The Whoopee Years - Cheeky Weekly Characters in the Popularity Polls - part 7

Were the readers of late-era Whoopee the most regularly-polled (some might say mercilessly-polled) comic audience in history? I don't know, but I strongly suspect they were. However there's no time for further consideration of that now as we need to dive in to the next set of results...

The previous post in this series concluded with the Top Ten results printed in the 06 November 1982 issue.

As the editor promised, another voting coupon was printed in the 27 November 1982 edition, and the next results appeared in the comic dated 04 December 1982. Clearly votes sent in response to the 27 November coupon wouldn't be reflected in the 04 December results but presumably the frequency of the voting coupons (7 appeared in the comic during 1982) meant that there was a continuous background trickle of completed Top Ten coupons arriving at the Whoopee office, as well as the small voting coupons that featured on most of the letters pages.

What features had ended between 06 November and 04 December issues?

START_DATE	END_DATE	CE_ELEMENT
21-MAR-81	27-NOV-82	Whoopee It's Quiz Time

...this was something of a filler in which readers were presented with scenes from a selection of the stories within that week's edition and then set questions about the events which had transpired in those strips.

What new additions had there been?

START_DATE	END_DATE	CE_ELEMENT
27-NOV-82	23-MAR-85	Calculator Corner
04-DEC-82	25-JUN-83	Quizmaster
04-DEC-82	04-JUN-83	Rambling Rhymes

Calculator Corner, launched in the same issue that contained the final Whoopee It's Quiz Time, was of course a spin-off from Cheeky Weekly's Calculator Kid. This single-row-of-panels-per-week quiz concoction set readers puzzles which they could use their new pocket calculators to solve. Quizmaster was another brainteaser replacement for Whoopee It's Quiz Time (although unlike its full-page predecessor, Quizmaster was limited to a half-page per issue), the new feature hosted by different Whoopee stars each week. Rambling Rhymes was a series of strips featuring captions written in verse.

The following strips continued during the period under review...

START_DATE	END_DATE	CE_ELEMENT
09-FEB-80	25-JUN-83	Smiler
09-FEB-80	12-JAN-85	Cover Feature
09-FEB-80	30-MAR-85	Bookworm
09-FEB-80	30-MAR-85	Bumpkin Billionaires
09-FEB-80	30-MAR-85	Calculator Kid
09-FEB-80	30-MAR-85	Frankie Stein
09-FEB-80	30-MAR-85	Lolly Pop
09-FEB-80	30-MAR-85	Mustapha Million
09-FEB-80	30-MAR-85	Paddywack
09-FEB-80	30-MAR-85	Stage School
09-FEB-80	30-MAR-85	Sweeny Toddler
09-FEB-80	30-MAR-85	Toy Boy
16-FEB-80	30-MAR-85	Chip
01-MAR-80	19-JAN-85	Top Ten voting coupon
10-MAY-80	09-MAR-85	Top Ten Results
01-NOV-80	27-OCT-84	Guy Fawkes Mask
09-MAY-81	25-JUN-83	Robot Granny
12-SEP-81	25-JUN-83	Tom Horror's World
31-OCT-81	05-NOV-83	Guy Fawkes Supermask
02-JAN-82	25-JUN-83	Teacher's Pets
27-MAR-82	25-JUN-83	Little Ed
01-MAY-82	25-JUN-83	Beaky
01-MAY-82	25-JUN-83	Kids of Class Five
01-MAY-82	25-JUN-83	Smile-In
01-MAY-82	25-JUN-83	Whoopee Winners
22-MAY-82	25-JUN-83	Cheeky (second run)
23-OCT-82	30-MAR-85	Snack-Man

These are the 04 December 1982 results...

Robot Granny Art: Ian Knox

Mustapha Million re-enters the top 5, having fallen to 7th place in the previous results.

Poll Date	Feature	Position
10/05/80	Mustapha Million	1
15/11/80	Mustapha Million	1
20/06/81	Mustapha Million	1
20/02/82	Mustapha Million	3
07/08/82	Mustapha Million	4
21/08/82	Mustapha Million	4
02/10/82	Mustapha Million	4
06/11/82	Mustapha Million	7
04/12/82	Mustapha Million	4

Calculator Kid has also fared better this time, up from 8th place to number 6.

Poll Date	Feature	Position
10/05/80	Calculator Kid	4
15/11/80	Calculator Kid	2
20/06/81	Calculator Kid	5
20/02/82	Calculator Kid	4
07/08/82	Calculator Kid	6
21/08/82	Calculator Kid	5
02/10/82	Calculator Kid	6
06/11/82	Calculator Kid	8
04/12/82	Calculator Kid	6

Stage School have made a dramatic move in the opposite direction, dropping from 3rd place last time to number 8.

Poll Date	Feature	Position
10/05/80	Stage School	8
15/11/80	Stage School	6
20/06/81	Stage School	10
20/02/82	Stage School	7
07/08/82	Stage School	8
21/08/82	Stage School	10
02/10/82	Stage School	5
06/11/82	Stage School	3
04/12/82	Stage School	8

Robot Granny, having edged back into the results in 10th place last time, is absent. Cheeky and Paddywack remain consistent in failing to trouble the typesetter of the poll results yet again.

My examination of the fortunes of the ex-Cheeky Weekly funny folk in the Whoopee Top Ten polls continues in part 8.

Back to part 6

Brian Walker RIP

downthetubes is reporting the sad news that Brian Walker has passed away. Brian's unmistakable and highly appealing style graced many comics, including Cheeky Weekly, where he worked in collaboration with Barrie Appleby on Laugh and Learn. My condolences to Brian's family and friends.

The Whoopee Years - Cheeky Weekly Characters in the Popularity Polls - part 6

The previous post in this series concluded with the Top Ten results printed in the issue dated 02 October 1982.

A Top Ten voting coupon was printed in the comic dated 30 October 1982, and the next results were published in the 06 November 1982 edition.

As has become customary in this series of posts, we'll first examine those features which ended between the previous poll results and the latest...

START_DATE	END_DATE	CE_ELEMENT
18-SEP-82	09-OCT-82	Toby's Animal Rescue Service booklet

These are the features that started between the two poll results...

START_DATE	END_DATE	CE_ELEMENT
16-OCT-82	16-OCT-82	Microchip Badge Giveaway
23-OCT-82	30-MAR-85	Snack-Man
06-NOV-82	06-NOV-82	Pa Bumpkin's Countryside Spot-The-Difference
06-NOV-82	06-NOV-82	Teach Your Family The Firework Code

Three one-offs are joined by David Mostyn's arcade game-inspired Snack-Man, whose grub-grabbing adventures went straight onto the comic's front cover, so the editor must have been confident that kids would enjoy the strip.

As usual, to understand the full contents of the comic at that point, we'll just remind ourselves of the features that were ongoing at the time...

START_DATE	END_DATE	CE_ELEMENT
09-FEB-80	25-JUN-83	Smiler
09-FEB-80	12-JAN-85	Cover Feature
09-FEB-80	30-MAR-85	Bookworm
09-FEB-80	30-MAR-85	Bumpkin Billionaires
09-FEB-80	30-MAR-85	Calculator Kid
09-FEB-80	30-MAR-85	Frankie Stein
09-FEB-80	30-MAR-85	Lolly Pop
09-FEB-80	30-MAR-85	Mustapha Million
09-FEB-80	30-MAR-85	Paddywack
09-FEB-80	30-MAR-85	Stage School
09-FEB-80	30-MAR-85	Sweeny Toddler
09-FEB-80	30-MAR-85	Toy Boy
16-FEB-80	30-MAR-85	Chip
01-MAR-80	19-JAN-85	Top Ten voting coupon
10-MAY-80	09-MAR-85	Top Ten Results
01-NOV-80	27-OCT-84	Guy Fawkes Mask
21-MAR-81	27-NOV-82	Whoopee It's Quiz Time
09-MAY-81	25-JUN-83	Robot Granny
12-SEP-81	25-JUN-83	Tom Horror's World
31-OCT-81	05-NOV-83	Guy Fawkes Supermask
02-JAN-82	25-JUN-83	Teacher's Pets
27-MAR-82	25-JUN-83	Little Ed
01-MAY-82	25-JUN-83	Beaky
01-MAY-82	25-JUN-83	Kids of Class Five
01-MAY-82	25-JUN-83	Smile-In
01-MAY-82	25-JUN-83	Whoopee Winners
22-MAY-82	25-JUN-83	Cheeky (second run)

Stage School, Mustapha Million and Calculator Kid continued essentially unchanged from their Cheeky Weekly days. Gran was still in her 'Robot' phase as far as the title of her strip was concerned (she had of course always been a mechanical synthetic human). Paddywack had suffered a reversal of fortune since his erstwhile Whoopee cover-star status and was by now reduced to a half-page per week. Cheeky was faring just a little better, occupying one page per issue, although when compared to his former 5-page per week Whoopee presence this was a considerable comedown.

Let's look at the 06 November 1982 results...

Stage School seem to be enjoying something of a resurgence, having moved up from 5th place last time to 3rd position, the highest they've ever reached.

Poll Date	Feature	Position
10/05/80	Stage School	8
15/11/80	Stage School	6
20/06/81	Stage School	10
20/02/82	Stage School	7
07/08/82	Stage School	8
21/08/82	Stage School	10
02/10/82	Stage School	5
06/11/82	Stage School	3

Mustapha Million's previously slow descent through the rankings has accelerated, dropping from 4th to 7th place.

Poll Date	Feature	Position
10/05/80	Mustapha Million	1
15/11/80	Mustapha Million	1
20/06/81	Mustapha Million	1
20/02/82	Mustapha Million	3
07/08/82	Mustapha Million	4
21/08/82	Mustapha Million	4
02/10/82	Mustapha Million	4
06/11/82	Mustapha Million	7

Calculator Kid reaches his lowest point so far, at number 8.

Poll Date	Feature	Position
10/05/80	Calculator Kid	4
15/11/80	Calculator Kid	2
20/06/81	Calculator Kid	5
20/02/82	Calculator Kid	4
07/08/82	Calculator Kid	6
21/08/82	Calculator Kid	5
02/10/82	Calculator Kid	6
06/11/82	Calculator Kid	8

Gran makes a surprise re-entry at number 10, only the second time that the aged automaton has achieved a place among the upper echelon of Whoopee characters.

Poll Date	Feature	Position
10/05/80	$6,000,000 Gran	7
06/11/82	Robot Granny	10

Cheeky and Paddywack remain consistent in failing to make any impression among the top ten placings.

My examination of the fortunes of the ex-Cheeky Weekly funny folk in the Whoopee Top Ten polls continues in part 7.

Back to part 5