RIP Jimmy Hansen

Sorry to read on Lew Stringer's Blimey! blog that Jimmy Hansen has died. Jimmy drew Skateboard Squad and later Speed Squad as well as a number of the Cheeky's Week elements in Cheeky Weekly, plus a one-off Disaster Des strip when he stood in for Des' regular artist Mike Lacey. Jimmy's work always had a lot of energy, particularly suited to the Squad strips, featuring comically-exaggerated facial expressions and bodily movements which contributed to the lively feel.

Profile - Mr Chips

One of the later entrants into the Cheeky's Week supporting cast, joiner Mr Chips (whose name referenced wood chips I suppose, but also the book Goodbye, Mr Chips) was first introduced in a single-panel gag appearing in the comic dated 28 July 1979. Quite what the comedy carpenter was constructing at the time remains unclear.

Mr Chips' debut
Art: Dick Millington and...?

His second appearance was drawn by Frank McDiarmid, including a rendition that's notably similar to the one above. I suspect that at the time Dick drew the panel above, he hadn't seen Frank's version of the character and that someone other than Dick added Mr Chips to the panel at a later date (you may recall I have a similar suspicion about Dick's handling of Ah Sew).

Art: Frank McDiarmid

Chips junior (first name Woody?) made a single appearance, in the comic dated 22 September 1979.

Artist unknown (to me)

Chips' gnashers get an airing thanks to Yikky-Boo
Frank again

More Frank

Despite his resolution to cease the jokes in the new year edition dated 05 January 1980, Cheeky's sawdust-strewn stooge made two further Cheeky Weekly appearances, the final one in the penultimate issue.

Mr Chips' valedictory gag in the issue dated 26 January 1980
Art: Mike Lacey

The jovial joiner was given the honour of having a Cheeky's Cut-Out Comedy Catalogue in his name, devoted to carpentry-related humour, included in the same last-but-one issue. Chips appeared in 21 issues of the toothy funster's title.

Mr Chips was created for Cheeky Weekly and never appeared in Cheeky's strips in Krazy.

Character	Total Issues	First Appearance	Final Appearance
Mr Chips	21	28-Jul-1979	26-Jan-1980

Count of elements by artist

Character	Artist	Total Elements
Mr Chips	Frank McDiarmid	10
Mr Chips	Mike Lacey	7
Mr Chips	Not known	2
Mr Chips	Bob Hill	1
Mr Chips	Frank McDiarmid pencils	1

Profile - Spook

Cheeky’s Sunday paper round originally included a regular delivery to the creepy house, home to an assortment of ghastly ghouls and fearsome phantoms. On Sunday in the 28 January 1978 edition of his comic, the toothy funster encountered an un-named, damp ghost in the garden of said eerie location.

 

Art: Frank McDiarmid pencils

A similar gag appeared three weeks later, but that time the haunted laundry didn't take on a ghostly aspect.

Cheeky Weekly 18 February 1978
Art: Frank McDiarmid

Our grinning hero witnessed other phantoms at the scary address, none of whom resembled the wraith we would later come to know as Spook.

The residents of the creepy house evidently cancelled their Sunday newspaper order soon after Cheeky Weekly dated 12 August 1978, as after that issue our toothy pal made no more visits to the scary site.

Following the demise of the Creepy Sleepy Tales in the 26 August 1978 edition, Krazy Town was then largely free from supernatural events until Spook first announced himself while appearing from a drain in Cheeky Weekly dated 21 July 1979. His joke was accompanied by a terrifying ‘Hee-aaar! Hee-aaar!’, but in later appearances the gags from beyond the grave were delivered with a ‘Hee-uuur! Hee-uuur!’.

Spook's debut
Art: Frank McDiarmid pencils

On his second named appearance the funny phantom emerged from the cake which Cheeky had just won from Baker’s Boy, and subsequent humorous hauntings saw the silly spectre emerge from, among other things, Knock-Knock Door’s letter box, Dr Braincell’s medical case, Gloomy Glad’s ever-looming black cloud and the barrel of Six Gun Sam’s toy gun.

Art: ghosted by Dick Millington

Spook appeared on 2 pages in each of the comics dated 25 August, 24 November (including his only front cover appearance) and 15 December 1979.
The posthumous punster's final Cheeky Weekly manifestation was in the last issue.

Spook was still haunting the drains (although readers never saw an encounter between him and Manhole Man down there) in the last issue of Cheeky Weekly. Art: Frank McDiarmid

Cheeky and Snail were terrified by Krazy Town's ghoulish gagster in 23 issues (24 if we consider the anonymous ghost in the 28 January 1978 comic to be the same silly spirit). Spook never haunted the pages of Krazy.

Character	Total Issues	First Appearance	Final Appearance
Spook	23	21-Jul-1979	02-Feb-1980

Count of elements by artist

Character	Artist	Total Elements
Spook	Frank McDiarmid	15
Spook	Mike Lacey	5
Spook	Frank McDiarmid pencils	3
Spook	Dick Millington	1
Spook	Jimmy Hansen	1
Spook	Barrie Appleby	1