However, the fact that year three was incomplete doesn't mean we shouldn't have our customary rummage around in the data to see what changes affected the comic as its demise approached.
There was one newcomer feature, although that may a bit of a misnomer since Soggy was in fact a reprint. To his credit, the silly sea serpent appeared in every issue from the date of his Cheeky Weekly commencement on 17 November 1979 to the final issue.
Changes between: Issues 20-Oct-1979 and 02-Feb-1980
| Category | Detail | Start | End |
| Newcomer after 20-Oct-1979, still running as of 02-Feb-1980 | Soggy the Sea Monster | 17-Nov-1979 | 02-Feb-1980 |
Everything else running in the comic as of 20 October 1979 obviously expired either in the final issue or before (if we assume even those few strips who transferred into Whoopee! to have expired, at least in their initial incarnation). Photo-filler-feature Silly Snaps was the first to cash in its chips, making it no further than that very same 20 October issue. Another filler, this time of the quiz variety namely Tease Break was the next feature to kick the proverbial metallic water receptacle, clattering out in the 03 November 1979 comic. Next for the chop was advertorial feature What's New, Kids, disappearing after its 17 November 1979 airing (coincidentally the same issue in which Soggy squelched up for the first time). 26 January 1980 was a fateful issue for Paddywack as that was the final time he and his wellies would trouble Cheeky Weekly readers yet, despite being absent from the final issue, our perplexing pal would surprise everyone by turning up unannounced for the first combined issue of Whoopee! and Cheeky (whether he was actually invited to take part or was too slow to realise that he had been cancelled remains a matter of considerable debate to this day - well, in Niblet Towers it is).
The features that marched on to the final issue are shown below with an End Date of 02 February 1980. Not all of that dogged band would survive the merge. The 'daily' aspect of the Cheeky strips would not be carried over into the combined comic (although a strip named Cheeky's Week would begin in September 1981, which condensed 7 days of puns into a single feature), so none of the seven daily pages would resurface.
Changes between: Issues 20-Oct-1979 and 02-Feb-1980
| Category | Detail | Start | End |
| Started on or before 20-Oct-1979 but departed on or before 02-Feb-1980 | Mustapha Million | 22-Oct-1977 | 02-Feb-1980 |
| Started on or before 20-Oct-1979 but departed on or before 02-Feb-1980 | 6 Million Dollar Gran | 22-Oct-1977 | 02-Feb-1980 |
| Started on or before 20-Oct-1979 but departed on or before 02-Feb-1980 | What's New, Kids | 22-Oct-1977 | 17-Nov-1979 |
| Started on or before 20-Oct-1979 but departed on or before 02-Feb-1980 | Cover Feature | 22-Oct-1977 | 02-Feb-1980 |
| Started on or before 20-Oct-1979 but departed on or before 02-Feb-1980 | Friday | 22-Oct-1977 | 02-Feb-1980 |
| Started on or before 20-Oct-1979 but departed on or before 02-Feb-1980 | Monday | 22-Oct-1977 | 02-Feb-1980 |
| Started on or before 20-Oct-1979 but departed on or before 02-Feb-1980 | Saturday | 22-Oct-1977 | 02-Feb-1980 |
| Started on or before 20-Oct-1979 but departed on or before 02-Feb-1980 | Sunday | 22-Oct-1977 | 02-Feb-1980 |
| Started on or before 20-Oct-1979 but departed on or before 02-Feb-1980 | Thursday | 22-Oct-1977 | 02-Feb-1980 |
| Started on or before 20-Oct-1979 but departed on or before 02-Feb-1980 | Tuesday | 22-Oct-1977 | 02-Feb-1980 |
| Started on or before 20-Oct-1979 but departed on or before 02-Feb-1980 | Wednesday | 22-Oct-1977 | 02-Feb-1980 |
| Started on or before 20-Oct-1979 but departed on or before 02-Feb-1980 | Joke-Box Jury | 10-Dec-1977 | 02-Feb-1980 |
| Started on or before 20-Oct-1979 but departed on or before 02-Feb-1980 | Calculator Kid | 01-Jul-1978 | 02-Feb-1980 |
| Started on or before 20-Oct-1979 but departed on or before 02-Feb-1980 | Paddywack | 08-Jul-1978 | 26-Jan-1980 |
| Started on or before 20-Oct-1979 but departed on or before 02-Feb-1980 | Silly Snaps | 02-Sep-1978 | 20-Oct-1979 |
| Started on or before 20-Oct-1979 but departed on or before 02-Feb-1980 | Why, Dad, Why? | 30-Sep-1978 | 02-Feb-1980 |
| Started on or before 20-Oct-1979 but departed on or before 02-Feb-1980 | Elephant On The Run | 30-Sep-1978 | 02-Feb-1980 |
| Started on or before 20-Oct-1979 but departed on or before 02-Feb-1980 | Tub | 30-Sep-1978 | 02-Feb-1980 |
| Started on or before 20-Oct-1979 but departed on or before 02-Feb-1980 | Disaster Des | 30-Sep-1978 | 02-Feb-1980 |
| Started on or before 20-Oct-1979 but departed on or before 02-Feb-1980 | Chit-Chat | 09-Dec-1978 | 02-Feb-1980 |
| Started on or before 20-Oct-1979 but departed on or before 02-Feb-1980 | Tease Break | 17-Feb-1979 | 03-Nov-1979 |
| Started on or before 20-Oct-1979 but departed on or before 02-Feb-1980 | Speed Squad | 26-May-1979 | 02-Feb-1980 |
| Started on or before 20-Oct-1979 but departed on or before 02-Feb-1980 | Stage School | 07-Jul-1979 | 02-Feb-1980 |
| Started on or before 20-Oct-1979 but departed on or before 02-Feb-1980 | The Gang | 07-Jul-1979 | 02-Feb-1980 |
| Started on or before 20-Oct-1979 but departed on or before 02-Feb-1980 | Snail of the Century | 14-Jul-1979 | 02-Feb-1980 |
| Started on or before 20-Oct-1979 but departed on or before 02-Feb-1980 | Ringer Dinger | 06-Oct-1979 | 02-Feb-1980 |
Turning to the matter of reprints, I decided to look back over the whole of Cheeky Weekly's history as I haven't previously done an overview of the comic's 'second-time-around' content. Recycled material had featured in the comic from the first issue, some being presented in an open way (Old Comic, which sourced vintage strips from a number of titles), while all other material from the vaults was slipped in surreptitiously (e.g. Bam Splat and Blooie and Cocky Doodle, both of which originated in Buster) to the extent of having their titles changed in some instances. Cocky doodled his last in the 04 March 1978 edition, and the frenzied Bamming, Splatting and Blooieing was concluded on 17 June of the same year. The Cheeky Weekly office boy/girl was despatched to the basement to retrieve a Who's Afraid of the Big Bad Wolf? strip from the dusty Cor!! vaults for the 24 June 1978 edition. Cheeky's Old Comic selections drew to a close on 26 August 1978.
Archie's Angels were resurrected from Whizzer and Chips on 12 August 1978, concluding on 16 September 1978, which was the same issue in which the obscure Hickory Dickory Doc was reprinted from Cor!! (maybe the office junior found this curiosity in the basement when down there a few weeks earlier).
Sonny Storm from Cor!! then took up the role of the 'reprinted adventure strip', but fulfilled that function in only a single issue, that dated 23 September 1978.
The 30 September 1978 edition saw a return of Granny and her lupine adversary as the second and final Who's Afraid...etc was given a repeat run. In the same issue World War II evacuee Mystery Boy (originally titled Who is Sandy? on its 1971 debut outing in Whizzer and Chips) began his epic adventure, which would last for over a year and be the final adventure strip to run in the comic. A week after Mystery Boy's debut, another adventure reprint was summoned from the dingy catacombs of IPC - The Terrible Trail to Taggart's Treasure - the first strip to be sourced for Cheeky Weekly from Shiver and Shake.
The 14 October 1978 issue of the toothy funster's comic included a one-off reprint of Ghouldilocks from Jag, and on 06 January 1979 another Shiver and Shake resurrectee, Eagle Eye, began. The exceptionally observant schoolboy wrapped up his adventure in the 24 February 1979 edition, and a week later a further feature was plucked from the Shiver and Shake files, Menace of the Alpha Man, which was to be the final adventure strip to commence in Cheeky Weekly. The alphabetical threat was brought to an end on 30 June 1979, leaving Mystery Boy as the sole remaining adventure story.
The Double Deckers strip from Whizzer and Chips was dusted down, given a bit of a visual tarting up, retitled The Gang and foisted on unsuspecting Cheeky Weekly readers by IPC management as of 07 July 1979. I don't know what IPC felt Cheeky Weekly readers had done to deserve this. The Gang wasn't an adventure strip, but it certainly wasn't funny.
The telephonic tales involving young Ringer Dinger were next to be salvaged from the back of the Whizzer and Chips filing cabinets, commencing in Cheeky Weekly dated 06 October 1979 (although Dinger was only called upon to appear 3 times in the weekly comic). The final reprint, Soggy the Sea Monster, sourced once again from Shiver and Shake, commenced on 17 November 1979 but unlike Dinger's rather lackadaisical attitude to attendance Soggy, as mentioned above, showed up every week thereafter until Cheeky Weekly was cancelled.
I haven't mentioned above the Cheeky Weekly strips that re-used old scripts but with new artwork (the various James Bold series and Why, Dad, Why?) since these are not true reprints.
It's possible that the strips based on Warner Brothers cartoon characters (used to represent the supporting features in the Saturday morning picture show sequences) were reprints but I have no information on this so they are not included in the reprint figures below. Nor are the strips which reused old scripts as mentioned above.
We can see that reprints by month started out at 8% of the total features, then dropped away slightly until a very dramatic drop to 1% in July 1978. This was because only 1 reprint appeared in the whole of that month, due to the disruptive presence of the 4-week mini comics promotion in the July '78 issues.
As of August 1978 the percentage of reprints rises, and afterwards gets back to the more regular level of 8 or 9% for the remainder of the comic's run, although February 1980 shows a jump to 13% - there was of course only one issue in that month, the final edition, and the highest-ever reprint percentage is due to the presence of sporadic contributor Ringer Dinger, in addition to regular reprints Soggy and The Gang, in that comic.
Reprints by Month 22-OCT-77 to 02-FEB-80
| Month | Total Features | Reprint Features | % Reprints | Reprint Sources |
| OCT-1977 | 51 | 4 | 8 | Buster 2, Film Fun 1, Knockout 1 |
| NOV-1977 | 100 | 8 | 8 | Buster 4, Chips 1, Jingles 1, Sun Weekly 1, Tiger 1 |
| DEC-1977 | 122 | 7 | 6 | Buster 2, Film Fun 2, Radio Fun 1, TV Fun 1, Tip Top 1 |
| JAN-1978 | 99 | 4 | 4 | Chips 1, School Friend 1, Swift 1, Tip Top 1 |
| FEB-1978 | 99 | 6 | 6 | Buster 2, Chips 1, Comet 1, TV Fun 2 |
| MAR-1978 | 101 | 6 | 6 | Buster 2, Chips 1, Knockout 1, Swift 1, Tiger 1 |
| APR-1978 | 124 | 6 | 5 | Buster 1, Chips 1, Knockout 2, School Friend 1, Tip Top 1 |
| MAY-1978 | 98 | 3 | 3 | Chips 1, Film Fun 1, Knockout 1 |
| JUN-1978 | 96 | 6 | 6 | Buster 1, Chips 1, Cor!! 1, The Jester 1, Tiger 1, Wonder 1 |
| JUL-1978 | 109 | 1 | 1 | Knockout 1 |
| AUG-1978 | 93 | 4 | 4 | Whizzer and Chips 4 |
| SEP-1978 | 118 | 7 | 6 | Cor!! 3, Whizzer and Chips 4 |
| OCT-1978 | 97 | 9 | 9 | Jag 1, Shiver and Shake 4, Whizzer and Chips 4 |
| NOV-1978 | 96 | 8 | 8 | Shiver and Shake 4, Whizzer and Chips 4 |
| DEC-1978 | 47 | 3 | 6 | Shiver and Shake 1, Whizzer and Chips 2 |
| JAN-1979 | 102 | 8 | 8 | Shiver and Shake 4, Whizzer and Chips 4 |
| FEB-1979 | 103 | 8 | 8 | Shiver and Shake 4, Whizzer and Chips 4 |
| MAR-1979 | 120 | 10 | 8 | Shiver and Shake 5, Whizzer and Chips 5 |
| APR-1979 | 94 | 8 | 9 | Shiver and Shake 4, Whizzer and Chips 4 |
| MAY-1979 | 89 | 8 | 9 | Shiver and Shake 4, Whizzer and Chips 4 |
| JUN-1979 | 113 | 10 | 9 | Shiver and Shake 5, Whizzer and Chips 5 |
| JUL-1979 | 93 | 8 | 9 | Whizzer and Chips 8 |
| AUG-1979 | 94 | 8 | 9 | Whizzer and Chips 8 |
| SEP-1979 | 113 | 10 | 9 | Whizzer and Chips 10 |
| OCT-1979 | 94 | 7 | 7 | Whizzer and Chips 7 |
| NOV-1979 | 93 | 6 | 6 | Shiver and Shake 2, Whizzer and Chips 4 |
| DEC-1979 | 121 | 10 | 8 | Shiver and Shake 5, Whizzer and Chips 5 |
| JAN-1980 | 94 | 9 | 10 | Shiver and Shake 4, Whizzer and Chips 5 |
| FEB-1980 | 23 | 3 | 13 | Shiver and Shake 1, Whizzer and Chips 2 |
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