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