As IPC's 1979 Star Guest promotion reached its 11th week, readers of Whizzer and Chips were introduced to our pariah pal Disaster Des, who had previously made a Star Guest foray into companion title Whoopee! during the promotion's fourth week.
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| Whizzer and Chips 09 June 1979 Art: Mike Lacey, the regular DD artist |
Readers of this story who were previously unacquainted with the young doombringer could easily get the impression that Des was a malevolent character rather than the unwitting instigator of calamity familiar to regular Cheeky Weekly readers. Not only that but, although it's a nice fun strip, it's a rather odd choice
with which to introduce Des to an audience who may well be unfamiliar
with him since the 'hero' appears in only 3 panels, and in 2 of those he's
silent. The story focuses more on Doomsville's long-suffering Mayor who
was a recurring character in Des' Cheeky Weekly strips.
This strip was new and never appeared
in Cheeky Weekly.
Any Whoopee! readers persuaded to
purchase the same week's edition of Cheeky Weekly in order to enjoy
another helping of DD would have found the Mayor again contending
with Des in the catastrophe-causing kid's home title. Had they chosen to
place a regular order, new readers of the toothy funster's comic
could have enjoyed 32 Des episodes before Cheeky Weekly suffered its own disaster and folded, consigning Des to comics history (barring a few,
largely disappointing, appearances in the Cheeky Annuals and
Specials).
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