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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Basic Stats
Cheeky Weekly Index - Cheeky Annuals and Specials Index
Cheeky Weekly Artist Index
Features by Number of Appearances
Cheeky Weekly Timeline
Major Characters from the Cheeky pages
Features Ordered by Date of Commencement

*** ALL IMAGES COPYRIGHT ©  REBELLION PUBLISHING LTD, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. Used with permission. ***
*** CHEEKY WEEKLY, KRAZY, WHOOPEE!, WHOOPEE, WOW!, WHIZZER AND CHIPS and BUSTER ARE ™ REBELLION PUBLISHING LTD, COPYRIGHT ©  REBELLION PUBLISHING LTD, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. ***
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Wednesday 31 July 2019

Whizzer and Chips - The Cheeky Raids part 43

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.

Following Joker's infiltration of Mustapha's strip in Whizzer and Chips dated 12 December 1987, our middle eastern mate was untroubled by raiders until the edition dated 13 February 1988. Can you spot the sneaky interloper? The raider will shop himself below.


Whizzer and Chips 13 February 1988
Art: Frank McDiarmid


















Yes, it's the resourceful retailer Bloggs, from the Store Wars strip. Sometimes it's clear that the raider has been pasted-in to the page, but on this occasion it looks to me as though Frank McDiarmid drew the infiltrator himself, as he obviously designed the panel to allow space for the Whizz-kid's (hardly a kid, I know) prominent appearance.

I wondered whether Bloggs' presence indicates that the scene takes place on the street in which his shop is located, but as Mustapha owns all the retailers on the rain-swept road, it clearly doesn't. Maybe Bloggs' shop is in an adjacent thoroughfare and he's just nipped out to survey the competition. I would imagine Mustapha's generous nature means the prices charged in his shops are very reasonable.

The sagacious shopkeeper had previously raided our middle eastern mate way back in Whizzer and Chips dated 04 May 1985.

More raiding fun soon!


Whizzer and Chips Cover Date Raider Raided
06 April 1985Mustapha MillionSuper Steve
04 May 1985Bloggs (Store Wars)Mustapha Million
11 May 1985JokerThe Krazy Gang (Cheeky)
18 May 1985Calculator Kid & CalcOdd-Ball
01 June 1985
Animalad
Mustapha Million
The Krazy Gang (Cheeky)
Boy Boss
08 June 1985Odd-BallCalculator Kid
06 July 1985Toy BoyCalculator Kid
13 July 1985Pa BumpkinThe Krazy Gang (Cheeky)
27 July 1985JokerMustapha Million
24 August 1985CheekySid's Snake
14 September 1985
Odd-Ball
Calculator Kid
Calculator Kid
Store Wars
05 October 1985Mustapha MillionAnimalad
19 October 1985Odd-BallMustapha Million
23 November 1985
Sweeny Toddler
Sweeny Toddler
Sweeny Toddler
Calculator Kid
The Krazy Gang (Cheeky)
Mustapha Million
18 January 1986Mustapha MillionSuper Steve
25 January 1986
Odd-Ball
Cheeky
Mustapha Million
Odd-Ball
08 February 1986
The Krazy Gang ends this issue
AnimaladMustapha Million
15 February 1986Lazy BonesCalculator Kid
15 March 1986Odd-BallCalculator Kid
29 March 1986Calculator KidMaster P Brain
05 April 1986Bumpkin BillionairesMustapha Million
12 April 1986AnimaladCalculator Kid
31 May 1986Lazy BonesCalculator Kid
07 June 1986Mustapha MillionJoker
28 June 1986Sweet ToothMustapha Million
26 July 1986
Calculator Kid ends this issue
No Cheeky-related raid this issueNo Cheeky-related raid this issue
16 August 1986Mustapha MillionJoker
23 August 1986Sweet ToothMustapha Million
18 October 1986Winnie the Royal NagMustapha Million
06 December 1986Toy BoyMustapha Million
13 December 1986Mustapha MillionOdd-Ball
17 January 1987SidMustapha Million
14 February 1987Odd-BallMustapha Million
11 April 1987Pa BumpkinMustapha Million
25 April 1987Mustapha MillionOdd-Ball
20 June 1987Toy BoyMustapha Million
27 June 1987Mustapha MillionMemory Banks
25 July 1987Lazy BonesMustapha Million
22 August 1987Winnie the Royal NagMustapha Million
12 September 1987Mustapha MillionSweet Tooth
19 September 1987Odd-BallMustapha Million
24 October 1987Odd-BallMustapha Million
12 December 1987JokerMustapha Million
13 February 1988Bloggs (Store Wars)Mustapha Million

Wednesday 24 July 2019

The Whoopee Years - ‘Cheeky’s Week’, ‘Cheeky’s Pal’ and ‘Tee-Hee TV News’

Whoopee! dated 12 September 1981 was something of a revamp issue, introducing 2 strips to the comic and refashioning Cheeky's contribution.

Only one of the strips commencing in this issue was new, as the other saw the return of a character who had first appeared in another comic 12 years earlier. The entirely new strip was Ken Reid’s Tom Horror’s World, and the revived character was Willie Bunk, drawn by Frank McDiarmid in a new series of 'spectacular' adventures.

In the same issue, Cheeky’s quota of comic pages was reduced from 4 to 2. Following the end (for the time being at least) of the toothy funster’s eponymous strip, our grinning pal was allocated the centre pages in which to conduct his humorous business. However, within that double-page spread were located 5 Cheeky-related features;

Cheeky’s Week

Cheeky’s Pal

Tee-Hee TV News

Untitled Joke Section This column of gags appearing between Cheeky's Week and Cheeky's Pal would over the weeks feature a rotating selection of Krazy Town stalwarts (and occasionally celebrities of the day) delivering comical quickies.

Additionally there was a Cheeky-related strip featuring his slithering sidekick entitled, not too imaginatively, Cheeky’s Snail, which I'll be reporting on in a future post.

Whoopee! 12 September 1981
Art: Frank McDiarmid
Margaret Thatcher and Patrick Moore join in the fun


Maybe this reduction in the number of Cheeky pages resulted from negative feedback from veteran readers regarding the, as they saw it, inordinate amount of Cheeky material in the editions published since Whoopee! absorbed our toothy pal’s comic. If this was the case, it may be that the new format, with 5 features across 2 pages, was intended to persuade disappointed former Cheeky Weekly readers that although his page count had been halved they were still getting plenty of grinning gagster fun. Additionally, calling the main strip Cheeky’s Week (the title of Cheeky Weekly's cover strip from 30 September 1978 to 30 June 1979) would bring back fond memories of the toothy funster’s heyday, when each issue of his own comic portrayed a full 7 days of Cheeky fun. In reality the new feature showed only a single day in each issue.

The layout of the pages was consistent in each edition, although Cheeky's usual appearance seated at the tripe-writer was missing from Whoopee! dated 26 December 1981, as the introduction to what was for that issue titled Cheeky's Yuletide Week was in the form of jokes found inside Christmas crackers (Cheeky was also without his glasses - see below - but sporting a paper hat, in that week's Tee-Hee TV News).

Cheeky's Pal was of course also the title of an occasional feature way back in Krazy, a strip that eventually evolved into The Burpo Special which appeared in 23 issues of Cheeky Weekly. The Whoopee! run of Cheeky's Pal was similar to The Burpo Special and each week focused on a different member of Cheeky's supporting cast. Ursula was the subject of the strip in Whoopee! dated 28 November 1981, and the episode commenced with the fearsome female located next to a pile of comics, saying saying 'Humph! That Cheeky has said some really rotten things about me over the years! What's this now?'. There then follows a selection of gags presented as if Ursula is reading them from a comic (panels-within-panels as it were). However the comic Ursula is holding is Whoopee (without exclamation mark) and not, as one might have expected, Cheeky Weekly, while the pile of comics at her side are not identified. This was the only occasion on which this 5-features-across-2-pages arrangement was printed in monochrome. All the other episodes were printed in red spot colour.

Ursula scours old comics for historic slights.
Clearly all the supposed 'old' material was drawn
specially for this strip by Frank McDiarmid.



Tee-Hee TV News occupied a single TV-screen-shaped panel each week and saw our toothy pal presenting a humorous 'news item' while wearing a pair of authoritative Trevor McDonald-style glasses (except in the 1981 Christmas issue as mentioned above).

Frank McDiarmid provided all the weekly artwork for the strips mentioned in this post.

The 2-pages-with-5-features Cheeky format ran in Whoopee! for 19 17 weeks (thanks to Stephen Archer for the correction) from 12 September 1981 to 02 January 1982, the issue in which the first instalment of the 4-part cut-out-and-keep Cheeky Diary 1982 appeared (not the first time the toothy funster had provided somewhere for readers to record their daily witticisms).

Cheeky's Week made 3 further appearances on its own and in monochrome, coming to an end in the 23 January 1982 edition.

But you can't keep a good gagster down, and our toothy pal returned the following week. I'll be documenting that subsequent run soon.

Tuesday 9 July 2019

Whizzer and Chips - The Cheeky Raids part 42

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.

Whizzer and Chips dated 12 December 1987 saw the next raid to be perpetrated on Mustapha Million. But which of the Whizz-kid wanglers managed to worm their way into the proceedings? Scroll down to see the identity of the interloper.


Whizzer and Chips 12 December 1987
Art: Frank McDiarmid















Yes, it's Whizzer's pesky prankster Joker, on his second raid into Mustapha's strip (the first having been in the 27 July 1985 comic). Our middle eastern mate had previously raided Joker in the 07 June and 16 August 1986 editions.

Frank McDiarmid's artwork on this Mustapha story is much more restrained than his Cheeky work, but no doubt that was the brief he was given by the Whizzer and Chips editor.

More raiding fun soon!



Whizzer and Chips Cover Date Raider Raided
06 April 1985Mustapha MillionSuper Steve
04 May 1985Bloggs (Store Wars)Mustapha Million
11 May 1985JokerThe Krazy Gang (Cheeky)
18 May 1985Calculator Kid & CalcOdd-Ball
01 June 1985
Animalad
Mustapha Million
The Krazy Gang (Cheeky)
Boy Boss
08 June 1985Odd-BallCalculator Kid
06 July 1985Toy BoyCalculator Kid
13 July 1985Pa BumpkinThe Krazy Gang (Cheeky)
27 July 1985JokerMustapha Million
24 August 1985CheekySid's Snake
14 September 1985
Odd-Ball
Calculator Kid
Calculator Kid
Store Wars
05 October 1985Mustapha MillionAnimalad
19 October 1985Odd-BallMustapha Million
23 November 1985
Sweeny Toddler
Sweeny Toddler
Sweeny Toddler
Calculator Kid
The Krazy Gang (Cheeky)
Mustapha Million
18 January 1986Mustapha MillionSuper Steve
25 January 1986
Odd-Ball
Cheeky
Mustapha Million
Odd-Ball
08 February 1986
The Krazy Gang ends this issue
AnimaladMustapha Million
15 February 1986Lazy BonesCalculator Kid
15 March 1986Odd-BallCalculator Kid
29 March 1986Calculator KidMaster P Brain
05 April 1986Bumpkin BillionairesMustapha Million
12 April 1986AnimaladCalculator Kid
31 May 1986Lazy BonesCalculator Kid
07 June 1986Mustapha MillionJoker
28 June 1986Sweet ToothMustapha Million
26 July 1986
Calculator Kid ends this issue
No Cheeky-related raid this issueNo Cheeky-related raid this issue
16 August 1986Mustapha MillionJoker
23 August 1986Sweet ToothMustapha Million
18 October 1986Winnie the Royal NagMustapha Million
06 December 1986Toy BoyMustapha Million
13 December 1986Mustapha MillionOdd-Ball
17 January 1987SidMustapha Million
14 February 1987Odd-BallMustapha Million
11 April 1987Pa BumpkinMustapha Million
25 April 1987Mustapha MillionOdd-Ball
20 June 1987Toy BoyMustapha Million
27 June 1987Mustapha MillionMemory Banks
25 July 1987Lazy BonesMustapha Million
22 August 1987Winnie the Royal NagMustapha Million
12 September 1987Mustapha MillionSweet Tooth
19 September 1987Odd-BallMustapha Million
24 October 1987Odd-BallMustapha Million
12 December 1987JokerMustapha Million

Tuesday 2 July 2019

The Whoopee Years - ‘Cheeky’ - Initial Run

The final instalment of Cheeky’s brief foray into the movie industry, in Whoopee! And Cheeky dated 04 October 1980, coincided with the demise of the Cheeky Section in the centre pages of the comic. The toothy funster and his ex-Cheeky Weekly compatriots all survived the abandonment of the comic-within-a-comic concept, but Cheeky’s new strip (replacing his 2 previous features What a Cheek and Movie Masterpiece) was given a new name – it was evidently felt that the title It’s Cheeky, with which our grinning pal had commenced his career in Whoopee! and Cheeky, was too wordy, and as of the issue dated 11 October 1980 he embarked on a new series titled simply Cheeky. The title of the strip used the Cheeky logo which first appeared on the cover of the debut issue of Cheeky Weekly, and which had previously been used to denote the 'cover' of Whoopee! and Cheeky's Cheeky Section. This demotion of the logo to the title of a strip was one of the signals that the Cheeky Section concept had come to an end, the others being the displacement of the erstwhile Cheeky Section strips from their usual haunts in the 11 October 1980 issue, and the absence of any further references to the Cheeky comic from that date on.

The Cheeky series continued the original grinning-gagster-swapping-jokes-with-his-pals format that dated all the way back to the ‘Ello It’s Cheeky strip which began in Krazy in 1976. The film spoofs of the Movie Masterpieces ceased, but the new feature did differ slightly from the majority of the Cheeky strips we know from Krazy and Cheeky Weekly, in that they each had a theme around which to hang the wisecracks, and each was individually titled. The first ‘Cheeky’ strip was titled Get Your Skates On and it seems the editor wasn’t sure that long-term Whoopee! readers who weren’t familiar with the toothy funster’s supporting cast prior to the merge back in February 1980 had yet got to grips with the characters…


The debut instalment of Cheeky - Whoopee! and Cheeky 11 October 1980
Art: Frank McDiarmid, as is all the artwork in this post


There were in fact 2 Whoopee! runs of the ‘Cheeky’ strip. The first run concluded in the issue dated 05 September 1981. Details of the second run  appear here.
 
All the ‘Cheeky’ strips in the original run, which spanned 48 consecutive issues, consisted of 4 pages and all were drawn by Frank McDiarmid, who included a different depiction of the toothy funster next to the title of each week's story. Frank continued the tradition of including references to himself from time to time, and on one occasion his own dexterous digits were on view.



The strip in the 01 November 1980 edition titled ‘The Paper Round’, saw our toothy pal revive memories of the Sunday page in Cheeky Weekly, when he took over the newspaper deliveries usually undertaken by Bump-Bump Bernie (an aspect of Bernie’s life of which we hadn’t previously been aware), who had got his arm stuck in a letter box.

The Knock-Knock Door with legs instead of its usual castors

A number of the strips in this series concerned Cheeky's endeavours to arrive at school on time, something he rarely achieved.

Readers who were wondering whether
Whoopee's adoption of Cheeky had
resulted their toothy pal's adventures
being relocated from Krazy Town to
Whoopeeville got their answer
in this strip


Lily Pop appeared in every Cheeky strip in this initial run, making a topless appearance on one occasion...



...and the armed forces amusement level was raised by the introduction of two new characters...




Paddywack also joined the supporting cast during this run.

In 15 August 1981's Clown Court, in which a jury presided over by Judge Cheeky was called upon to consider the charge that Whoopee! was not the funniest comic in the world, Frank McDiarmid had fun drawing some of the other characters appearing in the title (including the toothy funster's former Cheeky Weekly colleagues, Calculator Kid and the Stage School kids). This episode, depicting Cheeky in a role other than his normal persona, wouldn't have been out of place as a Movie Masterpiece.


Posh Claude's expression as he meets Frankie Stein is
superbly rendered. Frank had of course drawn
Frankie before, and would do so again.

The Tower of Fun, in the comic dated 13 June 1981, included a page without individual panels, consisting of a number of gags delivered by an assortment of Cheeky's pals who were within the titular edifice. This 'panel-less page of gags' idea appeared several more times during this initial run, A variety of subjects occupied the page of gags, such as the toothy funster's supporting cast parachuting (Jumping for Joy, 27 June 1981, although Cheeky Weekly's Parachutist was not among them) or amusing signs in a shop window (Laughs in Store 22 August 1981). Cheeky returned to Titter Tower in the 25 July 1981 issue.

The first appearance of Titter Tower

Whoopee! acknowledged its absorption of Cheeky Weekly until the 25 July 1981 issue (although all the strips that had been adopted from the toothy funster's comic continued to appear after that date), but the initial run of the Cheeky feature continued until 05 September 1981. In that edition the title of the Cheeky strip was All Change and the grinning gagster alluded to a forthcoming revamp of the comic and his strip.

Cover Date Comic Title Feature Story Title
11-OCT-80 Whoopee! and Cheeky Cheeky Get Your Skates On
18-OCT-80 Whoopee! and Cheeky Cheeky Rush For School
25-OCT-80 Whoopee! and Cheeky Cheeky Is This Your Life
01-NOV-80 Whoopee! and Cheeky Cheeky The Paper Round
08-NOV-80 Whoopee! and Cheeky Cheeky Charity
15-NOV-80 Whoopee! and Cheeky Cheeky The Joke-Contest
22-NOV-80 Whoopee! and Cheeky Cheeky Up For The Cup
29-NOV-80 Whoopee! and Cheeky Cheeky Watch The Birdie
06-DEC-80 Whoopee! and Cheeky Cheeky The Numbers Game
13-DEC-80 Whoopee! and Cheeky Cheeky A Day At The Market
20-DEC-80 Whoopee! and Cheeky Cheeky The Sports Report
27-DEC-80 Whoopee! and Cheeky Cheeky Cheeky's Christmas Crackers
03-JAN-81 Whoopee! and Cheeky Cheeky Cheeky's New Year
10-JAN-81 Whoopee! and Cheeky Cheeky Only Dreaming
17-JAN-81 Whoopee! and Cheeky Cheeky Off The Rails
24-JAN-81 Whoopee! and Cheeky Cheeky Inventions
31-JAN-81 Whoopee! and Cheeky Cheeky Out In The Cold
07-FEB-81 Whoopee! and Cheeky Cheeky Service With A Smile
14-FEB-81 Whoopee! and Cheeky Cheeky First With The News
21-FEB-81 Whoopee! and Cheeky Cheeky The Haunted House
28-FEB-81 Whoopee! and Cheeky Cheeky Gone Shopping
07-MAR-81 Whoopee! and Cheeky Cheeky A Day In The Garden
14-MAR-81 Whoopee! and Cheeky Cheeky Delivery Boy
21-MAR-81 Whoopee! and Cheeky Cheeky On The Move
28-MAR-81 Whoopee! and Cheeky Cheeky A Laugh On The Ocean Wave
04-APR-81 Whoopee! and Cheeky Cheeky Animal Antics
11-APR-81 Whoopee! and Cheeky Cheeky Model Mania
18-APR-81 Whoopee! and Cheeky Cheeky Going For The Record
25-APR-81 Whoopee! and Cheeky Cheeky Easter Eggstravaganza
02-MAY-81 Whoopee! and Cheeky Cheeky Look Out Libby's About
09-MAY-81 Whoopee! and Cheeky Cheeky Raisin A Laugh
16-MAY-81 Whoopee! and Cheeky Cheeky Late For School
23-MAY-81 Whoopee! and Cheeky Cheeky Wakey-Wakey
30-MAY-81 Whoopee! and Cheeky Cheeky Stuck For Words
06-JUN-81 Whoopee! and Cheeky Cheeky The Big Yawn
13-JUN-81 Whoopee! and Cheeky Cheeky The Tower Of Fun
20-JUN-81 Whoopee! and Cheeky Cheeky Choo-Choo Chuckles
27-JUN-81 Whoopee! and Cheeky Cheeky Jumping For Joy
04-JUL-81 Whoopee! and Cheeky Cheeky First Class Fun
11-JUL-81 Whoopee! and Cheeky Cheeky A Site For Sore Eyes
18-JUL-81 Whoopee! and Cheeky Cheeky Funny Feathers
25-JUL-81 Whoopee! and Cheeky Cheeky The Laughter Tower
01-AUG-81 Whoopee! Cheeky The Obstacle Race
08-AUG-81 Whoopee! Cheeky Wanted
15-AUG-81 Whoopee! Cheeky Clown Court
22-AUG-81 Whoopee! Cheeky Laughs in Store
29-AUG-81 Whoopee! Cheeky A Splashing Time
05-SEP-81 Whoopee! Cheeky All Change