Cheeky Weekly cover date 29 Oct 1977

Art: Frank McDiarmid

The front cover of issue 2 uses the same image that featured on the back page of the first edition, showing an impossibly-contorted Cheeky offering up this week’s free gift prominently for our inspection. On view are the colours of the four Fun Wallet variants, although two wallets seem to be almost the same red/orange hue but that's probably due to the shortcomings of the comic printing process – there’s a noticeable lack of colour gradients on this cover compared to the last. The colours are much ‘flatter’ this week. Presumably more money was spent on the slightly more sophisticated colour printing of the cover of the launch issue to make it more appealing.

A rather blank-faced Snail stares out of the cover, and slithers into the What a Cheek strip where our toothy pal engages in bus banter.

On page 2 Cheeky welcomes us to the comic, and asks readers to tell all their pals about his new title. Below that is the announcement of the Fun Phone – readers are asked to dial a number and submit their jokes. Those whose gags are published will receive the rather unspecific ‘pocket money prize’ (later revealed to be £2).

Jokes submitted via the short-lived Fun Phone (this method of reader communication was eventually withdrawn in January 1978 due to a ‘technical problem’ - I suspect the editorial staff soon regretted making an office telephone number available to their readership) would be printed in the Joke-Box Jury feature which commenced in the 10 December 1977 issue.

This week’s issue follows the pattern set by the first – we follow the grinning gagster throughout his week, starting with his Sunday morning newspaper round, and his pages frame all the non-Cheeky strips.

Frank again

Knock-Knock Door, a surreal ‘character’ Cheeky fans first saw in Krazy’s debut issue, makes its inaugural Cheeky Weekly appearance this week. Cheeky’s Mum, whose voice was heard/read in last week’s issue although she wasn’t seen and has never featured in Krazy, appears for the first time. Mum doesn’t fare much better this week to be honest, as it’s only her right arm on view, untroubled by the anatomical inaccuracy afflicting her offspring on the cover this week. Funny fishmonger Mr Haddock also makes his first Cheeky Weekly outing, although a similar-looking seafood vendor named Mr Codface had previously purveyed a plethora of piscatorial puns in an issue of Krazy. Also dropping in for the first time is Parachutist.

The book from which Cheeky selects a terrifying bedtime story is for the first time given a title - Creepy Sleepy Tales – this week.

Last week’s centre spread poster featured, naturally enough, Cheeky, and this issue the accolade of a centre-page Pin-Up Pal poster is awarded to 6 MillionDollar Gran, who is depicted leaping over 6 parked cars in the manner of Evel Knievel, although Gran of course achieves this feat without resorting to a motor cycle. Gran’s poster appearance this week suggests that the editor is confident she will be among the most popular characters in the comic.

The poster is of course in full colour, but there’s a rather strange distribution of colour pages around the comic this week – the front and back covers feature full colour printing which is to be expected (the back page is occupied by an advert for Standard Fireworks). But as well as the centre spread, page 8 (the Monday element of Cheeky’s week) is also in full colour. Across the staples, the other half of the sheet of paper that carries page 8 is page 25, and one would normally expect colour pages to be paired up, but page 25 is the second of Mustapha Million’s pages this week, and is printed in monochrome to match his first page.

Whereas the animated cartoon element of the Saturday morning pictures programme was represented last week by a Wile E Coyote/Roadrunner strip, the same function this issue is performed by Cocky Doodle and Bam, Splat andBlooie reprints from Buster.

After Cheeky and his pals exit the cinema on page 31, our toothy pal informs them (and us) that a metal badge will be given away with each of next week’s issues of Cheeky Weekly.

Frank McDiarmid draws all 13 Cheeky's Week elements in this issue.

This post revised and expanded 13 August 2020.

Cheeky Weekly	Cover Date: 29-Oct-1977, Issue 2 of 117
Page	Details
1	Cover Feature 'Super gift for you - Fun Wallet' - Art Frank McDiarmid\What a Cheek - Art Frank McDiarmid
2	Hello again (single appearance)
3	Sunday - Art Frank McDiarmid
4	Skateboard Squad - Art Jimmy Hansen
5	Sunday evening - Art Frank McDiarmid
6	James Bold 'Fangs of Fear' 2 of 11 - Art Massimo Belardinelli
7	James Bold 'Fangs of Fear' 2 of 11 - Art Massimo Belardinelli
8	Monday - Art Frank McDiarmid
9	6 Million Dollar Gran - Art Ian Knox
10	6 Million Dollar Gran - Art Ian Knox
11	6 Million Dollar Gran - Art Ian Knox
12	Tuesday - Art Frank McDiarmid
13	Old Comic reprint from Film Fun 'Abbott and Costello' 1 of 2
14	Tuesday - Art Frank McDiarmid\Doug's Doodle - Art Terry Bave
15	What's New, Kids
16	Pin-up pal '6 Million Dollar Gran' - Art Ian Knox (single art on feature)
17	Pin-up pal '6 Million Dollar Gran' - Art Ian Knox (single art on feature)
18	Wednesday - Art Frank McDiarmid
19	Creepy Sleepy Tale - Art Mike Brown
20	Creepy Sleepy Tale - Art Mike Brown\Wednesday (conclusion) - Art Frank McDiarmid
21	Thursday - Art Frank McDiarmid
22	Home Movie 'Airship Over England' - Art Jack Clayton
23	Friday - Art Frank McDiarmid
24	Mustapha Million - Art Reg Parlett
25	Mustapha Million - Art Reg Parlett
26	Saturday - Art Frank McDiarmid
27	Bam Splat and Blooie (first appearance) reprint from Buster\Cocky Doodle (first appearance) reprint from Buster
28	Interval - Art Frank McDiarmid
29	Space Family Robinson 'The Chase' - Art John Richardson
30	Space Family Robinson 'The Chase' - Art John Richardson
31	Saturday - Art Frank McDiarmid
32	Ad: Standard Fireworks (single appearance)