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. ***
Thanks for reading the 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. ***
Thanks for reading the blog.
Saturday 27 December 2014
Thunderbirds Are Go(ing cheap)
If like me you've spent several months vacillating over whether to purchase a copy of Egmont's Thunderbirds Comic Collection, visiting the nearest branch of The Works may alleviate your indecision. Today I had a gander around one of their shops, which was heavily promoting an 'everything must go' sale in the window. I noticed a pile of the title in question, each of which was stickered with a price of £3.99. I swiftly grabbed one, headed to the till and was delighted to find that it had been further reduced in the sale to £2.00. FAB!
Saturday 20 December 2014
Big Hat, Big Head, Nice Page
Lew Stringer has included in his latest post (focusing on the 1970 Christmas edition of TV Comic) a very nice Texas Ted page by Frank McDiarmid. I know very little about the strip, but from this example it seems that Ted is TV Comic's version of The Dandy's Desperate Dan.
Wednesday 17 December 2014
Mustapha Great Christmas!
Here's our ever-helpful millionaire mate assisting Santa (but mainly his reindeer) by means of a spot of middle-eastern magic as the portly fellow with the long beard does his 1980 tour of the globe. Nice work by Robert Nixon. Cheeky (Weekly) still gets a cover mention, in the scroll at the top.
Friday 12 December 2014
The Ads – 'Multi-Comic' Ads
IPC, publishers of Cheeky Weekly, were on
occasion so keen to broaden the circulations of Cheeky Weekly's
companion titles that they couldn't resist cramming more than one
comic into s single ad. Let's have a look the promotions of this
type which appeared in the pages of the toothy funster's comic...
The first such
sales-boosting drive appeared in Cheeky Weekly dated 03 December
1977, wherein our grinning pal's ugly fizzog was seen looming above a
page consisting of what we must assume IPC felt were among the
strongest representatives from three of their other titles; Krazy
(the comic which spawned the Cheeky phenomenon and where the toothy funster was concurrently appearing), Whoopee! (the paper that would
offer refuge to the ragged band of Cheeky Weekly survivors who
emerged from the wreck of the toothy funster's title when it
foundered in February 1980) and Whizzer and Chips (IPC's famous
'2-comics-in-one'; a gimmick that would later be shamelessly appropriated by Cheeky Weeklyitself). It's curious that IPC didn't include in this ad their
longest- running humour/adventure comic of the period, Buster. Maybe
it was felt that Buster wasn't in need of any additional marketing at
the time, and the fact that the title not only outlived all the comics
featured in this ad, but survived to the year 2000 rather bears out this opinion.
Buster also remained aloof from 1979's Star Guest promotion.
Unlike the rest of the ads we'll be examining here, the above publicity material wasn't linked to any particular promotional drive, it seems it was just designed to expose Cheeky Weekly readers to the fun to be had in some of the other IPC product lined up alongside their favourite title on the newsagents counter.
In the issue dated 07 January 1978 the same three comics got a further boost as a new ad alerted readers to the
commencement of cut-out Spotter Books in those titles. Cheeky
Weekly had of course commenced its own Spotter Book of Fun that week.
The Whizzer and Chips Spotter Book of Wheels sounds extremely
tedious, but I suppose it ties in with that comic's Whizz Wheels
character.
A week later the
Spotter Book promotion, and the 3 other participating titles, got
another mention presumably as a reminder to any kids who last week
purchased an extra title or two with the intention of completing
extra cut-out books. Added to the already established scheme is
additional inducement to keep purchasing, in the form a a teaser for
a 'Great Competition' which is 'coming soon'. Quite which comics this
applies to is not made clear.
A fortnight later the
same comics, now styled 'The Funtastic Four' (with Buster again
conspicuously absent from the line-up), were given a further promotional push to coincide with the final instalments of the
booklets. The same characters are given prominence in the blurb as were in the 03
December 1977 ad. Oddly crude dummy renditions of the comic covers
are on display.
In the 24 June 1978
issue was an ad encompassing no less than 5 titles - Buster
(surprise!), Whizzer and Chips (which had of course by this time
absorbed Krazy), Cheeky Weekly, Mickey Mouse and Whoopee!. The cause
of this comic cavalcade was the imminent appearance of condensed versions of these titles within their companions in a promotion that would rotate across the participating comics over a four-week period.
Cheeky directed readers towards the forthcoming Mini-Comics schedule in the following week's issue.
Anyone left in
suspense by the cryptic reference to the impending competition in the 14 January comic were no doubt relieved to
read the announcement of the 5 Papers Competition in Cheeky Weekly
dated 15 July 1978.
Later in the same issue
was another schedule of upcoming mini comics, once again introduced
by the toothy funster.
By the 26 August 1978
issue Buster had resumed its standoffish attitude and was absent from the titles participating in the forthcoming toy competitions
and simultaneous cut-out-and-keep promotion.
A variation on the same ad, featuring a reversed masked hero, appeared 7 days later. In addition to publicising the commencement of the cut-out games, the ad reminded readers that Whoopee was that
week running the first of the four toy competitions. Lone
Ranger toys were on offer, but the TV Western boom of the 50s and 60s was long-forgotten by this time, so the decision to market a range of action figures based on the masked man and his Native American pal at this particular juncture is a bit puzzling.
Whizzer and Chips was
the location of the toy competition the following week. The lucky
winners of the 10 star prizes would each receive a Clash of the
Robots game.
Art: Sid Burgon |
It seems there was a
space that needed filling in Cheeky Weekly 7 days later as an ad
promoting our grinning pal's comic together with Whizzer and Chips and Whoopee
(oddly Mickey Mouse, the location of that week's toy competition,
wasn't mentioned) found itself squeezed into page 31 alongside the
concluding element of Saturday, the instructions for the Crack-A-Joke
Game and a stamp-collecting ad (please tell your parents).
IPC were at this time
clearly convinced of the effectiveness of the cut-out-and-keep
marketing ploy, as little time seemed to elapse without readers being
encouraged to cannibalise their reading matter. Thus it's little
surprise to find that as 1979 dawned another multi-comic ad turned up
in Cheeky Weekly (dated 06 January), heralding further upcoming
scissor-paste-and-cardboard action in the big 3 humour titles. Buster
yet again exempts itself, as does Mickey Mouse.
As we've come to
expect, the message was reinforced 7 days later to coincide with the
commencement of the promotions.
Friends of Cheeky who
were so inclined would have been sharpening their scissors on
learning, in the comic dated 31 March 1979, that '3 Super Pull-Outs'
with a 'pop' theme were due to commence the following week, one in
each of the usual 3 titles. Sweeny Toddler and the Bumpkin kids are
again on hand.to assist with the publicity drive.
The usual rehash of the
initial ad appeared the following issue....
...and a somewhat more
radical refashioning, in which the Sweeny/Bumpkin collaboration was replaced with a generic popster who looks to me to have sprung from the pen of Arthur Martin, was printed in the following edition...
Buster (which had absorbed Monster Fun since it last participated in a multi-title promotion) made a surprise reappearance (along with Mickey Mouse) in the
multi-comic ad in Cheeky Weekly dated 21 April 1979, announcing that
sachets of milkshake would be given free in each of the featured
titles over coming weeks. And - what a surprise - a cut-out feature
would commence in each drink-powder-bearing edition!
The follow-up ad in the
next edition was expanded to fill a whole page.
By 05 May 1979, the
milkshake boat had sailed as far as Buster was concerned so it's no
surprise that young master Capp's title is absent from another
full-page follow-up ad in which Sweeny and the junior Bumpkins have been replaced by two representatives of the target audience.
By the third week of
the Two Shakes promotion, the reinforcement ad was reduced to a half
page since there were only 3 comics still to provide thirsty comic
consumers with flavoured powder for their lactic libations. The same two readers' representatives were featured.
It's a little surprising
that IPC chose to launch a new humour/adventure comic at this time -
Jackpot – in competition with their own milkshake and cut-out
promotion running across more established titles.
The next 'multi-comic'
ad didn't strictly relate to comics – as Christmas 1979 drew
thrillingly close, many Cheeky Weekly readers will no doubt have left
their favourite reading material conspicuously open at page 8 of the
15 December comic, in the hope of finding one or more of IPC's humour
annuals under the tree on the 25th.
Page 27 of the same
issue carried news of yet another imminent competition running across
the familiar 5 humour titles (Jackpot is absent).
This was to be the last
multi-comic ad in Cheeky Weekly which, despite participating in all the
cross-comic promotions detailed above, evidently failed to establish satisfactory circulation figures and came to an end just a few
weeks later with the issue cover-dated 02 February 1980.
Tuesday 11 November 2014
Whizzer and Chips - The Cheeky Raids part 6
New readers start
here... After Cheeky Weekly folded and was incorporated into Whoopee
as of February 1980 six strips that had originated in the toothy
funster's title survived the merge and continued to appear in the
amalgamated comic. Whoopee itself foundered in March 1985 and was
merged into Whizzer and Chips. Three of the surviving Cheeky Weekly
strips successfully negotiated this second merge and went on to
appear in the newly combined publication, rather inelegantly titled
'Whizzer and Chips now including Whoopee'. The survivors were
Mustapha Million, Calculator Kid and (appearing only twice) Stage
School. Cheeky continued to appear, but as a member of The Krazy
Gang, who had moved into W&C when Krazy, the comic in which the
Gang originated, expired in April 1978.
Whizzer and Chips
had a long tradition of sending characters from the Chips section
into Whizzer and vice versa. These cross-comic forays were known as
'raids'. In this series of posts I'm chronicling the raids involving
the ex-Cheeky Weekly characters who made the transition into Whizzer
and Chips, all of whom were allocated to the Chips section. For the
purposes of this series, although this particular manifestation of
the toothy funster didn't directly descend from Cheeky Weekly, I'm
including Cheeky's Krazy Gang appearances as those of an 'ex-Cheeky
Weekly character'.
A week after the issue in which ex-Cheeky Weekly characters suffered and executed raids,
Calculator Kid fell victim to Whizz-Kid intrusion. See if you can
spot the uninvited guests, then scroll down for the official announcement.
Whizzer and Chips 08 June 1985 Calculator Kid: Terry Bave Calculator Corner: J Edward Oliver |
...Nobby and his spherical sidekick, Odd-Ball.
This was clearly a revenge mission, and sees the ex-Cheeky Weekly characters fall slightly behind as their raids now total 3, while the 'rest' have clocked up 4 incursions into the pages of our Cheeky-related pals.
Whizzer and Chips Cover Date | Raider | Raided | ||||
06 April 1985 | Mustapha Million | Super Steve | ||||
04 May 1985 | Bloggs (Store Wars) | Mustapha Million | ||||
11 May 1985 | Joker | The Krazy Gang (Cheeky) | ||||
18 May 1985 | Calculator Kid & Calc | Odd-Ball | ||||
01 June 1985 |
|
|
||||
08 June 1985 | Odd-Ball | Calculator Kid |
Despite the fact that Calculator Kid and Odd-Ball are both drawn by the mighty Terry Bave, the depiction of Nobby in the CK story above is actually a copy-and-paste job sourced from the 30 March 1985 issue of Whizzer and Chips...
Tuesday 4 November 2014
The Cut-Out Features – Skateboard Snap
5 issues after the
concluding instalment of the Cheeky Diary 1978, in the issue containing the final part of the Cheeky Spotter Book of Fun, the imminent
commencement of another cut-out feature was announced...
Cheeky Weekly 28 January 1978 |
Unlike most cut-out features of the period, which involved collecting instalments of a game over a few weeks, this game was complete within the Skateboard issue, occupying the centre spread and back cover in order that the cards could be printed in colour. The game thus usurped Creepy Sleepy Tale's centre-page location but in the manner of CST, Skateboard Snap was framed by Cheeky's Wednesday visit to babysit Burpo.
Art: Frank McDiarmid |
Surprisingly, the members of Cheeky Weekly's very own intrepid Skateboard Squad weren't depicted on the cards demonstrating their prowess. Instead, a selection of generic 'boarders were put through their paces.
Art: Jimmy Hansen, the regular Skateboard Squad artist |
Also lost to posterity
– readers who chose to remove the Skateboard Snap elements from
their comic would be depriving future generations of
- Wednesday (and the snap game instructions!)
- Joke-Box Jury (page 1 of 2)
- A page comprised of the concluding panel of Saturday, Snail's announcement of his forthcoming competition and a (filler) photo of a chimp on a skateboard.
Post updated 04 September 2020 to assign artwork on the snap game to Jimmy Hansen.
Tuesday 28 October 2014
Cheeky Weekly Star Guests in Whoopee! (part 7)
As IPC's 1979 Star Guest promotion reaches its 14th week (in participating comics
cover-dated 30 June 1979), our attention turns once again to Whoopee
which is hosting visitors from the toothy funster's title on
even-numbered weeks of the sales drive. This time our affluent Arab
chum Mustapha Million has been recruited to make a sales-boosting
trip into Whoopee's pages. This is the second occasion on which
Mustapha has been called upon to represent Cheeky Weekly as a Star Guest,
the first time being in the promotion's 9th week over in Whizzer and Chips.
Mustapha's latest Star Guest outing sees his pal (and sufferer from Cheeky Weekly Inconsistent Hair Colour Syndrome) Jimmy embroil our moneyed mate in a boating-pond
brouhaha. Thankfully, the loaded lad soon has everyone happy again,
and the strip finishes with an exultant utterance of the name
of the host comic in an attempt to subliminally engender sympathetic feelings towards the feature among its readership.
Whoopee 30 June 1979 Art: Joe McCaffrey Many thanks to Irmantas for this scan |
This Star Guest page, which was new and never appeared in Cheeky Weekly, is
drawn by Joe McCaffrey, who had taken over the Cheeky Weekly artwork
duties on Mustapha from Reg Parlett in February 1979.
Any Whoopee readers
sufficiently taken with the antics of our prosperous pal to
immediately subscribe to the toothy funster's title would have been
delighted to find that Mustapha appeared in the same week's edition of Cheeky Weekly (although it was to be his final time within the pages of Cheeky Weekly's Mystery Comic section) and all subsequent issues of Cheeky's comic. After Cheeky Weekly folded, Mustapha transferred into Whoopee itself, and
later into Whizzer and Chips.
Wednesday 22 October 2014
Cheeky Weekly cover date 30 June 1979
Art: Frank McDiarmid |
Swiftly following
bandage badinage with Bump-Bump Bernie, our toothy pal has his 19th front cover
encounter with Manhole Man (in what is the final Cheeky's
Week...Sunday cover strip - more on that later).
Dick Millington takes
up the Cheeky's Week pen from Frank McDiarmid as Sunday continues on page 2, where the toothy funster
informs readers that he's looking forward to Saturday, the occasion of the Vicar's countryside ramble.
Despite the mounting excitement over the forthcoming rural excursion, Cheeky makes sure he's home and in front of the TV in time to watch the latest episode of 6 Million Dollar Gran. This week our favourite aged automaton enters a modern-day jousting contest. The reference
to the synthetic senior citizen's 'bionic wrist muscles' as Gran parries her opponent's mighty sword stroke demonstrates the writer has again forgotten that Gran is a robot, as was clearly established in the first issue.
Art: Ian Knox |
On Monday the forthcoming ramble is still preoccupying the youth of Krazy Town, and if you've ever wondered what Dick Millington's version of Calculator Kid would look like, direct your eyes to the final panel...
Art: Dick Millington |
This week's Star Guest, on page 11, is Chelsmsditch's rival to Gran, Supermum, paying a visit from Whoopee.
On Wednesday Gunga Jim provides
Cheeky with this week's Mystery Comic, retrieving the fabled funny paper from within his turban. In the latest edition we learn what befalls the unwise tax officials who decide to pursue the moolah owed by Des' disastrous family.
Art: Mike Lacey |
There's a full
complement of Mystery Comic features this week (although Elephant On The Run has been reduced to a single page due to the presence of an
ad for The Stickits), which is pleasing since this is the final issue
to feature the Mystery Comic as a conceptual grouping of strips in the centre pages. Let's enjoy the episode of Why, Dad,Why? given the honour of bringing this last edition of the perplexing publication to
a conclusion.
Art: John Geering |
Returning to Cheeky's
Week on Thursday, there's evidence of adjustment to the final panel,
wherein a Frank McDiarmid rendition of the toothy funster has been
substituted for Dick Millington's art. The spectacle of Uncle Hamish
travelling at high velocity in the penultimate frame leads me to
suspect the original final panel contained the intro to Speed Squad,
who are absent this week, possibly bumped by an advert.
Art: Dick Millington |
Pages 26 and 27 are
host to the final instalment of Menace of The Alpha Man. The masked
marauder's true identity is revealed, but Cheeky Weekly readers who submitted entries for the associated competition following the final clue in the comic dated 16 June 1979 will have to
wait until the winners are named 'in a few weeks'.
Cheeky's message on the
Chit-Chat page carries the first intimation of changes in the
offing...
...and the toothy
funster and slimy sidekick further tantalise readers on page 29...
Saturday's
much-anticipated ramble is enjoyed by all, and after the exertion
Cheeky is in need of a sustaining plate of his mum's finest fish and
chips. Snail, ever conscious of comic sales, take the opportunity to
raise the excitement regarding next week's comic.
The Burpo Special,
whose subject this week is substandard sleuth Sherlock, brings the
comic to a conclusion, and also closes another chapter in Cheeky Weekly's history as the comic prepares to undergo another revamp next week.
Frank McDiarmid provides only the cover strip this time, with Dick Millington delivering 8 Cheeky's Week elements and Mike Lacey furnishing the
Burpo Special. Clearing space for the forthcoming changes, the following strips
come to an end this week as mentioned above;
Cheeky's Week...Sunday
Menace of the Alpha Man
The Burpo Special
...and the Mystery Comic
section also concludes, although all the strips that had been contained within its pages will continue, freed from being grouped
about the centre of the comic.
See you back here next
issue for our first sampling of Cheeky Weekly's 'New Look'!
Cheeky Weekly | Cover Date: 30-Jun-1979, Issue 86 of 117 |
Page | Details |
1 | Cheeky's Week (final appearance) - Art Frank McDiarmid (final art on feature) |
2 | Sunday - Art Dick Millington |
3 | 6 Million Dollar Gran - Art Ian Knox |
4 | 6 Million Dollar Gran - Art Ian Knox |
5 | 6 Million Dollar Gran - Art Ian Knox |
6 | Monday - Art Dick Millington |
7 | Calculator Kid - Art Terry Bave |
8 | Ad: WH Smith |
9 | Tuesday - Art Dick Millington |
10 | Paddywack - Art Jack Clayton |
11 | Star Guest 'Supermum' - Art Dicky Howett (single art on feature) |
12 | Wednesday - Art Dick Millington |
13 | Tub 'Mystery Comic' 34 of 34 - Art Nigel Edwards |
14 | Mustapha Million 'Mystery Comic' 34 of 34 - Art Joe McCaffrey |
15 | Mustapha Million 'Mystery Comic' 34 of 34 - Art Joe McCaffrey |
16 | Elephant On The Run 'Mystery Comic' 34 of 34 - Art Robert Nixon |
17 | Disaster Des 'Mystery Comic' 30 of 30 - Art Mike Lacey |
18 | Mystery Boy reprint from Whizzer and Chips 'Mystery Comic' 37 of 37 - Art John Richardson |
19 | Ad: The Stickits (final appearance) |
20 | Why, Dad, Why? 'Mystery Comic' 28 of 28 - Art John K. Geering |
21 | Ad: IPC 'Cheeky Summer Special' 5 of 6 Ad: 'Whizzer and Chips Summer Special' 2 of 3 |
22 | Ad: Action Man (first appearance) |
23 | Thursday - Art Dick Millington |
24 | Joke-Box Jury |
25 | Friday - Art Dick Millington |
26 | Menace of the Alpha Man (final appearance) reprint from Shiver and Shake - Art Eric Bradbury (final art on feature) |
27 | Menace of the Alpha Man (final appearance) reprint from Shiver and Shake - Art Eric Bradbury (final art on feature) |
28 | Chit-Chat |
29 | Ad: North Pacific Flyers\Ad: IPC 'Cheeky Weekly: New look next week' |
30 | Saturday - Art Dick Millington |
31 | Saturday - Art Dick Millington |
32 | The Burpo Special (final appearance) 'Sherlock' - Art Mike Lacey (final art on feature) |
Cheeky's Week Artists Cover Date 30-Jun-1979
Artist | Elements |
Dick Millington | 8 |
Frank McDiarmid | 1 |
Mike Lacey | 1 |
Thursday 16 October 2014
The Best Of Whizzer and Chips Annual
Since reading about Egmont's new The Best Of Whizzer and Chips Annual on Lew Stringer's blog I have been trying to track down a copy. There's no Sainsburys on my local high street, so my first trip was to the nearest store which, I was disappointed to discover, has no book section so my expedition was fruitless. Today I headed out to Crayford.
I was soon hurrying through the portals of the superstore in question. Targetting the book section at the back of the shop it wasn't long before I spotted a stack of TBOWACAs in the children's area. Further investigation revealed another stack on the 'Book Charts' shelves, where TBOWACA occupied 29th position and companion publication, the less-than-snazzily-titled The Best of 70s Girls' Comics Annual, nestled next door at number 30. Both are priced at £7.99 on the back cover but cost £3.99 as per the sticker on their front covers.
I bought a copy of each to support the project in the hope that we may see Egmont produce some more gems from their Classic Comics archive.
A quick glance at the books looks promising - the paper quality is much better than some of the original annuals, and there is colour of some kind (either full or spot) on every page of TBOWACA. The pages are tinged with yellow, which is presumably an effect added to enhance nostalgic feelings among the readership, a result that I quite liked.
I wondered whether there might be some Cheeky-related strips in the W&C annual. There aren't, but the Tiny Tycoon 2-pager commencing on page 30 looks to me to be the work of Frank McDiarmid ghosting Tom Williams. There's a slightly jarring moment on the 'welcome' page which says 'We hope you have fun with the Chip-ites and Whizzer-kids'!
I'm very pleased with these books and looking forward to settling down for a good read. Egmont have done justice to the strips and I'm very much hoping that this is just the first batch of an ongoing series. The Best Of Cheeky Annual next year?
I was soon hurrying through the portals of the superstore in question. Targetting the book section at the back of the shop it wasn't long before I spotted a stack of TBOWACAs in the children's area. Further investigation revealed another stack on the 'Book Charts' shelves, where TBOWACA occupied 29th position and companion publication, the less-than-snazzily-titled The Best of 70s Girls' Comics Annual, nestled next door at number 30. Both are priced at £7.99 on the back cover but cost £3.99 as per the sticker on their front covers.
I bought a copy of each to support the project in the hope that we may see Egmont produce some more gems from their Classic Comics archive.
A quick glance at the books looks promising - the paper quality is much better than some of the original annuals, and there is colour of some kind (either full or spot) on every page of TBOWACA. The pages are tinged with yellow, which is presumably an effect added to enhance nostalgic feelings among the readership, a result that I quite liked.
I wondered whether there might be some Cheeky-related strips in the W&C annual. There aren't, but the Tiny Tycoon 2-pager commencing on page 30 looks to me to be the work of Frank McDiarmid ghosting Tom Williams. There's a slightly jarring moment on the 'welcome' page which says 'We hope you have fun with the Chip-ites and Whizzer-kids'!
I'm very pleased with these books and looking forward to settling down for a good read. Egmont have done justice to the strips and I'm very much hoping that this is just the first batch of an ongoing series. The Best Of Cheeky Annual next year?
Wednesday 15 October 2014
Profile - Farmer Giles
Farmer Giles is of
course rhyming slang for a medical condition on which I was going to
elaborate, but as I don't want to pile on the agony for any readers
suffering the ailment in question I decided I'd just sit on it
instead.
Quite why a farmer was wandering the urban landscape of Krazy Town was never explained (although judging by his manure-laden boots, his livestock couldn't be far away), but the affable agrarian dispensed many a stereotypical “oo-aaar” along with his rural repartee.
In Cheeky's world,
Farmer Giles was the purveyor of farmyard fun who first appeared in
the 08 July 1978 issue and bowed out in the final edition of the
toothy funster's comic, having clocked up appearances in 78 issues.
The first case of the Farmers Cheeky Weekly 08 July 1978 Art: Frank McDiarmid pencils |
Quite why a farmer was wandering the urban landscape of Krazy Town was never explained (although judging by his manure-laden boots, his livestock couldn't be far away), but the affable agrarian dispensed many a stereotypical “oo-aaar” along with his rural repartee.
Just 7 weeks after his
debut, Giles appeared on the cover of the 26 August 1978 comic,
whereon he was depicted in a cornfield. The prominence given to the
rustic rascal on the front page may have given readers the impression
that abundant agricultural antics were in the offing but in fact
other than his front page feature, Farmer Giles was present only on
page 2.
Despite being mentioned on several occasions, Farmer Giles' Dad appeared only once - Cheeky Weekly 03 November 1979 Art: Dick Millington |
Our favourite funny farmer returned to the front cover on the 24 February 1979 edition, accompanied
by a flock of sheep.
Cheeky Weekly dated 07April 1979 featured the highest number of elements to include our
harvesting humourist in a single edition - he turned up on Sunday,
Wednesday and Thursday.
Farmyard fun was in evidence during Giles' Burpo Special appearance in the 14 April 1979 issue.
Farmyard fun was in evidence during Giles' Burpo Special appearance in the 14 April 1979 issue.
Agricultural antics
returned to the front cover of the comic dated 21 April 1979, and yet
again on the 16 June and 23 June 1979 editions.
Cheeky and pals spent
Saturday on Giles' farm in the 21 July 1979 comic, a trip which
concluded with a slap-up farm feed.
Yikky-Boo gets rural Art: Mike Lacey |
In her
post-cinema-usherette career, Ursula was briefly employed on Giles'
farm as a scarecrow, but was sacked for scaring the animals and staff
as well (11 August 1979). This experience didn't stop Giles creating
some scarecrows resembling the frightening-faced-female in the 19 January 1980
edition.
Red rustic raillery Art: Frank McDiarmid |
Giles' battered rustic
headgear was home to a mouse, who was most frequently depicted when
the artwork was pure Frank McDiarmid.
Farmer Giles made a
guest appearance in the Skateboard Squad story dated 28 October 1978, and Cheeky's Cut-Out Comedy
Catalogue of Farmer Giles Jokes appeared in the 12
January 1980 comic.
Character | Total Issues | First Appearance | Final Appearance |
Farmer Giles | 78 | 08-Jul-1978 | 02-Feb-1980 |
Character | Artist | Total Elements |
Farmer Giles | Frank McDiarmid | 46 |
Farmer Giles | Mike Lacey | 21 |
Farmer Giles | Frank McDiarmid pencils | 12 |
Farmer Giles | Dick Millington | 4 |
Farmer Giles | Barrie Appleby | 4 |
Wednesday 8 October 2014
Whizzer and Chips - The Cheeky Raids part 5
Whizzer and Chips had a long tradition of sending characters from the Chips section into Whizzer and vice versa. These cross-comic forays were known as 'raids'. In this series of posts I'm chronicling the raids involving the ex-Cheeky Weekly characters who made the transition into Whizzer and Chips, all of whom were allocated to the Chips section. For the purposes of this series, although this particular manifestation of the toothy funster didn't directly descend from Cheeky Weekly, I'm including Cheeky's Krazy Gang appearances as those of an 'ex-Cheeky Weekly character'.
Well, it had to happen. Two weeks after intrepid Charlie and Calc infiltrated Odd-Ball's story, came the first issue of Whizzer and Chips wherein ex-Cheeky Weekly characters both perpetrated and fell victim to raids.
On the receiving end of a rascally raid was the toothy funster himself, in his role as a member of The Krazy Gang. Can you identify the wily Whizz-Kid interloper? Scroll down for the answer...
Whizzer and Chips 01 June 1985 Art: Bob Hill |
...Animalad, sufferer from a peculiar animalady which allowed him to undergo bestial transformations.
The revenge raid was made on Boy Boss. Are you able to identify the courageous ex-Cheeky Weekly star who was called on to perform the heroic deed? Scroll down once again, where all will be revealed...
Whizzer and Chips 01 June 1985 Art: Frank McDiarmid |
This was the second time our brave Bedouin buddy Mustapha embarked upon a cross-comic sortie. This issue also saw the second raid to be carried out upon the Krazy Gang (in the post-Whoopee-merge era which is the subject of this series).
The reciprocal raids in this issue of W&C mean the current tally of Ex-Cheeky Weekly raiders vsThe Rest remains a draw, with 3 incursions now chalked up for each team. More raiding fun soon!
Whizzer and Chips Cover Date | Raider | Raided | ||||
06 April 1985 | Mustapha Million | Super Steve | ||||
04 May 1985 | Bloggs (Store Wars) | Mustapha Million | ||||
11 May 1985 | Joker | The Krazy Gang (Cheeky) | ||||
18 May 1985 | Calculator Kid & Calc | Odd-Ball | ||||
01 June 1985 |
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