The Rejects – Big Strong Sam\Steve

In previous instalments of this series of 'The Rejects' posts, I've examined supporting characters from the 'Ello, it's Cheeky\'Ello I'm Cheeky pages of Krazy who, despite being given a name, didn't accompany the toothy funster into the pages of his own comic. However, the character coming under the spotlight today failed to make the break into Cheeky Weekly even though he was given two names.

Scrap yard worker Big Strong Sam made his debut in Krazy issue 2, dated 23 October 1976. All the artwork below is by Frank McDiarmid.

Krazy 23 October 1976
This page also saw the debut of
Manhole Man

A week later the Big Strong one returned, but now called Steve and seemingly the sibling of a Cheeky Weekly stalwart who made his debut on this page. This time Cheeky's muscular mate featured across a whole page, so at this point it looked as though he may become one of the regular cast of Cheeky's pals (if only the scriptwriter could sort his name out).

Krazy 30 October 1976

Sam\Steve was back in Krazy dated 27 November 1976 where he was unnamed among the Krazy Town FC 'supporters' at Saturday's match.

Krazy 27 November 1976

In the 04 December 1976 issue the mighty metal merchant reverted to his original name...

Krazy 04 December 1976

...but by the time of his next appearance in Krazy dated 26 February 1977 his name had changed back again...

Krazy 22 February 1977

And Steve it remained for his next Krazy outing...

Krazy 26 March 1977

Sam\Steve was then absent from Krazy until his final appearance, a silent and unnamed cameo in the first birthday issue dated 08 October 1977...

Krazy 08 October 1977

So despite a promising start, Cheeky's scrapyard stooge eventually fell into obscurity. Maybe the scriptwriter couldn't think of many 'strong' jokes. If Sam\Steve had transferred into Cheeky Weekly there would have been the opportunity to develop him into Ursula's boyfriend.