Welcome to the Cheeky Weekly blog!


Welcome to the Cheeky Weekly blog!
Cheeky Weekly ™ REBELLION PUBLISHING LTD, COPYRIGHT ©  REBELLION PUBLISHING LTD, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED was a British children's comic with cover dates spanning 22 October 1977 to 02 February 1980.

Quick links...
Basic Stats
Cheeky Weekly Index - Cheeky Annuals and Specials Index
Cheeky Weekly Artist Index
Features by Number of Appearances
Cheeky Weekly Timeline
Major Characters from the Cheeky pages
Features Ordered by Date of Commencement

*** ALL IMAGES COPYRIGHT ©  REBELLION PUBLISHING LTD, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. Used with permission. ***
*** CHEEKY WEEKLY, KRAZY, WHOOPEE!, WHOOPEE, WOW!, WHIZZER AND CHIPS and BUSTER ARE ™ REBELLION PUBLISHING LTD, COPYRIGHT ©  REBELLION PUBLISHING LTD, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. ***
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Saturday 26 February 2011

Profile - Short-Sighted Dustman

Unlike fellow refuse operative Sid the Street-Sweeper, Short-Sighted Dustman had not previously appeared in Krazy comic before making his Cheeky Weekly debut.

First appearance of Short-Sighted Dustman
The myopic muck mover had a very brief sojourn among Cheeky's pals, appearing for the first time on 19 November 1977 when trying to empty the cinema commissionaire into his dustcart, then making only 3 further appearances, the last being in the comic dated 14 January 1978.




Even within this short span, he was usurped by yet another refuse-related character, Don the Dustman, who swapped a gag with Cheeky in the Christmas 1977 issue of the comic and was never seen again.


Character Total Issues First Appearance Final Appearance
Short-Sighted Dustman419-Nov-197714-Jan-1978


Short-Sighted Dustman - Number of appearances by Element
Element Number of Appearances
Interval1
Monday1
Saturday1
Thursday1


Short-Sighted Dustman - Number of appearances by Page
Page Number of Appearances
81
191
241
271


Count of elements by artist
Character Artist Total Elements
Short-Sighted DustmanFrank McDiarmid pencils2
Short-Sighted DustmanUnknown Cheeky Artist 11
Short-Sighted DustmanDick Millington1

Thursday 24 February 2011

Cheeky Weekly cover date 25 February 1978

The Pin-Up Pal poster gets a plug on the top of the front page again this week, and the main part of the cover gives the current James Bold tale a boost with, as we might have guessed, artwork taken from a panel of this week's story.  The cover version of this panel is coloured in a rather fraudulent way, to give the impression of a transparent, spectral highwayman, but as we have seen in an earlier post, the final episode reveals that the 'ghost' is entirely human.  Of course, readers of Cheeky Weekly will only discover next week, when this Bold story reaches its conclusion, that their expectations have been cynically manipulated.  Cheeky's stooge for the What A Cheek strip this issue is a generic housewife rather than one of his pals.

There is something of a trend emerging in the comic, as this issue it's the turn of Louise to appear on all but Wednesday's Cheeky's Week pages, after vowing on Sunday, "I'll think of a way to make Cheeky kiss me, if it takes all week!"  She can be seen plotting furiously over the following days.

 

On Sunday evening, as Cheeky puts another plan into operation to watch 6 Million Dollar Gran, we note that Cheeky's mum has had her hair dyed since we saw her in the previous issue.

There's a close encounter of the Gran kind, as the robotic pensioner blasts off to confront the occupants of a UFO.

Cheeky wears a false beard as he enters the newsagents to read the cover-featured James Bold episode, but this disguise doesn't stop him from being ejected from the shop just as his reading reaches a peak of excitement, as usual.

On Friday, someone in the Cheeky Weekly office couldn't resist inserting a joke referencing playwright Harold Pinter (the lettering is different to that on the rest of the page).  This is the most highbrow joke to appear in the comic's run, so if you're expecting anything better than this, you're reading the wrong comic.

There's another Mustapha Million slap-up-feed-ending story this week. Boilk!


On page 24 there are 2 IPC ads - a plug for Misty number 4, and news of a free gift with Buster and Monster Fun; a set of Corona soft drink stickers featuring the 'every bubble's passed its fizzical' theme of the concurrent TV ad campaign.  I seem to remember that the stickers were also given free with every purchase of Corona drinks.

On page 31, Louise finally carries out her osculatory threat from Sunday, and kerzunks a smacker on the toothy funster, before the comic rounds off with the back page poster of feeble fitness fanatic Jogging Jeremy.

 

 

There are only 4 'pure' Frank McDiarmid Cheeky's Week elements in this issue, with the remaining 9 being provided by the Frank McDiarmid pencils combination.

Cheeky Weekly Cover Date: 25-Feb-1978, Issue 19 of 117
PageDetails
1Cover Feature 'The Ghost Highwayman' - Art Mike White (single art on feature)\What a Cheek - Art Frank McDiarmid pencils
2Sunday - Art Frank McDiarmid pencils
3Skateboard Squad - Art Jimmy Hansen
4Sunday evening - Art Frank McDiarmid pencils
56 Million Dollar Gran - Art Ian Knox
66 Million Dollar Gran - Art Ian Knox
76 Million Dollar Gran - Art Ian Knox
8Monday - Art Frank McDiarmid pencils
9James Bold 'The Ghost Highwayman' 8 of 9 - Art Mike White
10James Bold 'The Ghost Highwayman' 8 of 9 - Art Mike White
11Suddenly - Art Frank McDiarmid pencils
12Tuesday - Art Frank McDiarmid pencils
13Old Comic reprint from TV Fun 'Reg Varney'
14What's New, Kids
15Wednesday - Art Frank McDiarmid pencils
16Creepy Sleepy Tale - Art Keith Reynolds
17Creepy Sleepy Tale - Art Keith Reynolds\Wednesday (conclusion) - Art Frank McDiarmid
18Joke-Box Jury
19Thursday - Art Frank McDiarmid pencils
20Home Movie 'Defeat of the Spanish Armada' - Art Jack Clayton
21Friday - Art Frank McDiarmid
22Mustapha Million - Art Reg Parlett
23Mustapha Million - Art Reg Parlett
24Ad: IPC 'Misty' 3 of 5 Ad: 'Buster' 2 of 5
25Saturday - Art Frank McDiarmid pencils
26Road Runner 'A Bird in Hand'
27Road Runner 'A Bird in Hand'
28Interval - Art Frank McDiarmid
29Space Family Robinson 'The Tunnel of Terror' - Art John Richardson
30Space Family Robinson 'The Tunnel of Terror' - Art John Richardson
31Bam Splat and Blooie reprint from Buster\Saturday - Art Frank McDiarmid
32Pin-up pal 'Jogging Jeremy' - Art Frank McDiarmid

Tuesday 22 February 2011

Cheeky Annual 1982

Bruce continues his journey through the Cheeky annuals here.  And while you're there, don't forget to VOTE BURPO in Bruce's Burpo vs Sweeny vote, which doesn't have much longer to run.

Sunday 20 February 2011

Profile - Hid Kid

The extremely shy Hid Kid first didn't appear in the 18 February 1978 issue.  In fact, he didn't appear twice in that week's comic, first on Thursday and again during the cinema interval.  In total, Hid Kid failed to appear in 65 issues of Cheeky Weekly, with his last non-appearance occurring in the 26 January 1980 comic.

First 'appearance'

OK, you get the idea - Hid Kid's gimmick was that he never fully revealed himself, but hid somewhere in the panel while the other characters referred to him.  In the early part of his run, Hid Kid often lurked behind lamp-posts, but later he varied his hiding-places to include post-boxes, dustbins, trees and bushes.  Over the weeks we did get to see Hid Kid's arms, legs and hair.  In the issue dated 15 September 1979 we saw Hid Kid in one of Bump-Bump Bernie's old plaster casts.

Hid Kid had the honour of handing Cheeky a copy of the Mystery Comic on 3 occasions, 18 March 1978, 06 May 1978 and 28 April 1979.


Hid Kid 'appeared' more than once in a number of issues, but the issue that really showcased the coy Kid was that dated 28 April 1979, which featured Cheeky's bashful buddy no less than 6 times, but he failed to appear on Friday.  Or at least no-one on the Friday page acknowledged he was there, though there was a caption in the panel as Lily Pop propelled Cheeky across the road, which said "Did you spot Hid Kid in this picture?  No? Neither did we!".
In the 14 July 1979 issue Cheeky speculates that Hid Kid's reticence to reveal himself may be due to a wardrobe malfunction.  This would seem a reasonable assumption, since in the Kid's earlier under-bucket appearance (see above), he appears to be deficient in the trouser area.
However, in the comic dated 28 July 1979 it is evident that Hid Kid, incontrovertibly fully trousered, still chooses to conceal himself.

A half-page announcement in 27 May 1978's comic invited readers to send in their drawings of Hid Kid.  The £2 prize-winning entries were published in the 05 August 1978 issue.

 

Hid Kid's name may have been a play on that of Krazy comic character Hit Kid.


Character Total Issues First Appearance Final Appearance
Hid Kid6618-Feb-197826-Jan-1980


Missing From Issues
22-Oct-1977
29-Oct-1977
05-Nov-1977
12-Nov-1977
19-Nov-1977
26-Nov-1977
03-Dec-1977
10-Dec-1977
17-Dec-1977
24-Dec-1977
31-Dec-1977
07-Jan-1978
14-Jan-1978
21-Jan-1978
28-Jan-1978
04-Feb-1978
11-Feb-1978
25-Feb-1978
04-Mar-1978
11-Mar-1978
25-Mar-1978
01-Apr-1978
08-Apr-1978
13-May-1978
20-May-1978
03-Jun-1978
24-Jun-1978
01-Jul-1978
22-Jul-1978
05-Aug-1978
19-Aug-1978
26-Aug-1978
02-Sep-1978
09-Sep-1978
23-Sep-1978
04-Nov-1978
11-Nov-1978
18-Nov-1978
13-Jan-1979
03-Feb-1979
24-Feb-1979
03-Mar-1979
10-Mar-1979
14-Apr-1979
02-Jun-1979
30-Jun-1979
21-Jul-1979
29-Dec-1979
12-Jan-1980
19-Jan-1980
02-Feb-1980


Hid Kid - Number of appearances by Element
Element Number of Appearances
Saturday17
Tuesday14
Monday9
Sunday9
Thursday9
Wednesday8
Friday7
Interval4
Cover Feature2
Sunday evening1


Hid Kid - Number of appearances by Page
Page Number of Appearances
29
109
317
66
265
305
84
94
193
213
223
233
12
72
122
182
242
292
41
131
151
251
271
281
321


Count of elements by artist
Character Artist Total Elements
Hid KidFrank McDiarmid41
Hid KidMike Lacey16
Hid KidFrank McDiarmid pencils10
Hid KidBarrie Appleby6
Hid KidJim Watson2
Hid KidDick Millington2
Hid KidUnknown Cheeky Artist 12
Hid KidBob Hill1

Wednesday 16 February 2011

Cheeky Weekly cover date 18 February 1978

The banner across the top of this week's cover directs readers to the back page and the Pin-Up Pal feature, returning to the comic after a break of 14 weeks, with a poster of lovely Lily Pop. Below that, Creepy Sleepy Tale gets the front cover treatment, with, as we have come to expect, an image taken from a panel of this week's story, but cunningly reversed so that we won't notice! A red-haired, dandruff-free Teacher is Cheeky's straight man in this week's What A Cheek, during which the toothy funster turns yellow (due to a printing problem rather than the onset of jaundice, I presume), and another issue commences.



On Sunday Cheeky delivers Manhole Man's newspaper, and his subterranean stooge tells our hero to expect to see him throughout the week.

Skateboard Squad are involved in circus intrigue when the ringmaster contacts them with the news that the takings have been stolen.  A squeaky skateboard and the oft-used-in-comics 'elephants are afraid of mice' plot device soon reveals that the culprit is the elephant trainer.

On Sunday evening, reader Robin Lewis provides a Vicar-type joke, and Petula introduces her latest pet, which looks strangely familiar.  Cheeky executes his devious plan to wangle a look at 6 Million Dollar Gran on TV, then watches an episode in which the robotic pensioner heads to South America to rescue some explorers who have fallen foul of the local tribe.

On Monday Bubblegum Boy bemoans his fate, and a caption on the Tuesday page leads us to wonder if his name really is Fred Holroyd.












The cover-featured Creepy Sleepy Tale is of an evil genie on the rampage, and Cheeky disappears at the end of the story, not due to supernatural events, but because Mr McDiarmid forgot to stock up on artist's supplies.

Mustapha Million suffers cake-related confusion after misunderstanding one of his British pals.  Lovely art from Reg Parlett again.  I'm always a sucker for a slap-up feed ending.

At the end of the issue, after admiring the Lily Pop poster, we check back through the pages and find that Manhole Man did indeed appear in all the Cheeky's Week elements this week, with the exception of the 3-panel conclusion to Saturday on page 30.  He even emerged in the cinema.

Frank McDiarmid is on top form in this issue, with some great art and amusingly daft captions in the 7 elements he delivers.

This is the third issue to feature one of Cheeky's pals throughout the week (Baker's Boy and Bump-Bump Bernie have previously been honoured in this way).  Like last week's issue, we have seen the week-spanning storyline maintained across 3 artist combinations.

The Road Runner feature makes its debut this week, and, if it's not a contradiction in terms, Cheeky's pal Hid Kid makes his first 'appearance' in this issue.

Cheeky Weekly Cover Date: 18-Feb-1978, Issue 18 of 117
PageDetails
1Cover Feature 'Creepy Sleepy Tale' 2 of 3 - Art Keith Reynolds (first art on feature)\What a Cheek - Art Frank McDiarmid pencils
2Sunday - Art Frank McDiarmid
3Skateboard Squad - Art Jimmy Hansen
4Sunday evening - Art Frank McDiarmid
56 Million Dollar Gran - Art Ian Knox
66 Million Dollar Gran - Art Ian Knox
76 Million Dollar Gran - Art Ian Knox
8Monday - Art Frank McDiarmid
9James Bold 'The Ghost Highwayman' 7 of 9 - Art Mike White
10James Bold 'The Ghost Highwayman' 7 of 9 - Art Mike White
11Suddenly - Art Frank McDiarmid
12Tuesday - Art Frank McDiarmid
13Old Comic reprint from TV Fun 'Mick and Montmorency' 2 of 2
14What's New, Kids
15Wednesday - Art Frank McDiarmid
16Creepy Sleepy Tale - Art Keith Reynolds
17Creepy Sleepy Tale - Art Keith Reynolds\Wednesday (conclusion) - Art Frank McDiarmid
18Joke-Box Jury
19Thursday - Art Unknown Cheeky Artist 1
20Home Movie 'Rock Around the Block' - Art Jack Clayton
21Friday - Art Unknown Cheeky Artist 1
22Mustapha Million - Art Reg Parlett
23Mustapha Million - Art Reg Parlett
24Saturday - Art Unknown Cheeky Artist 1
25Road Runner (first appearance) 'Ungrateful Gratitude'
26Road Runner (first appearance) 'Ungrateful Gratitude'
27Interval - Art Unknown Cheeky Artist 1
28Space Family Robinson 'The Race' - Art John Richardson
29Space Family Robinson 'The Race' - Art John Richardson
30Saturday - Art Frank McDiarmid pencils
31Ad: IPC 'Misty' 2 of 5 Ad: 'Buster' 1 of 5
32Pin-up pal 'Lily Pop' - Art Frank McDiarmid


Cheeky's Week Artists Cover Date 18-Feb-1978
Artist Elements
Frank McDiarmid7
Unknown Cheeky Artist 14
Frank McDiarmid pencils2

Saturday 12 February 2011

The features - Doug's Doodle

Although Doodle Doug appeared in 87 issues of Cheeky Weekly, his doodles graced only 10 issues.

Doug's purpose in the early issues of Cheeky Weekly was to draw a short gag strip that he would show to Cheeky on Tuesdays (with the exception of the final Doodle to appear, which was located on a Saturday page). The gag strips were, with 2 exceptions, 'silent', consisting of 2 or 3 panels, and had no recurring characters. A pair of thumbs could be seen holding each of the Doodles. The Doodles appeared halfway down the page, apart from the final Doodle, which appeared at the top of the page containing a continuation of the Saturday feature. Doug's artwork had no title, so for the purposes of identifying them I refer to them as Doug's Doodles.

Doug's brief run of Doodles came to an end in Cheeky Weekly dated 14 January 1978, when the Doodle was relegated to page 24, having previously appeared on pages 12, 13 or 14.  Possibly going into hiding after this indignity, Doug seems to have disappeared from Krazy Town for 6 months, reappearing in the 08 July 1978 issue.  However, on his return, Doug had a new artwork project, Paddywack.





No further doodles were evident, unless one counts the following…


28 July 1979 - sign saying Art Class Closed Forever!


04 August 1979 - Doug appears with several oil paintings under his arm, which he subsequently uses as a tent, setting up a joke with the punchline "camping under canvas".

15 September 1979 - painting of Ursula

22 September 1979 - drawing of Burpo's empty pram (was intended to be a portrait of the belligerent babe, but Burpo wouldn't stay still).

06 October 1979 - drawings of elderly male teachers.  That's right, it was a joke about 'old masters'.

15 December 1979 - see below












26 January 1980 - several sketches on the wall by Doug's front door.

Personally, I don't think these qualify as Doodles, since they aren't multi-panel gags and the trademark thumbs of a true Doodle are missing.

Two 'real' artists drew the Doodles.  One, who provided art on 8 of the strips, was affecting the style of a young cartoonist, complete with ink smudges on occasion.  Thanks to Andy Boal for his comment on this post (where another Doodle can be viewed), confirming my feeling that these 8 Doodles were by Terry Bave. In the second part of his series, A Line In Chuckles, in the Summer 1986 issue of Golden Fun, Terry says that his first work in Cheeky Weekly was Calculator Kid, whose first appearance was on 01 July 1978.  I expect he just forgot these brief Doodle sketches.

The Doodles dated 17 December 1977 and 14 January 1978 were by Artie Jackson - thanks to stevezodiac and Lew Skinner on the Comics UK forum for identifying the artist.

An Artie Jackson Doodle



                                                                                                                                                         
FeatureFirst AppearanceFinal AppearanceTotal IssuesTotal Issues Missed In RunPage History
Doug's Doodle22-Oct-7714-Jan-7810312,13,14,24



Issues Missed In Run
19-Nov-77
31-Dec-77
07-Jan-78



                                                                                                                                   
FeatureArtistNumber of IssuesFirst AppearanceFinal Appearance
Doug's Doodle Terry Bave822-Oct-197724-Dec-1977
Doug's Doodle Artie Jackson217-Dec-197714-Jan-1978



                                                                 
Pages per IssueNumber of Issues
110

Tuesday 8 February 2011

Profile - Doodle Doug

Unlike some of the inhabitants of Cheeky's Week, Doodle Doug, the aspiring comic artist, had not previously appeared among the roster of characters in the 'Ello It's Cheeky strip in Krazy before his debut in the first Cheeky Weekly.  Doug went on to clock up appearances in 86 issues of Cheeky Weekly, surviving into the final issue.

Doug's purpose in the early issues was to draw a short gag strip that he would show to Cheeky on Tuesdays after the toothy funster had taken a sneaky look at a select item from his dad's hoard of old comics.  Doug would threaten to tell Cheeky's dad that his son had been rifling through his copies of Knockout, forcing Cheeky to publish Doug's artwork.

Doug's debut in Cheeky Weekly No. 1
This early blackmail phase in Doug's Cheeky Weekly career came to an end in the 14 January 1978 issue of the comic, as Doug did not appear again until 08 July 1978, when he resurfaced to tell Cheeky that he had drawn a whole page about a character called Paddywack.

Cheeky, evidently impressed, published Doug's Paddywack strip on the following page and thereafter Doug would hand Cheeky his latest Paddywack strip each week, often reminding Cheeky that a £2.00 prize would be sent to readers whose jokes were used on the Paddywack page.

In early issues there was a running joke when Frank McDiarmid drew Doodle Doug, about Frank regarding Doug as a rival.



In Doug's initial phase in the comic, he appeared on Tuesdays, and when he returned with the Paddywack strips, Doug continued his Tuesday run.  However, when The Mystery Comic took up residence in the centre pages of Cheeky Weekly as from 30 September 1978, Doug moved to the Friday feature where he continued to hand Cheeky the latest Paddywack strip.  Things changed again in the 09 December 1978 issue because the adventure story, The Terrible Trail To Taggart's Treasure, had ended the previous week and as a result Doug found himself back on the Tuesday page (with one exception) up to and including the issue dated 30 June 1979, which was the final issue to feature The Mystery Comic.

The demise of the Mystery Comic (at least as a conceptual grouping of strips in the centre of the comic, because the characters continued to appear in Cheeky Weekly) was a consequence of Cheeky Weekly's 'new look' that introduced a number of changes, one of which was that Paddywack now followed the Mystery Boy strip.  After missing the 07 July 1979 issue, Doug was back in the comic the following week, on the Wednesday page this time, sharing a joke with our toothy hero but with no mention of Paddywack who had now embarked on a life independent of Doug.  From this point on, Doug wasn't limited to any particular day, but became a source of art-based puns when required, puns that were recycled on occasion.




In the 28 July 1979 issue, Doug appears on 2 pages as he gives a Saturday art lesson to Cheeky's pals.

Doug made it onto the cover of the 05 January 1980 new year issue, on which he was seen leaping, along with a selection of Cheeky's Pals, in a reference to the fact that 1980 was a leap year.

Doug was the subject of 19 May 1979's Burpo Special.

Doug was most regularly drawn by rival artist Frank McDiarmid (52 times), followed by Mike Lacey (15 times).
 

Character Total Issues First Appearance Final Appearance
Doodle Doug8622-Oct-197702-Feb-1980


Missing From Issues
19-Nov-1977
31-Dec-1977
07-Jan-1978
14-Jan-1978
21-Jan-1978
28-Jan-1978
04-Feb-1978
11-Feb-1978
18-Feb-1978
25-Feb-1978
04-Mar-1978
11-Mar-1978
18-Mar-1978
25-Mar-1978
01-Apr-1978
08-Apr-1978
15-Apr-1978
22-Apr-1978
29-Apr-1978
06-May-1978
13-May-1978
20-May-1978
27-May-1978
03-Jun-1978
10-Jun-1978
17-Jun-1978
24-Jun-1978
01-Jul-1978
07-Jul-1979
25-Aug-1979
01-Sep-1979



Doodle Doug - Number of appearances by Element








Element Number of Appearances
Tuesday50
Friday15
Saturday10
Sunday6
Thursday4
Monday3
Wednesday2
Cover Feature1
Shrove Tuesday1
The Burpo Special1


Doodle Doug - Number of appearances by Page






















Page Number of Appearances
920
109
26
146
306
135
235
84
124
244
264
314
52
112
222
252
11
61
71
151
181
191
201
321

Count of elements by artist





Character Artist Total Elements
Doodle DougFrank McDiarmid52
Doodle DougFrank McDiarmid pencils15
Doodle DougMike Lacey14
Doodle DougDick Millington5
Doodle DougBarrie Appleby4
Doodle DougJimmy Hansen3


Character elements by issue




















































































Character Cover Date Total Elements
Doodle Doug24-FEB-792
Doodle Doug19-MAY-792
Doodle Doug16-JUN-792
Doodle Doug28-JUL-792
Doodle Doug08-DEC-792
Doodle Doug15-DEC-792
Doodle Doug05-JAN-802
Doodle Doug (first appearance)22-OCT-771
Doodle Doug29-OCT-771
Doodle Doug05-NOV-771
Doodle Doug12-NOV-771
Doodle Doug26-NOV-771
Doodle Doug03-DEC-771
Doodle Doug10-DEC-771
Doodle Doug17-DEC-771
Doodle Doug24-DEC-771
Doodle Doug08-JUL-781
Doodle Doug15-JUL-781
Doodle Doug22-JUL-781
Doodle Doug29-JUL-781
Doodle Doug05-AUG-781
Doodle Doug12-AUG-781
Doodle Doug19-AUG-781
Doodle Doug26-AUG-781
Doodle Doug02-SEP-781
Doodle Doug09-SEP-781
Doodle Doug16-SEP-781
Doodle Doug23-SEP-781
Doodle Doug30-SEP-781
Doodle Doug07-OCT-781
Doodle Doug14-OCT-781
Doodle Doug21-OCT-781
Doodle Doug28-OCT-781
Doodle Doug04-NOV-781
Doodle Doug11-NOV-781
Doodle Doug18-NOV-781
Doodle Doug25-NOV-781
Doodle Doug02-DEC-781
Doodle Doug09-DEC-781
Doodle Doug06-JAN-791
Doodle Doug13-JAN-791
Doodle Doug20-JAN-791
Doodle Doug27-JAN-791
Doodle Doug03-FEB-791
Doodle Doug10-FEB-791
Doodle Doug17-FEB-791
Doodle Doug03-MAR-791
Doodle Doug10-MAR-791
Doodle Doug17-MAR-791
Doodle Doug24-MAR-791
Doodle Doug31-MAR-791
Doodle Doug07-APR-791
Doodle Doug14-APR-791
Doodle Doug21-APR-791
Doodle Doug28-APR-791
Doodle Doug05-MAY-791
Doodle Doug12-MAY-791
Doodle Doug26-MAY-791
Doodle Doug02-JUN-791
Doodle Doug09-JUN-791
Doodle Doug23-JUN-791
Doodle Doug30-JUN-791
Doodle Doug14-JUL-791
Doodle Doug21-JUL-791
Doodle Doug04-AUG-791
Doodle Doug11-AUG-791
Doodle Doug18-AUG-791
Doodle Doug08-SEP-791
Doodle Doug15-SEP-791
Doodle Doug22-SEP-791
Doodle Doug29-SEP-791
Doodle Doug06-OCT-791
Doodle Doug13-OCT-791
Doodle Doug20-OCT-791
Doodle Doug27-OCT-791
Doodle Doug03-NOV-791
Doodle Doug10-NOV-791
Doodle Doug17-NOV-791
Doodle Doug24-NOV-791
Doodle Doug01-DEC-791
Doodle Doug22-DEC-791
Doodle Doug29-DEC-791
Doodle Doug12-JAN-801
Doodle Doug19-JAN-801
Doodle Doug26-JAN-801
Doodle Doug (final appearance)02-FEB-801
Gaps between appearances





















































































Prev Date Next Date Gap (weeks)
24-Dec-197708-Jul-197828
09-Dec-197806-Jan-19794
18-Aug-197908-Sep-19793
12-Nov-197726-Nov-19772
30-Jun-197914-Jul-19792
22-Oct-197729-Oct-19771
29-Oct-197705-Nov-19771
05-Nov-197712-Nov-19771
26-Nov-197703-Dec-19771
03-Dec-197710-Dec-19771
10-Dec-197717-Dec-19771
17-Dec-197724-Dec-19771
08-Jul-197815-Jul-19781
15-Jul-197822-Jul-19781
22-Jul-197829-Jul-19781
29-Jul-197805-Aug-19781
05-Aug-197812-Aug-19781
12-Aug-197819-Aug-19781
19-Aug-197826-Aug-19781
26-Aug-197802-Sep-19781
02-Sep-197809-Sep-19781
09-Sep-197816-Sep-19781
16-Sep-197823-Sep-19781
23-Sep-197830-Sep-19781
30-Sep-197807-Oct-19781
07-Oct-197814-Oct-19781
14-Oct-197821-Oct-19781
21-Oct-197828-Oct-19781
28-Oct-197804-Nov-19781
04-Nov-197811-Nov-19781
11-Nov-197818-Nov-19781
18-Nov-197825-Nov-19781
25-Nov-197802-Dec-19781
02-Dec-197809-Dec-19781
06-Jan-197913-Jan-19791
13-Jan-197920-Jan-19791
20-Jan-197927-Jan-19791
27-Jan-197903-Feb-19791
03-Feb-197910-Feb-19791
10-Feb-197917-Feb-19791
17-Feb-197924-Feb-19791
24-Feb-197903-Mar-19791
03-Mar-197910-Mar-19791
10-Mar-197917-Mar-19791
17-Mar-197924-Mar-19791
24-Mar-197931-Mar-19791
31-Mar-197907-Apr-19791
07-Apr-197914-Apr-19791
14-Apr-197921-Apr-19791
21-Apr-197928-Apr-19791
28-Apr-197905-May-19791
05-May-197912-May-19791
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26-May-197902-Jun-19791
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14-Jul-197921-Jul-19791
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28-Jul-197904-Aug-19791
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08-Sep-197915-Sep-19791
15-Sep-197922-Sep-19791
22-Sep-197929-Sep-19791
29-Sep-197906-Oct-19791
06-Oct-197913-Oct-19791
13-Oct-197920-Oct-19791
20-Oct-197927-Oct-19791
27-Oct-197903-Nov-19791
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17-Nov-197924-Nov-19791
24-Nov-197901-Dec-19791
01-Dec-197908-Dec-19791
08-Dec-197915-Dec-19791
15-Dec-197922-Dec-19791
22-Dec-197929-Dec-19791
29-Dec-197905-Jan-19801
05-Jan-198012-Jan-19801
12-Jan-198019-Jan-19801
19-Jan-198026-Jan-19801
26-Jan-198002-Feb-19801

Thursday 3 February 2011

The pages - Page 4

Skateboard Squad made their first appearance on page 4 of the premiere issue of Cheeky Weekly, and were back on page 4 again in issue 2.  As we have seen previously, the position of features in the first two issues of the comic were displaced from what was to be their later homes due to Cheeky's introductory remarks which occupied page 2.  Having dispensed with the introductions as from issue 3, the Sunday evening instalment of Cheeky's Week took up residence on page 4, where it would become the second most regular feature on that page, appearing there in 45 issues.  However, it wasn't an unbroken run, as Skateboard Squad were back on page 4 in the 31 December 1977 and 07 January 1978 issues.  In the case of the 31 December 1977 comic (that year's Christmas issue), pages 2 and 3 were both devoted to Cheeky's Christmas Morning, thereby bumping the Squad from their usual page 3 home at the time, onto page 4.  A similar bump occurred the following week when page 2 featured New Year's Eve, meaning Sunday was advanced to page 3, displacing the brave boarders onto page 4 once again.

Sunday evening was then firmly back on page 4 until the comic dated 30 September 1978, which was the issue in which The Mystery Comic first appeared, taking up 8 pages in the centre of Cheeky Weekly and introducing 5 new strips.  The Sunday evening feature was dropped to make room, and Gran's pages moved nearer the front, meaning page 4 now hosted the second page of 6 Million Dollar Gran's story.  This continued to be the case until 02 December 1978, when Lawrie McMenemy appeared on page 4 in an ad for issue 4 of Soccer Monthly, to tell all prospective purchasers that "It's a great magazine!", and below that, with the strap line "A merry Christmas to every ghoul and boy", another IPC publication, The Shiver and Shake Annual 1979, was plugged.  This issue of Cheeky Weekly was one of those with a reduced page count due to industrial action, resulting in disturbance to the usual page layout, and the same page deficit occurred the following week when Calculator Kid appeared on page 4.

Six Million Dollar Gran's second page returned to page 4 for the first issue after the industrial dispute was resolved, dated 06 January 1979, but the following week, when Cheeky's New Year revels resulted in 2 Sunday pages, page 4 featured the first page of Gran's adventure.

Page 2 of Gran's strip returned to page 4 the following week, and remained on page 4 until the issue dated 07 July 1979, in which page 4 was the home of that week's What's New, Kids feature.  This change to what had become an established routine resulted from the introduction of Cheeky Weekly's 'new look' with this issue.  The new look introduced 2 strips (The Gang and Stage School), both of which were 2-pagers, and an ad for Mr Bellamy's liquorice sweets appeared on the back cover, evidently prompting the decision to put Calculator Kid on page 3, thereby disrupting the usual page allocation.  Charlie and his calculator appeared on page 3 again the following week, which meant that page 4 contained an ad for Weetabix, which was running a campaign featuring cut-out butterfly and wild flower pictures on their cereal boxes.

Gran was back on page 4 the following week, with the first page of her story this time.  There then followed 3 weeks when Gran's second page took up page 4, followed by 2 weeks when Gran's first page was resident on page 4.

This brings us to the issue dated 01 September 1979, when the first page of The Gang's adventure was located on page 4. This disruption to the usual order was a result of the Green Cross Code man appearing in colour on the centre pages, with a cartoon facsimile of Dave 'Darth' Prowse relating the tale of Ben who was nearly run over while attempting to retrieve an errant football.  Fortunately, all ended well as Ben remembered his Green Cross Code next time he had to negotiate the traffic.

Gran was again back in charge of page 4 for the following 5 weeks (with the first page of her adventure each time), until 13 October 1979 when the kids of Stage School displaced her.  This was due to Mr Bellamy again enticing readers with another ad for his liquorice treats, along with the inclusion of 2 pages of in-house IPC ads, one featuring a reminder that readers should order their Cheeky Weekly to avoid disappointment, and another page promoting that year's Monster Fun Annual and Buster Book.

Feisty Gran returned to page 4 for her final 4 week run in that location, from 20 October 1979 to 10 November 1979.  Three of these page 4s featured the first page of her adventure, while page 4 in the 27 October 1979 issue carried page two of that week's Gran story.  Following this 4 week swan song on page 4, Gran was unceremoniously consigned to the rear pages of the comic for the few remaining weeks of publication.

Gran's robotic presence graced page 4 on 50 occasions, making 6 Million Dollar Gran the most regular feature in that location.  The first page of the Gran strip appeared on page 4 12 times (11 times as the first page of a 3-page strip, and once as the first page of a 2-page story), the second page of her story occupied page 4 a total of 38 times (31 of which were the second page of a 3-page story, the remainder being the second page of 2-page adventures).

Paddywack became the next occupant of page 4 for 3 weeks, until he was supplanted by a Robert Nixon Soggy The Sea Monster reprint from Shiver and Shake on 08 December 1979.  However, Paddywack was back on page 4 for the following 3 weeks, until his page 4 run was interrupted again on 05 January 1980, this time by Joke-Box Jury.  Not to be deterred, Paddywack was back on page 4 for another 3 weeks.

Page 4 of the final issue of Cheeky Weekly, dated 02 February 1980, was shared by a half-page Joke-Box Jury (which despite being less than a full page still managed to include jokes at the expense of the Irish, Scots, Indians and Native Americans) and an ad for IPC's Mickey Mouse comic.