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.

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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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Sunday 23 December 2018

Cheeky's First Christmas - part 3

This concluding part of my short series examining Cheeky's festive doings in the Christmas 1976 edition of Krazy brings us to Cheeky's third strip appearance in that issue. The Krazy Gang, who numbered Cheeky among their assorted human, avian and alien members, had appeared in Krazy from the first issue. When Krazy folded in April 1978, the Gang were among the survivors to be absorbed into Whizzer and Chips, where their adventures (still including our toothy hero) continued until February 1986.

However, all this upheaval lay in the future as readers of that first festive Krazy anticipated a seasonal escapade with Cheeky and his Gang colleagues...

Krazy 25 December 1976
Art: Ian Knox



It's always good to see Cheeky without his usual amused grin and I like the expressions of sheepishness on display in this strip. This is Pongo Snodgrass' second encounter with the Gang in this issue, and both feature similar final panels. Not quite the seasonal rapprochement one might have expected.

Don't eat too many chocolates, and have a merry Christmas, Pals!

Saturday 22 December 2018

Cheeky Upfront Yet Again!

Our toothy pal is certainly enjoying a high profile at the moment as, following cover appearances on recent issues of Comic Scene and Fanscene, next year he'll be gracing the cover of (and presumably be included among the reprints inside) a special Free Comic Book Day publication titled Funny Pages which you can read about on Lew Stringer's blog.

Sunday 16 December 2018

Cheeky Upfront Again

Art: Mark Wayne Barrett


Not long after appearing on the cover of Comic Scene issue 2, our toothy pal can be seen on the front page of another publication. This time Cheeky is gracing FANSCENE’s '50th anniversary of UK Comic Cons' issue (free to download - although a donation to the charity of your choice is encouraged - here). As is explained inside the ‘zine, the collection of characters depicted above have all performed the role of ‘editor’ of either a comic or letters page. Cheeky was of course the editor of the Chit-Chat letters page.

Unfortunately, other than a mention on the page that identifies all the comic greats gathered on the cover, Cheeky is not featured inside this issue – not really surprising as the focus is on recollections of various Comic Cons through the years. Sadly, CheekyCon has yet to be organised (although it can only be a matter of time - just think of the cosplay possibilities).

Friday 14 December 2018

Cheeky's First Christmas - part 2

In the second part of this short series examining Cheeky's contributions to the Christmas 1976 edition of Krazy, we skip ahead to page 19, the site of 2 reader participation features. Our grinning pal joins his Krazy Gang chums to deliver a selection of readers' gags in the Krazy News-Pound.


Krazy Agony Column Art: Nick Baker
Krazy News-Pound Art: Ian Knox



Over the page Cheeky is in the spotlight as his own 4-page  'Ello, It's Cheeky strip commences. We know from Cheeky Weekly dated 19 January 1980 that Frank McDiarmid enjoys drawing snow, and the toothy funster's festive stroll around Krazy Town allows Frank to indulge himself in plenty of wintry scenes.

Art: Frank McDiarmid
The bottom left panel contains the
payoff to the gag set up at the bottom
right of the News-Pound page shown above.


This page features the un-named
occasional character I refer to as Brother Girl


We'll leave Cheeky heading home to enjoy some more Christmas pressies, but join me again in a few days as I examine more Cheekiness from Christmas '76.

Monday 10 December 2018

Terry Bave 1931 - 2018

I was so sorry to read on Lew Stringer's blog of the sad passing of the mighty Terry Bave. Terry of course drew Calculator Kid for Cheeky Weekly and the successful character continued in Whoopee! after Cheeky's comic came to an end. There was a time when it seemed Terry had artwork appearing in just about every comic in publication, with a never-ending roster of hugely popular characters created in collaboration with his wife Shiela. I always found Terry's artwork to be very appealing, and he depicted a world that was, despite the regular appearance of bullies who were a staple of comic scripts of the period, very cosy and reassuring as justice was always served by the end of the story. This time of year I particularly remember Terry's Christmas strips into which he put extra effort, enhancing the festive fun by drawing a border around them featuring clever seasonal designs. It's impossible to imagine the heyday of British comics without Terry's vibrant and always amusing strips. What a great legacy he leaves behind.

My thoughts are with his family, friends and countless fans.


Whoopee! 26 December 1981


Whoopee! 25 December 1982


Sunday 9 December 2018

Cheeky's First Christmas - part 1


Art: Mike Lacey


Cheeky made his debut in the first edition of Krazy dated 16 October 1976, and just a few weeks later the Christmas issue of that title saw our toothy pal participate in festive fun for the first time. I've always assumed that Cheeky was supposed to be about 9 or 10 years old (and like most comic characters he remained the same age for the entirety of his nine and a half year comic career), so it wasn't strictly speaking our grinning pal's first Christmas, rather the first time that readers were able to observe his seasonal escapades.

Cheeky appeared on the cover of Krazy's Christmas '76 edition, in his role as a member of the Krazy Gang, all of whom were depicted cowering behind the snow-bedecked comic title and narrowly avoiding being hit by a ginormous snowball. Cover artist Mike Lacey would later draw the toothy funster in Cheeky Weekly. On page 2 the Gang were involved in a story featuring their niffy nemesis Pongo Snodgrass (who I suspect launched the icy projectile at them on the front cover), drawn by Ian Knox who would go on to depict the adventures of Cheeky Weekly's second-longest surviving character, 6 Million Dollar Gran, who, in her post-Cheeky Weekly career, evolved into $6,000,000 Gran then later Robot Granny and finally Gran (leader of Gran's Gang). As of Krazy's Christmas 1976 issue, Cheeky's jumper still showed his Gang (and therefore comic) affiliation - his more familar 'C'-bearing top would appear in August of the following year in preparation for the October launch of his own title.

Krazy 25 December 1976
Art: Ian Knox

Join me again in a few days for the second part of this examination of Cheeky's 1976 Christmas capers.


Thursday 6 December 2018

Whizzer and Chips - The Cheeky Raids part 36

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. However, the Krazy Gang's Whizzer and Chips run ended in the issue dated 08 February 1986. Calculator Kid survived a little longer, his run of reprints coming to an end in the 26 July 1986 edition and leaving Mustapha Million as the sole Cheeky Weekly survivor.

A week after being raided by Toy Boy, Mustapha embarked on a revenge mission into Whizz Town (Whizzerton? Whizzville-on-Sea?). Can you spot our prosperous pal in this Memory Banks page?

Whizzer and Chips 27 June 1987
Art: Mark Bennington



Maybe our middle-eastern mate (who was always concerned about his pals' welfare) had recently bought the health food shop and that was why he was inside. This is the first Cheeky-related raid of the era covered by this series of posts to involve the recollection-deficient Master Banks. As Mustapha is the raider rather than the victim, at least we're spared the hackneyed 'I made a mug of Mustapha Million' boast this time.

More raiding fun soon!

Whizzer and Chips Cover Date Raider Raided
06 April 1985Mustapha MillionSuper Steve
04 May 1985Bloggs (Store Wars)Mustapha Million
11 May 1985JokerThe Krazy Gang (Cheeky)
18 May 1985Calculator Kid & CalcOdd-Ball
01 June 1985
Animalad
Mustapha Million
The Krazy Gang (Cheeky)
Boy Boss
08 June 1985Odd-BallCalculator Kid
06 July 1985Toy BoyCalculator Kid
13 July 1985Pa BumpkinThe Krazy Gang (Cheeky)
27 July 1985JokerMustapha Million
24 August 1985CheekySid's Snake
14 September 1985
Odd-Ball
Calculator Kid
Calculator Kid
Store Wars
05 October 1985Mustapha MillionAnimalad
19 October 1985Odd-BallMustapha Million
23 November 1985
Sweeny Toddler
Sweeny Toddler
Sweeny Toddler
Calculator Kid
The Krazy Gang (Cheeky)
Mustapha Million
18 January 1986Mustapha MillionSuper Steve
25 January 1986
Odd-Ball
Cheeky
Mustapha Million
Odd-Ball
08 February 1986
The Krazy Gang ends this issue
AnimaladMustapha Million
15 February 1986Lazy BonesCalculator Kid
15 March 1986Odd-BallCalculator Kid
29 March 1986Calculator KidMaster P Brain
05 April 1986Bumpkin BillionairesMustapha Million
12 April 1986AnimaladCalculator Kid
31 May 1986Lazy BonesCalculator Kid
07 June 1986Mustapha MillionJoker
28 June 1986Sweet ToothMustapha Million
26 July 1986
Calculator Kid ends this issue
No Cheeky-related raid this issueNo Cheeky-related raid this issue
16 August 1986Mustapha MillionJoker
23 August 1986Sweet ToothMustapha Million
18 October 1986Winnie the Royal NagMustapha Million
06 December 1986Toy BoyMustapha Million
13 December 1986Mustapha MillionOdd-Ball
17 January 1987SidMustapha Million
14 February 1987Odd-BallMustapha Million
11 April 1987Pa BumpkinMustapha Million
25 April 1987Mustapha MillionOdd-Ball
20 June 1987Toy BoyMustapha Million
27 June 1987Mustapha MillionMemory Banks