Cheeky Specials and Annuals continued to be published following Cheeky Weekly's merge into Whoopee! in February 1980. Specials of the post-Cheeky Weekly demise era were published from 1980 - 1982, and Annuals from 1980 to 1984 - the Annuals dated, of course a year ahead in each case. Whoopee! Specials and Annuals were also published in the same years (and beyond). What, if any, Cheeky-related material appeared in those Whoopee! Annuals and Specials?
Here's a list of all the adverts for Specials and Annuals which appeared in Whoopee and Wow! during 1984...
| TITLE | COVER_DATE | ADVERTISER | PRODUCT |
| Whoopee and Wow! | 28-Apr-1984 | IPC | Whoopee Holiday Special |
| Whoopee and Wow! | 09-Jun-1984 | IPC | Wow! Holiday Special |
| Whoopee and Wow! | 16-Jun-1984 | IPC | Wow! Holiday Special |
| Whoopee and Wow! | 01-Sep-1984 | IPC | Whoopee Annual |
| Whoopee and Wow! | 08-Sep-1984 | IPC | Whoopee Annual |
| Whoopee and Wow! | 29-Sep-1984 | IPC | 50 Annuals |
| Whoopee and Wow! | 29-Sep-1984 | IPC | 50 Annuals |
| Whoopee and Wow! | 29-Sep-1984 | IPC | 50 Annuals |
| Whoopee and Wow! | 29-Sep-1984 | IPC | 50 Annuals |
| Whoopee and Wow! | 27-Oct-1984 | IPC | Whoopee Annual |
| Whoopee and Wow! | 03-Nov-1984 | IPC | Annuals |
| Whoopee and Wow! | 10-Nov-1984 | IPC | Whoopee Annual |
| Whoopee and Wow! | 17-Nov-1984 | IPC | 321 Annual |
| Whoopee and Wow! | 24-Nov-1984 | IPC | Whoopee Annual |
| Whoopee and Wow! | 01-Dec-1984 | IPC | Annuals |
| Whoopee and Wow! | 01-Dec-1984 | IPC | Shiver and Shake Annual |
| Whoopee and Wow! | 08-Dec-1984 | IPC | Whoopee Annual |
| Whoopee and Wow! | 15-Dec-1984 | IPC | Annuals |
| Whoopee and Wow! | 22-Dec-1984 | IPC | Whoopee Annual |
The total number of Special/Annual ads has risen slightly on the previous year, although the number of Special ads has fallen to just 3, with the Wow! Holiday Special getting twice the number of ads allocated to Whoopee. The total Annual ads far outnumber the total Special ads, although each appearance of an ad is counted regardless of size, so half-page and full-page ads both get counted as 1. The 29 September 1984 '50 Annuals' flyer is counted 4 times since it covers 4 pages...
| Year | Annual | Special | Total |
| 1980 | 13 | 18 | 31 |
| 1981 | 16 | 22 | 38 |
| 1982 | 17 | 9 | 26 |
| 1983 | 9 | 8 | 17 |
| 1984 | 16 | 3 | 19 |
Whoopee Holiday Special 1984
This Special was advertised in the weekly Whoopee and Wow! dated 28 April 1984, and it's the first Whoopee Special to emerge since Wow! dislodged the older title's exclamation mark when Whoopee absorbed the survivors of that failed title in July 1983. Sweeny Toddler is the cover star, causing a beach-based denture dilemma rendered by the reliable Mike Lacey. The most recent popularity poll results appeared in Whoopee and Wow! dated 31 March 1984, and revealed that the demon baby was the readers' favourite, so it's no surprise that the notorious nipper has been chosen for the front page. Fans of the intimidating infant will possibly consider the editor to have been rather mean with his Sweeny ration, as the Special contains only 4 episodes of teeny terror, all of which are reprints (although the recycled back cover tale has been coloured).
There was no Cheeky-related material in last year's Whoopee! Special, despite there being no Cheeky Special either (the 1982 Cheeky Special was the final one).
As of the end of March 1984 the following ex-Cheeky-Weekly-related strips continue to feature in the weekly Whoopee and Wow!
- Stage School
- 6 Million Dollar Gran (although now appearing under the title Gran's Gang)
- Paddywack
- Mustapha Million
- Calculator Kid
- Cheeky
However, none of these characters are to be found within the pages of the 1984 Whoopee Special, so we'll swiftly move on.
Whoopee Annual 1985
Like this year's Whoopee Special, this is the first Whoopee Annual to be divested of its '!', and the Bumpkins are the cover stars as they were on the previous year's Annual. Mike Lacey is once again commissioned to provide the visuals, as the rural rascals load their Christmas pud mix with shovel-loads of cash. Those unfortunates who partake of this coin-crammed Christmas confection will at least be able to fund the dental work necessary to repair their shattered molars.
Since publication of this year's Whoopee Special, a further set of popularity poll results has been published, in Whoopee and Wow! dated 21 July 1984. Reader opinion at that time placed Sweeny Toddler again at the number one spot, with cover stars the Bumpkins at number 3, slipping one place since the previous poll results were revealed.
This Annual will be sharing newsagents' shelf space with the Cheeky Annual 1985, so it's probably not surprising that there is no Cheeky-related material lurking within the Whoopee Annual 1985. Sadly there is no work by Frank McDiarmid, who provided a Willie Bunk episode last year, on display here, either - the 2 helpings of Bunk featured within are by another artist.
Surprisingly, in view of the recent poll results referred to above, the Bumpkin presence in this Annual outnumbers Sweeny's, with a total of 8 pages of Bumpkins (2 of which are in colour) versus 6 and a half of black and white Sweeny reprints.
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| Sweeny's half-page outing |
Join me again soon as I examine the Whoopee Special and Annual published in 1985 for evidence of Cheeky content - the Cheeky Annual published in 1984 was the final one, so what effect will that have?
