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.

Quick links...
Basic Stats
Cheeky Weekly Index - Cheeky Annuals and Specials Index
Cheeky Weekly Artist Index
Features by Number of Appearances
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. ***
Thanks for reading the blog.

Monday 23 September 2013

The features - The Burpo Special

While the format of the Cheeky's Week elements of the toothy funster's own comic was clearly based on the Krazy strips 'Ello it's Cheeky and 'Ello I'm Cheeky, The Burpo Special was the only strip to appear under the same name in both Krazy and Cheeky Weekly.

In Krazy, The Burpo Special evolved from a feature called Cheeky's Pal, each episode of which focused on one of a rotating band of supporting characters from Krazy's Cheeky strips, with the toothy funster himself occasionally introducing the action. However, Baby Burpo introduced the Cheeky's Pal strip in Krazy's 17 December 1977 issue, saying “For this week's Burpo Special, me tell you all about Jogging Jeremy – Cheeky's pal from his own comic”. Despite Burpo's opening comment, the strip was titled Cheeky's Pal rather than The Burpo Special, and it was also the first time that Burpo had hosted such a page.

Krazy 17 December 1977
- the first reference to a Burpo Special
Art: Jim Watson

Krazy's Cheeky's Pal series continued intermittently, with occasional appearances by Burpo. The Cheeky's Pal in Krazy dated 18 March 1978 had a Burpo Special sub-heading, but the penultimate issue of Krazy, dated 08 April 1978 included a strip titled The Burpo Special, the subject of which was Bump-Bump Bernie in only his second Krazy appearance. This was the only Krazy strip to bear The Burpo Special as its main title.

Krazy 08 April 1978
- the first proper Burpo Special
Art: Jim Watson again

The Burpo Special then appeared to have perished along with Krazy, (although there was a page in the Cheeky Annual 1979, published in September 1978, that would seem to have been intended for Krazy but never included there, which the terrifying toddler introduced as a Burpo Special although its title was The Doors Are Open) until the feature was resurrected in the truncated Cheeky Weekly dated 09 December 1978. Burpo introduced the revived strip, saying “Me back with another series of Burpo Specials. Me going to interview famous people for you”. The subject of this initial outing of the Cheeky Weekly run of Burpo Specials was Lily Pop.

Cheeky Weekly's first Burpo Special
Love the Vicar praying for strength to
resist impure thoughts!
Art: Frank McDiarmid

All the subsequent Burpo Specials (the feature was absent for just 4 issues between 09 December 1978 and 30 June 1979) followed the same pattern - Krazy Town's teeny terror would interview one of the Cheeky cast, using a carrot instead of a microphone when the strip was drawn by Frank McDiarmid.

Burpo himself was the subject of the 16 June 1979 Burpo Special.

Art: Frank McDiarmid

The first 11 Burpo Specials were in black and white, but thereafter the strip moved to the back cover and consequently the remaining 12 episodes were in colour. The notorious nappy-wearer suffered a bout of Cheeky Weekly Inconsistent Hair Colour Syndrome when, in the 19 May 1979 strip, he was depicted with brown locks.

A brown-haired Burpo
Art: Frank McDiarmid

A Burpo Special in all but title kicked off the run of Cheeky Weekly Star Guest appearances in Whoopee! dated 07 April 1979.

As mentioned above, the final Burpo Special appeared in Cheeky Weekly dated 30 June 1979, and the following week the comic was revamped with a 'new look'.

It's generally accepted that after Krazy folded, its surviving strips merged with Whizzer and Chips, but as we have seen, The Burpo Special actually transferred posthumously from Krazy to Cheeky Weekly.

The strip's title was based on that of the 70s TV series The Burke Special.



The Burpo Special in the Cheeky Weekly Index

Feature First Appearance Final Appearance Total Issues Total Issues Missed In Run Page History
The Burpo Special09-Dec-7830-Jun-7923411,21,25,29,32


Issues Missed In Run
24-Feb-79
24-Mar-79
31-Mar-79
02-Jun-79


Feature Artist Date
The Burpo Special Lily PopFrank McDiarmid09-Dec-1978
The Burpo Special Yikky-BooFrank McDiarmid06-Jan-1979
The Burpo Special Dr BraincellFrank McDiarmid13-Jan-1979
The Burpo Special Cheeky's DadFrank McDiarmid20-Jan-1979
The Burpo Special Uncle HamishMike Lacey27-Jan-1979
The Burpo Special Bump-Bump BernieMike Lacey03-Feb-1979
The Burpo Special Auntie DaisyFrank McDiarmid10-Feb-1979
The Burpo Special Gloomy GladFrank McDiarmid17-Feb-1979
The Burpo Special Posh ClaudeFrank McDiarmid03-Mar-1979
The Burpo Special Constable ChuckleBarrie Appleby10-Mar-1979
The Burpo Special Square EyesFrank McDiarmid17-Mar-1979
The Burpo Special SpivFrank McDiarmid07-Apr-1979
The Burpo Special Farmer GilesFrank McDiarmid14-Apr-1979
The Burpo Special UrsulaFrank McDiarmid21-Apr-1979
The Burpo Special Jogging JeremyMike Lacey28-Apr-1979
The Burpo Special TeacherMike Lacey05-May-1979
The Burpo Special MechanicMike Lacey12-May-1979
The Burpo Special Doodle DougFrank McDiarmid19-May-1979
The Burpo Special Manhole ManFrank McDiarmid26-May-1979
The Burpo Special Hypno-TessaMike Lacey09-Jun-1979
The Burpo Special Baby BurpoFrank McDiarmid16-Jun-1979
The Burpo Special Crystal BelleFrank McDiarmid23-Jun-1979
The Burpo Special SherlockMike Lacey30-Jun-1979

4 comments:

  1. Replies
    1. Burpo had previously introduced a Cheeky's Pal strip featuring luscious Lily in Krazy dated 25 February 1978. In that strip, Burpo developed a crush on Lily's toddler sister.

      Delete
  2. Can you show this sometime...;0)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. You just like looking at Lily, don't you? Don't we all! :D ok, I'll post it in a few days

      Delete