Profile - Gloomy Glad

Glad wasn't so much bipolar as north polar.  Usually accompanied by her own black rain cloud (a snow cloud in cold weather), Glad was one of those people for whom not only is the glass half empty, it's cracked and has something nasty floating in it.

Cheeky showed his caring side with Glad, always trying to cheer her up when she told her tales of woe, only to find that his attempt to lift her spirits plunged her further into despair.

To prove that Glad's life wasn't one of unremitting despondency, Cheeky's writer allowed us to witness a few occasions (four, to be precise*) when Glad cracked a smile.

Glad's cousin, Dismal Daisy, made a single appearance, in the cinema interval of the comic dated 28 October 1978.

* Boxing Day in the 31 December 1977 issue, Saturday in the 10 June 1978 issue, Sunday evening in the 16 September 1978 issue and Wednesday in the 05 May 1979 issue. An apparently beaming Glad was seen on Saturday in the 13 January 1979 comic, but it turned out she was wearing a mask.

Character	Total Issues	First Appearance	Final Appearance
Gloomy Glad	106	12-Nov-1977	02-Feb-1980

Gloomy Glad - Number of appearances by Element

Element	Number of Appearances
Saturday	27
Wednesday	19
Monday	16
Sunday	16
Tuesday	13
Thursday	12
Friday	11
Sunday evening	5
Boxing Day	2
Interval	2
Ash Wednesday	1
Cheeky's Week	1
Easter Monday	1
Saturday - April Fool's Day	1
The Burpo Special	1

Gloomy Glad - Number of appearances by Page

Page	Number of Appearances
2	16
12	13
31	11
15	10
9	8
26	8
25	7
30	7
19	6
8	5
10	5
4	4
5	3
7	3
13	3
18	3
21	3
23	3
20	2
22	2
1	1
6	1
24	1
28	1
29	1
32	1

The Features - Mustapha Million

Art Reg Parlett

The Mustapha Million strip made its debut in the first Cheeky Weekly and appeared in all but 3 issues of the comic.  106 stories were 2-pagers, with the remaining 8 episodes completing in a single page. Early strips see a lonely Mustapha asking British kids to play, then lavishing his vast wealth to secure their friendship, morally a rather dubious scenario.  Later strips show Mustapha using his cash to help kids out of various predicaments, or getting into scrapes after misunderstanding British phrases or customs.

1st appearance - art Reg Parlett

The strip was drawn by 4 artists during its Cheeky run, with Reg Parlett, who was the original artist, and Joe McCaffrey each delivering 56 episodes, While John K Geering and Colin Whittock each stood in on one occasion.  Joe's first work on the character was a single page story in the issue dated 14 January 1978, after which Joe deputised occasionally until Reg's last Mustapha story appeared in the issue dated 17 February 1979.  Joe then supplied all the artwork with the exception of John K Geering's contribution in the 03 November 1979 comic and Colin Whittock's in the 17 November 1979 edition.

Joe McCaffrey's first Mustapha strip

Reg Parlett

Eventually Mustapha developed a friendship with Jimmy (who was first named in the issue dated 04 March 1978), a lad whose hair colour wasn't consistent across the episodes.

In the early issues of Cheeky Weekly, Fridays would find Cheeky seeking out the Mystery Comic, in which Mustapha was one of the characters.  Initially, Mustapha's was the only story from the mysterious publication that we saw, until Cheeky Weekly dated 30 September 1978, from which date the whole of the Mystery Comic was incorporated into Cheeky Weekly. In his strip in the comic dated 17 November 1979, Mustapha is seen reading a copy of Cheeky Weekly. Thus, in an infinitely recursive, meta-disappearing-up-their-own-fictionality loop, Mustapha is a character in a comic read by Cheeky, while Cheeky is a character in a comic read by Mustapha.

Mustapha was one of the guests at Pete and Pauline Potts' party in the 6 Million Dollar Gran strip in Cheeky Weekly dated 06 October 1979.

Jimmy's inconsistent hair

Mustapha exceeded his planned year's stay in Britain by some time, lasting the 2-year-plus run of Cheeky Weekly, and some years more in Whoopee! then Whizzer and Chips.

John K Geering

The Mustapha Million strips that originally appeared in Cheeky Weekly dated 05 November 1977, 26 November 1977 and 03 December 1977 were reprinted in the 1985 Cheeky Annual, which was the final Cheeky Annual to be published, and relied more heavily on reprints than the earlier annuals.

Friends of Cheeky Chit-Chat
24 March 1979

Mustapha Million - The Whoopee Years

                                                                                                                                                         

Feature	First Appearance	Final Appearance	Total Issues	Total Issues Missed In Run	Page History
Mustapha Million	22-Oct-77	02-Feb-80	114	3	6,7,12,13,14,15,16,17,18,19,20,21,22,23,24,25,26,27,28,29

Issues Missed In Run

27-Jan-79

28-Apr-79

16-Jun-79

UPDATE 10 January 2012: In the table below, Mustapha Million's appearances in The Mystery Comic are counted separately where indicated in the Feature column.

Feature	Artist	Number of Issues	First Appearance	Final Appearance
Mustapha Million	Reg Parlett	45	22-Oct-1977	23-Sep-1978
Mustapha Million	Joe McCaffrey	33	14-Jan-1978	02-Feb-1980
Mustapha Million Mystery Comic	Reg Parlett	11	30-Sep-1978	17-Feb-1979
Mustapha Million Mystery Comic	Joe McCaffrey	23	14-Oct-1978	30-Jun-1979
Mustapha Million	John K. Geering	1	03-Nov-1979	03-Nov-1979
Mustapha Million	Colin Whittock	1	17-Nov-1979	17-Nov-1979

Cheeky Weekly cover date 26 Nov 1977

The cover of this issue leads with the Friend of Cheeky T-Shirt competition (did anyone reading this win one?), with the toothy funster looking rather odd as a result of not wearing his customary jersey. The What a Cheek strip is another 'Frank McDiarmid pencils' job, as are the rest of the Cheeky's Week strips in the comic, except the second part of Tuesday which is pure Frank.



On the first Tuesday page, Bubblegum Boy manages to generate two speech balloons without parting his lips from the confection that's keeping him aloft. He's probably developing ventriloquial skills by now.

Later on Tuesday, after Cheeky has read an old Dodger Caine page from Tiger, 1954, Frank McDiarmid is back on the inks (although I don't think the Doodle Doug illo is by Frank) and making reference to himself.

There's some superb Reg Parlett art on the Mustapha Million story. Reg is surely one of the best artists for depicting physical comedy. Love the fish and chip feed at the end as well.

Burpo's cousins make their first appearance this issue, and Cheeky ends up being scared by a Creepy Sleepy Tale concerning the Loch Ness Monster's day trip to London.

A Henery Hawk strip represents the cartoon element of the Saturday morning pictures sequence for the first time.

Page 31 announces that part one of the super Cheeky Diary 1978 will appear next week. This will replace the Skateboard booklet which concludes in this issue. The final page of the booklet to be printed appears on the back cover and features the Skateboard Squad, Cheeky and Snail. The art is by Peter Maddocks, who supplied all the art for the booklet. I know of his newspaper strips, of course, but is this the only work he did in comics? In his interview in Crikey 15 he doesn't mention any comics work. UPDATE 11 February 2011 - Of course Peter Maddocks drew The Family Ness strip in Beeb Magazine, as featured on Peter Gray's blog.

Cheeky Weekly	Cover Date: 26-Nov-1977, Issue 6 of 117
Page	Details
1	Cover Feature 'Cheeky T-Shirt Competition' - Art Frank McDiarmid\What a Cheek - Art Frank McDiarmid pencils
2	Sunday - Art Frank McDiarmid pencils
3	Skateboard Squad - Art Jimmy Hansen
4	Sunday evening - Art Frank McDiarmid pencils
5	James Bold 'Fangs of Fear' 6 of 11 - Art Lopez
6	James Bold 'Fangs of Fear' 6 of 11 - Art Lopez
7	Monday - Art Frank McDiarmid pencils
8	6 Million Dollar Gran - Art Ian Knox
9	6 Million Dollar Gran - Art Ian Knox
10	6 Million Dollar Gran - Art Ian Knox
11	Friends of Cheeky competition (single appearance)
12	Tuesday - Art Frank McDiarmid pencils
13	Old Comic reprint from Tiger 'Dodger Caine' 1 of 3
14	Tuesday - Art Frank McDiarmid\Doug's Doodle - Art Terry Bave
15	Wednesday - Art Frank McDiarmid pencils
16	Creepy Sleepy Tale - Art Mike Brown
17	Creepy Sleepy Tale - Art Mike Brown\Wednesday (conclusion) - Art Frank McDiarmid pencils (first art on feature)
18	What's New, Kids
19	Thursday - Art Frank McDiarmid pencils
20	Home Movie 'The Vikings' - Art Jack Clayton
21	Friday - Art Frank McDiarmid pencils
22	Mustapha Million - Art Reg Parlett
23	Mustapha Million - Art Reg Parlett
24	Saturday - Art Frank McDiarmid pencils
25	Henery Hawk (first appearance) 'Little Orphan Henery'
26	Henery Hawk (first appearance) 'Little Orphan Henery'
27	Interval - Art Frank McDiarmid pencils
28	Space Family Robinson 'Tunnel of Terror' - Art John Richardson
29	Space Family Robinson 'Tunnel of Terror' - Art John Richardson
30	Saturday - Art Frank McDiarmid pencils
31	Skateboard booklet (final appearance) - Art Peter Maddocks (final art on feature)
32	Skateboard booklet (final appearance) - Art Peter Maddocks (final art on feature)

Profile - Baby Burpo

The most unpleasant thing to fill a nappy since Sweeny Toddler, Baby Burpo made Cheeky's Wednesday night babysitting sessions an ordeal.  Our toothy hero always fell prey to the fiendish traps set by Burpo in his front garden, and further indignity would ensue as the infamous infant's parents accused Cheeky of playing too rough as he dangled from Burpo's net or disappeared into the pit which Burpo had excavated.

Art: Frank McDiarmid pencils

When the toddler's parents had left, Cheeky sought to restore his shattered self-esteem with psychological warfare, selecting a terrifying Creepy Sleepy Tale for Burpo's bedtime story, but the evening always ended with Cheeky running home, fearful of the evil happenings that he had just read.

Burpo first appeared in the 19 March 1977 issue of Krazy, and was the subject of the same comic's Cheeky's Pal feature in the 25 June 1977 edition.

Burpo's debut - Krazy 19 March 1977
Art: Frank McDiarmid

Krazy 25 June 1977 - Frank again

There was one thing that worried Cheeky more than the belligerent babe, and that was Burpo's cousins, a gang of Burpo-alikes that exponentially increased the potential for nappy-based havoc.

Frank McDiarmid pencils

In Cheeky Weekly dated 19 August 1978, Crystal Belle gives Cheeky a glimpse of his life forty years into the future. He meets the adult version of the nasty nipper, and we see that the future Cheeky is being terrorised by a whole new generation of Burpos.

Frank McDiarmid

Unknown Cheeky artist

Like Snail, the nefarious nappy-wearer graduated from Cheeky's Week to his own feature. 'The Burpo Special' first appeared in the issue dated 09 December 1978, with a format that saw Burpo interviewing, often with a carrot instead of a microphone, one of Cheeky's pals each week.























The tyrannical tot made guest appearances in the Skateboard Squad stories in Cheeky Weekly dated 01 April 1978  and 24 June 1978.  He also appeared in the Calculator Kid strip dated 15 July 1978 and was one of the guests at Pete and Pauline Potts' party in the 6 Million Dollar Gran strip in Cheeky Weekly dated 06 October 1979.

Burpo went head-to-head with Sweeny Toddler in the final issue of Cheeky Weekly, when the characters who would survive the merge with Whoopee! were greeted by their new fun-pals.  As one might expect, the encounter between the terrible toddlers was a volatile one and the pair had to be separated by Frankie Stein.

Frank McDiarmid

Character	Total Issues	First Appearance	Final Appearance
Baby Burpo	94	22-Oct-1977	02-Feb-1980
Burpo's Cousins	6	26-Nov-1977	23-Sep-1978

Bruce looks at Cheeky Annual 1984

The Cheeky phenomenon continues to sweep the internet - Bruce has just posted a look at Cheeky Annual 1984 on his blog.

The Other Cheeky Artists - Mike Lacey

Mike Lacey was first pressed into service on Cheeky's pages in Cheeky Weekly issue 35, dated 17 June 1978.  Mike provided the art for all the Cheeky's Week features in that issue, with the exception of the continuation of the Wednesday strip at the end of that week's Creepy Sleepy Tale.  There was no What a Cheek strip as the cover was promoting the Skateboard competition and Fathers Day messages inside.

Mike was back with a full issue of Cheeky's Week features, apart from What a Cheek and the conclusion of Wednesday, in the 15 July 1978 issue.

In the 05 August 1978 issue Mike provided a single page only, but he was back with a the same features as in his 15 July 1978 contribution, in the issue dated 26 Aug 1978.


There then followed a run where Mike delivered a whole Cheeky's Week for one issue each month…

07-Oct-1978
04-Nov-1978
02-Dec-1978 (but this was a 28-page issue due to industrial action, so there was no Wednesday or Thursday feature)
27-Jan-1979

Mike provided 5 Cheeky pages in the issue dated 03 February 1979, then full Cheeky's Weeks in the 24 February and 17 March editions. 4 Cheeky pages by Mike graced the comic dated 07 April 1979. The 28 April 1979 issue saw Mike draw only The Burpo Special, as was the case with the following week's 05 May 1979 issue.

Mike contributed Cheeky pages (but not a whole comic's worth) to the issue dated 12 May 1979, and a Burpo Special only on 09 June1979.

In June and July that year Mike provided one whole Cheeky's Week, together with a one-off page in another issue;

16-Jun-1979: an all-Mike Cheeky's Week
30-Jun-1979: Burpo Special only.

14-Jul-1979 : an all-Mike Cheeky's Week
21-Jul-1979 : cover art.

The pattern was maintained in early September

01-Sep-1979: an all-Mike Cheeky's Week
08-Sep-1979: cover art

...but was broken on 15 September1979 when Mike delivered a partial Cheeky's Week.  Further partial Cheeky's Weeks by Mike appeared in the issues dated 06 and 20 October 1979.

Mike drew 4 pages in the 03 November1979 issue, but a full Cheeky's Week in the comic dated 01 December 1979.


The 22 December 1979 issue saw 4 Cheeky pages by Mike, the comic dated 12 January 1980 contained a full Cheeky's Week of Mike's work, and his last Cheeky's Week work in Cheeky Weekly adorned 4 pages in the penultimate issue dated 26 January 1980.

As well as drawing all these Cheeky pages, Mike was also delivering his regular strip in Cheeky Weekly, Disaster Des.


Mike Lacey's Cheeky pages in Cheeky Weekly

Cover Date	Page	Element
17-Jun-1978	2	Sunday
17-Jun-1978	4	Sunday evening
17-Jun-1978	9	Monday
17-Jun-1978	12	Suddenly
17-Jun-1978	13	Tuesday
17-Jun-1978	15	Wednesday
17-Jun-1978	19	Thursday
17-Jun-1978	21	Friday
17-Jun-1978	25	Saturday
17-Jun-1978	28	Interval
17-Jun-1978	31	Saturday
15-Jul-1978	2	Sunday
15-Jul-1978	4	Sunday evening
15-Jul-1978	8	Monday
15-Jul-1978	13	Tuesday
15-Jul-1978	17	Wednesday
15-Jul-1978	20	Thursday
15-Jul-1978	23	Friday
15-Jul-1978	25	Saturday
15-Jul-1978	28	Interval
15-Jul-1978	31	Saturday
05-Aug-1978	17	Wednesday (conclusion)
26-Aug-1978	2	Sunday
26-Aug-1978	4	Sunday evening
26-Aug-1978	9	Monday
26-Aug-1978	12	Tuesday
26-Aug-1978	15	Wednesday
26-Aug-1978	19	Thursday
26-Aug-1978	23	Friday
26-Aug-1978	25	Saturday
26-Aug-1978	28	Interval
26-Aug-1978	31	Saturday
07-Oct-1978	1	Cheeky's Week
07-Oct-1978	2	Sunday
07-Oct-1978	7	Monday
07-Oct-1978	10	Tuesday
07-Oct-1978	12	Wednesday
07-Oct-1978	21	Thursday
07-Oct-1978	24	Friday
07-Oct-1978	26	Saturday
07-Oct-1978	29	Interval
07-Oct-1978	32	Cheeky's Pal Puzzle 'Dan-Dan The Lavender Man'
07-Oct-1978	32	Saturday
04-Nov-1978	1	Cheeky's Week
04-Nov-1978	2	Sunday
04-Nov-1978	7	Monday
04-Nov-1978	10	Tuesday
04-Nov-1978	12	Wednesday
04-Nov-1978	21	Thursday
04-Nov-1978	25	Friday
04-Nov-1978	27	Saturday
04-Nov-1978	29	Interval
04-Nov-1978	32	Saturday
04-Nov-1978	32	Cheeky's Pal Puzzle 'Sherlock'
25-Nov-1978	1	Cover Feature 'Disaster Des'
02-Dec-1978	1	Cheeky's Week
02-Dec-1978	2	Sunday
02-Dec-1978	5	Monday
02-Dec-1978	8	Tuesday
02-Dec-1978	19	Friday
02-Dec-1978	22	Saturday
02-Dec-1978	25	Interval
02-Dec-1978	28	Saturday
02-Dec-1978	28	Cheeky's Pal Puzzle 'Baby Burpo'
27-Jan-1979	1	Cheeky's Week
27-Jan-1979	2	Sunday
27-Jan-1979	6	Monday
27-Jan-1979	9	Tuesday
27-Jan-1979	12	Wednesday
27-Jan-1979	22	Thursday
27-Jan-1979	25	Friday
27-Jan-1979	29	The Burpo Special 'Uncle Hamish'
27-Jan-1979	30	Saturday
27-Jan-1979	31	Saturday
03-Feb-1979	22	Thursday
03-Feb-1979	25	Friday
03-Feb-1979	29	The Burpo Special 'Bump-Bump Bernie'
03-Feb-1979	30	Saturday
03-Feb-1979	31	Saturday
24-Feb-1979	1	Cheeky's Week
24-Feb-1979	2	Sunday
24-Feb-1979	6	Monday
24-Feb-1979	9	Tuesday
24-Feb-1979	12	Wednesday
24-Feb-1979	23	Thursday
24-Feb-1979	25	Friday
24-Feb-1979	30	Saturday
24-Feb-1979	31	Saturday
17-Mar-1979	1	Cheeky's Week
17-Mar-1979	2	Sunday
17-Mar-1979	6	Monday
17-Mar-1979	9	Tuesday
17-Mar-1979	12	Wednesday
17-Mar-1979	22	Thursday
17-Mar-1979	25	Friday
17-Mar-1979	30	Saturday
17-Mar-1979	31	Saturday
07-Apr-1979	23	Thursday
07-Apr-1979	25	Friday
07-Apr-1979	28	Saturday
07-Apr-1979	29	Saturday
28-Apr-1979	32	The Burpo Special 'Jogging Jeremy'
05-May-1979	32	The Burpo Special 'Teacher'
12-May-1979	23	Thursday
12-May-1979	25	Friday
12-May-1979	30	Saturday
12-May-1979	31	Saturday
12-May-1979	32	The Burpo Special 'Mechanic'
09-Jun-1979	32	The Burpo Special 'Hypno-Tessa'
16-Jun-1979	1	Cheeky's Week
16-Jun-1979	2	Sunday
16-Jun-1979	6	Monday
16-Jun-1979	9	Tuesday
16-Jun-1979	12	Wednesday
16-Jun-1979	23	Thursday
16-Jun-1979	25	Friday
16-Jun-1979	30	Saturday
16-Jun-1979	31	Saturday
30-Jun-1979	32	The Burpo Special 'Sherlock'
14-Jul-1979	1	Cover Feature 'Yikky-Boo'
14-Jul-1979	2	Sunday
14-Jul-1979	8	Monday
14-Jul-1979	12	Tuesday
14-Jul-1979	18	Wednesday
14-Jul-1979	22	Thursday
14-Jul-1979	25	Friday
14-Jul-1979	30	Saturday
14-Jul-1979	31	Saturday
21-Jul-1979	1	Cover Feature 'Petula'
01-Sep-1979	2	Sunday
01-Sep-1979	7	Monday
01-Sep-1979	11	Tuesday
01-Sep-1979	18	Wednesday
01-Sep-1979	22	Thursday
01-Sep-1979	26	Friday
01-Sep-1979	30	Saturday
01-Sep-1979	31	Saturday
08-Sep-1979	1	Cover Feature 'Manhole Man'
15-Sep-1979	22	Thursday
15-Sep-1979	26	Friday
15-Sep-1979	30	Saturday
15-Sep-1979	31	Saturday
06-Oct-1979	2	Sunday
06-Oct-1979	7	Monday
06-Oct-1979	10	Tuesday
06-Oct-1979	18	Wednesday
20-Oct-1979	22	Thursday
20-Oct-1979	26	Friday
20-Oct-1979	30	Saturday
20-Oct-1979	31	Saturday
03-Nov-1979	26	Thursday
03-Nov-1979	28	Friday
03-Nov-1979	30	Saturday
03-Nov-1979	31	Saturday
01-Dec-1979	2	Sunday
01-Dec-1979	5	Monday
01-Dec-1979	10	Tuesday
01-Dec-1979	15	Wednesday
01-Dec-1979	20	Thursday
01-Dec-1979	26	Friday
01-Dec-1979	30	Saturday
01-Dec-1979	31	Saturday
08-Dec-1979	1	Cover Feature 'Manhole Man and Disco Kid'
22-Dec-1979	1	Cover Feature 'Constable Chuckle'
22-Dec-1979	20	Thursday
22-Dec-1979	26	Friday
22-Dec-1979	30	Saturday
22-Dec-1979	31	Saturday
12-Jan-1980	2	Sunday
12-Jan-1980	5	Monday
12-Jan-1980	10	Tuesday
12-Jan-1980	15	Wednesday
12-Jan-1980	20	Thursday
12-Jan-1980	26	Friday
12-Jan-1980	30	Saturday
12-Jan-1980	31	Saturday
26-Jan-1980	20	Thursday
26-Jan-1980	26	Friday
26-Jan-1980	30	Saturday
26-Jan-1980	31	Saturday

George, Mildred and Cheeky

'Now if I can just get the badge off before the director sees me...'

I've superimposed the comic cover for comparison

Jumble Pie, the first episode of the second series of the TV sitcom George and Mildred, was originally broadcast on 14 November 1977.  The plot involves George's 'artistic' magazines (with titles like 'Nudge', 'Wink' and 'Titter') being given by mistake to the Vicar's jumble sale. In the jumble sale sequence we see Tristram, the son of George and Mildred's neighbours, looking at a pile of comics.  On top of the pile is a copy of Cheeky Weekly dated 05 November 1977. While waiting to deliver his lines, Tristram (played by Nicholas Bond-Owen) can be seen trying to remove the badge from the cover of the comic (not sure if that was scripted or young Nicholas was just trying to snaffle the freebie).  He then asks his dad if he can buy them.

Luckily (or unluckily for Tristram, maybe) the young lad doesn't get hold of George's mucky reading material, which is in a box with gardening magazines on top.  Tristram's dad uncovers the stash of nudies and denounces it as filth, which should be banned.

Of course, in the final scene, the mags are found on top of Tristram's dad's wardrobe.

Cheeky Weekly cover date 19 Nov 1977

Space Family Robinson get top billing on this week's cover, with Ben Robinson being grabbed by the Moloks. Like last week's Gran cover, the scene is a blown up panel from the story inside. Presumably it's cheaper than getting the artist to provide separate cover art. Bubblegum Boy also sneaks in another front page appearance.

The What a Cheek strip is unadulterated Frank, as is the Sunday page (which is signed by Frank) and all the Cheeky pages up to and including Wednesday, with the exception of Sunday evening (are you following all this? If not, see the page breakdown below), but the remainder of Cheeky's Week is in Frank's pencils only. Page 30 heralds a competition in the next issue with prizes of Friend of Cheeky T Shirts.


Lopez takes over the art on the James Bold adventure this week (thanks to Robbie Moubert for the artist id).

There are two debuts this issue - a strangely dandruff-freeTeacher (maybe Frank didn't give his inker instructions on dandruff placement), and Auntie Daisy the school meals lady.  You can see Daisy's debut on the Wednesday page here.

Cheeky Weekly	Cover Date: 19-Nov-1977, Issue 5 of 117
Page	Details
1	Cover Feature 'Space Family Robinson'\What a Cheek - Art Frank McDiarmid
2	Sunday - Art Frank McDiarmid
3	Skateboard Squad - Art Jimmy Hansen
4	Sunday evening - Art Frank McDiarmid pencils
5	James Bold 'Fangs of Fear' 5 of 11 - Art Lopez (first art on feature)
6	James Bold 'Fangs of Fear' 5 of 11 - Art Lopez (first art on feature)
7	What's New, Kids
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 Jingles 'Little Jim Jolly'
14	Ad: Knit Stitcher (single appearance)
15	Wednesday - Art Frank McDiarmid
16	Creepy Sleepy Tale - Art Mike Brown
17	Creepy Sleepy Tale - Art Mike Brown\Wednesday (conclusion) - Art Frank McDiarmid
18	Ad: Timex (final appearance)
19	Thursday - Art Frank McDiarmid pencils
20	Home Movie 'Colditch. The Great Escape' - Art Jack Clayton
21	Friday - Art Frank McDiarmid pencils
22	Mustapha Million - Art Reg Parlett
23	Mustapha Million - Art Reg Parlett
24	Saturday - Art Frank McDiarmid pencils
25	Wile E Coyote 'Dear Diary'
26	Wile E Coyote 'Dear Diary'
27	Interval - Art Frank McDiarmid pencils
28	Space Family Robinson 'The Pit' - Art John Richardson
29	Space Family Robinson 'The Pit' - Art John Richardson
30	Saturday - Art Cut and Paste (first art on feature)
31	Skateboard booklet - Art Peter Maddocks
32	Skateboard booklet - Art Peter Maddocks

The Features - Space Family Robinson

The Robinsons escape their abductors and in the ensuing weeks encounter a variety of alien fiends including Icemen, Fishmen, a giant two-headed cat and a race called the Moloks, who look like a human/evil hamster hybrid.

The most memorable alien is King Blubber who terrorises our heroes for several episodes until his inflatable body explodes to reveal a weedy occupant who disappears down an alien rabbit hole and is never seen again.

Just after the family construct a stockade, a mysterious cloud of dark particles approaches, only for the kids to realise that it's black snow (well, this is the Christmas issue).  Mum then reveals she has put up makeshift Christmas decorations in the encampment, and not only that, she has cooked a super Christmas dinner of alien veg.


Final episode below...

The Robinson saga proceeds at a breakneck pace with each episode featuring an escape from the peril presented in the preceding instalment, immediately followed by some new threat and cliff-hanger ending.  It's  something of a pot-boiler series that could have been kept going for as long as necessary.  So immersed in the plot was the writer that he/she failed to realise that three instalments were titled 'Escape' and two 'Tunnel of Terror'.

The strip was presented as the film serial that Cheeky and his pals watched on Saturdays.

As far as I can tell, there were three artists who drew the Robinson pages, none of whom I can name.  One artist provided all the artwork from the first installment up to and including the episode dated 25 March 1978.  The art on the episode dated 01 April 1978 was by the artist who drew 'Whiz Wheels' in Whizzer and Chips, and a third artist drew all the remaining episodes.  If anyone can name the artists, please contact me with the details.

UPDATE 15 July 2013 - Many thanks to Russ Juckes who has been in touch to let me know that the first artist on Space Family Robinson was John Richardson who, Russ informs me, also drew for 2000AD and Crash magazine.

UPDATE 22 November 2018  - Thanks to Lew Stringer's post I now know that John Richardson was also the artist on Cheeky Weekly's Mystery Boy which began 7 months after John's last work on Space Family Robinson (although MB was in fact a reprint of a strip that originally appeared in 1971).

Feature	First Appearance	Final Appearance	Total Issues	Total Issues Missed In Run	Page History
Space Family Robinson	22-Oct-77	24-Jun-78	36	0	28,29,30,31

Feature	Artist	Number of Issues	First Appearance	Final Appearance
Space Family Robinson The Snatch	John Richardson	1	22-Oct-1977	22-Oct-1977
Space Family Robinson The Chase	John Richardson	1	29-Oct-1977	29-Oct-1977
Space Family Robinson Escape	John Richardson	1	05-Nov-1977	05-Nov-1977
Space Family Robinson Trapped	John Richardson	1	12-Nov-1977	12-Nov-1977
Space Family Robinson The Pit	John Richardson	1	19-Nov-1977	19-Nov-1977
Space Family Robinson Tunnel of Terror	John Richardson	1	26-Nov-1977	26-Nov-1977
Space Family Robinson Race Against Time	John Richardson	1	03-Dec-1977	03-Dec-1977
Space Family Robinson Dead End	John Richardson	1	10-Dec-1977	10-Dec-1977
Space Family Robinson Death Leap	John Richardson	1	17-Dec-1977	17-Dec-1977
Space Family Robinson Black Menace	John Richardson	1	24-Dec-1977	24-Dec-1977
Space Family Robinson Forest of Fear	John Richardson	1	31-Dec-1977	31-Dec-1977
Space Family Robinson The Icemen	John Richardson	1	07-Jan-1978	07-Jan-1978
Space Family Robinson March of the Icemen	John Richardson	1	14-Jan-1978	14-Jan-1978
Space Family Robinson The Plain of Bubbles	John Richardson	1	21-Jan-1978	21-Jan-1978
Space Family Robinson The Captives	John Richardson	1	28-Jan-1978	28-Jan-1978
Space Family Robinson The Search	John Richardson	1	04-Feb-1978	04-Feb-1978
Space Family Robinson King Blubber	John Richardson	1	11-Feb-1978	11-Feb-1978
Space Family Robinson The Race	John Richardson	1	18-Feb-1978	18-Feb-1978
Space Family Robinson The Tunnel of Terror	John Richardson	1	25-Feb-1978	25-Feb-1978
Space Family Robinson Stampede	John Richardson	1	04-Mar-1978	04-Mar-1978
Space Family Robinson Fright Flight	John Richardson	1	11-Mar-1978	11-Mar-1978
Space Family Robinson King Blubber's Secret	John Richardson	1	18-Mar-1978	18-Mar-1978
Space Family Robinson The Tunnel	John Richardson	1	25-Mar-1978	25-Mar-1978
Space Family Robinson Eruption		1	01-Apr-1978	01-Apr-1978
Space Family Robinson The Worm		1	08-Apr-1978	08-Apr-1978
Space Family Robinson The Cave		1	15-Apr-1978	15-Apr-1978
Space Family Robinson The Fish Men		1	22-Apr-1978	22-Apr-1978
Space Family Robinson Underwater Slaves		1	29-Apr-1978	29-Apr-1978
Space Family Robinson Escape		2	06-May-1978	27-May-1978
Space Family Robinson The Flood		1	13-May-1978	13-May-1978
Space Family Robinson Bid For Freedom		1	20-May-1978	20-May-1978
Space Family Robinson Ambush		1	03-Jun-1978	03-Jun-1978
Space Family Robinson Captives		1	10-Jun-1978	10-Jun-1978
Space Family Robinson Spaceport		1	17-Jun-1978	17-Jun-1978
Space Family Robinson Homeward Bound		1	24-Jun-1978	24-Jun-1978

Profile - Louise

Louise, the wearer of extremely short skirts that expose her nether garments, fancies Cheeky and tries to entrap him into declaring his love for her.

 

In the issue dated 25 February 1978, Louise spends the entire week plotting how she can get Cheeky to kiss her, eventually planting a smacker on the hapless lad after he exits the cinema.

In the following week's issue, Cheeky is again on the receiving end of a Louise smooch when Gunga Jim's plan backfires.

Cheeky would always protest that he didn't like her, possibly a little too strongly to be entirely convincing.

In addition to her Cheeky's Week appearances, Louise was featured in the Skateboard Squad's strip in Cheeky Weekly dated 24 June 1978.

Character	Total Issues	First Appearance	Final Appearance
Louise	85	12-Nov-1977	02-Feb-1980

Cheeky Weekly cover date 12 Nov 1977

Bubblegum Boy is back on the cover of this issue, alongside Gran who is shown in a blown-up panel from this week's 6 Million Dollar Gran story in which she rescues a kidnapped footballer.  Snail has been added to the Gran artwork, making what is no doubt a topical footie remark.  However, the thing that strikes me is the artwork on the What a Cheek strip, which looks a bit different to Frank's usual style.

The same seems true of page 2's Sunday strip - it doesn't seem to be pure Frank, somehow.  In fact, the daily strips in this issue from Sunday to Friday have an un-Frank feel (to me at any rate).  The concluding Saturday strip on page 30, consisting of two panels, looks more like Frank's usual work.

As discussed before, other artists ghosted the daily Cheeky pages from time to time.  Some of those artists, such as Dick Millington (see earlier post), are easily identified by their distinctive style, however this issue of the comic has caused me problems in identifying the artist.

I originally thought the majority of the daily Cheeky art this issue was by Tom Paterson but I got no support when I postulated this theory on the Comics UK forum.  However, RobFilth on the forum suggested that these pages may be Frank's pencils inked by another artist, and Lew Stringer put forward the idea that possibly Frank had an assistant to help him out at times.

My inclination now is that the art assistant suggestion is the most likely answer, so I'm going to record the artist for these pages, and similar-looking pages in later issues, as 'Frank McDiarmid pencils', unless anyone knows otherwise.

Back at the issue under review, pages 23 and 24 carry more joke strips for the Fun Wallet free gift from issue 2.  This issue also sees the surprisingly late debuts in Cheeky Weekly of stalwarts Louise, Gloomy Glad and Cheeky's Mum (although her arm previously appeared in issue 2).

Cheeky Weekly	Cover Date: 12-Nov-1977, Issue 4 of 117
Page	Details
1	Cover Feature '6 Million Dollar Gran' 1 of 3 - Art Ian Knox (first art on feature)\What a Cheek - Art Frank McDiarmid pencils (first art on feature)
2	Sunday - Art Frank McDiarmid pencils (first art on feature)
3	Skateboard Squad - Art Jimmy Hansen
4	Sunday evening - Art Frank McDiarmid pencils (first art on feature)
5	James Bold 'Fangs of Fear' 4 of 11 - Art Massimo Belardinelli (final art on feature)
6	James Bold 'Fangs of Fear' 4 of 11 - Art Massimo Belardinelli (final art on feature)
7	What's New, Kids
8	Monday - Art Frank McDiarmid pencils (first art on feature)
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 pencils (first art on feature)
13	Old Comic reprint from Chips 'Weary Willie and Tired Tim'
14	Tuesday - Art Frank McDiarmid pencils (first art on feature)\Doug's Doodle - Art Terry Bave
15	Wednesday - Art Frank McDiarmid pencils (first art on feature)
16	Creepy Sleepy Tale - Art Mike Brown
17	Creepy Sleepy Tale - Art Mike Brown\Wednesday (conclusion) - Art Frank McDiarmid
18	Thursday - Art Frank McDiarmid pencils (first art on feature)
19	Home Movie 'Mac of the Mounties' - Art Jack Clayton
20	Friday - Art Frank McDiarmid pencils (first art on feature)
21	Mustapha Million - Art Reg Parlett
22	Mustapha Million - Art Reg Parlett
23	More joke strips (single appearance)
24	More joke strips (single appearance)
25	Saturday - Art Frank McDiarmid pencils (first art on feature)
26	Bam Splat and Blooie reprint from Buster\Cocky Doodle reprint from Buster
27	Interval - Art Frank McDiarmid pencils (first art on feature)
28	Space Family Robinson 'Trapped' - Art John Richardson
29	Space Family Robinson 'Trapped' - Art John Richardson
30	Saturday - Art Frank McDiarmid
31	Skateboard booklet - Art Peter Maddocks
32	Skateboard booklet - Art Peter Maddocks

The Cheeky art of Frank McDiarmid

Before I go further in discussing the other Cheeky artists, I thought I'd better devote a post to the undoubted master of Cheekery, Frank McDiarmid. All the scans of the Cheeky pages that I uploaded prior to the Dick Millington post are of Frank's work, so he has been well represented already, but one can never have too much of a good thing, so here's some more.


Aside from the great artwork and crazy page construction, I love Frank's notes between the panels.  Often these remarks refer to himself so that he almost became one of the characters in the comic.

He wasn't afraid to take the mickey out of his own artwork.
















Frank also provided political caricatures on occasion.  The then-current Labour Chancellor of the Exchequer, Denis Healey, appeared in more than one issue (for younger readers, Healey is the chap with the bushy eyebrows worrying about VAT, and that's Margaret Thatcher, the Conservative leader, at the bottom of the page).


In the Snail of the Century page in this earlier post, Frank seems to be depicting himself.

The Other Cheeky Artists - Dick Millington

In his interview in Crikey! issue 12, Frank McDiarmid says that Bob Paynter, Fleetway's Group Editor, wanted to use as much of Frank's artwork on Cheeky Weekly as possible.

However, given the Herculean task of generating the high number of Cheeky features in each issue, not to mention the material that Frank drew for the summer specials and annuals, it's not surprising that other artists were drafted in from time to time.  In this series of The Other Cheeky Artists posts, I'm going to focus on those intrepid pencil-wielders who manfully filled Frank's shoes.

I have to say that I'm certainly not an expert on comics and have no insight into what was happening behind the scenes of Cheeky Weekly.  However I reckon I have a reasonable knowledge of the IPC humour artists of the 70s and 80s.  My attempts to identify artists are just my opinions and you're welcome to disagree.

Let's look first at the Cheeky pages supplied by Dick Millington.

Dick's first Cheeky artwork was a single page in the issue dated 17 December 1977.

He provided all the Cheeky features in the following week's 24 December issue, with the exception of the Friday page, which coincidentally was the feature that he drew in the 17 December issue, so maybe there was some juggling going on.  The fact that the 17 December Friday page includes a trip to see Father Christmas rather suggests it was originally destined for the 24 December issue, which has a Christmas theme running through it, although the Christmas issue was dated 31 December.



In Cheeky Weekly dated 27 May 1978, Dick drew all the Cheeky features except the front page 'What a Cheek' strip which was by Frank.

The next Cheeky-related work of Dick's that I'm aware of is the two-page Cheeky strip in the centre of the Cheeky mini comic which appeared in Buster dated 15 July 1978 (my thanks to Zeg for the scans which I'll be using in a future post).  A different Cheeky strip drawn by Dick appeared in the Cheeky mini comic in Whizzer and Chips dated 22 July 1978.  I can only assume that Dick drew the Cheeky pages in the Cheeky mini comic which appeared in Mickey Mouse comic dated 01 July 1978, as unfortunately I have never seen a copy of that issue.  If anyone has it please contact me as I'm planning a post on the mini Cheekys, so it would be great to be able to feature all of them.

In Cheeky Weekly dated 26 May 1979, Dick supplied the artwork for a 'Star Guest' appearance of Happy Families, the strip he regularly drew in Whizzer and Chips, but since this post is about his work on the Cheeky pages, I won't mention it.

After a break of over a year, Dick was back on full-size Cheeky Weekly duty in the 30 June 1979 issue, for which he supplied all the Cheeky's Week pages apart from the cover. The comic dated 28 July 1979 is the only issue of Cheeky Weekly in which Dick drew all the Cheeky's Week features (I don't count Snail of the Century as a Cheeky's Week feature).

Dick's final stint on Cheeky Weekly was to provide four pages in the issue dated 03 November 1979.

Dick Millington's Cheeky pages in Cheeky Weekly

Cover Date	Page	Element
17-Dec-1977	21	Friday
24-Dec-1977	1	What a Cheek
24-Dec-1977	2	Sunday
24-Dec-1977	4	Sunday evening
24-Dec-1977	7	Monday
24-Dec-1977	12	Tuesday
24-Dec-1977	14	Tuesday
24-Dec-1977	15	Wednesday
24-Dec-1977	17	Wednesday
24-Dec-1977	19	Thursday
24-Dec-1977	24	Saturday
24-Dec-1977	27	Interval
27-May-1978	2	Sunday
27-May-1978	4	Sunday evening
27-May-1978	8	Monday
27-May-1978	11	Suddenly
27-May-1978	12	Tuesday
27-May-1978	15	Wednesday
27-May-1978	19	Thursday
27-May-1978	21	Friday
27-May-1978	25	Saturday
27-May-1978	28	Interval
27-May-1978	31	Saturday
23-Jun-1979	1	Cheeky's Week
30-Jun-1979	2	Sunday
30-Jun-1979	6	Monday
30-Jun-1979	9	Tuesday
30-Jun-1979	12	Wednesday
30-Jun-1979	23	Thursday
30-Jun-1979	25	Friday
30-Jun-1979	30	Saturday
30-Jun-1979	31	Saturday
28-Jul-1979	1	Dr Braincell
28-Jul-1979	2	Sunday
28-Jul-1979	7	Monday
28-Jul-1979	12	Tuesday
28-Jul-1979	18	Wednesday
28-Jul-1979	22	Thursday
28-Jul-1979	26	Friday
28-Jul-1979	30	Saturday
28-Jul-1979	31	Saturday
03-Nov-1979	2	Sunday
03-Nov-1979	7	Monday
03-Nov-1979	10	Tuesday
03-Nov-1979	15	Wednesday

More on the other Cheeky artists in future posts.