The menacing, cowled
figure of
The Alpha Man - anti-hero of this week's new adventure
strip on pages 26 and 27 – looms over the cover, while in lighter vein
Cheeky enjoys a wild west witticism with
Six–Gun Sam, and a
piscatorial pun with
Mr Haddock in the front page cartoon strip.
6 Million Dollar Gran
takes the Potts kids to the cinema to see Jaws III this week, but
there's much disappointment when the movie house manager tells the
queuing patrons that the film has failed to arrive. Gran sets off to
track down the missing reels of celluloid and discovers that the
delivery van has been unable to cross a collapsed bridge. Heading
back to the cinema, Gran's grip on the film canisters proves
surprisingly weak and the film ends up in what the synthetic senior
citizen assumes is a Dolphinarium. It's actually the local shark
research facility (you mean there isn't one in your area?) and our
robotic pal fends off several of the fearsome fish to recover the
film and deliver it to the cinema.
Jaws 2 had been released in the
UK on Boxing Day 1978, and the third film in the franchise, Jaws
3-D, would not burst through the big screen until 1983.
 |
| Art: Ian Knox |
A late-for-school
Charlie is dismayed to observe ferocious teacher Mister Thwackem
prowling for tardy pupils at the school gate in this week's
Calculator Kid tale. Ever-reliable Calc devises a plan to sneak
Charlie past the grizzly gatekeeper without revealing his identity. Is that a cameo
appearance by Shiver and Shake's somewhat-deficient-in-the-leg-department spider star
Webster in
the final panel?
 |
| Art: Terry Bave |
Cover co-star Six-Gun
Sam joins
Teacher,
Crunching Chris and
The Vicar on this week's
Joke-Box Jury panel of judges, none of whom seem to mind that there are 2 'fly in my soup' gags among the submissions up for scrutiny.
On page 9, the introductory extract
from Cheeky's diary shows the day as Shrove Tuesday.
Of the two
Shrove Tuesdays which occurred during Cheeky Weekly's brief existence
– 07 February 1978 and the current issue's 27 February 1979 –
this was the only one to be referred to as Shrove Tuesday in the
comic - the other was just called Tuesday and included no pancake
reference. Shrove Tuesday 1979 was the only one to occur during the
period in which the Cheeky's Week title panel introduced the toothy
funster's daily adventures.
 |
| Art: Frank McDiarmid |
After a page of
boneheaded bamboozlement courtesy of
Paddywack, and a selection of
perplexing posers on the
Tease Break page, Cheeky's Week resumes with
Ash Wednesday.
As with Shrove Tuesday this was the only time Ash
Wednesday got a specific mention in the comic's run.
There's a seismic collision between our portly pal
Tub and the Fattest Girl in the World
on the Mystery Comic's cover. Rotund romance appears to ensue. I'm
not quite sure what the 'super-bulge' in the final panel refers to
but thankfully it's attributed to the female half of the couple.
Posh Claude is the
subject of this week's
Burpo Special interview, and on Thursday
there's a reference to another movie blockbuster when
Bump-Bump Bernie has a close encounter of the painful variety.
Steven
Spielberg's Close Encounters had premiered in the UK almost a year
earlier on 14 March 1978.
 |
| Art: Frank McDiarmid |
Constable Chuckle makes an uncredited cameo in this week's
Skateboard Squad tale, appearing in the final
panel to take into custody the smash -and-grab jewel thief that the
intrepid trio have apprehended.
 |
| Art: Jimmy Hansen |
The final panel of
Friday's strip sees Cheeky sneaking a crafty read of
Teacher's copy
of Teacher's Weekly, as he has for each of the previous 7 issues. However,
because the story he was previously reading (
Eagle Eye) came to an end last issue, this week Teacher's Weekly serves as the framing device for the first instalment of Menace of the Alpha Man
(reprinted from Shiver and Shake).
| Cheeky Weekly |
Cover Date: 03-Mar-1979, Issue 69 of 117 |
| Page | Details |
| 1 | Cover Feature 'Menace of the Alpha Man' - Art Eric Bradbury (final art on feature)\Cheeky's Week - Art Frank McDiarmid |
| 2 | Sunday - Art Frank McDiarmid |
| 3 | 6 Million Dollar Gran - Art Ian Knox |
| 4 | 6 Million Dollar Gran - Art Ian Knox |
| 5 | Silly Snaps |
| 6 | Monday - Art Frank McDiarmid |
| 7 | Calculator Kid - Art Terry Bave |
| 8 | Joke-Box Jury |
| 9 | Shrove Tuesday (single appearance) - Art Frank McDiarmid (single art on feature) |
| 10 | Paddywack - Art Jack Clayton |
| 11 | Tease Break |
| 12 | Ash Wednesday (single appearance) - Art Frank McDiarmid (single art on feature) |
| 13 | Tub 'Mystery Comic' 18 of 34 - Art Nigel Edwards |
| 14 | Why, Dad, Why? 'Mystery Comic' 15 of 28 - Art John K. Geering |
| 15 | Mystery Boy reprint from Whizzer and Chips 'Mystery Comic' 20 of 37 - Art John Richardson |
| 16 | Elephant On The Run 'Mystery Comic' 19 of 34 - Art Robert Nixon |
| 17 | Elephant On The Run 'Mystery Comic' 19 of 34 - Art Robert Nixon |
| 18 | Mustapha Million 'Mystery Comic' 19 of 34 - Art Joe McCaffrey |
| 19 | Mustapha Million 'Mystery Comic' 19 of 34 - Art Joe McCaffrey |
| 20 | Disaster Des 'Mystery Comic' 19 of 30 - Art Mike Lacey |
| 21 | The Burpo Special 'Posh Claude' - Art Frank McDiarmid |
| 22 | Ad: IPC 'Cheeky Weekly: Want to win some extra cash?'Ad: 'Do you have trouble getting copies of Cheeky Weekly' 1 of 5 |
| 23 | Thursday - Art Frank McDiarmid |
| 24 | Skateboard Squad - Art Jimmy Hansen |
| 25 | Friday - Art Frank McDiarmid |
| 26 | Menace of the Alpha Man (first appearance) reprint from Shiver and Shake - Art Eric Bradbury (first art on feature) |
| 27 | Menace of the Alpha Man (first appearance) reprint from Shiver and Shake - Art Eric Bradbury (first art on feature) |
| 28 | Chit-Chat |
| 29 | Chit-Chat |
| 30 | Saturday - Art Frank McDiarmid |
| 31 | Saturday - Art Frank McDiarmid |
| 32 | Pin-up pal 'Dan-Dan The Lavender Man' - Art Frank McDiarmid |
