Whizzer and Chips - The Cheeky Raids part 35

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, his run of reprints coming to an end in the 26 July 1986 edition and leaving Mustapha Million as the sole Cheeky Weekly survivor.


Concerns about the amount of time kids spend looking at screens have probably existed since magic lanterns first radiated their beguiling beams across well-to-do 18th century living rooms. Mustapha's story in Whizzer and Chips dated 20 June 1987 takes 20th century screen-time worries as its kicking-off point. During the tale, in which our middle eastern pal demonstrates a typically Mustapharian misunderstanding of British phraseology, a wily Whizz-kid manages to infiltrate the proceedings. Can you spot the trespasser? Answer below...

Whizzer and Chips 20 June 1987
Art: Barry Glennard

Yes, it's that plaything-preoccupied pipsqueak, Toy Boy, who had previously raided Mustapha in Whizzer and Chips dated 06 December 1986. Unfortunately, the intensely annoying 'I made a mug of Mustapha Million' slogan now seems to have become permanent. It's just not cricket (sorry).

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
23 August 1986	Sweet Tooth	Mustapha Million
18 October 1986	Winnie the Royal Nag	Mustapha Million
06 December 1986	Toy Boy	Mustapha Million
13 December 1986	Mustapha Million	Odd-Ball
17 January 1987	Sid	Mustapha Million
14 February 1987	Odd-Ball	Mustapha Million
11 April 1987	Pa Bumpkin	Mustapha Million
25 April 1987	Mustapha Million	Odd-Ball
20 June 1987	Toy Boy	Mustapha Million

Cheeky Weekly cover date 12 January 1980

Art: Frank McDiarmid

Cheeky is joined on the cover by Welsh wit Taff the Laff for rugby repartee. Over the page, Cheeky’s first gag while on his Sunday paper round (although we don’t actually witness him making any paper deliveries this week) is with Milkie, making his final Cheeky Weekly appearance. I don’t think milk was delivered on a Sunday in those days but I may be wrong.

Art: Mike Lacey

 

Paddywack continues to cause consternation thanks to readers’ jokes. I particularly like Jack Clayton’s background gags in the restaurant.

Art: Jack Clayton
As with the Chit-Chat and Joke-Box Jury pages, since last week
the Paddywack page is no longer soliciting reader submissions

There’s a rare turn from cravat-sporting ‘Showbiz Teacher’ in this week’s Stage School.

Art: Robert Nixon

Page 11 includes an ad encouraging readers to place a regular order for Cheeky Weekly, a bit surprising since we now know the comic would survive for only 3 more weeks. I’ve always wondered what happened to regular orders when a comic was merged – would the merged title, in this case Whoopee and Cheeky, automatically be substituted by the newsagent unless the customer specified otherwise? Obviously not in those cases where lucky readers were already receiving the absorbing comic in a multi-comic order.

  

Farmer Giles harvests a crop of corn in this week’s Cut-Out Comedy Catalogue.

6 Million Dollar Gran is evidently undergoing some sort of memory-circuit malfunction during this week’s snowy episode, as she is under the impression that she existed in 1906, when she was actually built in 1977.

Art: Ian Knox

The synthetic senior citizen is not the only one feeling the cold, as on the Chit-Chat page our toothy pal keeps us up to date with the seasonal sartorial choices of the production team. Meanwhile reader Douglas Bell notifies us that our favourite comic appeared in a recent edition of telly ‘tec series Shoestring.

I wonder if there was a bit of a mix-up in the Cheeky office while the staff were comparing winter outfits, as on page 30 Cheeky seems to be introducing this week’s issue. Did someone forget that Cheeky's Week commences on Sunday, not Saturday?

Art: Mike Lacey

The back cover is again home to Snail of The Century, bringing the comic to another garden gagfest conclusion.

Mike Lacey provides all the Cheeky's Week artwork this time round, and this is the final time he will draw Sunday, Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday. Frank McDiarmid furnishes the front and back covers. Vic Neill does the final of his four stand-ins for Robert Nixon on Elephant on the Run.

Making their final Cheeky Weekly appearances along with Milkie are Cheeky's mum and Hypno-Tessa.

  

Cheeky Weekly	Cover Date: 12-Jan-1980, Issue 114 of 117
Page	Details
1	Cover Feature 'Taff the Laff' - Art Frank McDiarmid
2	Sunday - Art Mike Lacey (final art on feature)
3	Calculator Kid - Art Terry Bave
4	Paddywack - Art Jack Clayton
5	Monday - Art Mike Lacey (final art on feature)
6	Joke-Box Jury
7	Ad: Pop-A-Points
8	Stage School - Art Robert Nixon
9	Stage School - Art Robert Nixon
10	Tuesday - Art Mike Lacey (final art on feature)
11	Ad: IPC 'Penny' 3 of 3 Ad: 'Do you have trouble getting copies of Cheeky Weekly' 5 of 5
12	Soggy the Sea Monster reprint from Shiver and Shake - Art Robert Nixon
13	Cheeky's Cut-Out Comedy Catalogue 'Farmer Giles Jokes'
14	Cheeky's Cut-Out Comedy Catalogue 'Farmer Giles Jokes'
15	Wednesday - Art Mike Lacey (final art on feature)
16	Mustapha Million - Art Joe McCaffrey
17	Mustapha Million - Art Joe McCaffrey
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 Mike Lacey
21	Tub - Art Nigel Edwards
22	Elephant On The Run - Art Vic Neill (final art on feature)
23	Elephant On The Run - Art Vic Neill (final art on feature)
24	6 Million Dollar Gran - Art Ian Knox
25	6 Million Dollar Gran - Art Ian Knox
26	Friday - Art Mike Lacey
27	Ad: IPC 'Mickey Mouse' 15 of 18 Ad: 'Shoot' 10 of 13
28	Speed Squad - Art Jimmy Hansen
29	Chit-Chat
30	Saturday - Art Mike Lacey
31	Saturday - Art Mike Lacey
32	Snail of the Century - Art Frank McDiarmid

Comic Scene gets Cheeky

I've now got a copy of Comic Scene issue 2 - I opted for the digital version. Publication was delayed a little (originally intended for 01 September), but the folks at the mag kept me, and no doubt others who had placed an order, informed of the situation which apparently resulted because the print run was increased, which is obviously good news.

It was apparent from the pre-publication publicity shot of the mag's cover that it was to contain an article about Cheeky Weekly. In my opinion there can never be enough mentions of the toothy funster's comic - it's rarely covered in nostalgic looks back at the comics of yesteryear, and I was keen to see what the piece contained.

Written by Pete Doree of The Bronze Age of Blogs, the article contains his affectionate memories of the comic and a concise overview of Cheeky Weekly's unique properties. Pete does a good job of distilling the essence of our favourite title into the limited space available - 2 pages, one of which carries a Cheeky's Week page from the first issue. I'm hesitant to mention the couple of errors I spotted, but I'm going to anyway - Lily Pop is referred to as Lili, and Leo Baxendale is credited with providing art for the Creepy Sleepy Tales.

I haven't looked at any of the other articles yet but I'm sure this special humour issue will, at 64 pages, keep me amused for a while.

The Rejects - Dan Dan the Lollipop Man

A number of the supporting cast who populated Cheeky's Week in his own comic originated in the Cheeky pages in Krazy. However not all the characters who appeared in the toothy funster's Krazy strip made the transition into Cheeky Weekly. The character examined in this Rejects post differs somewhat from those featured previously in this series as he was not entirely rejected, but rather repurposed, as we will see...

Imagine a nightmare version of Krazy Town where (now steel yourselves for this) luscious Lily Pop is not the school crossing attendant. Unthinkable, yet there was a time when this was the case.

Krazy dated 26 March 1977 illustrated this horrific scenario, when Cheeky introduced one Daniel McSpaniel.

Krazy 26 March 1977
Art: Frank McDiarmid

Dan Dan made no further Lollipop Man appearances in Krazy, as (fortunately for Lily Pop’s many fans, including the motorists of Krazy Town) it seems he embarked on a new career before returning in Krazy dated 04 June 1977 in a role which was to transfer into the spin-off and become a Cheeky Weekly regular, that of school gardener Dan-Dan the Lavender Man.

Profiles – The Other Cats of Krazy Town – Scruffbag and Tired Tom

Goalie Cat was of course the most frequent feline participant in the Cheeky’s Week pages, appearing in 71 issues, but there were two other memorable moggies among the supporting cast.

Scruffbag

A number of anonymous felines featured on the Cheeky pages during the early months of Krazy, the first to appear being a rather scruffy, wind-swept individual sporting a plaster on his rump who made his unnamed debut in the 04 December 1976 issue.

Krazy 04 December 1976
Art: Frank McDiarmid

We were formally introduced to school cat Scruffbag in Krazy’s 02 April 1977 issue, some 7 months before Cheeky’s own title shouldered its way onto newsagents’ shelves.

Krazy 02 April 1977
Frank again

The lethargic animal evidently suffered some trauma to his rear end during the summer of 1977 as his trademark bandaged tail became evident in Krazy's 02 July 1977 edition.

Krazy 02 July 1977
Frank

Krazy dated 27 August 1977 included a Cheeky’s Pal page devoted to the passive puss.

More Frank

Scruffbag’s Cheeky Weekly debut came in the 05 November 1977 edition, wherein the indolent moggy appeared on the Sunday Evening, Monday and Tuesday pages. This was the highest number of appearances he made in a single issue of Cheeky Weekly, the next highest being his Monday and Friday outings in the 21 January 1978 comic.

Frank

 

Nosy Nora suspects Scruffbag may have secreted the Mystery Comic about his purrson.
Art: Frank McDiarmid pencils

Cheeky’s feline friend appeared in the cinema during the interval in the comic dated 28 January 1978.

Scruffbag fell victim to the Cheeky Weekly Inconsistent Hair (Fur)

Colour Syndrome  when he unaccountably developed stripes

in the comic dated 18 March 1978.

Frank McDiarmid pencils

Fortunately the moggy was able to soon shake off the malady and by the time of his next appearance in the 22 April 1978 edition, had reverted to his normal scruffy self.

Scruffbag’s longest absence was the 32 weeks between his 09 December 1978 and 21 July 1979 farewell appearance. He contributed feline fun to 10 editions of the toothy funster’s comic.

Character	Total Issues	First Appearance	Final Appearance
Scruffbag	10	05-Nov-1977	21-Jul-1979

Count of elements by artist

Character	Artist	Total Elements
Scruffbag	Frank McDiarmid	10
Scruffbag	Frank McDiarmid pencils	2
Scruffbag	Unknown Cheeky Artist 1	1

Tired Tom

In the same 05 November 1977 issue of Cheeky Weekly that featured Scruffbag's debut in that title, Granny Gumdrop's cat Tired Tom also made his first appearance. This stripy feline evidently out-snoozed his school-based comrade.

Tired Tom's debut
Frank

Possibly because the comic couldn't really accommodate more than one fatigued feline, Tom made only one more appearance in the toothy funster's title, that being in the 17 December 1977 issue. Thus he avoided, by a whisker, falling into the one-offs category.

Tom snoozes his way out of the comic
Frank

Although he did put in an appearance (of sorts) in Krazy dated 18 March 1978, when Baby Burpo was the subject of the Cheeky's Pal page.