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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Cheeky Weekly Index - Cheeky Annuals and Specials Index
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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. ***
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Monday 27 September 2010

The Features - Home Movie


In the early issues of Cheeky Weekly, our toothy hero would view a home movie every Thursday.  These cinematic sensations were created by Cheeky's pal, Oscar.  However, in another of the many inconsistencies that are evident in Cheeky Weekly, the director we see in 'Colditch. The Great Escape' is clearly not Oscar.  This episode is also the only one where the film (denoted by sprocket holes around the comic panels) ends before the page concludes, allowing a few panels of 'real life' to intrude.

The home movies were spoofs of various film genres, but mishaps, usually caused by adults becoming unwittingly involved in the film, invariably occurred during shooting. Evidently Oscar didn't have great editing skills, as all the foul-ups were left in the final cut.

A cast list was shown at the end of the majority of episodes, the most regularly featured actors being Hooter Harrison and Tubby Thomson. An uncredited dog and worm also featured in many of the movies.


The final Home Movie strip carried the usual 'another Home Movie next week!' banner at the foot of the page.  In the following week's comic, Oscar invited Cheeky to view his latest offering, but Cheeky declined as he was hurrying to look at the skateboard competition on the following page.  Evidently Oscar saw this a a personal affront and stopped making movies as a result.

All the Home Movie pages were drawn by Jack Clayton.

Home Movie in the Cheeky Weekly Index


                                                                                                                                                         
FeatureFirst AppearanceFinal AppearanceTotal IssuesTotal Issues Missed In RunPage History
Home Movie22-Oct-7710-Jun-7831319,20,21,22



Issues Missed In Run
07-Jan-78
04-Mar-78
29-Apr-78

































Story Title
Start

End
Hambush at Deadmanz Gulch22-Oct-7722-Oct-77
Airship Over England29-Oct-7729-Oct-77
The Mummy's Curse05-Nov-7705-Nov-77
Mac of the Mounties12-Nov-7712-Nov-77
Colditch. The Great Escape19-Nov-7719-Nov-77
The Vikings26-Nov-7726-Nov-77
The Boy from Atlantis03-Dec-7703-Dec-77
When Knights Were Bold10-Dec-7710-Dec-77
Tarzan of the Apes17-Dec-7717-Dec-77
Top Hat and Tails24-Dec-7724-Dec-77
Xmas Past31-Dec-7731-Dec-77
Aladdin and His Wonderful Lamp14-Jan-7814-Jan-78
Dr. Zuzz21-Jan-7821-Jan-78
Franky Stein28-Jan-7828-Jan-78
El Bullfighter04-Feb-7804-Feb-78
The Case of the Missing Lollipop11-Feb-7811-Feb-78
Rock Around the Block18-Feb-7818-Feb-78
Defeat of the Spanish Armada25-Feb-7825-Feb-78
The Mystery of Loch Ness11-Mar-7811-Mar-78
2001 A Space Oddity18-Mar-7818-Mar-78
The Thing from Another Planet25-Mar-7825-Mar-78
The Trojan Horsebox01-Apr-7801-Apr-78
A Bridge To Fear08-Apr-7808-Apr-78
Treasure Island15-Apr-7815-Apr-78
Mary Popkins22-Apr-7822-Apr-78
Z Carties06-May-7806-May-78
Moby Dick13-May-7813-May-78
The Scarlet Pimple20-May-7820-May-78
Dick Twerpin27-May-7827-May-78
Australian Adventure03-Jun-7803-Jun-78
Robinson Crusoe10-Jun-7810-Jun-78

Saturday 25 September 2010

Profile - Posh Claude

Claude felt he was a cut above the riff-raff that populated Cheeky's Week. Strutting around Krazy Town in his school cap and blazer, Claude would be accused by Cheeky of having a lifestyle that was one of moneyed extravagance.  The truth would then be revealed, often in comments made by Claude's mum, and Claude would suffer embarrassment as a result.




Claude's mummikins was indeed posh and had a Rolls Royce and fur coats, but his daddikins was shown to be a street vendor of hot dogs.  However, we see a different father driving the Rolls Royce.  Very strange.

Claude first appeared in Cheeky Weekly issue 3, dated 05 November 1977, and featured in 106 issues.

The scriptwriter wasn't averse to recycling posh jokes, either.








Character
                     
Total Issues
                     
First Appearance
                     
Final Appearance
                     
Posh Claude10605-Nov-197702-Feb-1980





Posh Claude - Number of appearances by Element
Element
                     
Number of Appearances
                     
Saturday28
Wednesday18
Friday15
Tuesday15
Thursday14
Sunday13
Monday11
Sunday evening4
What a Cheek3
Boxing Day2
Cheeky's Week2
Interval2
Happy leap year1
Suddenly1





Posh Claude - Number of appearances by Page
Page
                     
Number of Appearances
                     
1215
213
3012
3112
107
197
16
156
266
205
215
74
184
234
43
63
93
283
52
82
222
111
131
171
251
291

Thursday 23 September 2010

The Other Cheeky Artists - Bob Hill



Bob Hill's work on Cheeky's Week was limited to a single issue late in the run.  He provided 4 pages in the 105th comic dated 10 November 1979.

One page of Bob's non-Cheeky art had earlier appeared in the issue dated 12 May 1979, which featured a 'Star Guest' feature devoted to Super Store, a strip Bob drew regularly in Whizzer and Chips.





Bob Hill's Cheeky's Week pages in Cheeky Weekly



Cover Date
                     
Page
                     
Element
                     
10-Nov-197919Thursday
10-Nov-197926Friday
10-Nov-197930Saturday
10-Nov-197931Saturday

Wednesday 22 September 2010

Cheeky Weekly cover date 17 December 1977

A rather striking cover this week, both in terms of the colour scheme and Libby's threat to do violence with her trusty placard. Snail, evidently in fear of a clout from the feisty feminist, is absent from the front page for the first time in the comic's run.

Inside, Skateboard Squad take a break from foiling international jewel thieves and the like, and instead rescue an incompetent skateboarder in a rather worthy public information film-type message-heavy script.  Unfortunately they don't exercise the same degree of care when forcing Cheeky to climb a lamp post to avoid them while they speed into action on the preceding page.

On Monday, as Cheeky races home to see 6 Million Dollar Gran, he passes Margaret Thatcher (Conservative leader), Jim Callaghan (Labour Prime Minister) and David Steel (Liberal leader) waiting for a bus.

Norman Wisdom appears on the Old Comic page in a reprint from a 1958 Radio Fun. Norman was one of Britain's biggest film stars in the 50s, so I'm not sure why he appeared in Radio Fun rather than Film Fun - I don't think he did much radio work.

The art on Cheeky's Week in this issue is a mix of pure Frank McDiarmid (3 pages), Frank's pencils (7 full pages plus the cover strip and the conclusion to Wednesday) and a single page by Dick Millington, his first to appear in the comic.  Dick's Friday page is where Libby gets to carry out her threat and fetches Cheeky a nasty knock on the nut.

As the comic settles into a regular routine, there are no character or feature debuts or departures this week.

Cheeky Weekly Cover Date: 17-Dec-1977, Issue 9 of 117
PageDetails
1Cover Feature 'Libby' - Art Frank McDiarmid pencils (first art on feature)\What a Cheek - Art Frank McDiarmid pencils
2Sunday - Art Frank McDiarmid pencils
3Skateboard Squad - Art Jimmy Hansen
4Sunday evening - Art Frank McDiarmid pencils
5James Bold 'Fangs of Fear' 9 of 11 - Art Lopez
6James Bold 'Fangs of Fear' 9 of 11 - Art Lopez
7Monday - Art Frank McDiarmid pencils
86 Million Dollar Gran - Art Ian Knox
96 Million Dollar Gran - Art Ian Knox
106 Million Dollar Gran - Art Ian Knox
11What's New, Kids
12Tuesday - Art Frank McDiarmid pencils
13Old Comic reprint from Radio Fun 'Norman Wisdom'
14Tuesday - Art Frank McDiarmid pencils\Doug's Doodle - Art Artie Jackson (first art on feature)
15Wednesday - Art Frank McDiarmid pencils
16Creepy Sleepy Tale - Art Keith Reynolds
17Creepy Sleepy Tale - Art Keith Reynolds\Wednesday (conclusion) - Art Frank McDiarmid pencils
18Joke-Box Jury
19Thursday - Art Frank McDiarmid
20Home Movie 'Tarzan of the Apes' - Art Jack Clayton
21Friday - Art Dick Millington (first art on feature)
22Mustapha Million - Art Reg Parlett
23Mustapha Million - Art Reg Parlett
24Saturday - Art Frank McDiarmid
25Wile E Coyote 'Rage In A Cage'
26Wile E Coyote 'Rage In A Cage'
27Interval - Art Frank McDiarmid
28Space Family Robinson 'Death Leap' - Art John Richardson
29Space Family Robinson 'Death Leap' - Art John Richardson
30Saturday - Art Cut and Paste\Ad: IPC 'Whoopee' 1 of 9
31Diary - Art Jim Petrie
32Diary - Art Jim Petrie

Sunday 19 September 2010

Profile - Parachutist

One of the more obscure of Cheeky's pals, the parachutist appeared in 10 issues of Cheeky Weekly, early in the comic's run.  Like most of the cast of Cheeky's Week, the parachutist (code name 003 and-a-half) was essentially a one-joke character.  In his case the joke was that he was carrying out a daring covert operation, but each week touched down either at the wrong time or the wrong location.


Parachutist appeared weekly from 29 October to 26 November 1977.  His parachuting skills evidently got even worse the following week as he missed the 03 December comic entirely.  However, he was featured twice in the comic dated 10 December 1977, on Sunday evening and Thursday, two unrelated aeronautical mishaps.


He missed the 17 December 1977 issue, but was back on 24 and 31 December 1977, before missing another week then appearing on 14 January 1978.

We can only assume he was on a deep cover mission for some months, as his next landing was not until the comic dated 13 May 1978.  In this issue, the parachutist crashed through Cheeky's roof into the attic and prevented Cheeky's regular look at his dad's old comics.  This gross incompetence apparently resulted in his licence to thrill being revoked, as that was the parachutist's final appearance.



Character
                     
Total Issues
                     
First Appearance
                     
Final Appearance
                     
Parachutist1029-Oct-197713-May-1978





Parachutist - Number of appearances by Element
Element
                     
Number of Appearances
                     
Thursday3
Sunday evening2
Tuesday2
Friday1
Monday1
Saturday1
Wednesday1





Parachutist - Number of appearances by Page
Page
                     
Number of Appearances
                     
193
42
132
81
121
211
261

Vote Burpo!

Over at Bruce's Toon Blog there's an opportunity to vote on one of the most contentious topics of our time; who is the top tiny terror - Baby Burpo or Sweeny Toddler?

I'm pleased to see that Bruce has placed himself firmly in the Burpo camp.  Burpo is undeniably the most terrifying of the two because of his skill in manipulating those around him while perpetrating his mischief.

Thursday 16 September 2010

The Other Cheeky Artists - Jim Watson

Jim Watson's artwork first appeared in Cheeky Weekly issue 17, dated 11 February 1978, for which Jim supplied 3 pages, from Tuesday to Thursday (the conclusion to Wednesday was not by Jim).



In each of the issues dated 01 April and 08 April 1978, Jim contributed 2 pages, and in each of the issues dated 29 April and 20 May Jim's work graced 4 full pages and a three-panel conclusion to Saturday.

03 June 1978 included 4 pages of his work, and Jim's last work on Cheeky's Week appeared in the issue dated 10 June 1978, to which he contributed 4 full pages and a three-panel Saturday conclusion.



There was some more work from Jim in the comic - his Hickory Dickory Doc (reprinted from Cor!!) appeared in the 16 September 1978 issue.

Jim Watson's Cheeky's Week pages in Cheeky Weekly 

Cover Date
                     
Page
                     
Element
                     
11-Feb-197812Tuesday
11-Feb-197815Wednesday
11-Feb-197819Thursday
01-Apr-197828Interval
01-Apr-197831Saturday - April Fool's Day
08-Apr-197828Interval
08-Apr-197831Saturday
29-Apr-197819Thursday
29-Apr-197820Friday
29-Apr-197824Saturday
29-Apr-197828Interval
29-Apr-197831Saturday
20-May-197819Thursday
20-May-197821Friday
20-May-197825Saturday
20-May-197828Interval
20-May-197831Saturday
03-Jun-197821Friday
03-Jun-197825Saturday
03-Jun-197828Interval
03-Jun-197831Saturday
10-Jun-197819Thursday
10-Jun-197822Friday
10-Jun-197826Saturday
10-Jun-197828Interval
10-Jun-197831Saturday

Wednesday 15 September 2010

The Features - Joke-Box Jury

The second page of a two-page Jury
Named after venerable TV show Juke-Box Jury, on which a panel of celebrities would vote a selection of new record releases to be either a Hit or Miss, Joke-Box Jury saw a rotating group of Cheeky characters delivering their verdict on the jokes sent in by readers.  The jury was never negative, and emitted such giggles, chortles, sniggers and guffaws as they felt appropriate.  Even Gloomy Glad sat on the Joke-Box Jury, looking suitably amused, in the issue dated 23 September 1978.

Submissions for this feature were first invited in the second issue of Cheeky Weekly, where readers were asked to call The Fun Phone with their jokes.  Joke-Box Jury first appeared in issue 8 of the comic and appeared in all but 11 issues of the remainder of the comic's run.  86 Jury features covered one page or part thereof, and 12 were 2-pagers.  In the 27 October 1979 issue, J-B J was spread over 3 pages, with a half-page on page 7, and 2 full pages on 20 and 21.

The Joke-Box Jury page in the comic dated 31 December 1977 announced that the Fun-Phone would be taking a break, and details of the re-opening of said telephonic amusement device would be announced in the issue dated 07 January 1978.  However, the announcement in that issue says that 'Due to a technical problem we cannot reopen the Fun-Phone just yet'.  The announcement asked readers to post their jokes in the meantime.  In fact the Fun Phone was never to return.  Presumably the 'technical problem' was either a large number of complaints from parents faced with inflated phone bills, or staff in the Cheeky Weekly office being exasperated with pesky kids phoning in and larking about ('Hey, Mister, can I speak to Lily Pop?').


Some of the jokes that were printed would be considered inappropriate today, but those were very different times, when 'humour' of that type was common in the media and schools, workplaces etc.  I apologise if anyone finds some of the jokes in the example pages offensive, but they are presented as a document of a less enlightened era.


A not-so-gloomy Glad
There was a £2.00 prize for those whose jokes were published, and this remained unchanged for the entire run of the feature which, in a time of double-digit inflation, seems a bit stingy (the cover price of the comic rose from 8p to 10p in the same period).

A quick web search suggests that the British version of Juke-Box Jury finished in 1967, although it was revived in 1979 and again in 1989.  The play on the title would therefore be meaningless to most Cheeky Weekly readers when the feature started, so maybe it was aimed at their parents.



                                                                                                                                                         
FeatureFirst AppearanceFinal AppearanceTotal IssuesTotal Issues Missed In RunPage History
Joke-Box Jury10-Dec-7702-Feb-8099114,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,14,15,18,19,20,21,22,23,24,25,26,27,28,29



Issues Missed In Run
13-May-78
03-Jun-78
08-Jul-78
15-Jul-78
05-Aug-78
07-Oct-78
21-Oct-78
18-Nov-78
02-Dec-78
02-Jun-79
29-Dec-79

Bruce's look at Cheeky Annual 1980

...can be seen here.

Tuesday 14 September 2010

Cheeky Weekly cover date 10 Dec 1977




Baby Burpo is featured on the cover this week, with a reference to Cheeky's regular Wednesday night fright, resulting this issue from a Creepy Sleepy Tale of an ancient Egyptian mummy.

In the What's New, Kids advertising feature, Cheeky introduces two mechanical characters from a new film.  Their names are R2D2 and C3PO, and the film is apparently called Star Wars.  Wonder if it will prove popular.


Page 30 sees Cheeky present a coupon soliciting readers' views on Cheeky Weekly.  Under a banner making the sinister claim that 'We have ways of making you talk', the coupon asks readers to rank the non-Cheeky's Week features, and to comment on which of Cheeky's pals they like and dislike. The strip that accompanies this feature uses a crude rehash of a Reg Parlett Mustapha Million panel from the first issue of Cheeky Weekly, in what looks to me like a cut-and-paste job.

There are six pure Frank McDiarmid pages this week, plus the three-panel conclusion of Wednesday.


Two characters make their debut this week.  School gardener Dan-Dan the Lavender Man makes his first compost-encrusted Cheeky Weekly appearance on Sunday, along with Milkie's assistant who, having served his purpose in setting up a joke with the punchline 'one's a milk roundsman and the other's a round milkman', is never seen again.

A notable feature to debut this week is Joke-Box Jury.


Cheeky Weekly Cover Date: 10-Dec-1977, Issue 8 of 117
PageDetails
1Cover Feature 'Creepy Sleepy Tale' 1 of 3 - Art Frank McDiarmid\What a Cheek - Art Frank McDiarmid pencils
2Sunday - Art Frank McDiarmid pencils
3Skateboard Squad - Art Jimmy Hansen
4Sunday evening - Art Frank McDiarmid
5James Bold 'Fangs of Fear' 8 of 11 - Art Lopez
6James Bold 'Fangs of Fear' 8 of 11 - Art Lopez
7Monday - Art Frank McDiarmid
86 Million Dollar Gran - Art Ian Knox
96 Million Dollar Gran - Art Ian Knox
106 Million Dollar Gran - Art Ian Knox
11Tuesday - Art Frank McDiarmid
12Old Comic reprint from TV Fun 'Mick and Montmorency' 1 of 2
13Tuesday - Art Frank McDiarmid\Doug's Doodle - Art Terry Bave
14Joke-Box Jury (first appearance)
15Wednesday - Art Frank McDiarmid
16Creepy Sleepy Tale - Art Keith Reynolds (first art on feature)
17Creepy Sleepy Tale - Art Keith Reynolds (first art on feature)\Wednesday (conclusion) - Art Frank McDiarmid
18What's New, Kids
19Thursday - Art Frank McDiarmid pencils
20Home Movie 'When Knights Were Bold' - Art Jack Clayton
21Friday - Art Frank McDiarmid
22Mustapha Million - Art Reg Parlett
23Mustapha Million - Art Reg Parlett
24Saturday - Art Frank McDiarmid pencils
25Henery Hawk 'A Peachy Idea'
26Henery Hawk 'A Peachy Idea'
27Interval - Art Frank McDiarmid pencils
28Space Family Robinson 'Dead End' - Art John Richardson
29Space Family Robinson 'Dead End' - Art John Richardson
30Saturday - Art Cut and Paste
31Diary - Art Jim Petrie
32Diary - Art Jim Petrie

Monday 13 September 2010

Profile - Newsagent

2 versions of the newsagent by Frank
Understandably, the newsagent wasn't pleased to see Cheeky enjoying repeated illicit free reads of his merchandise.  As discussed in my earlier post, the newsagent's function in Cheeky's week was to eject him from the shop after interrupting the toothy funster's James Bold fix.
This is the version that appeared in most of the strips

The newsagent occasionally appeared on the Monday page, as Cheeky sneaked past him into the shop, but he caught Cheeky in all 25 Suddenly features, no matter what deception Cheeky employed.  Even the considerable charms of Lily Pop couldn't save Cheeky from discovery.
Lily Pop entrances the variant newsagent
Art: Unknown Cheeky Artist 1
The variant newsagent
Art: Unknown Cheeky Artist 1
The newsagent didn't look the same in all the issues.  Even Frank McDiarmid drew two different-looking versions.

Scenes set in the newsagents gave the artists opportunity to add humorous details like crazy magazine titles such as Wig-Wearers Weekly.
Barrie Appleby's newsagent variant
Newsagent's final appearance was in the last Suddenly feature in the issue dated 24 June 1978

I doubt whether publishers IPC would have been happy if their readers had adopted Cheeky's attitude to avoiding payment with regard to their comic titles.


Character
                     
Total Issues
                     
First Appearance
                     
Final Appearance
                     
Newsagent2507-Jan-197824-Jun-1978





Newsagent - Number of appearances by Element
Element
                     
Number of Appearances
                     
Suddenly25
Monday9
Easter Monday1





Newsagent - Number of appearances by Page
Page
                     
Number of Appearances
                     
1115
128
86
94
102

Sunday 12 September 2010

Bruce's Pin-Up Pal gallery

Bruce has posted a selection of the Pin-Up Pal pages from Cheeky Weekly.

James Bold Mystery mystery solved

I had previously believed that no title was given for the James Bold story that Cheeky read from issues dated 29 April to 24 June 1978.  However, while preparing a post on the Newsagent, I came across this panel from the issue dated 27 May 1978, in which we can see the novel is entitled The Frightened Village.

I have now updated my earlier James Bold posts with this info.

Thursday 9 September 2010

The Features - Suddenly

2 Suddenlys sharing the same first panel
 Anyone unfamiliar with the intricacies of Cheeky's Week may have been puzzled by the references to the 'Suddenly' feature in my previous post.

The Suddenly feature is part of the framing device surrounding some of the James Bold tales in the comic.  In the first 11 issues, readers joined Cheeky as he read the original Bold tale, Fangs of Fear, in bed.  However, for the second Bold adventure, Cheeky regularly sneaked into the newsagents for a free read of the new James Bold novel, The Ghost Highwayman.  Each week Cheeky's reading was interrupted by the newsagent, who would snatch the book away and eject Cheeky from the shop (always at a moment of peak excitement in the novel, of course).

The first Suddenly page, in the issue dated 07 January 1978, was not named as such, but the equivalent page in the following week's comic was headed 'Suddenly, Cheeky's reading was interrupted…'.  I have adopted the name Suddenly for all pages in the comic where Cheeky's clandestine reading is cut short.  OK, I know that in the 25 February 1978 issue the page was titled 'Cheeky's reading came to an end', but I'm sticking to Suddenly….


In preparing the 28 January 1978 issue there must have been an artwork crisis. The first panel of the Suddenly page is a reprint of the first panel from the 07 January Suddenly, but with a different newsagent's speech balloon, and the majority of the rest of the page is taken up with 2 mazes. In the final panel of the same week's Monday page, before Cheeky began reading, Cheeky is seen sneaking into the newsagents in a false beard. In the issue dated 25 February 1978, the newsagent apprehends a bearded Cheeky, so this page is presumably the artwork that was originally intended for the 28 January issue.


On 11 March 1978 Cheeky is caught before he even starts reading, and consequently there is no James Bold feature that week (the previous story had finished the week before, and Bold's novelised adventures would resume with the first episode of Tower of Terror the following week).

Cheeky's sneaky newsagent-reading saw him peruse 3 Bold adventures. The final Bold story to be enjoyed by Cheeky in novel form, The Frightened Village, ended on 24 June 1978.  The Suddenly feature came to an end the same week, because Island of Fear, Bold's last adventure to appear in Cheeky Weekly, was presented as a film series which Cheeky and his pals watched on Saturdays.

How many newsagents have shelves of books, anyway?

Following tables REVISED 10 September 2010 'cos I had the Suddenly feature dated 07 January 1978 recorded as Monday in my data when I originally ran the figures.


Feature First Appearance Final Appearance Total Issues Total Issues Missed In Run Page History
Suddenly07-Jan-7824-Jun-7825010,11,12


Issues Missed In Run


Feature Artist Number of Issues First Appearance Final Appearance
Suddenly Frank McDiarmid pencils507-Jan-197803-Jun-1978
Suddenly Unknown Cheeky Artist 1314-Jan-197825-Mar-1978
Suddenly Frank McDiarmid1021-Jan-197813-May-1978
Suddenly Cut and Paste128-Jan-197828-Jan-1978
Suddenly Barrie Appleby408-Apr-197824-Jun-1978
Suddenly Dick Millington127-May-197827-May-1978
Suddenly Mike Lacey117-Jun-197817-Jun-1978


Preceding Page Count
James Bold24
Monday1


Pages per Issue Number of Issues
125

Wednesday 8 September 2010

The Other Cheeky Artists - Barrie Appleby

Please note that Barrie's work on the Laugh and Learn features in Cheeky Weekly (on which he collaborated with Brian Walker) are not covered in this topic. Laugh and Learn was never drawn by Frank McDiarmid, and it's therefore outside the scope of this series on artists who ghosted Frank's features.

Barrie Appleby joined the elite band of Cheeky's Week artists in Cheeky Weekly issue 21, dated 11 March 1978, in which he drew 5 full pages, from Wednesday (which featured a guest appearance by The Two Ronnies) to the Interval page, and a further 3 panel strip which concluded Saturday.

Barrie supplied 4 full pages in the issue dated 25 March 1978, this time drawing Wednesday to Saturday. In the issue dated 08 April 1978 he started at the beginning of the week, with 5 pages from Sunday to Tuesday (Sunday being comprised of Sunday and Sunday evening, and Monday covering Monday and Suddenly).

In the 22 April 1978 issue, Barrie's 4 full pages of artwork commenced on Thursday, and ended with Interval, but Barrie also supplied the closing Saturday three-panel segment, and in the 06 May 1978 issue he provided the same elements again.


The comic dated 20 May 1978 saw Barrie contribute his highest number of pages in a single issue yet, with a set of 6 full pages running from Sunday to the first part of Wednesday, and also the three panel Wednesday strip following that week's Creepy Sleepy Tale.

However, this high point was followed by 2 issues where Barrie provided only the post-Tale 3-panel strips; 27 May and 03 June 1978.

The 10 June 1978 issue contained 6 full pages of Barrie's work, plus the 3-panel Wednesday closer, but on 17 June he was back to providing only the Wednesday conclusion.

Barrie provided 6 full pages for the issue dated 24 June 1978, but this time he didn't draw the concluding Wednesday strip.  In the following week's 01 July 1978 issue, the 3-panel conclusion of Wednesday was his sole contribution.

Barrie's work adorned the cover of the 08 July 1978 comic, with that week's What a Cheek strip, but his only work inside was again the Wednesday conclusion, and on 15 July he provided only the What a Cheek feature.

Following these weeks of minimal fill-ins, Barrie was back, with what was to be his only full Cheeky's Week, in the comic dated 22 July 1978.  The Cheeky features this week consisted of 10 full pages and a 3-panel Wednesday conclusion.

In the 12 and 19 August 1978 comics, Barrie delivered only the main Wednesday pages, and on 26 August his work appeared in the concluding 3 panels of Wednesday only.  This was the final appearance of the concluding Wednesday strip, as the Creepy Sleepy Tales came to an end in this issue.

Barrie's work didn't feature again until the comic dated 10 February 1979, in which he contributed 8 full pages and the cover's What a Cheek 3-panel strip.  This was almost a full Cheeky's Week, but Frank contributed that week's Burpo Special (I include The Burpo Special as part of Cheeky's Week).
A month later the position was reversed, with the Cheeky's Week content of the 10 March 1979 comic being comprised of 9 elements by Frank McDiarmid and Barrie contributing a Burpo Special only (the only occasion on which Barrie drew the strip).

Later that month Barrie provided 4 pages in the 31 March 1979 issue, and there was another Barrie 4-page issue dated 28 April.

The 26 May 1979 issue featured Barrie's art on the cover only. In the editions dated 13 and 20 October 1979, Barrie stood in for Frank McDiarmid on Snail of the Century.

The issue dated 10 November 1979 featured another 4 pages from Barrie, and his final work on Cheeky Weekly graced the cover of edition number 106, dated 17 November 1979.

Barrie Appleby's Cheeky's Week pages in Cheeky Weekly


Cover Date Page Element
11-Mar-197815Wednesday
11-Mar-197819Thursday
11-Mar-197821Friday
11-Mar-197825Saturday
11-Mar-197828Interval
11-Mar-197831Saturday
25-Mar-197815Wednesday
25-Mar-197819Thursday
25-Mar-197821Friday
25-Mar-197825Saturday
08-Apr-19782Sunday
08-Apr-19784Sunday evening
08-Apr-19789Monday
08-Apr-197812Suddenly
08-Apr-197813Tuesday
22-Apr-197819Thursday
22-Apr-197821Friday
22-Apr-197825Saturday
22-Apr-197828Interval
22-Apr-197831Saturday
06-May-197819Thursday
06-May-197821Friday
06-May-197825Saturday
06-May-197828Interval
06-May-197831Saturday
20-May-19782Sunday
20-May-19784Sunday evening
20-May-19788Monday
20-May-197811Suddenly
20-May-197813Tuesday
20-May-197815Wednesday
20-May-197817Wednesday (conclusion)
27-May-197817Wednesday (conclusion)
03-Jun-197817Wednesday (conclusion)
10-Jun-19782Sunday
10-Jun-19784Sunday evening
10-Jun-19789Monday
10-Jun-197812Suddenly
10-Jun-197813Tuesday
10-Jun-197815Wednesday
10-Jun-197817Wednesday (conclusion)
17-Jun-197817Wednesday (conclusion)
24-Jun-19782Sunday
24-Jun-19784Sunday evening
24-Jun-19788Monday
24-Jun-197811Suddenly
24-Jun-197812Tuesday
24-Jun-197815Wednesday
01-Jul-197817Wednesday (conclusion)
08-Jul-19781What a Cheek
08-Jul-197818Wednesday (conclusion)
15-Jul-19781What a Cheek
22-Jul-19782Sunday
22-Jul-19784Sunday evening
22-Jul-19788Monday
22-Jul-197813Tuesday
22-Jul-197816Wednesday
22-Jul-197818Wednesday (conclusion)
22-Jul-197820Thursday
22-Jul-197823Friday
22-Jul-197825Saturday
22-Jul-197828Interval
22-Jul-197831Saturday
12-Aug-197814Wednesday (conclusion)
19-Aug-197814Wednesday (conclusion)
26-Aug-197817Wednesday (conclusion)
10-Feb-19791Cheeky's Week
10-Feb-19792Sunday
10-Feb-19798Monday
10-Feb-197910Tuesday
10-Feb-197912Wednesday
10-Feb-197923Thursday
10-Feb-197925Friday
10-Feb-197930Saturday
10-Feb-197931Saturday
10-Mar-197929The Burpo Special 'Constable Chuckle'
31-Mar-19792Sunday
31-Mar-19796Monday
31-Mar-19799Tuesday
31-Mar-197912Wednesday
28-Apr-197923Thursday
28-Apr-197925Friday
28-Apr-197930Saturday
28-Apr-197931Saturday
26-May-19791Cheeky's Week
13-Oct-197932Snail of the Century
20-Oct-197932Snail of the Century
10-Nov-19792Sunday
10-Nov-19797Monday
10-Nov-197910Tuesday
10-Nov-197915Wednesday
17-Nov-19791Cover Feature 'Gunga Jim'