The features - Sonny Storm

Sonny Storm was the fourth feature to represent the adventure film component of Cheeky's Saturday morning trip to the cinema.  Previous strips in that location had been;

• Space Family Robinson, which fulfilled the adventure film serial role in the first 36 issues of Cheeky Weekly
• James Bold, whose final adventure, Island of Fear had featured on the big screen over 6 issues
• Archie's Angels, whose aerobatic escapades had also spanned 6 weeks

However, unlike those serials Sonny Storm made a single appearance, in the 23 September 1978 issue.  The adventure film took a break the following week, as the comic underwent something of an overhaul, but returned in the 07 October 1978 issue, this time in the form of the first episode of the serial, The Terrible Trail to Taggart's Treasure.

According to this page, Sonny Storm originated in Knockout comic, and I'm assuming this refers to IPC's Knockout, published from 1971 to 1973, and not the earlier comic of the same name published by Amalgamated Press from 1939 to 1963.  Certainly the green spot-colour on display in the sample frames shown on that site suggest that they originate from IPC's Knockout, which boasted on its cover, rather fraudulently in my opinion, that it was an 'All-Colour Comic', when most of the pages were spot-colour only.

UPDATE 14 January 2012 - Many thanks to philcom55 and Raven from the Comics UK forum for telling me that Sonny Storm actually originated in Cor!! (Sonny's first appearance was in the 25 September 1971 issue).  Sonny's only connection with IPC's Knockout would appear to be that he appeared in some of the annuals.

Anyway, here's Sonny's sole Cheeky Weekly adventure.

The Sonny Storm strip used in Cheeky Weekly was presumably a reprint, and there's certainly evidence of panel resizing.  Interestingly, two approaches to resizing seem to have been employed.  On the first page, an attempt has been made to conceal the resizing, as most panels appear to have been expanded, some at both left- and right-hand sides.  However, on the second page all the panels on the right of the page have been extended to the right, making the adjustments to the artwork rather obvious.

Update 17 October 2017 - Reading Irmantas' post on the original run of Sonny Storm in Cor!! leads me to suspect that the one-off adventure above was sourced from either a Cor!! Summer Special or Annual, which would explain the need for resizing of the artwork.

Feature	First Appearance	Final Appearance	Total Issues	Total Issues Missed In Run	Page History
Sonny Storm	23-Sep-78	23-Sep-78	1	0	29,30

Cheeky Weekly cover date 23 September 1978

Bump-Bump Bernie shares the main cover pic with Cheeky this week, and there's a nice touch as the comic title displays signs of serious injury in honour of the guest cover star.  The Crack-A-Joke game, which reaches its fourth and final instalment inside, doesn't get a mention on the cover, while the Silly Snaps filler feature is promoted in the above-title banner.  Posh Claude is driven to artistic apoplexy in the What a Cheek strip.

The Skateboard Squad strip gets a bit of a makeover this week, as for the first time they have a proper title panel instead of the introductory caption, and for once our intrepid trio aren't on the trail of a felon - this week they're chasing their escaped pet mouse.

The Squad's new title panel was replaced again the following week

This week's 6 Million Dollar Gran tale, chronicling the synthetic senior citizen's ornithological encounter with a rare spotty-legged woodpecker, includes in the final panel the tag line of a gag set up in the closing frames of the Sunday evening page…

On Tuesday several bandaged limbs are in evidence as a consequence of the cycle crash between cover star Bump-Bump Bernie and Gloomy Glad.

As he arrives at Burpo's house for his babysitting session on Wednesday, Cheeky is dismayed to find that Burpo's cousins are back, and the toothy funster is expected to keep the horde of horrors amused with the Crack-A-Joke game.  Because the final instalment of the colour Crack-A-Joke feature this issue occupies only a single page, the Wednesday feature benefits from full colour.

On Friday it is apparent that Cheeky and Snail are aware that they are characters in a comic, as the toothy funster makes reference to turning the page to see this week's Calculator Kid story, and Snail decides to take a shortcut in that direction (literally).  On the Calculator Kid page we see further evidence that Cheeky Weekly is sold in Cheeky's universe, as an ad for the comic can be seen on a bus.  This isn't the last time we'll see a reference to Cheeky Weekly in a Cheeky's Week page this issue.

Tweety and Sylvester's strip is only a page and a half this issue, to allow an intriguing ad for next week's Cheeky Weekly.

As the Archie's Angels film serial came to an end last week, there is a new adventure film during the cinema show on Saturday - it's Sonny Storm, actually a reprinted strip from IPC's Knockout Cor!! (thanks to philcom55 and Raven from the Comics UK forum for the correction).

Silly psychic Crystal Belle peers into her crystal ball to make assorted prognostications throughout Cheeky's Week in this issue.  In his final encounter with her this week, Cheeky makes reference to the cover price of Cheeky Weekly being 8p, when we know that as from last issue the cost of the comic went up to 9p.  Doh!

Snoozin' Susan brings this issue to a close with her somnolent sojourn on the back cover poster.

There are a number of departures this week, as the comic prepares for a revamp.  The following features come to and end;

What A Cheek

Sunday evening

Teacher's Teasers ends its brief run after only its third appearance.

The Crack-A-Joke cut-out game reaches its fourth and final instalment.

The Sonny Storm feature makes its one and only Cheeky Weekly appearance.

Burpo's Cousins make their final appearance, but there's a newcomer to Cheeky's week, in the paint-splattered shape of Krazy Town's painter and decorator, Willie Brushiton.

The final What A Cheek cover strip is the only pure Frank McDiarmid art on the Cheeky's Week strips this issue (but there's more pure Frank on the back cover poster).  The remaining 10 Cheeky's Week features are by Frank McDiarmid pencils.

Cheeky Weekly	Cover Date: 23-Sep-1978, Issue 49 of 117
Page	Details
1	Cover Feature 'Bump-Bump Bernie' - Art Frank McDiarmid\What a Cheek (final appearance) - Art Frank McDiarmid (final art on feature)
2	Sunday - Art Frank McDiarmid pencils
3	Skateboard Squad - Art Jimmy Hansen
4	Sunday evening (final appearance) - Art Frank McDiarmid pencils (final art on feature)
5	6 Million Dollar Gran - Art Ian Knox
6	6 Million Dollar Gran - Art Ian Knox
7	6 Million Dollar Gran - Art Ian Knox
8	Monday - Art Frank McDiarmid pencils
9	Teacher's Teasers (final appearance) - Art Ed McHenry (final art on feature)
10	Ad: IPC 'Cor Annual' 1 of 5 Ad: 'Whizzer and Chips' 6 of 6
11	Joke-Box Jury
12	Tuesday - Art Frank McDiarmid pencils
13	Paddywack - Art Jack Clayton
14	Silly Snaps
15	Silly Snaps
16	Wednesday - Art Frank McDiarmid pencils
17	Crack-A-Joke Game (final appearance)
18	What's New, Kids
19	Thursday - Art Frank McDiarmid pencils
20	Mustapha Million - Art Reg Parlett
21	Mustapha Million - Art Reg Parlett
22	Crack-A-Joke Game (final appearance)
23	Friday - Art Frank McDiarmid pencils
24	Calculator Kid - Art Terry Bave
25	Saturday - Art Frank McDiarmid pencils
26	Tweety and Sylvester 'What a Racket'
27	Tweety and Sylvester 'What a Racket'\Ad: IPC 'Cheeky Weekly: Mystery Comic next week'
28	Interval - Art Frank McDiarmid pencils
29	Sonny Storm (single appearance) reprint from Cor!!
30	Sonny Storm (single appearance) reprint from Cor!!
31	Saturday - Art Frank McDiarmid pencils
32	Pin-up pal 'Snoozin' Susan' - Art Frank McDiarmid

Cheeky's Week Artists Cover Date 23-Sep-1978

Artist	Elements
Frank McDiarmid pencils	10
Frank McDiarmid	1

Frank McDiarmid's Boy Boss

Lew Stringer's latest look at a Christmas comic focuses on 1984's festive Whoopee! and includes Frank McDiarmid's Boy Boss story from that issue.  Despite it being the season of goodwill, BB is having his usual run-in with miserly accountant Jasper Ferret.

Also on display from the same issue is Ian Knox's Gran's Gang, which features Cheeky Weekly's very own 6 Million Dollar Gran, in her second Whoopee! regeneration (the first being her transition from 6 Million Dollar Gran to Robot Granny).

Star Wars ads post updated

I have updated my earlier post on the Star Wars ads that appeared in Cheeky Weekly.

Profile - Disco Kid

Disco Kid boogied into Cheeky Weekly in the 08 July 1978 comic, and bopped his way across 67 editions, surviving into the final issue.  According to his first appearance, Disco Kid, who was seen with a copy of the NME (IPC's influential music paper) in his pocket, was so-named because he was frequently to be found in discos.  His main role in Cheeky's Week was to set up music and pop group puns.

First appearance

The funky fun-maker, who was almost as generously-endowed with dentition as Cheeky, featured throughout Cheeky's Week in the issue dated 16 September, when he was seen carrying placards containing TV show and pop group puns, in support of his campaign to get more pop music on TV.  Sample slogans; 'Put Queen in Crown Court', 'Less cricket - more Darts', 'Showjumping out - Showaddywaddy in'.  Disco Kid appeared on one of the 2 Pin-Up Pal posters in the same issue.

In the comic dated 28 October 1978, Disco Kid is annoyed to find that he's been sold that week's issue of The Mystery Comic, instead of the sheet music he was expecting.  Needless to say, Cheeky is delighted to take the mysterious publication off his hands.

In the 18 November 1978 issue, the perky pop-picker was seen pondering which route to the disco would provide 12 more discs for his vinyl collection, in the back-cover maze.

Cheeky met Disco Kid's big brother while visiting a record shop in the comic dated 17 March 1979, and in the 29 December 1979 issue we met our pop-picking pal's father, who was apparently a better dancer than DK.

The centre spread in the 16 June 1979 comic (the 'super disco issue') contained cut-out instructions on how to do the new dance sensation, the Cheeky Hustle.  Disco Kid, Cheeky and Louise were seen on the booklet's cover in the throes of terpsichorean frenzy.  Disco Kid performed the DJ duties at Saturday's big disco in the same issue.

In his early appearances Disco Kid would sometimes wear a bomber jacket with his nickname emblazoned on the back, and his shoes often exhibited signs of makeshift repair necessitated, no doubt, by excessive boogying.  The risible rocker was quite often seen wearing an Olivia Newton-John t-shirt (sometimes abbreviated to ONJ OBE).

Cheeky's tin-can-soccer nemesis, Goalie Cat, recycled a Disco Kid joke.

Our musical merrymaker featured on the front cover of the comic dated 08 December 1979, dancing with a large bird, as a visual reinforcement of a joke with the punch line 'John Travulture'.  DK was in evidence at Cheeky's Christmas party in the 29 December 1979 issue, where he could be seen bopping furiously, and he was back on the cover on 05 January 1980, among a group of Cheeky's pals celebrating the new leap year.  Inside the same issue the madcap music maniac was one of the revellers at Cheeky's new year party.

Disco Kid was the coolest and most 'street cred' of Cheeky's pals.  Mercifully he wasn't subject to the ethnic stereotyping that afflicted certain members of the Cheeky's Week cast.  He was created for Cheeky Weekly and never appeared in the 'Ello, It's Cheeky strip in Krazy comic.

Character	Total Issues	First Appearance	Final Appearance
Disco Kid	67	08-Jul-1978	02-Feb-1980

Count of elements by artist

Character	Artist	Total Elements
Disco Kid	Frank McDiarmid	48
Disco Kid	Mike Lacey	19
Disco Kid	Frank McDiarmid pencils	13
Disco Kid	Dick Millington	2
Disco Kid	Barrie Appleby	1
Disco Kid	Bob Hill	1
Disco Kid	Not known	1

Nick Baker's Cheeky Christmas

Great to see the latest of Lew Stringer's traditional seasonal comic covers posts.  In that post, Lew includes a link to a post of his from Christmas 2008. Scrolling to the bottom of that page will reveal Nick Baker's Whoopee! Christmas cover from 1981.  I'm a big fan of Nick Baker's work, and this is great.  Nick makes no attempt to ghost the styles of the regular artists of the Whoopee! crew, in fact he draws all the characters with toothy beams just like Smiler, the character he drew each week.

As we all know, Cheeky Weekly merged into Whoopee! in February 1980.   The final issue of Whoopee! to include a reference on the front cover to the Cheeky title  was that dated 25 July 1981.  However, the ex-Cheeky Weekly characters continued to appear in Whoopee! beyond that date, so among the fun-pals drawn by Nick on Whoopee's Christmas '81 cover is his rather unusual take on Cheeky.

For some Smiler strips, see here.

The pages - Page 12

For the first 6 issues of Cheeky Weekly, page 12 was the home of the Tuesday feature.  In those early issues, Tuesday was usually split across 2 pages, with Cheeky's climb to the attic for a furtive read of one of his dad's old comics appearing between them.  Of those first 6 issues, page 12 was host to the first part of the Tuesday feature on 4 occasions, the second part on one occasion (including one of Doug's Doodles), and in the 19 November 1977 comic page 12 was home to the only Tuesday page that week, the second Tuesday segment having been replaced by an advert.

In issues 7 and 8, Old Comic appeared on page 12, but then Tuesday moved back in for 2 weeks, until the Christmas 1977 issue saw the first page of Cheeky's Boxing Day antics occupy that location.  Page 12 was the proud host of the debut Suddenly feature in the 07 January 1978 issue, but the week after, Tuesday, now reduced to a single page each week, began another run, this time for 3 weeks.  After an issue in which page 12 was the home of the What's New, Kids feature, Tuesday enjoyed another run, this time for 8 issues until Suddenly appeared again for one week.

Tuesday was back on page 12 in the comic dated 06 May 1978, but Suddenly moved in again the following week, then was ousted by a page shared by What's New, Kids and an ad for Arena Swimwear in the 20 May 1978 comic.

Tuesday then reappeared for 1 week, after which Suddenly made a concerted bid for dominance, but relinquished control to Tuesday again 3 weeks later.

For the following 4 issues, 1978's mini comics promotion saw page 12 host the final page of each of the miniature versions of Whizzer and Chips, Buster, Whoopee! and Mickey Mouse respectively.

Paddywack moved into page 12 in the first post-mini-comic issue, dated 29 July 1978, and the following week the first page of lucky winners of the Draw Hid Kid competition were printed in that location, each of whom could look forward to receiving £2 for their efforts.

On 12 August 1978, the Wednesday feature made its first foray onto page 12, where it remained the following week, but was ousted by plucky Tuesday in the 26 August 1978 comic.  The following week page 12 hosted the first page of the debut appearance of filler feature Silly Snaps, but next issue our bumbling pal Paddywack was back.  Silly Snaps returned to page 12 the week after, but indefatigable Tuesday was back the following week.

In a surprise move, Wednesday laid claim to page 12 for the next 9 issues, before being deposed by the first page of  The Mystery Comic's Mustapha Million story for the next 2 weeks.

After this interruption by the middle-eastern moneybags, Wednesday was firmly back on page 12 for a further 8 weeks, being ousted only by variant Ash Wednesday, in the issue dated 03 March 1979.

Wednesday proper was then in control for a further 4 weeks, until The Mystery Comic moved back in for another 4 issues, each time featuring  on page 12 the first element of the hectic man-in-plastic-mac vs peripatetic pachyderm chase that was Elephant On The Run.

Wednesday enjoyed a 9 week run from 05 May 1979, after which it never returned to that location.  Wednesday had clocked up a creditable 32 appearances on page 12, making it the feature to appear there most regularly.

Tuesday then defied those who thought they had seen the last of it on page 12, and established itself there for 4 weeks, until its run was interrupted on 04 August 1979 by a readers' poll.  Tuesday was back again for a 3 issue run until an ad appeared on page 12 in the 01 September 1979 comic for a joint promotion being run in the pre-Christmas period by WH Smith and Spear's Games.

The juvenile stars of TV's all-singing-and-dancing omnibus-based entertainment show The Double Deckers, masquerading as The Gang in a re-titled series of reprints from Whizzer and Chips, hogged page 12 for 10 weeks from 08 September 1979 to 10 November 1979, until the catastrophic clot Disaster Des wrought several varieties of havoc on page 12 for a 6 week run.  Tenacious Tuesday then made its final page 12 appearance in the issue dated 29 December 1979 (the third Tuesday element to appear in that issue), before relinquishing control to Des for his final disastrous outing on page 12.

A father-and-son takeover bid ensued as the duo from Why, Dad, Why? moved in on 19 January 1980, but dad and his lad were evicted from page 12 the following week by a Soggy the Sea Monster reprint from Shiver and Shake.

In an entirely unexpected move, Snail emerged triumphant in the battle for page 12 in Cheeky Weekly's final issue, as the merry mollusc and his back garden buddies featured in that location in the final episode of Snail of the Century.

Count of Elements (or distinct combinations thereof) appearing on Page 12

Elements	Total
Wednesday	32
Tuesday	25
The Gang 1/2	10
Suddenly	8
Disaster Des	7
Tuesday 1/2	6
Elephant On The Run 1/2	4
Mustapha Million 1/2	2
Old Comic	2
Paddywack	2
Silly Snaps 1/2	2
Soggy the Sea Monster	2
Advertisement: Arena Swimwear\What's New, Kids	1
Advertisement: WH Smith & Spear's Games	1
Ash Wednesday	1
Boxing Day 1/2	1
Buster mini comic 4/4	1
Draw Hid Kid winners 1/2	1
Mickey Mouse Mini Comic 4/4	1
My favourite Cheeky pals	1
Snail of the Century	1
Tuesday 2/2\Doug's Doodle	1
Tuesday 3/3	1
What's New, Kids	1
Whizzer and Chips mini comic 4/4	1
Whoopee mini comic 4/4	1
Why, Dad, Why?	1

Cheeky Weekly cover date 16 September 1978

As Cheeky warned us last week, with effect from this issue the cover price has increased by 1p to 9p.  However, to compensate, 100 toys are to be won in the competition running inside.  The cover sees Cheeky testing his skill on one of the prizes, while Snail wisely stays clear of the target area.  The Crack-A-Joke game, now in its third week, also gets a mention on the front page, although now, as if the enthusiasm for it is waning, it's referred to merely as the Cut-Out Game.

On Sunday, Cheeky tells us that he's starting a campaign for more pop music on telly, and Disco Kid says he'll be helping as it was his idea.  This is the first time we've had a 'Cheeky's pal throughout the week' issue since Teacher underwent his breakdown in the 05 August 1978 comic.

Skateboard Squad feel pity for Cheeky in their strip, having run him over again in the final panel of the Sunday feature on the previous page.  However, their concern for our toothy pal is short-lived as the Squad realise the felon they apprehended last week is on the run, and the intrepid trio are soon rolling in pursuit.

On Sunday evening there's a guest appearance by BBC TV's rugby commentator and It's A Knockout scorekeeper, Eddie Waring, as well as a rare glimpse of a happy Gloomy Glad.

6 Million Dollar Gran sets her sights on a diamond necklace, reduced from £5000 to 5p in a sale.  Taking up position outside the store the night before the sale doors open, Gran has to contend with 2 villains intent on stealing said trinket.  Gran's story is reduced from the normal 3 pages to a 2-pager this week.

On page 14 is the first ad for the first Cheeky Annual.  It's out now but, as is the tradition for British annuals, is dated a year ahead.

Mustapha Million puts his considerable resources towards helping a pal watch his favourite TV show this week.  However, despite having banks of TV screens able to pick up any channel from around the globe, Mustapha's staff are hogging all the screens, so Mustapha's mate has to watch his show in a shop window (but surely he couldn't hear the TV through the glass).  Reg Parlett draws The Two Ronnies on screen, and a copper with a car on his foot in the background.

There's a surprise reprint on pages 26 and 27 as the weekly cinema show begins - it's Jim Watson's Hickory Dickory Doc one-off strip from Cor!!  This strip appears in place of the usual Warner Brothers cartoon feature - hooray!

Following the cinema interval, the final episode of Archie's Angels hits the big screen.

After the cinema show, Cheeky meets Disco Kid to assess the results of their campaign for more pop music on TV.  Disco Kid has been seen throughout the week holding placards emblazoned with pop music and TV show-related puns.  Cheeky solicits readers' views on the question of a music-only TV channel (it'll never happen, trust me).

The issue fittingly closes with a Pin-Up Pal poster of Disco Kid strutting his funky stuff.  This is in fact the second poster to appear this week - Calculator Kid is the subject of the poster on page 17, drawn by Frank McDiarmid rather than usual CK artist Terry Bave.

This week's issue loses one page to the Crack-A-Joke game, whereas the two previous issues each contained 3 game pages.  I would guess that this loading of cut-out game pages into the early weeks of the promotion is to lessen the impact for those readers who started buying the comic after the first 2 weeks of the game.  The game sections printed from 09 September on are useless if one hasn't got the first part.  I wonder whether it was originally planned that there would be 2 game pages this issue, and that's why Gran's story is reduced to 2 pages, and an extra poster was therefore deployed to replace the planned second game element this week.

For the second week running there's a gratifying whole Cheeky's Week of pure Frank McDiarmid art.  Frank does his last pure art on the Sunday evening feature, which will be coming to an end next week.  Frank also provides the main cover pic and 2 posters.  Excellent!

Cheeky Weekly	Cover Date: 16-Sep-1978, Issue 48 of 117
Page	Details
1	Cover Feature 'Marx Toys competition and Cut-Out Game part 3' - Art Frank McDiarmid
2	Sunday - Art Frank McDiarmid
3	Skateboard Squad - Art Jimmy Hansen
4	Sunday evening - Art Frank McDiarmid (final art on feature)
5	6 Million Dollar Gran - Art Ian Knox
6	6 Million Dollar Gran - Art Ian Knox
7	What's New, Kids
8	Monday - Art Frank McDiarmid
9	Marx Toys Competition (single appearance)
10	Tuesday - Art Frank McDiarmid
11	Paddywack - Art Jack Clayton
12	Silly Snaps
13	Silly Snaps
14	Ad: IPC 'Soccer Monthly No 1'Ad: 'Cheeky Annual' 1 of 6
15	Wednesday - Art Frank McDiarmid
16	Crack-A-Joke Game
17	Pin-up pal 'Calculator Kid' - Art Frank McDiarmid
18	Joke-Box Jury
19	Joke-Box Jury
20	Thursday - Art Frank McDiarmid
21	Mustapha Million - Art Reg Parlett
22	Mustapha Million - Art Reg Parlett
23	Friday - Art Frank McDiarmid
24	Calculator Kid - Art Terry Bave
25	Saturday - Art Frank McDiarmid
26	Hickory Dickory Doc (single appearance) reprint from Cor!! - Art Jim Watson (single art on feature)
27	Hickory Dickory Doc (single appearance) reprint from Cor!! - Art Jim Watson (single art on feature)
28	Interval - Art Frank McDiarmid
29	Archie's Angels (final appearance) reprint from Whizzer and Chips - Art Ron Turner (final art on feature)
30	Archie's Angels (final appearance) reprint from Whizzer and Chips - Art Ron Turner (final art on feature)
31	Saturday - Art Frank McDiarmid\Ad: IPC 'Three Great Comics'
32	Pin-up pal 'Disco Kid' - Art Frank McDiarmid

Cheeky's Week Artists Cover Date 16-Sep-1978

Artist	Elements
Frank McDiarmid	10