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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Wednesday 22 March 2017

Profile - Dan-Dan the Lavender Man

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.

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.

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.

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...

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.

 
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.

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 Man4810-Dec-197726-Jan-1980

Count of elements by artist

Character Artist Total Elements
Dan-Dan the Lavender ManFrank McDiarmid28
Dan-Dan the Lavender ManMike Lacey14
Dan-Dan the Lavender ManFrank McDiarmid pencils7
Dan-Dan the Lavender ManBarrie Appleby2
Dan-Dan the Lavender ManBob Hill1
Dan-Dan the Lavender ManDick Millington1

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