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