The One-Offs - Great Uncle Daniel

Cheeky's attempt to flush out a copy of the Mystery Comic in Cheeky Weekly dated 26 November 1977 involved his usual brush with wee Nosy Nora. Initially, it seemed the toothy funster would have to read another comic in lieu of his favourite title. However, Cheeky's movements in pursuit of the mysterious paper began a chain of events that led him to the location in which his Great Uncle Daniel toiled. There was no riddle about Walter Wurx's arrival - for him that was bog-standard behaviour.

Cheeky's extravagantly moustachioed relative, whose face fungus prevents us from seeing whether his teeth share the same porcelain quality of those of his great nephew, was only too happy to relieve himself of a copy of that most mysterious magazine.

Art: Frank McDiarmid pencils

This lavish scene was Great Uncle Daniel's only appearance in the toothy funster's comic. Maybe the Cheeky Weekly editor thought he was a little potty.

Not to be confused with: school gardener Dan Dan the Lavender Man.

I hope you were engaged by this post, and didn't have a vacant expression while reading it.

Cheeky Weekly cover date 14 April 1979

Art: Frank McDiarmid

Despite the inclusion of the second part of the Top Ten poster, there's no mention of it on the cover. One might have expected the Cheeky Weekly editor to advertise the poster's continuation as a reminder to comic fans in possession of last week's issue but vacillating over the tempting titles strewn before them across the newsagent's counter. Nevertheless, the comic dives straight into Cheeky's Sunday paper round encounters with Bump-Bump Bernie and luscious Lily Pop.

There's trouble on the tracks in this week's 6 Million Dollar Gran episode, which features some typically eccentric work from artist Ian Knox – I enjoyed the train rearing up on its hind wheels as the synthetic senior citizen super-stokes the boiler.

One of this week's Paddywack jokes is contributed by sci-fi fan Wayne Bruce of Hornchurch, who had a letter published on the Chit-Chat page in Cheeky Weekly dated 13 January 1979. I'm still not sure whether his name is genuine.

Art: Jack Clayton

Cheeky's regular search for The Mystery Comic leads him to somnolent schoolgirl Snoozin' Susan, who is using a copy of said perplexing publication as a pillow while enjoying a park bench doze.

Mystery Comic cover star Tub's tale is a variation on the old fox, chicken and sack of corn conundrum – in this case Dad's task is to ensure that he, Tub and (most importantly) a picnic lunch are transported in safety across the river.

Art: Nigel Edwards

Cheryl Ladd and the members of Blondie are the subjects of this week's instalment of the Top Ten poster (occupying 4^th and 7^th position respectively), and the quality of the photo reproduction hasn't improved since last week.

At this point in Cheeky Weekly's history, the toothy funster would locate his copy of the Mystery Comic every Wednesday and therefore, within Cheeky Weekly's daily chronology, the events depicted in the Mystery Comic section are related to Wednesday 11^th April. Thus, readers may consider Disaster Des' Easter egg – based Mystery Comic contribution to be rather premature (Easter Sunday in 1979 fell on 15^th April), but printing his story in next week's issue, its Mystery Comic location associating it with 18th April, would render it rather late for Easter celebrations.

Art: Mike Lacey

For the second week running, IPC's promotional Star Guest feature (on this occasion hosting Sweeny Toddler from Whoopee!) intrudes upon the pages of The Mystery Comic.

The Mystery Comic rounds off with Mustapha Million, followed by an ad for KP's salty, space-themed snacks, Outer Spacers, informing consumers of the crunchy cosmic crisps that their purchases entitle them to enter a competition in which Raleigh bikes can be won.

The father and son team from Why, Dad, Why? are absent from this week's Mystery Comic section, bumped by Sweeny's Star Guest appearance.

The image of Cheeky without his shirt appears for the third consecutive issue – it originally graced the cover of 31 March 1979's Jersey issue, then appeared again on last week's front page, and now turns up pasted into the final panel of the Thursday page. This suggests that the original final panel introduced the Skateboard Squad who are absent from this issue, necessitating a swift cut-and-paste and change of dialogue to herald a half-page Joke-Box Jury. Maybe the staff artist who did the alteration still had the image he had cut out for use on last week's cover.

Art: Frank McDiarmid pencils
(plus cut-and-pasted final panel)

IPC missed a sales-boosting opportunity by not mentioning that Skateboard Squad fans missing the intrepid trio can see them making their own Star Guest appearance in this week's Whizzer and Chips.

Cheeky's final outing for the week, Easter Saturday, takes him to the YMCA, where our toothy pal enjoys his first encounter with mirthful mesmerist Hypno-Tessa.

The issue reaches a conclusion with the back cover's Burpo Special, the subject of which is affable agrarian Farmer Giles.

Pure Frank McDiarmid art tops and tails this edition, with his front cover Cheeky's Week...Sunday and the back cover Burpo Special. The eight internal Cheeky's Week elements are drawn by what I believe is an artist collaboration that I refer to as Frank McDiarmid Pencils (see link under Thursday image above for more details).

This is the only issue of Cheeky Weekly to identify Good Friday and Easter Saturday. The equivalent days in 1978 were shown as Friday and Saturday.

Cheeky Weekly	Cover Date: 14-Apr-1979, Issue 75 of 117
Page	Details
1	Cheeky's Week - Art Frank McDiarmid
2	Sunday - Art Frank McDiarmid pencils
3	6 Million Dollar Gran - Art Ian Knox
4	6 Million Dollar Gran - Art Ian Knox
5	6 Million Dollar Gran - Art Ian Knox
6	Monday - Art Frank McDiarmid pencils
7	Calculator Kid - Art Terry Bave
8	Tuesday - Art Frank McDiarmid pencils
9	Paddywack - Art Jack Clayton
10	Wednesday - Art Frank McDiarmid pencils
11	Tub 'Mystery Comic' 24 of 34 - Art Nigel Edwards
12	Elephant On The Run 'Mystery Comic' 24 of 34 - Art Robert Nixon
13	Elephant On The Run 'Mystery Comic' 24 of 34 - Art Robert Nixon
14	Mystery Boy reprint from Whizzer and Chips 'Mystery Comic' 26 of 37 - Art John Richardson
15	Ad: IPC 'Tornado' 3 of 4 Ad: 'Buster and Monster Fun Spring Special' 1 of 3
16	Top Ten Poster
17	Top Ten Poster
18	Disaster Des 'Mystery Comic' 23 of 30 - Art Mike Lacey
19	Star Guest 'Sweeny Toddler' - Art Tom Paterson (single art on feature)
20	Mustapha Million 'Mystery Comic' 25 of 34 - Art Joe McCaffrey
21	Mustapha Million 'Mystery Comic' 25 of 34 - Art Joe McCaffrey
22	Ad: KP (final appearance) 'Outer Spacers'
23	Thursday - Art Frank McDiarmid pencils
24	Joke-Box Jury\Ad: IPC 'Pop Poster promo'
25	Good Friday (single appearance) - Art Frank McDiarmid pencils (single art on feature)
26	Menace of the Alpha Man reprint from Shiver and Shake - Art Eric Bradbury
27	Menace of the Alpha Man reprint from Shiver and Shake - Art Eric Bradbury
28	Chit-Chat
29	Top Ten Poster instructions\Ad: IPC 'Cor Holiday Special' 1 of 2
30	Easter Saturday (single appearance) - Art Frank McDiarmid pencils (single art on feature)
31	Easter Saturday (single appearance) - Art Frank McDiarmid pencils (single art on feature)
32	The Burpo Special 'Farmer Giles' - Art Frank McDiarmid

Cheeky's Week Artists Cover Date 14-Apr-1979

Artist	Elements
Frank McDiarmid pencils	8
Frank McDiarmid	2

A corpulent curiosity

I was surprised to discover over at the Kazoop blog that among the strips in the 1983 Shiver and Shake Annual, which was published towards the end of 1982, was an appearance by Cheeky Weekly's own bulging buffoon, Tub. Our portly pal had simultaneously appeared in the 1983 Cheeky Annual, and his final appearance in a Cheeky title came in the last ever Cheeky Annual cover-dated 1985. The Shiver and Shake '83 Annual strip was not a reprint, and I didn't expect to see Tub moonlighting in another annual while still on the Cheeky payroll!

Gran Toddles In

The issue of Whoopee and Wow! displayed below joined the array of comics vying for attention on newsagents' counters in August 1984. Four and a half years after Cheeky Weekly had been merged into it, reference to the toothy funster's comic had long since been dropped from Whoopee's cover, not least because another failed title, Wow!, had been absorbed just over a year before this issue appeared, and thus gained the companion title slot.

However, all the survivors who had jumped ship as a holed-beneath-the-waterline Cheeky Weekly sank into comic history continued to appear in Whoopee and Wow! at this time, although their fortunes had varied considerably as the post-Cheeky Weekly months progressed;

• Stage School were still occupying two pages a week, undiminished from their days in the toothy funster's comic.
• 6 Million Dollar Gran had metamorphosed into a seemingly non-robotic role as the leader of Gran's Gang, a single page strip that was something of a come-down after her 3-pages-a-week Cheeky Weekly heyday.
• Mustapha Million continued to appear but had recently reverted to reprints of his Cheeky Weekly adventures.
• Charlie and Calc's Calculator Kid escapades continued (not reprints), and had in fact generated a spin-off strip, Calculator Corner.
• Paddywack persisted with his brand of bumbling buffoonery. 
• Ironically, Cheeky himself had suffered the worst ignominy, and from being the star of his own comic was now reduced to a single row of panels near the rear of Whoopee and Wow!

The cover of Whoopee and Wow! dated 18 August 1984 featured a surprise appearance by Cheeky Weekly's synthetic senior citizen, Gran, making a cameo appearance in the Sweeny Toddler strip...

Sweeny Toddler: art Tom Paterson
Family Trees: art Robert Nixon

This looks a bit odd to me; Gran is the only character in the strip to display a shadow on her body, and casts no shade on the ground to her right. Also her unspecified 'Yak Yak', and indeed her very presence, seems to be entirely ignored by the other characters in the frame. As you can see below, Gran plays no further role in the strip. Strange. Maybe the aged automaton's presence was meant to suggest that Sweeny's Great Grandpa was a member of Gran's Gang. 

For the benefit of anyone puzzling over the teaser in the Family Trees cover appearance...

Art: Robert Nixon

The Wacky world of Cheeky

It's always good to see Cheeky Weekly get a mention elsewhere, so head over to Wacky Comics where George is leafing through the pages of the issue dated 10 November 1979 - one I have yet to cover in my series of issue summaries. As Andy mentions in his comment on the post, the Cheeky strip artist is misidentified but otherwise it's an interesting view of the toothy funster's comic from (can it really be?) 34 years ago.

Cheeky Weekly Star Guests in Whizzer and Chips

As IPC's Star Guest run for 1979 entered its third week, the alternating nature of the placement of strips meant it was the turn of Whizzer and Chips to host a feature from Cheeky Weekly. On this occasion it was the dauntless Skateboard Squad who were chosen to represent the toothy funster's comic. The story (not a reprint from Cheeky Weekly) in which our heroes deputised for an out-of-commission stunt biker gave an opportunity for the Squad to demonstrate their prowess on skateboards to those Whizzer and Chips readers unfamiliar with the feature.

Whizzer and Chips 14 April 1979
Drawn by the strip's regular artist, Jimmy Hansen

This was the only Skateboard Squad episode in which our pooch pal Wipe-Out was seen to converse with his companions (although he appeared to speak in the 18 November 1978 issue of Cheeky Weekly).

In the same week that the above page appeared in Whizzer and Chips, The Skateboard Squad were absent from Cheeky Weekly which, in its own run of Star Guests, was hosting Whoopee's Sweeny Toddler.

Cheeky Weekly's final Skateboard Squad episode would appear just 4 weeks after their Whizzer and Chips Star Guest outing. However, the intrepid trio returned to the pages of the toothy funster's comic after a 2 week break, in their new guise as the Speed Squad.