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.

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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. ***
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Tuesday 29 November 2016

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

Sunday 13 November 2016

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 100th 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 100th 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 10th 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 Hansen4
Mike Lacey4
Frank McDiarmid1



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

Wednesday 2 November 2016

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 1985Mustapha MillionSuper Steve
04 May 1985Bloggs (Store Wars)Mustapha Million
11 May 1985JokerThe Krazy Gang (Cheeky)
18 May 1985Calculator Kid & CalcOdd-Ball
01 June 1985
Animalad
Mustapha Million
The Krazy Gang (Cheeky)
Boy Boss
08 June 1985Odd-BallCalculator Kid
06 July 1985Toy BoyCalculator Kid
13 July 1985Pa BumpkinThe Krazy Gang (Cheeky)
27 July 1985JokerMustapha Million
24 August 1985CheekySid's Snake
14 September 1985
Odd-Ball
Calculator Kid
Calculator Kid
Store Wars
05 October 1985Mustapha MillionAnimalad
19 October 1985Odd-BallMustapha Million
23 November 1985
Sweeny Toddler
Sweeny Toddler
Sweeny Toddler
Calculator Kid
The Krazy Gang (Cheeky)
Mustapha Million
18 January 1986Mustapha MillionSuper Steve
25 January 1986
Odd-Ball
Cheeky
Mustapha Million
Odd-Ball
08 February 1986
The Krazy Gang ends this issue
AnimaladMustapha Million
15 February 1986Lazy BonesCalculator Kid
15 March 1986Odd-BallCalculator Kid
29 March 1986Calculator KidMaster P Brain