Cheeky's New Year

A week after his round of festive gags to celebrate Christmas 1980 in the pages of Whoopee! with Cheeky!, our toothy pal was back with some forecasting fun as he prognosticated on the doings of his pals over the coming year. There are some gems nestling in these four pages, my favourites being;

• Frank McDiarmid's reference to his expected earnings (whatever they paid him, it wasn't enough!) and Cheeky's allusion to Uncle Hamish's calendar-related transaction a year earlier.
• The note about Cheeky's direction of gaze in the first panel of May, and his grin of sheer delight in the final panel of the same month (we all know he doesn't really mean it).
• The first panel of June!
• In August, Walter Wurx being tested by a scene of liquid mayhem that would tax the most resolute of urinary tracts.
• Cheeky's September speculation on Teacher's domestic dolor (no doubt based on the troubling scenes he witnessed in the 'Teacher's breakdown' issue).
• October's depiction of a swimsuited Lily Pop.
• Baby Burpo's brother making his debut in November (although in January 1981 this was clearly among the most speculative of Cheeky's predictions).
• Cheeky's entirely accurate December preview of the designs that would grace the covers of the 1982 Whoopee Annual and its Cheeky companion, set to hit the shops some months hence (that year's Whoopee! and Cheeky annuals were first advertised in Whoopee! in the edition dated 29 August 1981). Nice to see that the toothy funster predicted a cheerier end of the year for Teacher and Glad.

 

Whoopee! 03 January 1981
Art: Frank McDiarmid

  

Whoopee! 29 August 1981

All the best for 2017, pals!

More Christmas Cheekiness

Bruce is looking back at Cheeky's yuletide doings from 1979 (among other festive goodies). You can see the toothy funster's seasonal silliness from the following year here.

Mergey Christmas

To get you into the seasonal spirit here's four pages of festive fun starring Cheeky, from the first Christmas issue of Whoopee! to hit the shops after it absorbed an ailing Cheeky Weekly in February 1980.

Whoopee! with Cheeky! 27 December 1980
Art: Frank McDiarmid

The One-Offs - Cheeky's Granny, Grandad, Aunt and Uncle (and sundry relatives)

Over the weeks there were many anonymous stooges who shared a joke with Cheeky and were never seen again. Certain of these ephemeral members of the Cheeky cast, however, were introduced in such a way that one expected them to become regular characters. This series of posts examines those 'one-off' appearances.

Cheeky's mum and dad were regularly featured from the debut issue, but until the first Christmas edition (dated 31 December 1977), readers hadn't witnessed any other member of the Cheeky clan.

Art: Frank McDiarmid
I like the legs heralding the approaching horde
in panel 3

It's no wonder our grinning hero has such a magnificent mouthful of dinner-manglers when both sides of his family are so chromosomally-disposed to having titanic chompers.

In Flash Harry's photo above we can see what looks like Cheeky's Granny and Grandad, plus sundry unspecified relatives and a canine with remarkably familiar teeth. None of these characters appeared again.

However, it appears Cheeky had an uncle and aunt who didn't make it into the above family portrait, but did appear in the 11 February 1978 issue.

Art: Frank McDiarmid pencils

Having served their purpose as part of Cheeky's plot to view his favourite TV programme, Auntie and (presumaby) Uncle's services were no longer required and they never returned.


Uncle Hamish, who did become a regular participant in Cheeky's Week, made his debut in the following issue.

See also Great Uncle Daniel.

Whizzer and Chips - The Cheeky Raids part 21

New readers start here... After Cheeky Weekly folded and was incorporated into Whoopee as of February 1980 six strips that had originated in the toothy funster's title survived the merge and continued to appear in the amalgamated comic. Whoopee itself foundered in March 1985 and was merged into Whizzer and Chips. Three of the surviving Cheeky Weekly strips successfully negotiated this second merge and went on to appear in the newly combined publication, rather inelegantly titled 'Whizzer and Chips now including Whoopee'. The survivors were Mustapha Million, Calculator Kid and (appearing only twice) Stage School. Cheeky continued to appear, but as a member of The Krazy Gang, who had moved into W&C when Krazy, the comic in which the Gang originated, expired in April 1978. However, the Krazy Gang's Whizzer and Chips run ended in the issue dated 08 February 1986.

By the time of the next raid involving one of our ex-Cheeky Weekly chums, Mustapha Million's run of reprints had ceased, and new adventures of the middle-eastern moneybags were being drawn by Barry Glennard. But can you spot the intruder (or maybe there's more than one) in this story? Scroll down, where all will be revealed.

 

Whizzer and Chips 05 April 1986
Art: Barry Glennard

Whizzer and Chips 12 April 1986

Yes Mustapha, always entirely comfortable with his wealth, was subjected to a multi-panel raid by the Bumpkin Billionaires, who strove vainly every week to jettison their unwelcome fortune and return to 'the simple loife'. Maybe the affluent agriculturalists were hoping to stash their cash in amongst the wads of moolah sloshing around in Mustapha Mansion.

Just in case you didn't spot all of them, the raiders can be found in page 1, panel 6 and page 2, panels 3 and 6.

This is the first time that the Bumpkins en masse have staged a raid on our plucky pals - Pa raided Cheeky (as part of The Krazy Gang) in the 13 July 1985 issue. 

By this stage the Cheeky survivors had suffered 17 raids but had perpetrated 9. More raiding fun soon!

Whizzer and Chips Cover Date	Raider	Raided
06 April 1985	Mustapha Million	Super Steve
04 May 1985	Bloggs (Store Wars)	Mustapha Million
11 May 1985	Joker	The Krazy Gang (Cheeky)
18 May 1985	Calculator Kid & Calc	Odd-Ball
01 June 1985	Animalad Mustapha Million	The Krazy Gang (Cheeky) Boy Boss
08 June 1985	Odd-Ball	Calculator Kid
06 July 1985	Toy Boy	Calculator Kid
13 July 1985	Pa Bumpkin	The Krazy Gang (Cheeky)
27 July 1985	Joker	Mustapha Million
24 August 1985	Cheeky	Sid's Snake
14 September 1985	Odd-Ball Calculator Kid	Calculator Kid Store Wars
05 October 1985	Mustapha Million	Animalad
19 October 1985	Odd-Ball	Mustapha Million
23 November 1985	Sweeny Toddler Sweeny Toddler Sweeny Toddler	Calculator Kid The Krazy Gang (Cheeky) Mustapha Million
18 January 1986	Mustapha Million	Super Steve
25 January 1986	Odd-Ball Cheeky	Mustapha Million Odd-Ball
08 February 1986 The Krazy Gang ends this issue	Animalad	Mustapha Million
15 February 1986	Lazy Bones	Calculator Kid
15 March 1986	Odd-Ball	Calculator Kid
29 March 1986	Calculator Kid	Master P Brain
05 April 1986	Bumpkin Billionaires	Mustapha Million

Profile - Burpo's Mum and Dad

Burpo's Mum and Dad first appeared in the Cheeky's Pal strip devoted to their 'orrible offspring in Krazy dated 25 June 1977, four months before Cheeky's own title elbowed its way onto the comic-packed counters of the nation's newsagents. In fact, that single Krazy appearance was the only time Burpo's Dad featured in the comic that spawned Cheeky, although his mum made one more Krazy appearance, in the 'Ello I'm Cheeky strip in the 02 July 1977 issue.

Cheeky Weekly's first depiction of the terrifying toddler's parents was on Wednesday in the first issue, when Cheeky arrived chez Burpo for his regular babysitting session. Stepping on the roller skate that Burpo had set as a trap on the front path, Cheeky was propelled into the house at speed...

Cheeky Weekly number 1
Art: Frank McDiarmid

This set the pattern for Cheeky's relationship with Burpo's parents, who were seemingly unaware of (or were in denial about) the evil machinations of their precious progeny and, disapproving of what they saw as Cheeky's inappropriate behaviour, continually reminded our toothy pal of the malevolent moppet's delicate nature.

Frank McDiarmid

Whereas the majority of Cheeky's supporting cast were a fairly peripatetic bunch in terms of their overall distribution across the pages depicting Cheeky's Week, Burpo's parents were mainly associated with Wednesday's intro to Creepy Sleepy Tale. However, neither appeared in the comics dated 31 December 1977 (the week of the Creepy Pantomime), 05 August 1978 (the issue in which Teacher became unstable) and 19 August 1978 (the 60-years-into-the-future issue), and Burpo's Mum featured in the Wednesday (conclusion) feature in the comics dated 10 December 1977 and 07 January 1978, while his dad appeared in the same feature in the 25 February and 22 July 1978 editions..

The final Creepy Sleepy Tale appeared in the comic dated 26 August 1979, being replaced in the subsequent four issues by instalments of the pull-out Crack-A-Joke Game. However, for the first three of those weeks Cheeky continued to make his Wednesday visits to Burpo's house, only to be told by the inimical infant's parents that they were not going out, and his babysitting services were therefore not required. They instead invited him to assist Burpo in assembling the game, elements of which appeared on the following page.

Art: Frank McDiarmid pencils

Burpo's parents were then absent from the comic (after Creepy Sleepy Tale came to an end, Cheeky was apparently no longer required as babysitter) until the issue dated 13 January 1979 when Mum featured in The Burpo Special, the subject of which was Doctor Braincell. Mum then appeared on Easter Saturday in the 14 April 1979 comic, before turning up in a further two Burpo Specials; 28 April 1979 – Jogging Jeremy and 26 May 1979 – Manhole Man.

The final Cheeky Weekly appearance of Burpo's parents was during Cheeky's Saturday visit to Farmer Giles in the 21 July 1979 comic.

Burpo's parents' final Cheeky Weekly outing
Art:Frank McDiarmid pencils

Cheeky Weekly cover date 06 October 1979

Art: Produced by copy-and-paste
from artwork drawn by Frank McDiarmid.
See text for details

The above-title banner again refers to 6 Million Dollar Gran as bionic whereas, as readers who've been following the title since issue one will know, she's a robot.

The rather minimalist, odd-looking cover illustration this week is the result of cover cannibalism - the images of Manhole Man, Cheeky and Jogging Jeremy first appeared on the front pages of the 09 June 1979, 11 August 1979 and 20 January 1979 comics respectively. However, the most striking thing about this cover is the absence of something. This is a landmark issue of the toothy funster's comic, yet there's no mention of that fact on the front page (nor anywhere inside). The 1970s has seen new comics regularly terminate with unseemly haste. Krazy, the title from which Cheeky Weekly erupted, managed to survive for only 79 issues as did Shiver and Shake, while Monster Fun troubled newsagents' delivery boys and girls for a mere 73 weeks. One would think that IPC would be keen to celebrate the relative longevity of our grinning pal's comic as it reaches its 100^th issue. Anyway, the fact that Cheeky Weekly has reached its century is testament to the talented artists and writers whose work on this groundbreaking title has kept it buoyant, thus thwarting the accountants who are so keen to cull comics that are perceived to be underperforming.

MikeLacey is the artist depicting Cheeky's Sunday on page 2, but it seems the toothy funster concluded his paper round immediately after the cover gag as there is no sign of the deliveries we usually witness in this location.

Art: Mike Lacey

Despite the fact that the 100th issue is not celebrated, Cheeky and his pals do get to enjoy a party thanks to Gran...

Art: Nigel Edwards

The final panel of Gran's story, with a caption carrying a phrase such as “Join the party in our 100^th issue”, would have made a better front cover for this edition. But who is the character wearing glasses and chomping on a sausage roll in front of Elephant? Nigel Edwards did a great job in depicting a selection of characters from across the comic but did he, seeking reference material for his artwork, somehow confuse Dads As Lads (which made its debut in Whoopee! in 1976), with Cheeky Weekly's own paternal/filial feature  Why, Dad, Why?

Whoopee! 01 March 1980
Art: Bill Mevin (thanks Andy!)

Page 11 does carry news of a special celebratory comic, but it's an advert for the 10^th anniversary issue of Whizzer and Chips, containing  a free gift plus part one of a mini facsimile of the debut edition.

The aspiring artistes of Stage School appear only in the final two panels of this week's story, and even then they are unrecognisable.

Art: Robert Nixon

The Chit-Chat page contains another reference to celebrations, but this time the festivities are in honour of the art editor's birthday.

Tub - Art: Nigel Edwards

JimmyHansen takes over the Cheeky artwork duties as of Thursday...

Art: Jimmy Hansen

Beneath a banner reading 'Here's a special appearance of a Cheeky Annual favourite' is a tale of telephonic tribulations starring Ringer Dinger, a reprint from Whizzer and Chips. Dinger had indeed made 4 appearances in the 1979 Cheeky Annual (published in late '78), and rung up a bumper 5 adventures in the toothy funster's current 1980 Annual, which was first advertised in Cheeky Weekly dated 22 September 1979. I wonder whether something happened to the artwork that was originally intended for the Sunday page in this issue, necessitating the shunting forward of another day's art onto page 2 and thus the inclusion of this phone-fun filler. Dinger will be called upon to make up the page count in a further 2 editions of Cheeky Weekly. Ringer Dinger in the Cheeky Weekly Index

Art: Terry Bave
Dinger's dad appears to lose his voice in
the final panel judging by the empty speech bubble

On Saturday Cheeky is tasked with walking the neighbour's dog, a Saint Bernard. Canine comedy ensues, before attention turns to the back garden in Snail of the Century which, as has become the tradition, brings the comic to a close.

Mike Lacey and Jimmy Hansen each provide 4 Cheeky's Week elements this week, with Frank McDiarmid being represented thanks to the art assistant's work with scissors and glue on the front cover.

Cheeky's Week Artists Cover Date 06-Oct-1979

Artist	Elements
Jimmy Hansen	4
Mike Lacey	4
Frank McDiarmid	1

Cheeky Weekly	Cover Date: 06-Oct-1979, Issue 100 of 117
Page	Details
1	Cover Feature 'Jogging Jeremy and Manhole Man' - Art Frank McDiarmid
2	Sunday - Art Mike Lacey
3	Calculator Kid - Art Terry Bave
4	6 Million Dollar Gran - Art Nigel Edwards
5	6 Million Dollar Gran - Art Nigel Edwards
6	6 Million Dollar Gran - Art Nigel Edwards
7	Monday - Art Mike Lacey
8	Ad: Trebor (final appearance) 'Olympic Game' 2 of 2
9	Joke-Box Jury
10	Tuesday - Art Mike Lacey
11	Ad: IPC 'Whoopee Guy Fawkes mask' 3 of 3 Ad: 'Whizzer and Chips 10th birthday issue'
12	The Gang reprint from Whizzer and Chips - Art Robert MacGillivray
13	The Gang reprint from Whizzer and Chips - Art Robert MacGillivray
14	Paddywack - Art Jack Clayton
15	Mystery Boy reprint from Whizzer and Chips
16	Elephant On The Run - Art Vic Neill (first art on feature)
17	Elephant On The Run - Art Vic Neill (first art on feature)
18	Wednesday - Art Mike Lacey
19	Stage School - Art Robert Nixon
20	Chit-Chat
21	Chit-Chat\Tub - Art Nigel Edwards
22	Thursday - Art Jimmy Hansen (final art on feature)
23	Speed Squad - Art Jimmy Hansen
24	Mustapha Million - Art Joe McCaffrey
25	What's New, Kids
26	Friday - Art Jimmy Hansen (single art on feature)
27	Ad: IPC 'Buster Book' 1 of 2 Ad: 'Top Soccer' 3 of 3
28	Ringer Dinger (first appearance) reprint from Whizzer and Chips - Art Terry Bave (first art on feature)
29	Disaster Des - Art Mike Lacey
30	Saturday - Art Jimmy Hansen (single art on feature)
31	Saturday - Art Jimmy Hansen (single art on feature)
32	Snail of the Century - Art Frank McDiarmid

Whizzer and Chips - The Cheeky Raids part 20

New readers start here... After Cheeky Weekly folded and was incorporated into Whoopee as of February 1980 six strips that had originated in the toothy funster's title survived the merge and continued to appear in the amalgamated comic. Whoopee itself foundered in March 1985 and was merged into Whizzer and Chips. Three of the surviving Cheeky Weekly strips successfully negotiated this second merge and went on to appear in the newly combined publication, rather inelegantly titled 'Whizzer and Chips now including Whoopee'. The survivors were Mustapha Million, Calculator Kid and (appearing only twice) Stage School. Cheeky continued to appear, but as a member of The Krazy Gang, who had moved into W&C when Krazy, the comic in which the Gang originated, expired in April 1978. However, the Krazy Gang's Whizzer and Chips run ended in the issue dated 08 February 1986.

You know how this works by now - see if you can spot the intruder in this strip. The identity of the plucky raider will be revealed if you scroll down...

Whizzer and Chips 29 March 1986
Art: Cliff Brown

Yes, two weeks after being the victims of a raid by Odd-Ball, resilient Charlie and Calc mounted a revenge sortie across the border into Whizzer, targeting newcomer Master P Brain. Cliff Brown's strip featuring the juvenile boffin had commenced in the aforementioned 15 March 1986 issue wherein Calculator Kid's story was infiltrated by the rubbery red rascal.

At this point the tally of raids involving ex-Cheeky Weekly characters since the incorporation of Whoopee into Whizzer and Chips as of April 1985 was as follows;

Ex-Cheeky Weekly folk perpetrating raids on other characters - 9

Characters originating elsewhere raiding ex-Cheeky Weekly strips - 16

Despite the welcome hint of a reversal of fortunes with this latest raid, there's still a way to go to redress the balance, and with only two Cheeky-related fun pals surviving at this juncture, it's going to be a struggle to reach parity, let alone triumph. But don't get disheartened, as there will be more raiding fun soon!

Whizzer and Chips Cover Date	Raider	Raided
06 April 1985	Mustapha Million	Super Steve
04 May 1985	Bloggs (Store Wars)	Mustapha Million
11 May 1985	Joker	The Krazy Gang (Cheeky)
18 May 1985	Calculator Kid & Calc	Odd-Ball
01 June 1985	Animalad Mustapha Million	The Krazy Gang (Cheeky) Boy Boss
08 June 1985	Odd-Ball	Calculator Kid
06 July 1985	Toy Boy	Calculator Kid
13 July 1985	Pa Bumpkin	The Krazy Gang (Cheeky)
27 July 1985	Joker	Mustapha Million
24 August 1985	Cheeky	Sid's Snake
14 September 1985	Odd-Ball Calculator Kid	Calculator Kid Store Wars
05 October 1985	Mustapha Million	Animalad
19 October 1985	Odd-Ball	Mustapha Million
23 November 1985	Sweeny Toddler Sweeny Toddler Sweeny Toddler	Calculator Kid The Krazy Gang (Cheeky) Mustapha Million
18 January 1986	Mustapha Million	Super Steve
25 January 1986	Odd-Ball Cheeky	Mustapha Million Odd-Ball
08 February 1986 The Krazy Gang ends this issue	Animalad	Mustapha Million
15 February 1986	Lazy Bones	Calculator Kid
15 March 1986	Odd-Ball	Calculator Kid
29 March 1986	Calculator Kid	Master P Brain

Profile - Rex Press

The toothy funster's jolly journalist chum Rex Press made his debut in Cheeky Weekly dated 29 September 1979. Or did he? I suspect that the newspaper reporter named Reg Press who made a single Cheeky Weekly appearance in the issue dated 15 September 1979 was intended to be the same person, but maybe an admin mix-up resulted in his name being changed. Rex is obviously a more appropriate appellation since, when coupled with the surname (which is itself a nod to machinery crucial to the journalistic profession), it references newspapers containing Express in the title.

Reg Press - Cheeky Weekly 15 September 1979
Art: Jimmy Hansen

'Reg' was drawn by Jimmy Hansen and the fact that the journalist's face wasn't seen on this occasion makes me wonder whether Frank McDiarmid hadn't designed the visuals for the character at that point. However, by the time that Rex made his debut two weeks later his trademark 'tache, trilby, and check jacket were fully formed.

Rex Press' debut - Cheeky Weekly 29 September 1979
Art: Frank McDiarmid

Cheeky's 2-page Saturday strip in the 10 November 1979 issue showed our grinning hero visiting the newspaper office, and Cheeky popped back to Rex's workplace for a quick Tuesday gag in the edition dated 24 November 1979.

Art: Bob Hill

Although he played a major role in the Speed Squad story in Cheeky Weekly dated 15 December 1979, the intrepid trio failed to recognise Krazy Town's roving reporter. 

 
Rex Press didn't quite make it into Cheeky Weekly's final issue. His last appearance was in the penultimate editon, dated 26 January 1980. Nevertheless Rex, despite being a rather late entrant into the Cheeky Weekly supporting cast, turned up in a creditable15 issues (16 if we include Reg). Neither Reg nor Rex ever appeared in Cheeky's strips in Krazy.

Birthday Bash

Cheeky Weekly comes under the spotlight again (and why not - I say you can never have too much Cheeky) over at the Great News blog, as the first issue of the toothy funster's own title, cover dated today, 39 years ago, is examined and found to be full of fun. Happy birthday!

Dynamic Debut

The Great News blog is looking back at the momentous comic that set the Cheeky phenomenon in motion.

Cover Collaborations

By early 1989 the 'rival comics' aspect of Whizzer and Chips was being de-emphasised, to the extent that all cross-comic raids had ceased *, Sid and Shiner's letters pages were both located in Whizzer while their respective comic strips had been combined into single a feature within Chips, and readers were no longer encouraged to separate the two 'titles'. Also gone were the cover comic strips, replaced by a series of full-page depictions of the W&C stars in situations various. As the comic increasingly resorted to reprints, these covers showed resurrected IPC veterans such as Fuss-Pot sharing jolly japes with newcomers including Wonder Wimp.

In the 04 March 1989 edition, reader Rachel Thomas asked who was responsible for the cover art. The answer revealed that the covers were a collaborative effort (a surprise to  me) between Jimmy Hansen and Barrie Appleby.

* The raids would resume in August 1989.

Cheeky Weekly cover date 29 September 1979

This week it's the turn of Charlie and Calc to get an above-title banner promotion, below which Gunga Jim is the instigator of maritime mirth. The action takes us to Krazy Town harbour once again, and we even get a glimpse of the lighthouse in the distance. Do snails find the salty coastal atmosphere uncomfortable? Cheeky's slithering pal gives no indication, but appears to be enjoying the gag. Sadly the unnamed pirate character, despite seeming ripe material for a smattering of corny nautical witticisms, never returned to the Cheeky's Week supporting cast.

Art: Frank McDiarmid

6 Million Dollar Gran takes a trip to a stock car racing tournament, and it's not long before she pits her own jalopy against another old banger. Needless to say, the aged automaton emerges triumphant, and blows the prize money at a food stall. Ian Knox's typically grotesque final panel shows Gran cramming celebratory comestibles into her synthetic alimentary canal.

Cheeky can't resist his own sausage-related gag on the following page....

Frank McDiarmid

 

It's not often that I include Mystery Boy in these posts, but this week his already bleak predicament seems about to get much worse...

Art: John Richardson

 

Having a much easier time of it is Mustapha Million, who this week is enjoying a story in colour.

Art: Joe McCaffrey

With the festive season on the horizon, WH Smith place an ad aimed at those readers busy compiling their Christmas lists, notifying them that this year's annuals (dated a year ahead, as is the tradition) are now in stock. The Beano is prominently featured, and a number of other DC Thomson titles are mentioned, but sadly the 1980 Cheeky Annual doesn't get a promotional boost. However, IPC ran an ad for it in last week's issue.

Thursday sees Cheeky's first encounter with humorous hack Rex Press, although it's quite possible that the similar character named Reg Press who appeared in the comic dated 15 September 1979 was intended to be the same person.

Art: Frank McDiarmid

Paddywack encounters an open aperture – I've always said Manhole Man should take more care.

Art: Jack Clayton

The comic concludes with the garden-goings-on of Snail of the Century, which was absent from last week's issue.

Art: Frank McDiarmid

This is a gratifyingly all-Frank McDiarmid-Cheeky's Week issue, the previous such edition being that dated 08 September 1979.

 Cheeky's Week Artists Cover Date 29-Sep-1979

Artist	Elements
Frank McDiarmid	9

Cheeky Weekly	Cover Date: 29-Sep-1979, Issue 99 of 117
Page	Details
1	Cover Feature 'Gunga Jim' 3 of 5 - Art Frank McDiarmid
2	Sunday - Art Frank McDiarmid
3	Calculator Kid - Art Terry Bave
4	6 Million Dollar Gran - Art Ian Knox
5	6 Million Dollar Gran - Art Ian Knox
6	6 Million Dollar Gran - Art Ian Knox
7	Monday - Art Frank McDiarmid
8	Ad: Trebor 'Olympics competition' 2 of 3
9	Joke-Box Jury
10	Tuesday - Art Frank McDiarmid
11	Ad: Palitoy 'Star Wars Collection' 1 of 3
12	The Gang reprint from Whizzer and Chips - Art Robert MacGillivray
13	The Gang reprint from Whizzer and Chips - Art Robert MacGillivray
14	Elephant On The Run - Art Robert Nixon
15	Mystery Boy reprint from Whizzer and Chips - Art John Richardson
16	Mustapha Million - Art Joe McCaffrey
17	Mustapha Million - Art Joe McCaffrey
18	Wednesday - Art Frank McDiarmid
19	Ad: WH Smith (final appearance) 'Annuals'
20	Chit-Chat
21	Disaster Des - Art Mike Lacey
22	Thursday - Art Frank McDiarmid
23	Speed Squad - Art Jimmy Hansen
24	Ad: IPC 'Top Soccer' 2 of 3 \Ad: Pop-A-Points (first appearance)
25	What's New, Kids
26	Friday - Art Frank McDiarmid
27	Ad: IPC 'Whoopee Guy Fawkes mask' 2 of 3 Ad: 'Puzzle Time' 6 of 6
28	Why, Dad, Why? - Art John K. Geering
29	Paddywack - Art Jack Clayton
30	Saturday - Art Frank McDiarmid
31	Saturday - Art Frank McDiarmid
32	Snail of the Century - Art Frank McDiarmid

More Toothy Fun

There are more Cheeky goings-on over at GNFAR today, as a pre-Cheeky Weekly issue of Krazy comes under the spotlight. This issue is one of those featuring the teasers that preceded the debut of the toothy funster's own spin-off title.

A Mystery No More

The Great News blog is looking back at the issue of Cheeky Weekly in which the Mystery Comic was unveiled in its full wondrousness.

Whizzer and Chips - The Cheeky Raids part 19

New readers start here... After Cheeky Weekly folded and was incorporated into Whoopee as of February 1980 six strips that had originated in the toothy funster's title survived the merge and continued to appear in the amalgamated comic. Whoopee itself foundered in March 1985 and was merged into Whizzer and Chips. Three of the surviving Cheeky Weekly strips successfully negotiated this second merge and went on to appear in the newly combined publication, rather inelegantly titled 'Whizzer and Chips now including Whoopee'. The survivors were Mustapha Million, Calculator Kid and (appearing only twice) Stage School. Cheeky continued to appear, but as a member of The Krazy Gang, who had moved into W&C when Krazy, the comic in which the Gang originated, expired in April 1978. However, the Krazy Gang's Whizzer and Chips run ended in the issue dated 08 February 1986.

One month after Calculator Kid's story was infiltrated by Benny 'Lazy' Bones, poor old Charlie Counter and his number-crunching pal were subjected once again to the unwanted attentions of a wily Whizz-kid raider. Can you spot the intruder (and no, it's not the opportunist mouse in the final panel)? Scroll down for the answer.

Whizzer and Chips 15 March 1986
Art: Terry Bave
Reprinted from Cheeky Weekly dated 06 January 1979

Once again a raid has been perpetrated by that rubbery alien sphere, Odd-Ball.

This Calculator Kid episode is revealing, as we learn that Calc doesn't always act in Charlie's best interests, since the sentient silicon chip is aware that the directions he is giving his pal will culminate in dental distress.

This is the sixth time Calculator Kid has been subjected to a raid, and the fourth time that Odd-Ball has impinged on the doings of Charlie and Calc. This raid is the 16th carried out on our ex Cheeky Weekly chums, who have carried out 8 cross-border sorties into Whizzer.

More raiding fun soon!

Whizzer and Chips Cover Date	Raider	Raided
06 April 1985	Mustapha Million	Super Steve
04 May 1985	Bloggs (Store Wars)	Mustapha Million
11 May 1985	Joker	The Krazy Gang (Cheeky)
18 May 1985	Calculator Kid & Calc	Odd-Ball
01 June 1985	Animalad Mustapha Million	The Krazy Gang (Cheeky) Boy Boss
08 June 1985	Odd-Ball	Calculator Kid
06 July 1985	Toy Boy	Calculator Kid
13 July 1985	Pa Bumpkin	The Krazy Gang (Cheeky)
27 July 1985	Joker	Mustapha Million
24 August 1985	Cheeky	Sid's Snake
14 September 1985	Odd-Ball Calculator Kid	Calculator Kid Store Wars
05 October 1985	Mustapha Million	Animalad
19 October 1985	Odd-Ball	Mustapha Million
23 November 1985	Sweeny Toddler Sweeny Toddler Sweeny Toddler	Calculator Kid The Krazy Gang (Cheeky) Mustapha Million
18 January 1986	Mustapha Million	Super Steve
25 January 1986	Odd-Ball Cheeky	Mustapha Million Odd-Ball
08 February 1986 The Krazy Gang ends this issue	Animalad	Mustapha Million
15 February 1986	Lazy Bones	Calculator Kid
15 March 1986	Odd-Ball	Calculator Kid