Profile - Hot Air Balloon

My decision to devote a Profile post to this particular Krazy Town inhabitant contradicts my declaration here that to qualify for this honour the character must possess a name. In fact, the 'character' under examination this time is an inanimate object (although there is a human being associated with it), but then again so are the Knock-Knock Door and time-traveling Phone Box, both of which have received a Profile post despite not having names as such, so let's press on.

It seems to me that the Hot Air Balloon (HAB) was a creation of a Cheeky's Week artist who I am unable to identify, and refer to on the blog as Unknown Cheeky Artist 1 (UCA1), since this artist was the only one to depict the blimp floating above Krazy Town. HAB made its debut appearance, being pursued by a large bird, on the Saturday page in the 11 February 1978 issue. This wasn't the first occasion on which UCA1 had drawn an aerially-drifting object, as the same artist included Bubblegum Boy (BB) hovering above Cheeky's home town in the comic dated 14 January 1978. That was the only occasion on which UCA1 drew the perpetually-drifting Fred Holroyd, so fortunately readers were spared the sight of a mid-air collision between HAB and BB.

Hot Air Balloon's debut
Art: Unknown Cheeky Artist 1

The next issue to include artwork by UCA1 was that dated 18 February 1978, but HAB was not in evidence on any of the 4 pages which the artist contributed that week. UCA1 next provided work in the 04 March 1978 edition, and 2 of the 5 pages that were delivered by the unidentified artist did feature the subject of this post; on Thursday the balloon was punctured by an arrow, the source of which was unseen, and the following day the perforated sphere continued to  Proooooop!! across the sky.

Art: Unknown Cheeky Artist 1

A week later 3 of the 6 Cheeky's Week elements drawn by UCA1 contained images of the still-damaged dirigible being propelled through the firmament by the gas leaking from its unwelcome aperture, the occupant remaining surprisingly mute considering his predicament.

UCA1 was next drafted in to provide visuals for the 25 March 1978 edition, which was the last to include the hot air balloon, and was the only time that its occupant spoke.

Please note the following page contains material which would be considered inappropriate today...

Hot Air Balloon's final appearance
Art: Unknown Cheeky Artist 1

HAB never appeared in the Cheeky strips in Krazy.

Character	Total Issues	First Appearance	Final Appearance
Hot Air Balloon	4	11-Feb-1978	25-Mar-1978

Count of elements by artist

Character	Artist	Total Elements
Hot Air Balloon	Unknown Cheeky Artist 1	7