Cheeky Weekly cover date 17 November 1979

Under a banner announcing the inclusion of a 'super cut-out catalogue of knock-knock jokes', Barrie Appleby provides this week's cover art. Surprisingly, in view of the subject matter, Gunga Jim doesn't chip in his 'curry, curry, hot stuff' catchphrase. Snail however seems mighty pleased with his 'thinks' gag. Did Barrie make a booboo when lettering Snail's thought balloon? Maybe he referred to the disastrous dinner lady as Aunt Daisy, necessitating the addition of a hasty 'ie'.

 

Over the page, Frank McDiarmid depicts Cheeky's usual Sunday paper-and-pun round.

Three readers are £2 better off as a result of their jokes being featured on Paddywack's page. I wonder if they received their prize money before or after the jokes were published.

Art: Jack Clayton

 

With the festive season rapidly approaching What's New, Kids offers some products that kids might like to add to their Christmas lists, including 2 electronic games (they'll never become popular). This is the final appearance of What's New, Kids.

Cheeky's comments on page 9 suggest that this week's cut-out joke book is the first in a series. Ominous.

There are further intimations of approaching doom for Cheeky Weekly as a 'new' strip begins a couple of pages later although Soggy the Sea Monster, culled from Shiver and Shake, appeared in the 1979 Cheeky Annual published in the latter part of 1978. The strip chosen to kick off Soggy's Cheeky Weekly reprint run is one of the two episodes from his original outing drawn by Terry Bave. Soggy was the final cartoon strip to join the roster of Cheeky Weekly features as the comic wound down towards cancellation.

Art: Terry Bave

The Comedy Catalogue of Knock-knock Door Jokes is located on pages 13 and 14. It seems to me that this is a way to cheaply  fill a couple of pages, which could otherwise carry more comic strips.

I'd previously thought that this Mustapha Million episode was drawn by Joe McCaffrey but now I'm thinking that it's by Colin Whittock, who last week deputised for Jimmy Hansen on Speed Squad. John Geering stood in for Joe McCaffrey on Mustapha Million 2 weeks ago.

Art: Colin Whittock

 

Further ghosting of artwork occurs in Elephant on the Run, where Vic Neill stands in for regular artist Robert Nixon. Vic last subbed for Robert on the strip in the 06 October 1979 edition.

On the Chit-Chat page, Cheeky continues to give us some limited background info on the creative team behind his comic, and this week 'big' John Geering is the subject.

Friday sees the toothy funster's homework dodge backfire.

Art: Frank McDiarmid

On Saturday Cheeky is ejected from his house as mum is undertaking a thorough cleaning of the premises, forcing the toothy funster to wander the streets exchanging gags with his pals. No change there, then.

Despite his Friday ruse being foiled by Teacher, our grinning pal is seen devising a new homework-avoiding plan at the commencement of this week's back cover strip, Snail of the Century.

With hindsight it's clear that this issue, with its introduction of yet another reprint and instigation of the joke booklet fillers, signals the impending demise of the toothy funster's comic. But on the plus side, Frank McDiarmid draws the whole of Cheeky's Week!

Cheeky Weekly	Cover Date: 17-Nov-1979, Issue 106 of 117
Page	Details
1	Cover Feature 'Gunga Jim' 4 of 5 - Art Barrie Appleby (single art on feature)
2	Sunday - Art Frank McDiarmid
3	Calculator Kid - Art Terry Bave
4	Paddywack - Art Jack Clayton
5	Monday - Art Frank McDiarmid
6	Stage School - Art Robert Nixon
7	Stage School - Art Robert Nixon
8	What's New, Kids (final appearance)
9	Booklet instructions (single appearance)\Ad: IPC 'Jackpot' 7 of 7
10	Tuesday - Art Frank McDiarmid
11	Soggy the Sea Monster (first appearance) reprint from Shiver and Shake - Art Terry Bave (single art on feature)
12	Disaster Des - Art Mike Lacey
13	Cheeky's Cut-Out Comedy Catalogue (first appearance) 'Knock-Knock Door Jokes'
14	Cheeky's Cut-Out Comedy Catalogue (first appearance) 'Knock-Knock Door Jokes'
15	Wednesday - Art Frank McDiarmid
16	Mustapha Million - Art Colin Whittock (single art on feature)
17	Mustapha Million - Art Colin Whittock (single art on feature)
18	The Gang reprint from Whizzer and Chips - Art Robert MacGillivray
19	The Gang reprint from Whizzer and Chips - Art Robert MacGillivray
20	Thursday - Art Frank McDiarmid
21	Tub - Art Nigel Edwards
22	Joke-Box Jury
23	Elephant On The Run - Art Vic Neill
24	6 Million Dollar Gran - Art Ian Knox
25	6 Million Dollar Gran - Art Ian Knox
26	Friday - Art Frank McDiarmid
27	Ad: IPC 'Cheeky Annual' 5 of 6 \Ad: Pop-A-Points
28	Speed Squad - Art Jimmy Hansen
29	Chit-Chat
30	Saturday - Art Frank McDiarmid
31	Saturday - Art Frank McDiarmid
32	Snail of the Century - Art Frank McDiarmid

The Pages - Page 27

Wile E Coyote was the occupant of page 27 in Cheeky Weekly's first issue. Although his usual prey, the fleet-footed fowl Road Runner, did appear in the strip, the conniving canine was the focus of this story and thus got the billing. The following issue saw former Buster stars Bam Splat and Blooie and Cocky Doodle sharing reprinted adventures on the subject page.

I don't know who did the artwork

All three aforementioned strips were used to represent the animated cartoon elements of Cheeky's Saturday visits to the cinema, and the picture show Interval took up residence in the subject location a week later, beginning an 8-week run. Cocking of doodles was then in evidence as the poultry protagonist shared page 27 with an ad for IPC's iconic soccer paper Roy of The Rovers, but in Cheeky Weekly dated 07 January 1978 Interval began a 4-week residency which came to an end when further fowl deeds were perpetrated, this time by Henery Hawk, who was the subject of the 04 February 1978 cartoon film.

A far better-known Warner Brothers feathered property, the lisping waterfowl Daffy Duck, occupied page 27 a week later. Interval then returned for one week, following which a run of Warner Brothers bird-centric strips commenced...

Date	Details
25-Feb-78	Road Runner 2/2 'A Bird in Hand'
04-Mar-78	Tweety and Sylvester 2/2 'Too Many Grannies'
11-Mar-78	Daffy Duck (final appearance) 2/2 'Snack Time'
18-Mar-78	Road Runner 2/2 'The Lucky Charms'
25-Mar-78	Tweety and Sylvester 2/2 'Showdown at Granny's'
01-Apr-78	Road Runner 2/2 'The Plant Plot'
08-Apr-78	Tweety and Sylvester 2/2 'A Gift For Granny'
15-Apr-78	Road Runner 2/2 'The Cool Caper'
22-Apr-78	Tweety and Sylvester 2/2 'A Bird Can Fly But Can A Fly Bird'
29-Apr-78	Road Runner 2/2 'Coyote Catcher'
06-May-78	Tweety and Sylvester 2/2 'Pet Getter'
13-May-78	Road Runner 2/2 'Flypaper Caper'
20-May-78	Tweety and Sylvester 2/2 'All Duded Up'
27-May-78	Road Runner 2/2 'Thunder Blunder'
03-Jun-78	Road Runner (final appearance) 2/2 'Trombone Boo Boo'
10-Jun-78	Tweety and Sylvester

IPC then resorted to their own archives to fill the cartoon slot in the following two issues - more Bamming, Splatting and Blooieng sourced from Buster was in evidence on page 27 in Cheeky Weekly dated 17 June 1978, while Who's Afraid of the Big Bad Wolf? (breaking the run of avian influence), retrieved from the musty vaults of Cor!!, appeared a week later.

Tweety and Sylvester then began a 6-week residency, interrupted by Interval in the 12 August 1978 edition. This was the final visit by Interval to the location under review, bringing the total times it appeared there to 14 and making it the third most regular occupant. The feeble fur vs feather feuding of Tweety and his feline nemesis resumed for four editions, and 7 days later Hickory Dickory Doc, another reprint sourced from Cor!!, occupied page 27 to represent that week's cartoon show.

In Cheeky Weekly dated 23 September 1978, the location under review hosted a half-page conclusion to Tweety and Sylvester, together with an ad informing readers that the whole of the Mystery Comic would be included in the following edition. In that subsequent issue page 27 hosted an ad inviting readers to join the Superkids Club, Superkids apparently being a line of children's boots and shoes.

The seemingly interminable ructions between Tweety and Sylvester then resumed their tedious course for a week, being supplanted in the following edition by a page advertising IPC's Soccer Monthly and the worthy Look and Learn (all British kids lived in fear of their parents replacing their weekly comic with Look and Learn).

The second page of a special one-off strip celebrating Cheeky Weekly's first birthday occupied the site under review in the comic dated 21 October 1978, but the irritating bird-and-cat shenanigans of Tweety and blah continued a week later.

The following issue saw Cheeky's Saturday occupy page 27 but, you guessed it, the unbearably dull duo, T and S (I can't even bring myself to type their names any more) resumed for 3 weeks which, mercifully, brought their page 27 appearances to welcome (by me, anyway) conclusion (although Cheeky Weekly readers would have to suffer one more appearance by thing and wotsit, in the issue dated 02 December 1978, but that was on pages 23 and 24 so finally we can bid them good riddance in this post nyhaahh! haaa haaa! haaahaaa! ahem). Grudgingly, I have to report that the pair foisted their yawnsome travails onto page 27 a total of 23 times, making them the most regular occupants.

The final episode of reprinted piratical adventure tale The Terrible Trail to Taggart's Treasure came to rest on page 27 in the comic dated 02 December 1978, and a week later Saturday once again occupied the subject location. Cheeky Weekly was then absent from newsagents for 3 weeks due to industrial inaction at the printers, but more thrills, and not inconsiderable spills, were to be found on page 27 when publication resumed with an issue cover dated 06 January 1979, and for the ensuing 7 editions, as young sleuth Eagle Eye, another exhumation from the IPC tombs, brought his observational skills to bear on a number of nefarious schemes.

Further recycled wrongdoing, this time perpetrated by the Alpha Man whose criminal plans were originally related in the pages of Shiver and Shake, played out on page 27 for the next 18 weeks, making the titular antihero the second most regular visitor page to 27.

Mustapha Million then paid his single visit to the subject location, following which Tub also made his one-time appearance there, sharing the page with an ad encouraging readers to place a regular order for their weekly dose of Cheeky chuckles.

Why, Dad, Why? then made its first page 27 appearance, and remained there for a further week before being deposed by What's New, Kids. In the 11 August 1979 comic, the site under review was host to a full page ad announcing that the first instalment of a four-part colour poster of the toothy funster, together with the results of the Alpha Man competition, would feature in the following issue.

In that ensuing edition, Why, Dad, Why? resumed its page 27 run, amounting this time to 3 weeks, after which Paddywack found himself sharing the same location with an ad for the 1980 Cor!! annual. Friday then fetched up on page 27, before a 3-week run of ads for IPC product including, as Christmas 1979 loomed, more promotion of that season's annuals, began...

Date	Details
29-Sep-79	Ad: IPC 'Whoopee Guy Fawkes mask' 2 of 3 Ad: 'Puzzle Time' 6 of 6
06-Oct-79	Ad: IPC 'Buster Book' 1 of 2 Ad: 'Top Soccer' 3 of 3
13-Oct-79	Ad: IPC 'Monster Fun Annual'Ad: 'Buster Book' 2 of 2

7 days later Why, Dad, Why? made its final foray onto page 27, and for the 2 subsequent issues advertorial feature What's New, Kids focused on a number of toys and books that their respective manufacturers no doubt hoped would find their way into Christmas stockings across the nation.

More ads, most of which were promoting IPC publications, followed...

Date	Details
10-Nov-79	Ad: IPC 'Jackpot' 6 of 7 Ad: 'Cheeky Weekly: Knock-Knock Jokes Booklet next week'
17-Nov-79	Ad: IPC 'Cheeky Annual' 5 of 6 \Ad: Pop-A-Points
24-Nov-79	Ad: IPC 'Krazy Annual' 4 of 4 \Ad: Palitoy 'Star Wars Collection' 3 of 3
01-Dec-79	Ad: Palitoy (final appearance)
08-Dec-79	Ad: IPC 'Cor Annual' 5 of 5 Ad: 'Look and Learn' 16 of 16
15-Dec-79	Ad: IPC 'Whoopee' 9 of 9 Ad: 'Junior Jet Club Competition next week'
22-Dec-79	Ad: IPC 'Cheeky Weekly: Christmas Issue next week'Ad: 'Cheeky Annual' 6 of 6

In the Christmas 1979 issue of Cheeky Weekly, Disaster Des made a one-off visit to page 27, and then the ads resumed...

Date	Details
05-Jan-80	Ad: IPC 'Mickey Mouse' 14 of 18 Ad: 'Penny' 2 of 3
12-Jan-80	Ad: IPC 'Mickey Mouse' 15 of 18 Ad: 'Shoot' 10 of 13

Joke-Box Jury then moved in for 2 weeks, and in the final edition of Cheeky Weekly page 27 hosted two ads, one for Tiger, and the other for Shoot. In those days these titles were seen as being aimed at young males and it's a little surprising that, since the toothy funster's non-gender-specific comic had come to an end and erstwhile readers would be considering their options for future comic consumption, one of the ads wasn't devoted to a title from IPC's range of 'girl's' comics. Maybe the publisher's market research indicated that the number of female Cheeky Weekly readers was insufficient to make it worthwhile.

Whizzer and Chips - The Cheeky Raids part 26

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. Calculator Kid survived a little longer, bowing out in the 26 July 1986 edition and leaving Mustapha Million as the sole Cheeky Weekly survivor.

Astute readers perusing this reprinted Calculator Kid episode in Whizzer and Chips dated 26 July 1986 may have suspected that it was to be the final appearance of Charlie Counter and his calculating companion...

Whizzer and Chips 26 July 1986
Calculator Kid Art: Terry Bave

...due to this announcement in the same edition...

Whizzer and Chips 26 July 1986
The comic had for a few issues been conducting a
teaser count down to this announcement

Those readers who correctly assumed that Calculator Kid would be among the features to be jettisoned to make room for the imminent new arrivals may have been unaware that their final helping of CK told only half the story...

Cheeky Weekly 05 May 1979

On its reprint appearance at the top of this post, the strip had a couple of alterations in addition to being halved - the first panel on row 2 had a 'so' text box added to it, and the final panel on row 2 had Calc's oft-used concluding catchphrase 'as calculated' pasted in.

That 26 July 1986 edition of Whizzer and Chips had no Cheeky-related raids, and we have to skip ahead to the issue dated 16 August 1986 for the next raid within the scope of this series of posts.

Since by this stage Mustapha Million was the sole surviving character from Cheeky Weekly (enjoying brand new adventures), the only uncertainty is whether he was raider or raidee...

Whizzer and Chips 16 August 1986
Art: Sid Burgon

Mustapha had previously raided Joker in the 07 June 1986 comic, in retaliation for a raid carried out on him by Joker in the 27 July 1985 edition. This raid brings the total times our ex-Cheeky Weekly chums had raided Whizzer to 11, while they had suffered 20 raids by those wily Whizz-kids.

More raiding fun soon!

Whizzer and Chips Cover Date	Raider	Raided
06 April 1985	Mustapha Million	Super Steve
04 May 1985	Bloggs (Store Wars)	Mustapha Million
11 May 1985	Joker	The Krazy Gang (Cheeky)
18 May 1985	Calculator Kid & Calc	Odd-Ball
01 June 1985	Animalad Mustapha Million	The Krazy Gang (Cheeky) Boy Boss
08 June 1985	Odd-Ball	Calculator Kid
06 July 1985	Toy Boy	Calculator Kid
13 July 1985	Pa Bumpkin	The Krazy Gang (Cheeky)
27 July 1985	Joker	Mustapha Million
24 August 1985	Cheeky	Sid's Snake
14 September 1985	Odd-Ball Calculator Kid	Calculator Kid Store Wars
05 October 1985	Mustapha Million	Animalad
19 October 1985	Odd-Ball	Mustapha Million
23 November 1985	Sweeny Toddler Sweeny Toddler Sweeny Toddler	Calculator Kid The Krazy Gang (Cheeky) Mustapha Million
18 January 1986	Mustapha Million	Super Steve
25 January 1986	Odd-Ball Cheeky	Mustapha Million Odd-Ball
08 February 1986 The Krazy Gang ends this issue	Animalad	Mustapha Million
15 February 1986	Lazy Bones	Calculator Kid
15 March 1986	Odd-Ball	Calculator Kid
29 March 1986	Calculator Kid	Master P Brain
05 April 1986	Bumpkin Billionaires	Mustapha Million
12 April 1986	Animalad	Calculator Kid
31 May 1986	Lazy Bones	Calculator Kid
07 June 1986	Mustapha Million	Joker
28 June 1986	Sweet Tooth	Mustapha Million
26 July 1986 Calculator Kid ends this issue	No Cheeky-related raid this issue	No Cheeky-related raid this issue
16 August 1986	Mustapha Million	Joker

The One-Offs - Fish-Face

Over the weeks there were many anonymous stooges who shared a joke with Cheeky and were never seen again. Certain of these ephemeral members of the Cheeky cast, however, were introduced and named in such a way that one expected them to become regular characters. This series of posts examines those 'one-off' appearances.

As Cheeky emerged from another trip in the time-travelling phone box in Cheeky Weekly dated 26 August 1978, he encountered Mr Haddock's 'new assistant' Fish-Face ...

Art: Mike Lacey

Fish-Face never returned to the pages of Cheeky Weekly, although another, un-named (and thus not qualifying for a one-off post of his own) fishmonger's assistant made a single appearance in the comic dated 04 November 1978.

Mike Lacey again

Frank's Got It Covered

Over at the Great News Blog, David has posted a mighty fine selection of Frank McDiarmid's Cheeky Weekly covers.