Stephen Archer has returned from his latest investigative foray into the annals of Whizzer and Chips, in search of original dates of another feature reprinted in Cheeky Weekly. The subject of Stephen’s examination on this occasion is The Double Deckers, a series which went by the pseudonymous and somewhat unimaginative title of The Gang during its rehash across the Cheeky titles.
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| The first page of The Double Deckers' debut - Whizzer and Chips 22 May 1971 |
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| The second page of The Gang's debut (a reprint of the same episode as above) - Cheeky Weekly 07 July 1979 |
The Double Deckers ran in Whizzer and Chips (more specifically in the Chips section of that long-running 'two comics in one' title) for 52 weeks between 1971 and 1972. 36 of these episodes were repackaged as The Gang and distributed across the Cheeky publications (and, in one instance, returned to their title of origin as part of publisher IPC’s 1979 Star Guest promotion) as follows...
| Title | Feature | Total Episodes |
| Cheeky Weekly | The Gang | 31 |
| Cheeky Holiday Special 1980 |
The Gang | 2 |
| Cheeky Annual 1981 | The Gang | 2 |
| Whizzer and Chips with Krazy | Star Guest The Gang | 1 |
For those of you who read my post on The Gang's Star Guest outing and who have been waiting since June 2015 to see the first page of The Double Decker adventure from which it was parted, here it is...
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| Art: Robert MacGillivray |
Below is a list of all the Double Deckers episodes, indicating those selected for reprint as The Gang. My thanks to Stephen Archer for the information concerning the original run in Whizzer and Chips and matching them with the reprints.
| Cover Date | Originally in | Original Feature | Art | Original Elements | Reprinted in | Reprint Date | Reprint Feature | Reprint Elements |
| 22-May-1971 | Whizzer and Chips | The Double Deckers | Robert MacGillivray | 2 | Cheeky Weekly | 07-Jul-1979 | The Gang | 2 |
| 29-May-1971 | Whizzer and Chips | The Double Deckers | Robert MacGillivray | 2 | |
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| 05-Jun-1971 | Whizzer and Chips | The Double Deckers | Robert MacGillivray | 2 | Cheeky Weekly | 19-Jan-1980 | The Gang | 2 |
| 12-Jun-1971 | Whizzer and Chips | The Double Deckers | Robert MacGillivray | 2 | |
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| 19-Jun-1971 | Whizzer and Chips | The Double Deckers | Robert MacGillivray | 2 | |
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| 26-Jun-1971 | Whizzer and Chips | The Double Deckers | Robert MacGillivray | 2 | |
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| 03-Jul-1971 | Whizzer and Chips | The Double Deckers | Robert MacGillivray | 2 | Cheeky Weekly | 18-Aug-1979 | The Gang | 2 |
| 10-Jul-1971 | Whizzer and Chips | The Double Deckers | Robert MacGillivray | 2 | |
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| 17-Jul-1971 | Whizzer and Chips | The Double Deckers | Robert MacGillivray | 2 | Cheeky Weekly | 15-Sep-1979 | The Gang | 2 |
| 24-Jul-1971 | Whizzer and Chips | The Double Deckers | Robert MacGillivray | 2 | Cheeky Weekly | 10-Nov-1979 | The Gang | 2 |
| 31-Jul-1971 | Whizzer and Chips | The Double Deckers | Robert MacGillivray | 2 | Cheeky Holiday Special | 01-Apr-1980 | The Gang | 2 |
| 07-Aug-1971 | Whizzer and Chips | The Double Deckers | Robert MacGillivray | 2 | |
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| 14-Aug-1971 | Whizzer and Chips | The Double Deckers | Robert MacGillivray | 2 | Cheeky Weekly | 29-Sep-1979 | The Gang | 2 |
| 21-Aug-1971 | Whizzer and Chips | The Double Deckers | Robert MacGillivray | 2 | Cheeky Holiday Special | 01-Apr-1980 | The Gang | 2 |
| 28-Aug-1971 | Whizzer and Chips | The Double Deckers | Robert MacGillivray | 2 | |
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| 04-Sep-1971 | Whizzer and Chips | The Double Deckers | Robert MacGillivray | 2 | Cheeky Weekly | 27-Oct-1979 | The Gang | 2 |
| 11-Sep-1971 | Whizzer and Chips | The Double Deckers | Robert MacGillivray | 2 | |
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| 18-Sep-1971 | Whizzer and Chips | The Double Deckers | Robert MacGillivray | 2 | Cheeky Weekly | 11-Aug-1979 | The Gang | 2 |
| 25-Sep-1971 | Whizzer and Chips | The Double Deckers | Robert MacGillivray | 2 | Cheeky Weekly | 20-Oct-1979 | The Gang | 2 |
| 02-Oct-1971 | Whizzer and Chips | The Double Deckers | Robert MacGillivray | 2 | Cheeky Weekly | 14-Jul-1979 | The Gang | 2 |
| 09-Oct-1971 | Whizzer and Chips | The Double Deckers | Robert MacGillivray | 2 | Cheeky Weekly | 29-Dec-1979 | The Gang | 2 |
| 16-Oct-1971 | Whizzer and Chips | The Double Deckers | Robert MacGillivray | 2 | Cheeky Weekly | 26-Jan-1980 | The Gang | 2 |
| 23-Oct-1971 | Whizzer and Chips | The Double Deckers | Robert MacGillivray | 2 | |
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| 30-Oct-1971 | Whizzer and Chips | The Double Deckers | 2 | Cheeky Annual 1981 | 01-Sep-1980 | The Gang | 4 | |
| 06-Nov-1971 | Whizzer and Chips | The Double Deckers | Robert MacGillivray | 2 | |
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| 13-Nov-1971 | Whizzer and Chips | The Double Deckers | Robert MacGillivray | 2 | |
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| 20-Nov-1971 | Whizzer and Chips | The Double Deckers | Robert MacGillivray | 2 | Cheeky Weekly | 03-Nov-1979 | The Gang | 2 |
| 27-Nov-1971 | Whizzer and Chips | The Double Deckers | Robert MacGillivray | 2 | Cheeky Weekly | 21-Jul-1979 | The Gang | 2 |
| 04-Dec-1971 | Whizzer and Chips | The Double Deckers | Robert MacGillivray | 2 | Cheeky Weekly | 08-Dec-1979 | The Gang | 2 |
| 11-Dec-1971 | Whizzer and Chips | The Double Deckers | Robert MacGillivray | 2 | Cheeky Weekly | 12-Jan-1980 | The Gang | 2 |
| 18-Dec-1971 | Whizzer and Chips | The Double Deckers | Robert MacGillivray | 2 | |
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| 25-Dec-1971 | Whizzer and Chips | The Double Deckers | Robert MacGillivray | 2 | Cheeky Weekly | 22-Dec-1979 | The Gang | 2 |
| 01-Jan-1972 | Whizzer and Chips | The Double Deckers | Robert MacGillivray | 2 | Cheeky Weekly | 05-Jan-1980 | The Gang | 2 |
| 08-Jan-1972 | Whizzer and Chips | The Double Deckers | Robert MacGillivray | 2 | |
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| 15-Jan-1972 | Whizzer and Chips | The Double Deckers | Robert MacGillivray | 2 | Cheeky Annual 1981 | 01-Sep-1980 | The Gang | 4 |
| 22-Jan-1972 | Whizzer and Chips | The Double Deckers | Robert MacGillivray | 2 | Whizzer and Chips with Krazy | 21-Jul-1979 | Star Guest The Gang | 1 |
| 29-Jan-1972 | Whizzer and Chips | The Double Deckers | Robert MacGillivray | 2 | Cheeky Weekly | 01-Sep-1979 | The Gang | 2 |
| 05-Feb-1972 | Whizzer and Chips | The Double Deckers | Robert MacGillivray | 2 | Cheeky Weekly | 15-Dec-1979 | The Gang | 2 |
| 12-Feb-1972 | Whizzer and Chips | The Double Deckers | Robert MacGillivray | 2 | |
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| 19-Feb-1972 | Whizzer and Chips | The Double Deckers | Robert MacGillivray | 2 | Cheeky Weekly | 01-Dec-1979 | The Gang | 2 |
| 26-Feb-1972 | Whizzer and Chips | The Double Deckers | Robert MacGillivray | 2 | |
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| 04-Mar-1972 | Whizzer and Chips | The Double Deckers | Robert MacGillivray | 2 | Cheeky Weekly | 13-Oct-1979 | The Gang | 2 |
| 11-Mar-1972 | Whizzer and Chips | The Double Deckers | Robert MacGillivray | 2 | Cheeky Weekly | 25-Aug-1979 | The Gang | 2 |
| 18-Mar-1972 | Whizzer and Chips | The Double Deckers | Robert MacGillivray | 2 | Cheeky Weekly | 02-Feb-1980 | The Gang | 2 |
| 25-Mar-1972 | Whizzer and Chips | The Double Deckers | Robert MacGillivray | 2 | Cheeky Weekly | 06-Oct-1979 | The Gang | 2 |
| 01-Apr-1972 | Whizzer and Chips | The Double Deckers | Robert MacGillivray | 2 | |
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| 08-Apr-1972 | Whizzer and Chips | The Double Deckers | Robert MacGillivray | 2 | Cheeky Weekly | 17-Nov-1979 | The Gang | 2 |
| 15-Apr-1972 | Whizzer and Chips | The Double Deckers | Robert MacGillivray | 2 | Cheeky Weekly | 22-Sep-1979 | The Gang | 2 |
| 22-Apr-1972 | Whizzer and Chips | The Double Deckers | Robert MacGillivray | 2 | Cheeky Weekly | 24-Nov-1979 | The Gang | 2 |
| 29-Apr-1972 | Whizzer and Chips | The Double Deckers | Robert MacGillivray | 2 | Cheeky Weekly | 04-Aug-1979 | The Gang | 2 |
| 06-May-1972 | Whizzer and Chips | The Double Deckers | Robert MacGillivray | 2 | Cheeky Weekly | 08-Sep-1979 | The Gang | 2 |
| 13-May-1972 | Whizzer and Chips | The Double Deckers | Robert MacGillivray | 2 | Cheeky Weekly | 28-Jul-1979 | The Gang | 2 |
As you'll see, I haven't attributed an artwork credit to the Double Deckers episode dated 30 October 1971, reprinted in Cheeky Annual 1981. This is because I don't believe it to be the work of Robert MacGillivray, and I'm unable to identify the artist (this is my own opinion on the matter, Stephen has not commented, mainly because I haven't asked him for a view on the subject). Here is that episode as printed in the Cheeky Annual 1981 - as mentioned above, there have clearly been alterations to the artwork to expand it to fill 4 Annual pages. Quite why the editor felt the need to go to the trouble of deputing a staff member to resize 2 episodes for use in this Annual is a bit of a mystery, considering there were 16 Double Decker strips which had not been reprinted at the time the book was compiled, and no further Gang episodes would appear after the 1981 Annual. Maybe it was felt that including four soporific 2-page Gang tales in one Annual rather than two 4-page ones would have elevated the tedium of the feature to unendurable levels. Speaking personally, even one appearance by the uninspiring team is too much for me.
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| The Gang's second adventure from Cheeky Annual 1981 |
Apart from the resizing of episodes and title change, a number of additional alterations were made to the original strips when preparing them for reprint, some of which I have previously documented and can be found via the link in the first paragraph above.
Stephen has previously researched the original dates of 3 Cheeky reprints - Ringer Dinger, The Cave Kids and Why, Dad, Why?, but The Gang is the first feature to come under his scrutiny where the debut episode of the reprint run has featured the strip which was the inaugural story from its original series. However, unlike the aforementioned 3 features, there was a definitively final Double Deckers episode, at the conclusion of which the bus-based band bade farewell to their Chip-ite chums as they eschewed their erstwhile omnibus dwelling in favour of a caravan and motored off into comic history, but it was reprinted, with alterations among which was (for some inexplicable reason) the design of Albert's car, as the 5th instalment of The Gang's 36-episode resurrection.
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| Whizzer and Chips 13 May 1972 |
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| Cheeky Weekly 28 July 1979 |
Having ceded their 2-page-a-week slot in Chips, what was chosen to replace the dreary doings of the tedious troupe as from the 20 May 1972 edition? Chip-ite supremo, the permanently eye-blackened Shiner, made an announcement in the issue from which The Double Deckers departed...
I don't know who the artists are on either of these pages, showing the debut episodes from Whizzer and Chips dated 20 May 1972.
The evidence of the first episode of Ma, Pa and Baby Ba suggests it was a variation on the 'unruly infant' idea which was often seen in comics over the years, arguably reaching its apotheosis in Sweeny Toddler. Cheeky Weekly of course featured its own version of the naughty nipper concept - Baby Burpo.
