Those of you who follow my
issue summaries series of posts will be aware that the most recent entry looked at
the final issue of Cheeky Weekly's second year, so now is an appropriate time to examine the changes that occurred in the comic between its first anniversary issue and the end of year 2, and compare them with the changes documented in my
Cheeky Weekly: Year 1 in Review post.
Cheeky Weekly's second year was of course marred by the December 1978 printer's strike that affected a number of IPC's titles and resulted in two issues of the toothy funster's comic having a reduced page count, plus the
loss of 3 issues including what would have been the Christmas edition (although most if not all of the festive funnies intended for that issue did eventually
appear in one form or another).
Cheeky Weekly was unique among British comics in being built around a single character whose strip was interspersed throughout each issue. But in addition to enjoying the toothy funster's gag-cracking progress through a whole week, readers experienced another unique aspect of the comic as all the non-Cheeky strips were
framed by those Cheeky's Week pages. Thus the adventure strips were introduced as books Cheeky read or films he watched at the cinema, and the humour strips were presented as programmes he watched on TV or home movies made by his pals, among other conceits.
Aside from the loss of individual strips and the introduction of replacements, which is of course commonplace in comics as editors strive to hone the contents in pursuit of maximum circulation, the major change to occur in Cheeky Weekly's second year was the final elimination of the framing devices, a process that had begun in year 1, as documented
here.
The comic also underwent a
third revamp during year 2, with the
Mystery Comic section ceasing to appear in the centre pages as of the
07 July 1979 'New Look' issue. All the strips that had previously been contained within the Mystery Comic section continued to appear, but were distributed throughout the comic rather than huddling at the mid-point of each issue.
Comparison of features: Issues 21-Oct-1978 and 13-Oct-1979
Survivors
Category |
Detail |
Start |
End |
Survivor (started before 21-Oct-1978 and still running as of 13-Oct-1979) | Mustapha Million | 22-Oct-1977 | 02-Feb-1980 |
Survivor (started before 21-Oct-1978 and still running as of 13-Oct-1979) | 6 Million Dollar Gran | 22-Oct-1977 | 02-Feb-1980 |
Survivor (started before 21-Oct-1978 and still running as of 13-Oct-1979) | What's New, Kids | 22-Oct-1977 | 17-Nov-1979 |
Survivor (started before 21-Oct-1978 and still running as of 13-Oct-1979) | Cover Feature | 22-Oct-1977 | 02-Feb-1980 |
Survivor (started before 21-Oct-1978 and still running as of 13-Oct-1979) | Friday | 22-Oct-1977 | 02-Feb-1980 |
Survivor (started before 21-Oct-1978 and still running as of 13-Oct-1979) | Monday | 22-Oct-1977 | 02-Feb-1980 |
Survivor (started before 21-Oct-1978 and still running as of 13-Oct-1979) | Saturday | 22-Oct-1977 | 02-Feb-1980 |
Survivor (started before 21-Oct-1978 and still running as of 13-Oct-1979) | Sunday | 22-Oct-1977 | 02-Feb-1980 |
Survivor (started before 21-Oct-1978 and still running as of 13-Oct-1979) | Thursday | 22-Oct-1977 | 02-Feb-1980 |
Survivor (started before 21-Oct-1978 and still running as of 13-Oct-1979) | Tuesday | 22-Oct-1977 | 02-Feb-1980 |
Survivor (started before 21-Oct-1978 and still running as of 13-Oct-1979) | Wednesday | 22-Oct-1977 | 02-Feb-1980 |
Survivor (started before 21-Oct-1978 and still running as of 13-Oct-1979) | Joke-Box Jury | 10-Dec-1977 | 02-Feb-1980 |
Survivor (started before 21-Oct-1978 and still running as of 13-Oct-1979) | Calculator Kid | 01-Jul-1978 | 02-Feb-1980 |
Survivor (started before 21-Oct-1978 and still running as of 13-Oct-1979) | Paddywack | 08-Jul-1978 | 26-Jan-1980 |
Survivor (started before 21-Oct-1978 and still running as of 13-Oct-1979) | Silly Snaps | 02-Sep-1978 | 20-Oct-1979 |
Survivor (started before 21-Oct-1978 and still running as of 13-Oct-1979) | Why, Dad, Why? | 30-Sep-1978 | 02-Feb-1980 |
Survivor (started before 21-Oct-1978 and still running as of 13-Oct-1979) | Elephant On The Run | 30-Sep-1978 | 02-Feb-1980 |
Survivor (started before 21-Oct-1978 and still running as of 13-Oct-1979) | Tub | 30-Sep-1978 | 02-Feb-1980 |
Survivor (started before 21-Oct-1978 and still running as of 13-Oct-1979) | Mystery Boy | 30-Sep-1978 | 13-Oct-1979 |
Survivor (started before 21-Oct-1978 and still running as of 13-Oct-1979) | Disaster Des | 30-Sep-1978 | 02-Feb-1980 |
Calculator Kid and Paddywack join the Survivors this year, having been categorised as Newcomers in the Year 1 review. Also joining the survivors are the 5 strips that were introduced when the
Mystery Comic took up occupancy in the center of the comic as of the 30 September 1978 issue (again these were classified as Newcomers at the end of year 1). However, one of those 5,
Mystery Boy, only
just scrapes in as a year 2 survivor, since its final episode appeared in the 13 October 1979 comic. Since Mystery Boy was not replaced by another story in the adventure vein, it seems that during year 2 a decision was taken to transform Cheeky Weekly into a funnies-only comic.
Survivors - Conclusion
There were in total 19 strips running as of the end of year 1 which survived to reach the end of year 2. This compares to 12 survivors at the end of year 1. This more stable line-up may suggest that at the end of year 2, the Cheeky Weekly Editor was happier with the comic's contents than he had been just 12 months into the title's run.
Newcomers
Category |
Detail |
Start |
End |
Newcomer after 21-Oct-1978, still running as of 13-Oct-1979 | Chit-Chat | 09-Dec-1978 | 02-Feb-1980 |
Newcomer after 21-Oct-1978, still running as of 13-Oct-1979 | Tease Break | 17-Feb-1979 | 03-Nov-1979 |
Newcomer after 21-Oct-1978, still running as of 13-Oct-1979 | Speed Squad | 26-May-1979 | 02-Feb-1980 |
Newcomer after 21-Oct-1978, still running as of 13-Oct-1979 | Stage School | 07-Jul-1979 | 02-Feb-1980 |
Newcomer after 21-Oct-1978, still running as of 13-Oct-1979 | The Gang | 07-Jul-1979 | 02-Feb-1980 |
Newcomer after 21-Oct-1978, still running as of 13-Oct-1979 | Snail of the Century | 14-Jul-1979 | 02-Feb-1980 |
Newcomer after 21-Oct-1978, still running as of 13-Oct-1979 | Ringer Dinger | 06-Oct-1979 | 02-Feb-1980 |
Cheeky Weekly was surprisingly late in adding a readers' letters page to its line-up -
Chit-Chat didn't commence until issue number 60. It subsequently became a permanent fixture.
Snail of the Century was the last original feature to join the roster of Cheeky Weekly chucklemakers, all the subsequent strip debuts within Cheeky Weekly were reprints.
Speed Squad were of course
Skateboard Squad in all but name and vehicular specificity.
Stage School was an engaging, fun feature that not only continued into year 3 but was among the strips that transferred to Whoopee! when the toothy funster's title came a cropper.
The Gang was a poor choice of reprint that didn't do Cheeky Weekly any favours. Ringer Dinger was a reprint functioning as an intermittent filler.
Newcomers - Conclusion
12 Newcomers (i.e. strips that began after the first issue) were listed at the end of year 1, compared to the 7 above for year 2 (but since there were more survivors in year 2, it's to be expected that there would be a commensurate dip in newcomers).
Gone but not Forgotten
Category |
Detail |
Start |
End |
Started on or before 21-Oct-1978 but departed on or before 13-Oct-1979 | Skateboard Squad | 22-Oct-1977 | 12-May-1979 |
Started on or before 21-Oct-1978 but departed on or before 13-Oct-1979 | Pin-up pal | 22-Oct-1977 | 31-Mar-1979 |
Started on or before 21-Oct-1978 but departed on or before 13-Oct-1979 | Interval | 22-Oct-1977 | 02-Dec-1978 |
Started on or before 21-Oct-1978 but departed on or before 13-Oct-1979 | Tweety and Sylvester | 21-Jan-1978 | 02-Dec-1978 |
Started on or before 21-Oct-1978 but departed on or before 13-Oct-1979 | Easter Monday | 01-Apr-1978 | 21-Apr-1979 |
Started on or before 21-Oct-1978 but departed on or before 13-Oct-1979 | Smurfs competition | 09-Sep-1978 | 09-Dec-1978 |
Started on or before 21-Oct-1978 but departed on or before 13-Oct-1979 | Cheeky's Week | 30-Sep-1978 | 30-Jun-1979 |
Started on or before 21-Oct-1978 but departed on or before 13-Oct-1979 | Cheeky's Pal Puzzle | 30-Sep-1978 | 02-Dec-1978 |
Started on or before 21-Oct-1978 but departed on or before 13-Oct-1979 | Mystery Boy | 30-Sep-1978 | 13-Oct-1979 |
Started on or before 21-Oct-1978 but departed on or before 13-Oct-1979 | The Terrible Trail to Taggart's Treasure | 07-Oct-1978 | 02-Dec-1978 |
Started on or before 21-Oct-1978 but departed on or before 13-Oct-1979 | Laugh and Learn | 07-Oct-1978 | 09-Dec-1978 |
Started on or before 21-Oct-1978 but departed on or before 13-Oct-1979 | Hey Presto! Magic Show | 21-Oct-1978 | 21-Oct-1978 |
Cheeky's Pal Puzzle (my own title for a feature that was not given a name in the comic) was as the name implies a feature of the brain-teaser variety but, rather than being a generic filler as such items often were, it was given a Cheeky Weekly twist in that it was incorporated into the Saturday strip. Cheeky's Week in the table above refers to to cover strip of that name rather than the concept of Cheeky's 7 days of jolly japes. Hey Presto! Magic Show was a
one-off special strip to celebrate the
comic's first birthday. The short-lived
Laugh and Learn's interesting collaboration between Barrie Appleby and Brian Walker was possibly a little too educational for readers' tastes. Skateboard Squad of course arose, phoenix-like, from the ashes of their former plastic-wheeled conveyances to become Speed Squad.
The Terrible Trail to Taggart's Treasure was a reprinted tale of piratical pursuit. Mystery Boy appears in this category as his final episode appeared in the 13 October 1979 issue.
Gone but not Forgotten - Conclusion
13 features were dropped during year 1, but we again see a more stable comic reflected in year 2's tally of just 7 ejectees (one of which was a one-off special never intended, as far as we know, to be a series).
Arrived and departed
Category |
Detail |
Start |
End |
Started and Finished Between 21-Oct-1978 and 13-Oct-1979 | Hey Presto! Magic Show | 21-Oct-1978 | 21-Oct-1978 |
Started and Finished Between 21-Oct-1978 and 13-Oct-1979 | Winners of Skateboard and Tennis competitions | 28-Oct-1978 | 28-Oct-1978 |
Started and Finished Between 21-Oct-1978 and 13-Oct-1979 | Who's your Super-Star | 18-Nov-1978 | 18-Nov-1978 |
Started and Finished Between 21-Oct-1978 and 13-Oct-1979 | Feature Omitted | 02-Dec-1978 | 02-Dec-1978 |
Started and Finished Between 21-Oct-1978 and 13-Oct-1979 | Big Four Saint Competition | 02-Dec-1978 | 02-Dec-1978 |
Started and Finished Between 21-Oct-1978 and 13-Oct-1979 | The Burpo Special | 09-Dec-1978 | 30-Jun-1979 |
Started and Finished Between 21-Oct-1978 and 13-Oct-1979 | Eagle Eye | 06-Jan-1979 | 24-Feb-1979 |
Started and Finished Between 21-Oct-1978 and 13-Oct-1979 | Chutes Away competition winners | 06-Jan-1979 | 06-Jan-1979 |
Started and Finished Between 21-Oct-1978 and 13-Oct-1979 | Snap Game | 13-Jan-1979 | 03-Feb-1979 |
Started and Finished Between 21-Oct-1978 and 13-Oct-1979 | Goonburger Maze | 20-Jan-1979 | 20-Jan-1979 |
Started and Finished Between 21-Oct-1978 and 13-Oct-1979 | Spaghetti Junction maze | 27-Jan-1979 | 27-Jan-1979 |
Started and Finished Between 21-Oct-1978 and 13-Oct-1979 | Your chance to vote | 27-Jan-1979 | 17-Feb-1979 |
Started and Finished Between 21-Oct-1978 and 13-Oct-1979 | Train Track Maze | 03-Feb-1979 | 03-Feb-1979 |
Started and Finished Between 21-Oct-1978 and 13-Oct-1979 | Menace of the Alpha Man | 03-Mar-1979 | 30-Jun-1979 |
Started and Finished Between 21-Oct-1978 and 13-Oct-1979 | Ash Wednesday | 03-Mar-1979 | 03-Mar-1979 |
Started and Finished Between 21-Oct-1978 and 13-Oct-1979 | Shrove Tuesday | 03-Mar-1979 | 03-Mar-1979 |
Started and Finished Between 21-Oct-1978 and 13-Oct-1979 | Disaster Des spot the difference | 17-Mar-1979 | 17-Mar-1979 |
Started and Finished Between 21-Oct-1978 and 13-Oct-1979 | Saint competition results | 24-Mar-1979 | 24-Mar-1979 |
Started and Finished Between 21-Oct-1978 and 13-Oct-1979 | Smurfs competition results | 24-Mar-1979 | 24-Mar-1979 |
Started and Finished Between 21-Oct-1978 and 13-Oct-1979 | Star Guest | 31-Mar-1979 | 28-Jul-1979 |
Started and Finished Between 21-Oct-1978 and 13-Oct-1979 | Cheeky's Jersey Pattern | 31-Mar-1979 | 31-Mar-1979 |
Started and Finished Between 21-Oct-1978 and 13-Oct-1979 | Top Ten Poster | 07-Apr-1979 | 28-Apr-1979 |
Started and Finished Between 21-Oct-1978 and 13-Oct-1979 | Top Ten Poster instructions | 07-Apr-1979 | 28-Apr-1979 |
Started and Finished Between 21-Oct-1978 and 13-Oct-1979 | Easter Saturday | 14-Apr-1979 | 14-Apr-1979 |
Started and Finished Between 21-Oct-1978 and 13-Oct-1979 | Good Friday | 14-Apr-1979 | 14-Apr-1979 |
Started and Finished Between 21-Oct-1978 and 13-Oct-1979 | Poster instructions | 21-Apr-1979 | 08-Sep-1979 |
Started and Finished Between 21-Oct-1978 and 13-Oct-1979 | Cheeky Spotter Book of Town and Around | 19-May-1979 | 09-Jun-1979 |
Started and Finished Between 21-Oct-1978 and 13-Oct-1979 | Cheeky Hustle | 16-Jun-1979 | 16-Jun-1979 |
Started and Finished Between 21-Oct-1978 and 13-Oct-1979 | Who Is The Alpha Man | 16-Jun-1979 | 16-Jun-1979 |
Started and Finished Between 21-Oct-1978 and 13-Oct-1979 | My favourite Cheeky pals | 04-Aug-1979 | 04-Aug-1979 |
Started and Finished Between 21-Oct-1978 and 13-Oct-1979 | Alpha Man competition results | 18-Aug-1979 | 18-Aug-1979 |
Started and Finished Between 21-Oct-1978 and 13-Oct-1979 | Giant Cheeky Poster | 18-Aug-1979 | 08-Sep-1979 |
Started and Finished Between 21-Oct-1978 and 13-Oct-1979 | James Bond competition | 08-Sep-1979 | 08-Sep-1979 |
The above is a bit of a rag-bag category which mops up everything that started and finished within year 2, including cut-out features, competitions and fillers of various descriptions. However, focusing on 'proper' features reveals that
Eagle Eye,
Menace of the Alpha Man and The Burpo Special all started and ended within year 2. Of those four,
The Burpo Special was the only original material, and it's hard to see why such a memorable feature was dropped. The strip's premise of focusing on a different member of the massive Cheeky supporting cast each week would seem to give it almost unlimited potential. A grievous loss to the comic, considering it was sacrificed, as of the aforementioned 'New Look' issue, in favour of dreary reprint The Gang.
Special mention must go to
Star Guest, a promotional campaign that ran across IPC's humour line in spring/summer 1979.
Reprints by Month 21-OCT-78 to 13-OCT-79
Month |
Total Features |
Reprint Features |
% Reprints |
Reprint Sources |
OCT-1978 | 48 | 4 | 8 | Jag 1, Shiver and Shake 4, Whizzer and Chips 4 |
NOV-1978 | 96 | 8 | 8 | Shiver and Shake 4, Whizzer and Chips 4 |
DEC-1978 | 47 | 3 | 6 | Shiver and Shake 1, Whizzer and Chips 2 |
JAN-1979 | 102 | 8 | 8 | Shiver and Shake 4, Whizzer and Chips 4 |
FEB-1979 | 103 | 8 | 8 | Shiver and Shake 4, Whizzer and Chips 4 |
MAR-1979 | 120 | 10 | 8 | Shiver and Shake 5, Whizzer and Chips 5 |
APR-1979 | 94 | 8 | 9 | Shiver and Shake 4, Whizzer and Chips 4 |
MAY-1979 | 89 | 8 | 9 | Shiver and Shake 4, Whizzer and Chips 4 |
JUN-1979 | 113 | 10 | 9 | Shiver and Shake 5, Whizzer and Chips 5 |
JUL-1979 | 93 | 8 | 9 | Whizzer and Chips 8 |
AUG-1979 | 94 | 8 | 9 | Whizzer and Chips 8 |
SEP-1979 | 113 | 10 | 9 | Whizzer and Chips 10 |
OCT-1979 | 48 | 5 | 10 | Whizzer and Chips 7 |
Year 2 saw a steady increase in the use of reprint material from 8 to 10 per cent (barring December 1978 which was no doubt skewed by the truncated/lost issues).
Year 2 - Conclusion
By the end of its second year Cheeky Weekly had suffered a significant loss. The elimination of all the framing devices had shorn the title of one of its unique properties and consequently, as of July 1979's New Look issue, the comic felt a little less special. The cull of framing devices had of course resulted in the concept of the Mystery Comic being dropped (although all the strips from that section continued), but the comic-within-a-comic idea was not a new one, nor would this be the final example of such a construct - indeed the Cheeky Weekly survivors who escaped the wreck of the toothy funster's title would find themselves ensconced in a Cheeky comic within Whoopee! However Cheeky Weekly, on the point of embarking on its third year, retained one aspect that differentiated it from competitor titles on the newsagents' counters - the depiction of Cheeky's progress through a week of gags. Those Cheeky pages were still packed with energy and Frank McDiarmid's work continued to delight. In addition to the toothy funster's week-long joke marathons, the roster of non-Cheeky fun strips running at this time was, with the odd exception, a pretty strong one. To what extent the year 2 changes were made in preparation for the comic's eventual termination is open to speculation.
Diminished, yes, but not mortally so, Cheeky Weekly marched on into year 3.