As 1977 drew to a conclusion, Cheeky Weekly readers
concerned that they lacked somewhere in which to record their doings over the forthcoming year were no
doubt relieved to read the announcement on page 30 of the comic dated 26 November - the first instalment of the Cheeky Diary 1978 was
to appear in the following issue.
The Cheeky diary was prominently
featured on the cover of the 03 December 1977 comic, in which the
debut instalment appeared on pages 31 and 32. In fact all four
instalments of the diary were similarly located, allowing each part
to benefit from the colour printing that was available on the back
cover/page 32.
Friends of Cheeky who were so
inclined could cut out and fold each section in half to make 4 diary
pages. Having collected all the sections readers were able to
assemble the pages (taking care to observe the correct chronology)
into a booklet wherein they could chronicle 12 months of japes and jollifications.
The diary cover features an
appearance of what I refer to as the 'standard Cheeky face (printed numerous times during Cheeky
Weekly's run and used at the top of this blog), which I have always assumed was produced
as a reference drawing or 'model sheet'.
Apart from the standard face, all the diary art was by Jim Petrie (this wouldn't be the last time Jim would contribute a cut-out feature).
Unlike a more traditional daily diary, this booklet provided space to record events by week only, with our grinning pal sharing chortlesome banter with one of his chums in each slot. Jim gave Cheeky a nice assortment of expressions, and there was a bonus centre spread.
Readers of the toothy funster's title were given the opportunity to record their daily happenings in the the What did YOU do today? section, introduced into the Cheeky pages as of the 30 September 1978 issue, as the comic underwent its second revamp.
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