Bruce looks at Cheeky Annual 1979

Bruce continues his series looking at the Cheeky annuals on his blog.

The Features - 'Old Comic'

This feature didn't have a title in Cheeky Weekly, so I refer to it as Old Comic.

Sounds like a Viz character

Often introduced with a caption that read 'ask your dad if he remembers this', the Old Comic feature presented vintage pages from the comics of yesteryear (i.e. reprints).  The source material was originally published between 1929 and 1969, with the majority of the selections coming from the 1950s.

Some of the choices of celebrity strips seem a bit obscure.  Late 70s kids would probably be aware of Reg Varney from repeats of On the Buses and his later TV work, and they'd know Norman Wisdom because his films were regularly on TV, but Frank Randle is a bit of an niche selection.

Certain strips would appear more than once, with Dodger Caine from Tiger emerging as the most frequently featured character with 3 reprints.

I'm afraid that these titles go way outside my area of knowledge, so I can't attribute artists to any of them.

Old Comic was framed by Cheeky's dad grudgingly buying Cheeky a comic on Tuesdays, complaining that comics are a waste of time and money. Cheeky would then raid his dad's cherished stash of comics in the attic, and show us one of the pages therein.

Feature	First Appearance	Final Appearance	Total Issues	Total Issues Missed In Run	Page History
Old Comic	22-Oct-77	26-Aug-78	37	8	11,12,13,14,22,24

Issues Missed In Run

13-May-78

08-Jul-78

15-Jul-78

22-Jul-78

29-Jul-78

05-Aug-78

12-Aug-78

19-Aug-78

Cover Date	Details	From
22-Oct-77	Old Comic (first appearance) reprint from Knockout 'Mike'	1949
29-Oct-77	Old Comic reprint from Film Fun 'Abbott and Costello' 1 of 2	1952
05-Nov-77	Old Comic reprint from Sun Weekly 'Deed-a-Day Danny' 1 of 2	1959
12-Nov-77	Old Comic reprint from Chips 'Weary Willie and Tired Tim'	1945
19-Nov-77	Old Comic reprint from Jingles 'Little Jim Jolly'	1946
26-Nov-77	Old Comic reprint from Tiger 'Dodger Caine' 1 of 3	1954
03-Dec-77	Old Comic reprint from Film Fun 'Red Skelton'	1952
10-Dec-77	Old Comic reprint from TV Fun 'Mick and Montmorency' 1 of 2	1955
17-Dec-77	Old Comic reprint from Radio Fun 'Norman Wisdom'	1958
24-Dec-77	Old Comic reprint from Tip Top 'Artie' reprint from Tip Top 'Our Jean'	1952
31-Dec-77	Old Comic reprint from Film Fun 'Frank Randle'	1952
07-Jan-78	Old Comic reprint from Chips 'Rudolf the Red Nosed Ranger' reprint from Chips 'Dickie Duffer' 1 of 2	1953
14-Jan-78	Old Comic reprint from School Friend 'Dilly Dreem' 1 of 2	1950
21-Jan-78	Old Comic reprint from Tip Top 'Merry Moments at Sunnyside School' reprint from Tip Top 'The Happy Family'	1953
28-Jan-78	Old Comic reprint from Swift 'Our Gang'	1954
04-Feb-78	Old Comic reprint from Chips 'Rudolf the Red-Nosed Ranger' reprint from Chips 'Dickie Duffer' 2 of 2	1953
11-Feb-78	Old Comic reprint from Comet 'Shorty the Deputy Sheriff'	1949
18-Feb-78	Old Comic reprint from TV Fun 'Mick and Montmorency' 2 of 2	1955
25-Feb-78	Old Comic reprint from TV Fun 'Reg Varney'	1955
04-Mar-78	Old Comic reprint from Knockout 'Our Ernie'	1951
11-Mar-78	Old Comic reprint from Swift 'Roddy the Road Scout' reprint from Swift 'Daisy' reprint from Swift 'The Topple Twins'	1954
18-Mar-78	Old Comic reprint from Chips 'Alfie the Air Tramp' reprint from Chips 'Casy Court'	1945
25-Mar-78	Old Comic reprint from Tiger 'Dodger Caine' 2 of 3	no date
01-Apr-78	Old Comic reprint from Knockout 'Beaver Patrol' 1 of 2	1953
08-Apr-78	Old Comic reprint from Tip Top 'Merry Moments' reprint from Tip Top 'Happy Family'	1952
15-Apr-78	Old Comic reprint from Chips 'Sally Sunshine' reprint from Chips 'Sammy Sprockett'	1953
22-Apr-78	Old Comic reprint from Knockout 'Deed-a-Day Danny' 2 of 2	1953
29-Apr-78	Old Comic reprint from School Friend 'Dilly Dreem' 2 of 2	1950
06-May-78	Old Comic reprint from Chips 'Jimmy Joy' 1 of 2  reprint from Chips 'Casey Court' 1 of 2	1953
20-May-78	Old Comic reprint from Film Fun 'Abbott and Costello' 2 of 2	1952
27-May-78	Old Comic reprint from Knockout 'Sporty'	1953
03-Jun-78	Old Comic reprint from The Jester 'Sandy and Dusty'	1929
10-Jun-78	Old Comic reprint from Chips 'Jimmy Joy' 2 of 2  reprint from Chips 'Casey Court' 2 of 2	1953
17-Jun-78	Old Comic reprint from Tiger 'Dodger Caine' 3 of 3	1954
24-Jun-78	Old Comic reprint from Wonder 'Sheriff Shucks' reprint from Wonder 'Eric Eccles'	1949
01-Jul-78	Old Comic reprint from Knockout 'Beaver Patrol' 2 of 2	1953
26-Aug-78	Old Comic (final appearance) reprint from Whizzer and Chips 'Champ'	1969

Cheeky Weekly cover date 03 Dec 1977

Bubblegum -chewing Fred is still hanging around the cover this week. Prominence is given to the first part of the 1978 diary, and Frank is back on duty with a signed What a Cheek strip.

The Sunday page is also pure Frank, but the remainder of the Cheeky strips inside are 'Frank McDiarmid pencils'.

6 Million Dollar Gran inadvertently springs a convict from jail this issue, and in the process assaults a prison officer.  Gran captures the freed felon and his accomplices, but departs without facing the police - there are questionable moral messages running through some of the stories in this comic ;)

Ian Knox turns in some of his trademark grotesque artwork in the story - one of the baddies gets his head lodged in the mouth of another, and there's a good gag when a workman ejects the dentures of his colleague.

 

In this week's episode of Fangs of Fear, James Bold almost kills an innocent man when he drives his rapier through a painting after realising someone is hiding behind it, but without knowing who that person is. Rather a reckless act for a supposed hero, and another poor example to set readers.

On the main Wednesday page, the artist invites us to spot the deliberate mistake. I must admit it took me a while to find it.



On page 18 there's an in-house ad where Cheeky asks if we have met his comic chums, The Buytonic Boy from Krazy, The Bumpkin Billionaires in Whoopee!, and Joker from Whizzer and Chips.

This week's Home Movie is a spoof on TV's aquatic hero, with Tubby Thomson starring as The Boy from Atlantis.

The art on the inside pages of the 1978 diary is by Jim Petrie, who went on to draw the monthly Cheeky pages, along with two Burpo strips, in Cheeky Annual 1979.

There are two character debuts on the Cheeky pages this issue, the defective detective, Sherlock, appears for the first time on Friday (and is back again on Saturday), and Skatie from the Skateboard Squad is evident on Sunday, as the Squad knock Cheeky off his feet. She doesn't even apologise. What sort of example are they setting our kids?

Cheeky Weekly	Cover Date: 03-Dec-1977, Issue 7 of 117
Page	Details
1	Cover Feature 'Diary part 1' - Art Frank McDiarmid\What a Cheek - Art Frank McDiarmid
2	Sunday - Art Frank McDiarmid
3	Skateboard Squad - Art Jimmy Hansen
4	Sunday evening - Art Frank McDiarmid pencils
5	James Bold 'Fangs of Fear' 7 of 11 - Art Lopez
6	James Bold 'Fangs of Fear' 7 of 11 - Art Lopez
7	Monday - Art Frank McDiarmid pencils
8	6 Million Dollar Gran - Art Ian Knox
9	6 Million Dollar Gran - Art Ian Knox
10	6 Million Dollar Gran - Art Ian Knox
11	Tuesday - Art Frank McDiarmid pencils
12	Old Comic reprint from Film Fun 'Red Skelton'
13	Tuesday - Art Frank McDiarmid pencils\Doug's Doodle - Art Terry Bave
14	What's New, Kids
15	Wednesday - Art Frank McDiarmid pencils
16	Creepy Sleepy Tale - Art Mike Brown (final art on feature)
17	Creepy Sleepy Tale - Art Mike Brown (final art on feature)\Wednesday (conclusion) - Art Frank McDiarmid pencils
18	Ad: IPC 'Have you met my comic chums'
19	Thursday - Art Frank McDiarmid pencils
20	Home Movie 'The Boy from Atlantis' - Art Jack Clayton
21	Friday - Art Frank McDiarmid pencils
22	Mustapha Million - Art Reg Parlett
23	Mustapha Million - Art Reg Parlett
24	Saturday - Art Frank McDiarmid pencils
25	Wile E Coyote 'Poll Fault'
26	Wile E Coyote 'Poll Fault'
27	Interval - Art Frank McDiarmid pencils
28	Space Family Robinson 'Race Against Time' - Art John Richardson
29	Space Family Robinson 'Race Against Time' - Art John Richardson
30	Saturday - Art Frank McDiarmid pencils
31	Diary (first appearance) - Art Jim Petrie (first art on feature)
32	Diary (first appearance)

Profile - Gloomy Glad

Glad wasn't so much bipolar as north polar.  Usually accompanied by her own black rain cloud (a snow cloud in cold weather), Glad was one of those people for whom not only is the glass half empty, it's cracked and has something nasty floating in it.

Cheeky showed his caring side with Glad, always trying to cheer her up when she told her tales of woe, only to find that his attempt to lift her spirits plunged her further into despair.

To prove that Glad's life wasn't one of unremitting despondency, Cheeky's writer allowed us to witness a few occasions (four, to be precise*) when Glad cracked a smile.

Glad's cousin, Dismal Daisy, made a single appearance, in the cinema interval of the comic dated 28 October 1978.

* Boxing Day in the 31 December 1977 issue, Saturday in the 10 June 1978 issue, Sunday evening in the 16 September 1978 issue and Wednesday in the 05 May 1979 issue. An apparently beaming Glad was seen on Saturday in the 13 January 1979 comic, but it turned out she was wearing a mask.

Character	Total Issues	First Appearance	Final Appearance
Gloomy Glad	106	12-Nov-1977	02-Feb-1980

Gloomy Glad - Number of appearances by Element

Element	Number of Appearances
Saturday	27
Wednesday	19
Monday	16
Sunday	16
Tuesday	13
Thursday	12
Friday	11
Sunday evening	5
Boxing Day	2
Interval	2
Ash Wednesday	1
Cheeky's Week	1
Easter Monday	1
Saturday - April Fool's Day	1
The Burpo Special	1

Gloomy Glad - Number of appearances by Page

Page	Number of Appearances
2	16
12	13
31	11
15	10
9	8
26	8
25	7
30	7
19	6
8	5
10	5
4	4
5	3
7	3
13	3
18	3
21	3
23	3
20	2
22	2
1	1
6	1
24	1
28	1
29	1
32	1

The Features - Mustapha Million

Art Reg Parlett

The Mustapha Million strip made its debut in the first Cheeky Weekly and appeared in all but 3 issues of the comic.  106 stories were 2-pagers, with the remaining 8 episodes completing in a single page. Early strips see a lonely Mustapha asking British kids to play, then lavishing his vast wealth to secure their friendship, morally a rather dubious scenario.  Later strips show Mustapha using his cash to help kids out of various predicaments, or getting into scrapes after misunderstanding British phrases or customs.

1st appearance - art Reg Parlett

The strip was drawn by 4 artists during its Cheeky run, with Reg Parlett, who was the original artist, and Joe McCaffrey each delivering 56 episodes, While John K Geering and Colin Whittock each stood in on one occasion.  Joe's first work on the character was a single page story in the issue dated 14 January 1978, after which Joe deputised occasionally until Reg's last Mustapha story appeared in the issue dated 17 February 1979.  Joe then supplied all the artwork with the exception of John K Geering's contribution in the 03 November 1979 comic and Colin Whittock's in the 17 November 1979 edition.

Joe McCaffrey's first Mustapha strip

Reg Parlett

Eventually Mustapha developed a friendship with Jimmy (who was first named in the issue dated 04 March 1978), a lad whose hair colour wasn't consistent across the episodes.

In the early issues of Cheeky Weekly, Fridays would find Cheeky seeking out the Mystery Comic, in which Mustapha was one of the characters.  Initially, Mustapha's was the only story from the mysterious publication that we saw, until Cheeky Weekly dated 30 September 1978, from which date the whole of the Mystery Comic was incorporated into Cheeky Weekly. In his strip in the comic dated 17 November 1979, Mustapha is seen reading a copy of Cheeky Weekly. Thus, in an infinitely recursive, meta-disappearing-up-their-own-fictionality loop, Mustapha is a character in a comic read by Cheeky, while Cheeky is a character in a comic read by Mustapha.

Mustapha was one of the guests at Pete and Pauline Potts' party in the 6 Million Dollar Gran strip in Cheeky Weekly dated 06 October 1979.

Jimmy's inconsistent hair

Mustapha exceeded his planned year's stay in Britain by some time, lasting the 2-year-plus run of Cheeky Weekly, and some years more in Whoopee! then Whizzer and Chips.

John K Geering

The Mustapha Million strips that originally appeared in Cheeky Weekly dated 05 November 1977, 26 November 1977 and 03 December 1977 were reprinted in the 1985 Cheeky Annual, which was the final Cheeky Annual to be published, and relied more heavily on reprints than the earlier annuals.

Friends of Cheeky Chit-Chat
24 March 1979

Mustapha Million - The Whoopee Years

                                                                                                                                                         

Feature	First Appearance	Final Appearance	Total Issues	Total Issues Missed In Run	Page History
Mustapha Million	22-Oct-77	02-Feb-80	114	3	6,7,12,13,14,15,16,17,18,19,20,21,22,23,24,25,26,27,28,29

Issues Missed In Run

27-Jan-79

28-Apr-79

16-Jun-79

UPDATE 10 January 2012: In the table below, Mustapha Million's appearances in The Mystery Comic are counted separately where indicated in the Feature column.

Feature	Artist	Number of Issues	First Appearance	Final Appearance
Mustapha Million	Reg Parlett	45	22-Oct-1977	23-Sep-1978
Mustapha Million	Joe McCaffrey	33	14-Jan-1978	02-Feb-1980
Mustapha Million Mystery Comic	Reg Parlett	11	30-Sep-1978	17-Feb-1979
Mustapha Million Mystery Comic	Joe McCaffrey	23	14-Oct-1978	30-Jun-1979
Mustapha Million	John K. Geering	1	03-Nov-1979	03-Nov-1979
Mustapha Million	Colin Whittock	1	17-Nov-1979	17-Nov-1979

Cheeky Weekly cover date 26 Nov 1977

The cover of this issue leads with the Friend of Cheeky T-Shirt competition (did anyone reading this win one?), with the toothy funster looking rather odd as a result of not wearing his customary jersey. The What a Cheek strip is another 'Frank McDiarmid pencils' job, as are the rest of the Cheeky's Week strips in the comic, except the second part of Tuesday which is pure Frank.



On the first Tuesday page, Bubblegum Boy manages to generate two speech balloons without parting his lips from the confection that's keeping him aloft. He's probably developing ventriloquial skills by now.

Later on Tuesday, after Cheeky has read an old Dodger Caine page from Tiger, 1954, Frank McDiarmid is back on the inks (although I don't think the Doodle Doug illo is by Frank) and making reference to himself.

There's some superb Reg Parlett art on the Mustapha Million story. Reg is surely one of the best artists for depicting physical comedy. Love the fish and chip feed at the end as well.

Burpo's cousins make their first appearance this issue, and Cheeky ends up being scared by a Creepy Sleepy Tale concerning the Loch Ness Monster's day trip to London.

A Henery Hawk strip represents the cartoon element of the Saturday morning pictures sequence for the first time.

Page 31 announces that part one of the super Cheeky Diary 1978 will appear next week. This will replace the Skateboard booklet which concludes in this issue. The final page of the booklet to be printed appears on the back cover and features the Skateboard Squad, Cheeky and Snail. The art is by Peter Maddocks, who supplied all the art for the booklet. I know of his newspaper strips, of course, but is this the only work he did in comics? In his interview in Crikey 15 he doesn't mention any comics work. UPDATE 11 February 2011 - Of course Peter Maddocks drew The Family Ness strip in Beeb Magazine, as featured on Peter Gray's blog.

Cheeky Weekly	Cover Date: 26-Nov-1977, Issue 6 of 117
Page	Details
1	Cover Feature 'Cheeky T-Shirt Competition' - Art Frank McDiarmid\What a Cheek - Art Frank McDiarmid pencils
2	Sunday - Art Frank McDiarmid pencils
3	Skateboard Squad - Art Jimmy Hansen
4	Sunday evening - Art Frank McDiarmid pencils
5	James Bold 'Fangs of Fear' 6 of 11 - Art Lopez
6	James Bold 'Fangs of Fear' 6 of 11 - Art Lopez
7	Monday - Art Frank McDiarmid pencils
8	6 Million Dollar Gran - Art Ian Knox
9	6 Million Dollar Gran - Art Ian Knox
10	6 Million Dollar Gran - Art Ian Knox
11	Friends of Cheeky competition (single appearance)
12	Tuesday - Art Frank McDiarmid pencils
13	Old Comic reprint from Tiger 'Dodger Caine' 1 of 3
14	Tuesday - Art Frank McDiarmid\Doug's Doodle - Art Terry Bave
15	Wednesday - Art Frank McDiarmid pencils
16	Creepy Sleepy Tale - Art Mike Brown
17	Creepy Sleepy Tale - Art Mike Brown\Wednesday (conclusion) - Art Frank McDiarmid pencils (first art on feature)
18	What's New, Kids
19	Thursday - Art Frank McDiarmid pencils
20	Home Movie 'The Vikings' - Art Jack Clayton
21	Friday - Art Frank McDiarmid pencils
22	Mustapha Million - Art Reg Parlett
23	Mustapha Million - Art Reg Parlett
24	Saturday - Art Frank McDiarmid pencils
25	Henery Hawk (first appearance) 'Little Orphan Henery'
26	Henery Hawk (first appearance) 'Little Orphan Henery'
27	Interval - Art Frank McDiarmid pencils
28	Space Family Robinson 'Tunnel of Terror' - Art John Richardson
29	Space Family Robinson 'Tunnel of Terror' - Art John Richardson
30	Saturday - Art Frank McDiarmid pencils
31	Skateboard booklet (final appearance) - Art Peter Maddocks (final art on feature)
32	Skateboard booklet (final appearance) - Art Peter Maddocks (final art on feature)

Profile - Baby Burpo

The most unpleasant thing to fill a nappy since Sweeny Toddler, Baby Burpo made Cheeky's Wednesday night babysitting sessions an ordeal.  Our toothy hero always fell prey to the fiendish traps set by Burpo in his front garden, and further indignity would ensue as the infamous infant's parents accused Cheeky of playing too rough as he dangled from Burpo's net or disappeared into the pit which Burpo had excavated.

Art: Frank McDiarmid pencils

When the toddler's parents had left, Cheeky sought to restore his shattered self-esteem with psychological warfare, selecting a terrifying Creepy Sleepy Tale for Burpo's bedtime story, but the evening always ended with Cheeky running home, fearful of the evil happenings that he had just read.

Burpo first appeared in the 19 March 1977 issue of Krazy, and was the subject of the same comic's Cheeky's Pal feature in the 25 June 1977 edition.

Burpo's debut - Krazy 19 March 1977
Art: Frank McDiarmid

Krazy 25 June 1977 - Frank again

There was one thing that worried Cheeky more than the belligerent babe, and that was Burpo's cousins, a gang of Burpo-alikes that exponentially increased the potential for nappy-based havoc.

Frank McDiarmid pencils

In Cheeky Weekly dated 19 August 1978, Crystal Belle gives Cheeky a glimpse of his life forty years into the future. He meets the adult version of the nasty nipper, and we see that the future Cheeky is being terrorised by a whole new generation of Burpos.

Frank McDiarmid

Unknown Cheeky artist

Like Snail, the nefarious nappy-wearer graduated from Cheeky's Week to his own feature. 'The Burpo Special' first appeared in the issue dated 09 December 1978, with a format that saw Burpo interviewing, often with a carrot instead of a microphone, one of Cheeky's pals each week.























The tyrannical tot made guest appearances in the Skateboard Squad stories in Cheeky Weekly dated 01 April 1978  and 24 June 1978.  He also appeared in the Calculator Kid strip dated 15 July 1978 and was one of the guests at Pete and Pauline Potts' party in the 6 Million Dollar Gran strip in Cheeky Weekly dated 06 October 1979.

Burpo went head-to-head with Sweeny Toddler in the final issue of Cheeky Weekly, when the characters who would survive the merge with Whoopee! were greeted by their new fun-pals.  As one might expect, the encounter between the terrible toddlers was a volatile one and the pair had to be separated by Frankie Stein.

Frank McDiarmid

Character	Total Issues	First Appearance	Final Appearance
Baby Burpo	94	22-Oct-1977	02-Feb-1980
Burpo's Cousins	6	26-Nov-1977	23-Sep-1978