which he put extra effort, enhancing the festive fun by drawing a border around them featuring clever seasonal designs. It's impossible to imagine the heyday of British comics without Terry's vibrant and always amusing strips. What a great legacy he leaves behind.

My thoughts are with his family, friends and countless fans.


Whoopee! 26 December 1981


Whoopee! 25 December 1982


Sunday 9 December 2018

Cheeky's First Christmas - part 1


Art: Mike Lacey


Cheeky made his debut in the first edition of Krazy dated 16 October 1976, and just a few weeks later the Christmas issue of that title saw our toothy pal participate in festive fun for the first time. I've always assumed that Cheeky was supposed to be about 9 or 10 years old (and like most comic characters he remained the same age for the entirety of his nine and a half year comic career), so it wasn't strictly speaking our grinning pal's first Christmas, rather the first time that readers were able to observe his seasonal escapades.

Cheeky appeared on the cover of Krazy's Christmas '76 edition, in his role as a member of the Krazy Gang, all of whom were depicted cowering behind the snow-bedecked comic title and narrowly avoiding being hit by a ginormous snowball. Cover artist Mike Lacey would later draw the toothy funster in Cheeky Weekly. On page 2 the Gang were involved in a story featuring their niffy nemesis Pongo Snodgrass (who I suspect launched the icy projectile at them on the front cover), drawn by Ian Knox who would go on to depict the adventures of Cheeky Weekly's second-longest surviving character, 6 Million Dollar Gran, who, in her post-Cheeky Weekly career, evolved into $6,000,000 Gran then later Robot Granny and finally Gran (leader of Gran's Gang). As of Krazy's Christmas 1976 issue, Cheeky's jumper still showed his Gang (and therefore comic) affiliation - his more familar 'C'-bearing top would appear in August of the following year in preparation for the October launch of his own title.

Krazy 25 December 1976
Art: Ian Knox

Join me again in a few days for the second part of this examination of Cheeky's 1976 Christmas capers.


Thursday 6 December 2018

Whizzer and Chips - The Cheeky Raids part 36

New readers start here... After Cheeky Weekly folded and was incorporated into Whoopee as of February 1980 six strips that had originated in the toothy funster's title survived the merge and continued to appear in the amalgamated comic. Whoopee itself foundered in March 1985 and was merged into Whizzer and Chips. Three of the surviving Cheeky Weekly strips successfully negotiated this second merge and went on to appear in the newly combined publication, rather inelegantly titled 'Whizzer and Chips now including Whoopee'. The survivors were Mustapha Million, Calculator Kid and (appearing only twice) Stage School. Cheeky continued to appear, but as a member of The Krazy Gang, who had moved into W&C when Krazy, the comic in which the Gang originated, expired in April 1978. However, the Krazy Gang's Whizzer and Chips run ended in the issue dated 08 February 1986. Calculator Kid survived a little longer, his run of reprints coming to an end in the 26 July 1986 edition and leaving Mustapha Million as the sole Cheeky Weekly survivor.

A week after being raided by Toy Boy, Mustapha embarked on a revenge mission into Whizz Town (Whizzerton? Whizzville-on-Sea?). Can you spot our prosperous pal in this Memory Banks page?

Whizzer and Chips 27 June 1987
Art: Mark Bennington



Maybe our middle-eastern mate (who was always concerned about his pals' welfare) had recently bought the health food shop and that was why he was inside. This is the first Cheeky-related raid of the era covered by this series of posts to involve the recollection-deficient Master Banks. As Mustapha is the raider rather than the victim, at least we're spared the hackneyed 'I made a mug of Mustapha Million' boast this time.

More raiding fun soon!

Whizzer and Chips Cover Date Raider Raided
06 April 1985Mustapha MillionSuper Steve
04 May 1985Bloggs (Store Wars)Mustapha Million
11 May 1985JokerThe Krazy Gang (Cheeky)
18 May 1985Calculator Kid & CalcOdd-Ball
01 June 1985
Animalad
Mustapha Million
The Krazy Gang (Cheeky)
Boy Boss
08 June 1985Odd-BallCalculator Kid
06 July 1985Toy BoyCalculator Kid
13 July 1985Pa BumpkinThe Krazy Gang (Cheeky)
27 July 1985JokerMustapha Million
24 August 1985CheekySid's Snake
14 September 1985
Odd-Ball
Calculator Kid
Calculator Kid
Store Wars
05 October 1985Mustapha MillionAnimalad
19 October 1985Odd-BallMustapha Million
23 November 1985
Sweeny Toddler
Sweeny Toddler
Sweeny Toddler
Calculator Kid
The Krazy Gang (Cheeky)
Mustapha Million
18 January 1986Mustapha MillionSuper Steve
25 January 1986
Odd-Ball
Cheeky
Mustapha Million
Odd-Ball
08 February 1986
The Krazy Gang ends this issue
AnimaladMustapha Million
15 February 1986Lazy BonesCalculator Kid
15 March 1986Odd-BallCalculator Kid
29 March 1986Calculator KidMaster P Brain
05 April 1986Bumpkin BillionairesMustapha Million
12 April 1986AnimaladCalculator Kid
31 May 1986Lazy BonesCalculator Kid
07 June 1986Mustapha MillionJoker
28 June 1986Sweet ToothMustapha Million
26 July 1986
Calculator Kid ends this issue
No Cheeky-related raid this issueNo Cheeky-related raid this issue
16 August 1986Mustapha MillionJoker
23 August 1986Sweet ToothMustapha Million
18 October 1986Winnie the Royal NagMustapha Million
06 December 1986Toy BoyMustapha Million
13 December 1986Mustapha MillionOdd-Ball
17 January 1987SidMustapha Million
14 February 1987Odd-BallMustapha Million
11 April 1987Pa BumpkinMustapha Million
25 April 1987Mustapha MillionOdd-Ball
20 June 1987Toy BoyMustapha Million
27 June 1987Mustapha MillionMemory Banks

Thursday 29 November 2018

John Richardson updates applied

Following Lew Stringer's recent post concerning Cheeky Weekly, from which I discovered that the Mystery Boy artist is John Richardson, I have now assigned John as the artist on all 52 episodes of the feature and also the 2 Mystery Boy covers. As a result I have regenerated the contents tables of the issue summaries relating to the 52 affected issues, plus the Cheeky Weekly Index and the Cheeky Weekly Artist Index, and also the Mystery Boy post in the above link.

Back in 2013 Russ Juckes responded to my Space Family Robinson post, informing me that John Richardson was the artist on the first 23 episodes of the sci-fi thriller. Until reading Lew's post above I'd never realised that the original Robinson artist was the same person who illustrated Mystery Boy (although, assuming it wasn't a reprint like Mystery Boy, the Robinson artwork was completed some years later than the World War II adventure).


Space Family Robinson episode 1

Wednesday 21 November 2018

Blimey! it's Cheeky!

Lew Stringer is looking back at Cheeky Weekly from forty years ago this week. Thanks to Lew's post I now know that Mystery Boy was drawn by John Richardson.

Monday 19 November 2018

Update on Updates

Last month I finally got round to assigning the relevant Creepy Sleepy Tale episodes to Keith Reynolds, and following on from that I have now updated all the 'contents' tables in the issue summary posts covering Cheeky Weekly issues 1 to 96. This means that the contents now show Keith as the artist on the CST elements that he drew, and also Jimmy Hansen as the Skateboard Squad and Speed Squad artist for this run of comics (longtime followers of this blog may recall my Mike Lacey and Jimmy Hansen crisis of a couple of years ago when I realised that I had wrongly assigned the two strips as being drawn by Mike). The summaries for issue 97 onward have shown the correct artist details for Speed Squad so they don't need amending. The artist credit for the Disaster Des strip in Cheeky Weekly dated 13 October 1979, the only time that Des was illustrated by Jimmy, was updated in the aftermath of the 'crisis', some months before I originally posted that particular issue summary, so does not require amendment.

However, while applying these revisions I noticed that two issues had Cover Features promoting Creepy Sleepy Tale which used artwork by Keith (18 February and 03 June 1978), to which I hadn't previously assigned artist credits. I therefore updated the database entries for these 2 issues before regenerating the contents tables, but those changes mean I have also had to re-run the following...

Cheeky Weekly Index

Cheeky Weekly Artist Index

Friday 9 November 2018

Cheeky Weekly cover date 19 January 1980

Art: Frank McDiarmid
Cheeky’s week begins with a chilly paper round and it starts to snow just as he enjoys a cover quip with Petula. Overleaf on the Sunday page a considerable fall of the white stuff is in evidence, and Frank McDiarmid slips in a reference to the end, in November 1979, of the industrial dispute which halted publication of The Times newspaper and its supplement-packed Sunday companion for almost a year – obviously this gag was a bit out of date due to the unavoidable lag between completion of the page and publication. Nevertheless I imagine the joke was appreciated by many a broadsheet-encumbered newspaper girl and boy. The blank billboard is a bit of a puzzle – the lettering of the ‘please write your own joke’ message is not by Frank McDiarmid. Were the original billboard contents removed? The page ends with a meaty gag but Mr Mutton is absent since his shop is closed





More Frank

 
The microchip machinations of Calculator Kid’s electronic advisor deny Charlie a breakfast. The local bird population benefits, and a peckish Charlie sets out into the streets. It would seem that this story occurs early on Sunday, before the residents of Krazy Town were troubled by snow. The tale ends at a porridge-eating contest (referencing the huge popularity of porridge-eating contests in the late 1970s), and you can guess who takes the prize.

Art: Terry Bave
 
Cheeky's Monday follows a page of Paddywack gags, and Krazy Town still has a covering of snow as the toothy funster enjoys the usual banter with his pals.

Rain, not snow, is the problem for Mustapha Million and his chums as they try to enjoy a footie game. However, Mustapha was never shown to be resident in Krazy Town (initially he was presented as a fictional character as far as Cheeky was concerned) so the variance in weather conditions need not trouble us.

Art: Joe McCaffrey

 
Following directly from our middle-eastern mate are the junior troupe of aspiring performers and their showbiz-hating tutor who make up the main cast of Stage School. Contrary to the climatic conditions apparent in Cheeky’s world this week, the weather seems fine as Sir sets the kids an initiative test by driving them out of town then abandoning them to find their own way back to school. Of course this particular strip’s relationship to Cheeky’s universe was never specified, as the feature commenced in the 07 July 1979 'new look' issue, a week after the Mystery Comic concept was dropped, and at a point in Cheeky Weekly’s evolution when the framing sequences which for a time explicitly established a relationship between each of the non-Cheeky’s-Week contents of the comic and the toothy funster’s pages had, with one exception, been abandoned*.

The resourceful kids raise some cash and catch a number 6 bus going to Kensal Rise, an area of north London. Unless the bus route has changed in the intervening years, a number 6 does not usually terminate at Kensal Rise – the full southbound route runs from the delightfully-named Bertie Road, Willesden, to a stop designated Aldwych/Drury Lane in central London. I would have expected the Stage School kids to have waited for a bus that would take them to Drury Lane, often described as 'the heart of London’s theatreland'. However, I suspect that the bus route reference is a private joke – possibly one of the staff in the Cheeky Weekly office lived in or around Kensal Rise. In 1980, Cheeky Weekly publisher IPC was based at King’s Reach Tower, so I used Transport for London’s Journey Planner to devise a route from Bertie Road to Stamford Street, the location of that famous edifice, to see what route a Willesden-based IPC employee might take to get to work. The first route suggested by TfL didn’t involve travelling on the number 6, but it did use the Jubilee underground line, which began operating in May 1979, and I wondered what would be the effect of excluding tube travel from the journey. Having removed subterranean commuting from my request, I updated the page and found that the suggested route takes our putative north-London-dwelling Cheeky chappie or chappess on the number 6 from Bertie Road to Kensal Rise rail station, and thence by a combination of train and foot, to postcode SE1 9PS, the location of South Bank Tower, formerly King’s Reach (not only has the name of the building changed since the time of Cheeky Weekly - the postcode in those days was SE1 9LS).

Art: Robert Nixon



* The 6 Million Dollar Gran story in the 14 July 1979 issue was the final strip to feature a framing element. For more info see here.

On Tuesday we see that someone (possibly Sid the Street-Sweeper?) has kindly cleared the snow off Lily Pop’s zebra crossing.

Frank again


There are cold conditions for Soggy the Sea Monster's reprinted escapade, but not due to the chill affecting Cheeky's home town. The silly sea serpent ventures up to the frozen north and gets hooked by a local fishing through a hole in the ice. Needless to say he doesn’t end up in somebody’s frying pan alongside some chips.

This week’s Why, Dad, Why? Shows Dad and Son heading for the pictures via streets clear of snow, but the strip was originally included in the Mystery Comic so was a work of fiction set in an unspecified location as far as Cheeky was concerned.

It’s cover co-star Petula’s turn to feature in the Cut – Out Comedy Catalogue which, as one might expect, is full of animal jokes.

Frank McDiarmid’s note on the Wednesday page explains this week's weather in Krazy Town.

Snow-loving Frank


The link between Cheeky’s world and that of Elephant on the Run (initially a strip in The Mystery Comic as was the above-mentioned Mustapha Million) became an ambiguous one when Elephant and The Man in the Plastic Mac appeared on the Wednesday page in the 12 May 1979 issue. Their adventure this week is a snowy one, suggesting that they may indeed share Cheeky’s universe.


Art: Robert Nixon

The next strip, Disaster Des, also originated in the Mystery Comic and was firmly set in Des' home town of Doomsville, so it's no surprise to see the streets clear of snow as Des mooches along, unconcerned by the mayhem he's unwittingly unleashing as he goes. However, the majority of the story focuses on Doomsville's long-suffering Mayor, who finds that he can't escape the negative influence of the junior jinx even while on a well-deserved cruise (although choosing the Bermuda Triangle was pushing his luck somewhat).


Art: Mike Lacey

The Gang's reprinted adventure from Whizzer and Chips is also untroubled by snow as the youngsters prepare to enter a vintage car in an 'old crock's race', which was one of those terms that was, as far as I'm aware, only ever used in comics, never in real life. See also 'spifflication' and 'slap up feed'.

There's no sign of a thaw as Cheeky does his Thursday round of jokes and japes, after which Tub, who is the last of the former Mystery Comic inhabitants to appear this week, gets stuck in the turnstile at a football match, with no snow to be seen.

Speed Squad, who were shown to occupy Cheeky's Krazy Town setting while appearing under their former title of Skateboard Squad as well as in their current guise, are pleasingly enjoying a tobogganing session as their story commences, the snow depicted as they race downhill matching the icy conditions evident in this issue's Cheeky's Week strips.

Cheeky then enjoys a frosty Friday, following which there's a 6 Million Dollar Gran spot-the-difference puzzle, the artwork for this filler having been lifted from her adventure in the 17 March 1979 edition. This is Gran's only appearance this week, her usual strip is absent.

Following 2 pages of readers' rib-ticklers in Joke-Box Jury, is another filler (although just half a page this time, sharing its location with an ad for IPC's sports-inclined title Tiger which next week, as part of the publisher's unwavering campaign to encourage readers to dismantle their comics, will be commencing a 1980 Winter Olympics booklet pullout) in the form of Jogging Jeremy's 'weak'ly exercise routine.

There are some more insights into life in the Cheeky Weekly office on the Chit-Chat page. Which of the chuckle crew live in Kensal Rise?



It's still snowy underfoot on Saturday, as the toothy funster learns of Crystal Belle's 1980 predictions for some of his pals (the impending move into the pages of Whoopee! not being among her prognostications). Our grinning pal then signs off, although he's featured on the back page in Snail of the Century, in which we see that the chilly conditions are also affecting Snail's back-yard buddies.

Mr McD


Frank

This week's cover co-star Petula makes her final Cheeky Weekly appearance in this issue (as well as the cover she also appears on the Cut-Out Comedy Catalogue and on Saturday), along with...


I think all readers will have enjoyed this issue at least as much as Frank McDiarmid enjoyed drawing the snowy Cheeky's Week.



Cheeky's Week Artists Cover Date 19-Jan-1980
 
Artist Elements
Frank McDiarmid9



Cheeky Weekly Cover Date: 19-Jan-1980, Issue 115 of 117
PageDetails
1Cover Feature 'Petula' 3 of 3 - Art Frank McDiarmid
2Sunday - Art Frank McDiarmid
3Calculator Kid - Art Terry Bave
4Paddywack - Art Jack Clayton
5Monday - Art Frank McDiarmid
6Mustapha Million - Art Joe McCaffrey
7Mustapha Million - Art Joe McCaffrey
8Stage School - Art Robert Nixon
9Stage School - Art Robert Nixon
10Tuesday - Art Frank McDiarmid
11Soggy the Sea Monster reprint from Shiver and Shake - Art Robert Nixon
12Why, Dad, Why? - Art John K. Geering
13Cheeky's Cut-Out Comedy Catalogue 'Petula Jokes'
14Cheeky's Cut-Out Comedy Catalogue 'Petula Jokes'
15Wednesday - Art Frank McDiarmid
16Elephant On The Run - Art Robert Nixon
17Disaster Des - Art Mike Lacey
18The Gang reprint from Whizzer and Chips - Art Robert MacGillivray
19The Gang reprint from Whizzer and Chips - Art Robert MacGillivray
20Thursday - Art Frank McDiarmid
21Tub - Art Nigel Edwards
22Speed Squad - Art Jimmy Hansen
23Friday - Art Frank McDiarmid
24Ad: IPC 'Mickey Mouse' 16 of 18 Ad: 'Shoot' 11 of 13
256 Million Dollar Gran Spot the Difference (single appearance) - Art Ian Knox (single art on feature)
26Joke-Box Jury
27Joke-Box Jury
28Jogging Jeremy's Weakly Exercise Routine (single appearance)\Ad: IPC 'Tiger' 8 of 10
29Chit-Chat
30Saturday - Art Frank McDiarmid
31Saturday - Art Frank McDiarmid
32Snail of the Century - Art Frank McDiarmid


Tuesday 23 October 2018

Creepy Sleepy Tale artwork credited to Keith Reynolds

This is something I have been vacillating over since at least 2011, but as the Cheeky Weekly phase of this blog nears its conclusion I felt I must now grasp the metaphorical nettle and have finally got round to assigning to Keith Reynolds the Creepy Sleepy Tale artwork that was not by Mike Brown, Mike Lacey or Tom Paterson. It therefore emerges that Keith was the most regular artist to draw the feature, with 34 episodes to his name.

Although on the blog I had assigned Christmas 1977's Creepy Pantomime variant to Keith way back in 2010, I hadn't actually updated my comic database to reflect this, so the necessary change has also been made in that respect.

The following posts have now been updated;

Creepy Sleepy Tale

Cheeky Weekly Artist Index

Artist Key

I haven't totally got my mitts around the irritating vegetation yet, as I now need to go back and update all the contents tables included in the issue summary posts relating to the affected editions but I hope to do that in stages when time allows. 

Thursday 18 October 2018

Profile - 6 Million Dollar Gran

Readers who have been following this blog for some time will be aware that this series of Profile posts examines the named characters who appeared alongside the toothy funster in his daily ‘Cheeky’s Week’ pages. Cheeky Weekly’s USP (at least in its early days) was that the Cheeky elements acted as framing devices for all the other features in the comic. A number of the characters from the non-Cheeky features were shown to share the same universe as our grinning pal. For example, Skateboard Squad and Calculator Kid were seen on the Cheeky pages a number of times.

Other features had a metafictional relationship to Cheeky’s world; James Bold was the hero of a series of novels (and later a film) which Cheeky enjoyed, and Elephant on the Run was a strip in our grinning pal’s favourite funny paper, the Mystery Comic.

In some cases Cheeky Weekly blurred the reality boundary by incorporating fictional-from-Cheeky’s-perspective characters into the Cheeky pages; Paddywack was initially presented as the subject of a cartoon strip drawn by Doodle Doug, but was later seen at the cinema during a Saturday morning pictures sequence, and on one occasion the titular pachyderm from Elephant on the Run, plus his plastic-clad pursuer, turned up in Cheeky’s Week. Were these examples of the scriptwriter deliberately being playful with the whole concept of the ‘reality’ depicted in comics, or rather the result of lapses in concentration? You decide.
  
6 Million Dollar Gran, initially presented as the robotic star character in Cheeky’s favourite humorous sci-fi/fantasy TV show, made one transition across the fictionality interface into Cheeky’s world. In that particular case, I think we can excuse the comic’s creators for what some may consider to be a gaffe, since Gran’s sole Cheeky’s Week appearance occurred in the final issue of the toothy funster’s comic, during a sequence in which all those funny folk who would be transferring into Whoopee! the following week were shown meeting their new comic colleagues, and therefore the scriptwriter had no option other than to include the synthetic senior citizen. Additionally, the depiction of Gran as a TV character ceased following the 14 July 1979 edition of Cheeky Weekly (Gran’s being the final framing device to be dropped from the comic), and her former TV star status was never mentioned in Whoopee! so it was simpler to assign her to the same level of reality as her Cheeky chums in the final issue of Cheeky's mighty, if short-lived, title.

Gran's non-speaking role in the final Cheeky Weekly
Art: Frank McDiarmid

Any blog readers cross-referencing to the list of Cheeky's Week Characters will be understandably puzzled by the discrepancy between this post's mention of Gran's single appearance and that list's total of 5 appearances by the robotic senior citizen. The difference exists because the Cheeky's Week Characters list includes in the total Cover Features containing the relevant character, whereas the figures shown in these Profile posts excludes Cover Features. The description Cover Feature is one I use for elements that appear on page 1 but which are not comic strips (What a Cheek and its replacement Cheeky's Week were the main cover strips).

Gran's front page appearances that I have classified as Cover Features are on the 12 November 1977, 29 July 1978, 02 September 1978 and 21 July 1979 issues.

It's now apparent that my assignment of Cover Feature is not really adequate - I should have created an additional category called something like Cover Feature - Cheeky-Related, which would have meant that the single-panel Cheeky gag covers would have been identified separately from the cover features such as those listed above. Maybe I'll get round to reclassifying those elements one day.

Sunday 7 October 2018

Profile – Burpo’s Cousins

As if one terrifying toddler wasn’t enough for the toothy funster to contend with, the introduction to 26 November 1977’s Creepy Sleepy Tale revealed that there were in fact a further 5 (possibly more) belligerent babies in the same mould.

Art: Frank McDiarmid pencils
 
Despite the presence of the cousins, only Burpo was seen in the post-creepy-sleepy-tale scene as Cheeky left for home, and this was the case on all the subsequent occasions on which the myriad of mini marauders appeared prior to the Wednesday bedtime story.

The kiddie cousins’ next appearance was in the 'Ello It's Cheeky strip in Krazy dated 14 January 1978, the only time they featured in that title, in which we saw there were at least 6 mini mischief makers in addition to Burpo, although the line of Burpo-alikes was emerging from around a corner so there could have been many more.

Krazy 14 January 1978
Art: Frank McDiarmid


The toddler troupe’s next Cheeky Weekly appearance was in the 11 February 1978 edition, in which on Monday Cheeky hid himself among the nappy-wearing throng in order to enter the newsagent’s unseen for a free read of James Bold novel The Ghost Highwayman. The toothy funster’s usual perusal of 2-comic-pages-worth of the supernatural thriller was interrupted on the Suddenly page when the cousins gave him away, and he was propelled from the shop by the proprietor’s boot. The cousins were back on Wednesday in the same issue when, in the pre-Creepy Sleepy Tale sequence we witnessed 12 cousins in addition to the ‘orrible original, although once again only Burpo was in evidence in the post-Tale conclusion. This three-pages-of-cousins issue was the only one in which the toddling terrors appeared on more than one page, and also the only time they featured on any day other than Wednesday.

Cheeky was again waylaid by Burpo and rowdy relatives as he arrived for his Wednesday babysitting ordeal in the 06 May and 29 July 1978 issues.

Our toothy pal expected to be free of Burpo, let alone the attendant horde of diabolical dummy-suckers, when he embarked on a canal barge holiday in the comic dated 12 August 1978, but found himself being forced to walk the plank by a plethora of piratical potty-perchers.

The cousins’ final Cheeky Weekly appearance was in the 23 September 1978 comic, wherein the menacing multitude was so great that counting them was impossible. It seems that the intolerable infants were surplus to requirements once the depiction of Cheeky’s babysitting misfortunes was dropped from the comic.
 
The cousins' final appearance. Art: Frank McDiarmid pencils
By this time Creepy Sleepy Tale had come to an end, and in this issue the Wednesday page above was followed by the final instalment of the Crack-A-Joke Game

The cousins, none of whom were identified by name, terrorised our toothy pal in 6 issues of his comic.


Character Total Issues First Appearance Final Appearance
Burpo's Cousins626-Nov-197723-Sep-1978

Count of elements by artist
Character Artist Total Elements
Burpo's CousinsFrank McDiarmid pencils5
Burpo's CousinsFrank McDiarmid2
Burpo's CousinsJim Watson1

Gaps between appearances





Prev Date Next Date Gap (weeks)
11-Feb-197806-May-197812
06-May-197829-Jul-197812
26-Nov-197711-Feb-197811
12-Aug-197823-Sep-19786
29-Jul-197812-Aug-19782

Wednesday 26 September 2018

Whizzer and Chips - The Cheeky Raids part 35

New readers start here... After Cheeky Weekly folded and was incorporated into Whoopee as of February 1980 six strips that had originated in the toothy funster's title survived the merge and continued to appear in the amalgamated comic. Whoopee itself foundered in March 1985 and was merged into Whizzer and Chips. Three of the surviving Cheeky Weekly strips successfully negotiated this second merge and went on to appear in the newly combined publication, rather inelegantly titled 'Whizzer and Chips now including Whoopee'. The survivors were Mustapha Million, Calculator Kid and (appearing only twice) Stage School. Cheeky continued to appear, but as a member of The Krazy Gang, who had moved into W&C when Krazy, the comic in which the Gang originated, expired in April 1978. However, the Krazy Gang's Whizzer and Chips run ended in the issue dated 08 February 1986. Calculator Kid survived a little longer, his run of reprints coming to an end in the 26 July 1986 edition and leaving Mustapha Million as the sole Cheeky Weekly survivor.


Concerns about the amount of time kids spend looking at screens have probably existed since magic lanterns first radiated their beguiling beams across well-to-do 18th century living rooms. Mustapha's story in Whizzer and Chips dated 20 June 1987 takes 20th century screen-time worries as its kicking-off point. During the tale, in which our middle eastern pal demonstrates a typically Mustapharian misunderstanding of British phraseology, a wily Whizz-kid manages to infiltrate the proceedings. Can you spot the trespasser? Answer below...

Whizzer and Chips 20 June 1987
Art: Barry Glennard












Yes, it's that plaything-preoccupied pipsqueak, Toy Boy, who had previously raided Mustapha in Whizzer and Chips dated 06 December 1986. Unfortunately, the intensely annoying 'I made a mug of Mustapha Million' slogan now seems to have become permanent. It's just not cricket (sorry).

Whizzer and Chips Cover Date Raider Raided
06 April 1985Mustapha MillionSuper Steve
04 May 1985Bloggs (Store Wars)Mustapha Million
11 May 1985JokerThe Krazy Gang (Cheeky)
18 May 1985Calculator Kid & CalcOdd-Ball
01 June 1985
Animalad
Mustapha Million
The Krazy Gang (Cheeky)
Boy Boss
08 June 1985Odd-BallCalculator Kid
06 July 1985Toy BoyCalculator Kid
13 July 1985Pa BumpkinThe Krazy Gang (Cheeky)
27 July 1985JokerMustapha Million
24 August 1985CheekySid's Snake
14 September 1985
Odd-Ball
Calculator Kid
Calculator Kid
Store Wars
05 October 1985Mustapha MillionAnimalad
19 October 1985Odd-BallMustapha Million
23 November 1985
Sweeny Toddler
Sweeny Toddler
Sweeny Toddler
Calculator Kid
The Krazy Gang (Cheeky)
Mustapha Million
18 January 1986Mustapha MillionSuper Steve
25 January 1986
Odd-Ball
Cheeky
Mustapha Million
Odd-Ball
08 February 1986
The Krazy Gang ends this issue
AnimaladMustapha Million
15 February 1986Lazy BonesCalculator Kid
15 March 1986Odd-BallCalculator Kid
29 March 1986Calculator KidMaster P Brain
05 April 1986Bumpkin BillionairesMustapha Million
12 April 1986AnimaladCalculator Kid
31 May 1986Lazy BonesCalculator Kid
07 June 1986Mustapha MillionJoker
28 June 1986Sweet ToothMustapha Million
26 July 1986
Calculator Kid ends this issue
No Cheeky-related raid this issueNo Cheeky-related raid this issue
16 August 1986Mustapha MillionJoker
23 August 1986Sweet ToothMustapha Million
18 October 1986Winnie the Royal NagMustapha Million
06 December 1986Toy BoyMustapha Million
13 December 1986Mustapha MillionOdd-Ball
17 January 1987SidMustapha Million
14 February 1987Odd-BallMustapha Million
11 April 1987Pa BumpkinMustapha Million
25 April 1987Mustapha MillionOdd-Ball
20 June 1987Toy BoyMustapha Million