Compost-encrusted school gardener Daniel McSpaniel, better known as Dan-Dan the
Lavender Man (a nod to the mythical but similarly-double-forenamed
Lavatory Man) first appeared in the 'Ello I'm Cheeky strip in Krazy
dated 04 June 1977, although he had previously enjoyed a one-off outing in a different role.
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| Krazy 04 June 1977 Art: Frank McDiarmid |
Special mention should also go to Krazy's 29 October 1977 issue, which featured an attempt on the World Garden Joke record, overseen by the humorous horticulturalist. This was Dan's second and final Krazy outing.
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| Krazy 29 October 1977 Art: Jim Watson |
Cheeky's first encounter with the batty
bulb-botherer within the pages of his own comic occurred on Sunday in
Cheeky Weekly dated 10 December 1977.
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| Cheeky Weekly 10 December 1977 Art: Frank McDiarmid pencil |
The Percy referred to in the strip above is pioneering TV garden guru Percy Thrower.
It would seem that Dan then went into hibernation, reappearing as spring sprung in the 15 April 1978 edition, on the Sunday and Suddenly pages.
The toothy funster's hunt for the Mystery Comic
in Cheeky Weekly dated 13 May 1978 ended in Dan's garden...
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| Art: Frank McDiarmid pencils |
The green-fingered geezer set the Cheeky's Pal Puzzle poser in the
issue dated 07 October 1978 and, unlike the previous winter,
continued to be seen sporadically in the school garden during the
months when most gardeners stow their dibbers pending the return of
warmer weather.
An image of Dan leaning on his spade, lifted from the Thursday page of the comic dated 25 November
1978, appeared on the Pin-up Pal Poster published in Cheeky Weekly dated 03 March 1979.
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| Art: Frank |
Snail of The Century in the 20 October 1979
issue included a cameo by Dan who had evidently relocated to Cheeky's
garden for this appearance.
Dan wasn't among the select band of pals seen chez Cheeky enjoying the toothy funster's Christmas/new year revels. Presumably Cheeky's mum was reluctant to invite the school's seed-sower in view of the state of his wellies – almost
as bad as the niffy adornments on Farmer Giles' footwear.
Our grinning hero's plantsman pal didn't quite
make it to Cheeky Weekly's final edition, trowelling out his farewell gardening gag in the penultimate edition dated 26 January
1980.
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| Dan's final Cheeky Weekly outing Art: Frank McDiarmid |
Cheeky Weekly readers were able to dig Dan who, due to his association with the toothy funster's school was most regularly seen on the Friday page on which Cheeky's scholarly endeavours were recorded, in a total of 48 well-mulched issues.
| Character | Total Issues | First Appearance | Final Appearance |
| Dan-Dan the Lavender Man | 48 | 10-Dec-1977 | 26-Jan-1980 |
Count of elements by artist
| Character | Artist | Total Elements |
| Dan-Dan the Lavender Man | Frank McDiarmid | 28 |
| Dan-Dan the Lavender Man | Mike Lacey | 14 |
| Dan-Dan the Lavender Man | Frank McDiarmid pencils | 7 |
| Dan-Dan the Lavender Man | Barrie Appleby | 2 |
| Dan-Dan the Lavender Man | Bob Hill | 1 |
| Dan-Dan the Lavender Man | Dick Millington | 1 |
