Monday, 25 March 2019
A Cheeky Preview
Lew Stringer has given us a sneaky peek at some of the contents of the imminent (well, 17th April) Cor!! Buster Humour Special, including our toothy pal. In the same panel that shows Cheeky, Lew has included the cover of Cheeky Weekly dated 25 November 1978.
Tuesday, 19 March 2019
Whoopee! and Cheeky - the first combined issue; 09 February 1980
Whizzer and Chips had most famously employed the two-comics-in-one format since 1969, but the idea had also been used in Shiver and Shake, and of course Cheeky Weekly itself adopted the concept during the period in which the Mystery Comic occupied its centre pages (although adding an additional metatextual spin not present in the above examples by having the Mystery Comic being a title read by the Cheeky Weekly characters).
Since the focus of this blog is on Cheeky and his pals, I'll home straight in on that very first Cheeky section. On the section's front page, our toothy pal is, unusually, sporting a blue and black jumper instead of his familiar red and black apparel (the new sweater was probably given to him by the Whoopee! editor as a bit of a sweetener). This is another use of an image that I refer to as the 'standard Cheeky face' which was first seen in the debut issue of Cheeky Weekly and on several subsequent occasions. The office cleaner has clearly been complaining about having to dust the boxes of Friend of Cheeky badges left in the corner of what was the Cheeky Weekly office. Snail makes his presence felt, as he did on the Whoopee! cover.
The Curtain rises on Stage School with a brief résumé of the strip's premise for the benefit of Whoopee! readers, before the cravat-wearing showbiz teacher (who was rarely seen in Cheeky Weekly) sets a tough exam assignment. The title panel that appeared in the last few months of the strip's Cheeky Weekly run has been retained.
 |
| Art: Robert Nixon |
Stage School's 2-pager is followed by a page carrying the details of the proper-front-page-announced competition to win a Friscodisco battery-powered record player.
Erstwhile Cheeky Weekly readers may be a bit surprised to see a selection of Paddywack gags over the page, as the bumbling buffoon wasn't included among the band of characters shown to be transferring to their new home in last week's final issue of our grinning pal's comic. Readers are still being invited to submit their Paddywack gags (the editor clearly hoping to mine a previously-untapped source of gags in the shape of Whoopee! readers who, because the dithering dolt wasn't included in the Cheeky mini comic that appeared in their funny paper, were hitherto unaware that such a thing as a 'Paddywack type joke' even existed), although the cash reward for successful contributors has been reduced from Cheeky Weekly's £2 to a single quid BUT with a bonus Whoopee! Cushion prize which I'm sure is worth a pound of anyone's money.
 |
| Art: Jack Clayton |
Next up is 6 Million Dollar Gran, or rather $6000,000 Gran as she has now been styled. Pauline Potts informs Whoopee! readers that the titular OAP is a 'bionic robot granny'. Well, at least this oxymoronic statement does acknowledge Gran's robotic origin.
 |
| Art: Ian Knox |
The next 2 pages of Cheeky's section are devoted to the first instalment of the cut-out Fib card game, IPC, as ever, never missing an opportunity to encourage readers to attack their comics with scissors. The cards feature characters from the newly-combined comic, so Cheeky, Mustapha Million, Snail, Gran and Calculator Kid rub shoulders with the likes of Whoopee! stalwarts Frankie Stein and Lolly Pop. Readers excising the game from within the Cheeky section would be losing the second of Gran's pages and the first of Cheeky's.
Cheeky, seemingly unaware that he risks being glued to a cornflake packet then sliced into pieces, does the introductions in his whopping 4-page segment, titled It's Cheeky!. Well, obviously 4 pages is a bit of a comedown compared to the coverage he had in Cheeky Weekly, but it's a good number of pages to be allocated post-merge (the opinions of long-time Whoopee! readers who find their favourite strips jettisoned to make way for what they may well consider to be 'all this Cheeky rubbish' would no doubt differ). The monochrome printing means we can't tell whether the toothy funster is wearing his new blue/black jumper. Mike Lacey does his usual superb job, but it's a pity Frank McDiarmid wasn't on hand to furnish the inaugural artwork for Cheeky's Whoopee! era. I suspect Frank either took a well-deserved break for a week, or was busy building up a stock of Cheeky strips for future use.
 |
| Art: Mike Lacey |
Like Gran, Mustapha has undergone a title revision which now reads Mu$tapha Mi££i(coin image)n - he was previously titled Mustapha Mi££ion although I rarely referred to him as such. Joe McCaffrey clearly used Reg Parlett's artwork on the first Mustapha episode as a reference for the 3-panel back-story.
Rounding off the Cheeky section is Calculator Kid. It's remarkably fortunate for Whoopee! readers that just as the story starts, Charlie and Calc encounter a newcomer to the area (modelling rather alarming, baggy tartan trews), giving young Master Counter and his battery-powered buddy the opportunity to explain the strip's set-up. Whereas in Cheeky Weekly the feature had a title panel located at the left hand side of the first row of pictures, Charlie and Calc now have a banner-style title, although using the same image as before.
 |
| Art: Terry Bave |
Other than the '2 Famous Comics in One' banner on Whoopee!'s front page and the Cheeky/Posh Claude gag, there is no mention of the 'merge' in this week's issue - not even a 'welcome to our new readers'-type message on the letters page (although some of the strips in the Whoopee! section do include introductory explanations for new readers).
There is, however, this ominous announcement...
Monday, 11 March 2019
Whizzer and Chips - The Cheeky Raids part 38
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 month after being raided by Lazy Bones, Mustapha Million was approaching the end of his summer holiday, and enjoying a brief stopover at the Disneyland-esque (and reminiscent of Walley World as featured in the 1983 film National Lampoon's Vacation) Wishy World, when he was again subject to an unwelcome intrusion by one of those pesky Whizz-kids. Can you spot the miscreant in the story below? If your answer is 'nay', scroll down to discover the identity of the interloper.
Yes, it's that mischievous mare, Winnie the Royal Nag, who was the first to coin the annoying phrase which was adopted by many of the subsequent gloating raiders of Mustapha's strip (I can't bring myself to type the offending slogan, so please see her previous raid on our middle eastern mate here). Mercifully, she didn't say it this time.
More raiding fun soon!
A month after being raided by Lazy Bones, Mustapha Million was approaching the end of his summer holiday, and enjoying a brief stopover at the Disneyland-esque (and reminiscent of Walley World as featured in the 1983 film National Lampoon's Vacation) Wishy World, when he was again subject to an unwelcome intrusion by one of those pesky Whizz-kids. Can you spot the miscreant in the story below? If your answer is 'nay', scroll down to discover the identity of the interloper.
 |
| Whizzer and Chips 22 August 1987 Art: Barry Glennard |
Yes, it's that mischievous mare, Winnie the Royal Nag, who was the first to coin the annoying phrase which was adopted by many of the subsequent gloating raiders of Mustapha's strip (I can't bring myself to type the offending slogan, so please see her previous raid on our middle eastern mate here). Mercifully, she didn't say it this time.
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 |
|
|
||||||
| 08 June 1985 | Odd-Ball | Calculator Kid | ||||||
| 06 July 1985 | Toy Boy | Calculator Kid | ||||||
| 13 July 1985 | Pa Bumpkin | The Krazy Gang (Cheeky) | ||||||
| 27 July 1985 | Joker | Mustapha Million | ||||||
| 24 August 1985 | Cheeky | Sid's Snake | ||||||
| 14 September 1985 |
|
|
||||||
| 05 October 1985 | Mustapha Million | Animalad | ||||||
| 19 October 1985 | Odd-Ball | Mustapha Million | ||||||
| 23 November 1985 |
|
|
||||||
| 18 January 1986 | Mustapha Million | Super Steve | ||||||
| 25 January 1986 |
|
|
||||||
| 08 February 1986 The Krazy Gang ends this issue | Animalad | Mustapha Million | ||||||
| 15 February 1986 | Lazy Bones | Calculator Kid | ||||||
| 15 March 1986 | Odd-Ball | Calculator Kid | ||||||
| 29 March 1986 | Calculator Kid | Master P Brain | ||||||
| 05 April 1986 | Bumpkin Billionaires | Mustapha Million | ||||||
| 12 April 1986 | Animalad | Calculator Kid | ||||||
| 31 May 1986 | Lazy Bones | Calculator Kid | ||||||
| 07 June 1986 | Mustapha Million | Joker | ||||||
| 28 June 1986 | Sweet Tooth | Mustapha Million | ||||||
| 26 July 1986 Calculator Kid ends this issue | No Cheeky-related raid this issue | No Cheeky-related raid this issue | ||||||
| 16 August 1986 | Mustapha Million | Joker | ||||||
| 23 August 1986 | Sweet Tooth | Mustapha Million | ||||||
| 18 October 1986 | Winnie the Royal Nag | Mustapha Million | ||||||
| 06 December 1986 | Toy Boy | Mustapha Million | ||||||
| 13 December 1986 | Mustapha Million | Odd-Ball | ||||||
| 17 January 1987 | Sid | Mustapha Million | ||||||
| 14 February 1987 | Odd-Ball | Mustapha Million | ||||||
| 11 April 1987 | Pa Bumpkin | Mustapha Million | ||||||
| 25 April 1987 | Mustapha Million | Odd-Ball | ||||||
| 20 June 1987 | Toy Boy | Mustapha Million | ||||||
| 27 June 1987 | Mustapha Million | Memory Banks | ||||||
| 25 July 1987 | Lazy Bones | Mustapha Million | ||||||
| 22 August 1987 | Winnie the Royal Nag | Mustapha Million |
Wednesday, 6 March 2019
Cheeky Weekly: Year 3 in Review
Although Cheeky Weekly embarked on its third year as of the 20 October 1979 edition, it of course failed to survive until its third birthday, expiring with the issue dated 02 February 1980 (after which it underwent the obligatory 'merge', in this case into Whoopee!).
However, the fact that year three was incomplete doesn't mean we shouldn't have our customary rummage around in the data to see what changes affected the comic as its demise approached.
There was one newcomer feature, although that may a bit of a misnomer since Soggy was in fact a reprint. To his credit, the silly sea serpent appeared in every issue from the date of his Cheeky Weekly commencement on 17 November 1979 to the final issue.
Changes between: Issues 20-Oct-1979 and 02-Feb-1980
Everything else running in the comic as of 20 October 1979 obviously expired either in the final issue or before (if we assume even those few strips who transferred into Whoopee! to have expired, at least in their initial incarnation). Photo-filler-feature Silly Snaps was the first to cash in its chips, making it no further than that very same 20 October issue. Another filler, this time of the quiz variety namely Tease Break was the next feature to kick the proverbial metallic water receptacle, clattering out in the 03 November 1979 comic. Next for the chop was advertorial feature What's New, Kids, disappearing after its 17 November 1979 airing (coincidentally the same issue in which Soggy squelched up for the first time). 26 January 1980 was a fateful issue for Paddywack as that was the final time he and his wellies would trouble Cheeky Weekly readers yet, despite being absent from the final issue, our perplexing pal would surprise everyone by turning up unannounced for the first combined issue of Whoopee! and Cheeky (whether he was actually invited to take part or was too slow to realise that he had been cancelled remains a matter of considerable debate to this day - well, in Niblet Towers it is).
The features that marched on to the final issue are shown below with an End Date of 02 February 1980. Not all of that dogged band would survive the merge. The 'daily' aspect of the Cheeky strips would not be carried over into the combined comic (although a strip named Cheeky's Week would begin in September 1981, which condensed 7 days of puns into a single feature), so none of the seven daily pages would resurface.
Changes between: Issues 20-Oct-1979 and 02-Feb-1980
Turning to the matter of reprints, I decided to look back over the whole of Cheeky Weekly's history as I haven't previously done an overview of the comic's 'second-time-around' content. Recycled material had featured in the comic from the first issue, some being presented in an open way (Old Comic, which sourced vintage strips from a number of titles), while all other material from the vaults was slipped in surreptitiously (e.g. Bam Splat and Blooie and Cocky Doodle, both of which originated in Buster) to the extent of having their titles changed in some instances. Cocky doodled his last in the 04 March 1978 edition, and the frenzied Bamming, Splatting and Blooieing was concluded on 17 June of the same year. The Cheeky Weekly office boy/girl was despatched to the basement to retrieve a Who's Afraid of the Big Bad Wolf? strip from the dusty Cor!! vaults for the 24 June 1978 edition. Cheeky's Old Comic selections drew to a close on 26 August 1978.
Archie's Angels were resurrected from Whizzer and Chips on 12 August 1978, concluding on 16 September 1978, which was the same issue in which the obscure Hickory Dickory Doc was reprinted from Cor!! (maybe the office junior found this curiosity in the basement when down there a few weeks earlier).
Sonny Storm from Cor!! then took up the role of the 'reprinted adventure strip', but fulfilled that function in only a single issue, that dated 23 September 1978.
The 30 September 1978 edition saw a return of Granny and her lupine adversary as the second and final Who's Afraid...etc was given a repeat run. In the same issue World War II evacuee Mystery Boy (originally titled Who is Sandy? on its 1971 debut outing in Whizzer and Chips) began his epic adventure, which would last for over a year and be the final adventure strip to run in the comic. A week after Mystery Boy's debut, another adventure reprint was summoned from the dingy catacombs of IPC - The Terrible Trail to Taggart's Treasure - the first strip to be sourced for Cheeky Weekly from Shiver and Shake.
The 14 October 1978 issue of the toothy funster's comic included a one-off reprint of Ghouldilocks from Jag, and on 06 January 1979 another Shiver and Shake resurrectee, Eagle Eye, began. The exceptionally observant schoolboy wrapped up his adventure in the 24 February 1979 edition, and a week later a further feature was plucked from the Shiver and Shake files, Menace of the Alpha Man, which was to be the final adventure strip to commence in Cheeky Weekly. The alphabetical threat was brought to an end on 30 June 1979, leaving Mystery Boy as the sole remaining adventure story.
The Double Deckers strip from Whizzer and Chips was dusted down, given a bit of a visual tarting up, retitled The Gang and foisted on unsuspecting Cheeky Weekly readers by IPC management as of 07 July 1979. I don't know what IPC felt Cheeky Weekly readers had done to deserve this. The Gang wasn't an adventure strip, but it certainly wasn't funny.
The telephonic tales involving young Ringer Dinger were next to be salvaged from the back of the Whizzer and Chips filing cabinets, commencing in Cheeky Weekly dated 06 October 1979 (although Dinger was only called upon to appear 3 times in the weekly comic). The final reprint, Soggy the Sea Monster, sourced once again from Shiver and Shake, commenced on 17 November 1979 but unlike Dinger's rather lackadaisical attitude to attendance Soggy, as mentioned above, showed up every week thereafter until Cheeky Weekly was cancelled.
I haven't mentioned above the Cheeky Weekly strips that re-used old scripts but with new artwork (the various James Bold series and Why, Dad, Why?) since these are not true reprints.
It's possible that the strips based on Warner Brothers cartoon characters (used to represent the supporting features in the Saturday morning picture show sequences) were reprints but I have no information on this so they are not included in the reprint figures below. Nor are the strips which reused old scripts as mentioned above.
We can see that reprints by month started out at 8% of the total features, then dropped away slightly until a very dramatic drop to 1% in July 1978. This was because only 1 reprint appeared in the whole of that month, due to the disruptive presence of the 4-week mini comics promotion in the July '78 issues.
As of August 1978 the percentage of reprints rises, and afterwards gets back to the more regular level of 8 or 9% for the remainder of the comic's run, although February 1980 shows a jump to 13% - there was of course only one issue in that month, the final edition, and the highest-ever reprint percentage is due to the presence of sporadic contributor Ringer Dinger, in addition to regular reprints Soggy and The Gang, in that comic.
Reprints by Month 22-OCT-77 to 02-FEB-80
However, the fact that year three was incomplete doesn't mean we shouldn't have our customary rummage around in the data to see what changes affected the comic as its demise approached.
There was one newcomer feature, although that may a bit of a misnomer since Soggy was in fact a reprint. To his credit, the silly sea serpent appeared in every issue from the date of his Cheeky Weekly commencement on 17 November 1979 to the final issue.
Changes between: Issues 20-Oct-1979 and 02-Feb-1980
| Category | Detail | Start | End |
| Newcomer after 20-Oct-1979, still running as of 02-Feb-1980 | Soggy the Sea Monster | 17-Nov-1979 | 02-Feb-1980 |
Everything else running in the comic as of 20 October 1979 obviously expired either in the final issue or before (if we assume even those few strips who transferred into Whoopee! to have expired, at least in their initial incarnation). Photo-filler-feature Silly Snaps was the first to cash in its chips, making it no further than that very same 20 October issue. Another filler, this time of the quiz variety namely Tease Break was the next feature to kick the proverbial metallic water receptacle, clattering out in the 03 November 1979 comic. Next for the chop was advertorial feature What's New, Kids, disappearing after its 17 November 1979 airing (coincidentally the same issue in which Soggy squelched up for the first time). 26 January 1980 was a fateful issue for Paddywack as that was the final time he and his wellies would trouble Cheeky Weekly readers yet, despite being absent from the final issue, our perplexing pal would surprise everyone by turning up unannounced for the first combined issue of Whoopee! and Cheeky (whether he was actually invited to take part or was too slow to realise that he had been cancelled remains a matter of considerable debate to this day - well, in Niblet Towers it is).
The features that marched on to the final issue are shown below with an End Date of 02 February 1980. Not all of that dogged band would survive the merge. The 'daily' aspect of the Cheeky strips would not be carried over into the combined comic (although a strip named Cheeky's Week would begin in September 1981, which condensed 7 days of puns into a single feature), so none of the seven daily pages would resurface.
Changes between: Issues 20-Oct-1979 and 02-Feb-1980
| Category | Detail | Start | End |
| Started on or before 20-Oct-1979 but departed on or before 02-Feb-1980 | Mustapha Million | 22-Oct-1977 | 02-Feb-1980 |
| Started on or before 20-Oct-1979 but departed on or before 02-Feb-1980 | 6 Million Dollar Gran | 22-Oct-1977 | 02-Feb-1980 |
| Started on or before 20-Oct-1979 but departed on or before 02-Feb-1980 | What's New, Kids | 22-Oct-1977 | 17-Nov-1979 |
| Started on or before 20-Oct-1979 but departed on or before 02-Feb-1980 | Cover Feature | 22-Oct-1977 | 02-Feb-1980 |
| Started on or before 20-Oct-1979 but departed on or before 02-Feb-1980 | Friday | 22-Oct-1977 | 02-Feb-1980 |
| Started on or before 20-Oct-1979 but departed on or before 02-Feb-1980 | Monday | 22-Oct-1977 | 02-Feb-1980 |
| Started on or before 20-Oct-1979 but departed on or before 02-Feb-1980 | Saturday | 22-Oct-1977 | 02-Feb-1980 |
| Started on or before 20-Oct-1979 but departed on or before 02-Feb-1980 | Sunday | 22-Oct-1977 | 02-Feb-1980 |
| Started on or before 20-Oct-1979 but departed on or before 02-Feb-1980 | Thursday | 22-Oct-1977 | 02-Feb-1980 |
| Started on or before 20-Oct-1979 but departed on or before 02-Feb-1980 | Tuesday | 22-Oct-1977 | 02-Feb-1980 |
| Started on or before 20-Oct-1979 but departed on or before 02-Feb-1980 | Wednesday | 22-Oct-1977 | 02-Feb-1980 |
| Started on or before 20-Oct-1979 but departed on or before 02-Feb-1980 | Joke-Box Jury | 10-Dec-1977 | 02-Feb-1980 |
| Started on or before 20-Oct-1979 but departed on or before 02-Feb-1980 | Calculator Kid | 01-Jul-1978 | 02-Feb-1980 |
| Started on or before 20-Oct-1979 but departed on or before 02-Feb-1980 | Paddywack | 08-Jul-1978 | 26-Jan-1980 |
| Started on or before 20-Oct-1979 but departed on or before 02-Feb-1980 | Silly Snaps | 02-Sep-1978 | 20-Oct-1979 |
| Started on or before 20-Oct-1979 but departed on or before 02-Feb-1980 | Why, Dad, Why? | 30-Sep-1978 | 02-Feb-1980 |
| Started on or before 20-Oct-1979 but departed on or before 02-Feb-1980 | Elephant On The Run | 30-Sep-1978 | 02-Feb-1980 |
| Started on or before 20-Oct-1979 but departed on or before 02-Feb-1980 | Tub | 30-Sep-1978 | 02-Feb-1980 |
| Started on or before 20-Oct-1979 but departed on or before 02-Feb-1980 | Disaster Des | 30-Sep-1978 | 02-Feb-1980 |
| Started on or before 20-Oct-1979 but departed on or before 02-Feb-1980 | Chit-Chat | 09-Dec-1978 | 02-Feb-1980 |
| Started on or before 20-Oct-1979 but departed on or before 02-Feb-1980 | Tease Break | 17-Feb-1979 | 03-Nov-1979 |
| Started on or before 20-Oct-1979 but departed on or before 02-Feb-1980 | Speed Squad | 26-May-1979 | 02-Feb-1980 |
| Started on or before 20-Oct-1979 but departed on or before 02-Feb-1980 | Stage School | 07-Jul-1979 | 02-Feb-1980 |
| Started on or before 20-Oct-1979 but departed on or before 02-Feb-1980 | The Gang | 07-Jul-1979 | 02-Feb-1980 |
| Started on or before 20-Oct-1979 but departed on or before 02-Feb-1980 | Snail of the Century | 14-Jul-1979 | 02-Feb-1980 |
| Started on or before 20-Oct-1979 but departed on or before 02-Feb-1980 | Ringer Dinger | 06-Oct-1979 | 02-Feb-1980 |
Turning to the matter of reprints, I decided to look back over the whole of Cheeky Weekly's history as I haven't previously done an overview of the comic's 'second-time-around' content. Recycled material had featured in the comic from the first issue, some being presented in an open way (Old Comic, which sourced vintage strips from a number of titles), while all other material from the vaults was slipped in surreptitiously (e.g. Bam Splat and Blooie and Cocky Doodle, both of which originated in Buster) to the extent of having their titles changed in some instances. Cocky doodled his last in the 04 March 1978 edition, and the frenzied Bamming, Splatting and Blooieing was concluded on 17 June of the same year. The Cheeky Weekly office boy/girl was despatched to the basement to retrieve a Who's Afraid of the Big Bad Wolf? strip from the dusty Cor!! vaults for the 24 June 1978 edition. Cheeky's Old Comic selections drew to a close on 26 August 1978.
Archie's Angels were resurrected from Whizzer and Chips on 12 August 1978, concluding on 16 September 1978, which was the same issue in which the obscure Hickory Dickory Doc was reprinted from Cor!! (maybe the office junior found this curiosity in the basement when down there a few weeks earlier).
Sonny Storm from Cor!! then took up the role of the 'reprinted adventure strip', but fulfilled that function in only a single issue, that dated 23 September 1978.
The 30 September 1978 edition saw a return of Granny and her lupine adversary as the second and final Who's Afraid...etc was given a repeat run. In the same issue World War II evacuee Mystery Boy (originally titled Who is Sandy? on its 1971 debut outing in Whizzer and Chips) began his epic adventure, which would last for over a year and be the final adventure strip to run in the comic. A week after Mystery Boy's debut, another adventure reprint was summoned from the dingy catacombs of IPC - The Terrible Trail to Taggart's Treasure - the first strip to be sourced for Cheeky Weekly from Shiver and Shake.
The 14 October 1978 issue of the toothy funster's comic included a one-off reprint of Ghouldilocks from Jag, and on 06 January 1979 another Shiver and Shake resurrectee, Eagle Eye, began. The exceptionally observant schoolboy wrapped up his adventure in the 24 February 1979 edition, and a week later a further feature was plucked from the Shiver and Shake files, Menace of the Alpha Man, which was to be the final adventure strip to commence in Cheeky Weekly. The alphabetical threat was brought to an end on 30 June 1979, leaving Mystery Boy as the sole remaining adventure story.
The Double Deckers strip from Whizzer and Chips was dusted down, given a bit of a visual tarting up, retitled The Gang and foisted on unsuspecting Cheeky Weekly readers by IPC management as of 07 July 1979. I don't know what IPC felt Cheeky Weekly readers had done to deserve this. The Gang wasn't an adventure strip, but it certainly wasn't funny.
The telephonic tales involving young Ringer Dinger were next to be salvaged from the back of the Whizzer and Chips filing cabinets, commencing in Cheeky Weekly dated 06 October 1979 (although Dinger was only called upon to appear 3 times in the weekly comic). The final reprint, Soggy the Sea Monster, sourced once again from Shiver and Shake, commenced on 17 November 1979 but unlike Dinger's rather lackadaisical attitude to attendance Soggy, as mentioned above, showed up every week thereafter until Cheeky Weekly was cancelled.
I haven't mentioned above the Cheeky Weekly strips that re-used old scripts but with new artwork (the various James Bold series and Why, Dad, Why?) since these are not true reprints.
It's possible that the strips based on Warner Brothers cartoon characters (used to represent the supporting features in the Saturday morning picture show sequences) were reprints but I have no information on this so they are not included in the reprint figures below. Nor are the strips which reused old scripts as mentioned above.
We can see that reprints by month started out at 8% of the total features, then dropped away slightly until a very dramatic drop to 1% in July 1978. This was because only 1 reprint appeared in the whole of that month, due to the disruptive presence of the 4-week mini comics promotion in the July '78 issues.
As of August 1978 the percentage of reprints rises, and afterwards gets back to the more regular level of 8 or 9% for the remainder of the comic's run, although February 1980 shows a jump to 13% - there was of course only one issue in that month, the final edition, and the highest-ever reprint percentage is due to the presence of sporadic contributor Ringer Dinger, in addition to regular reprints Soggy and The Gang, in that comic.
Reprints by Month 22-OCT-77 to 02-FEB-80
| Month | Total Features | Reprint Features | % Reprints | Reprint Sources |
| OCT-1977 | 51 | 4 | 8 | Buster 2, Film Fun 1, Knockout 1 |
| NOV-1977 | 100 | 8 | 8 | Buster 4, Chips 1, Jingles 1, Sun Weekly 1, Tiger 1 |
| DEC-1977 | 122 | 7 | 6 | Buster 2, Film Fun 2, Radio Fun 1, TV Fun 1, Tip Top 1 |
| JAN-1978 | 99 | 4 | 4 | Chips 1, School Friend 1, Swift 1, Tip Top 1 |
| FEB-1978 | 99 | 6 | 6 | Buster 2, Chips 1, Comet 1, TV Fun 2 |
| MAR-1978 | 101 | 6 | 6 | Buster 2, Chips 1, Knockout 1, Swift 1, Tiger 1 |
| APR-1978 | 124 | 6 | 5 | Buster 1, Chips 1, Knockout 2, School Friend 1, Tip Top 1 |
| MAY-1978 | 98 | 3 | 3 | Chips 1, Film Fun 1, Knockout 1 |
| JUN-1978 | 96 | 6 | 6 | Buster 1, Chips 1, Cor!! 1, The Jester 1, Tiger 1, Wonder 1 |
| JUL-1978 | 109 | 1 | 1 | Knockout 1 |
| AUG-1978 | 93 | 4 | 4 | Whizzer and Chips 4 |
| SEP-1978 | 118 | 7 | 6 | Cor!! 3, Whizzer and Chips 4 |
| OCT-1978 | 97 | 9 | 9 | Jag 1, Shiver and Shake 4, Whizzer and Chips 4 |
| NOV-1978 | 96 | 8 | 8 | Shiver and Shake 4, Whizzer and Chips 4 |
| DEC-1978 | 47 | 3 | 6 | Shiver and Shake 1, Whizzer and Chips 2 |
| JAN-1979 | 102 | 8 | 8 | Shiver and Shake 4, Whizzer and Chips 4 |
| FEB-1979 | 103 | 8 | 8 | Shiver and Shake 4, Whizzer and Chips 4 |
| MAR-1979 | 120 | 10 | 8 | Shiver and Shake 5, Whizzer and Chips 5 |
| APR-1979 | 94 | 8 | 9 | Shiver and Shake 4, Whizzer and Chips 4 |
| MAY-1979 | 89 | 8 | 9 | Shiver and Shake 4, Whizzer and Chips 4 |
| JUN-1979 | 113 | 10 | 9 | Shiver and Shake 5, Whizzer and Chips 5 |
| JUL-1979 | 93 | 8 | 9 | Whizzer and Chips 8 |
| AUG-1979 | 94 | 8 | 9 | Whizzer and Chips 8 |
| SEP-1979 | 113 | 10 | 9 | Whizzer and Chips 10 |
| OCT-1979 | 94 | 7 | 7 | Whizzer and Chips 7 |
| NOV-1979 | 93 | 6 | 6 | Shiver and Shake 2, Whizzer and Chips 4 |
| DEC-1979 | 121 | 10 | 8 | Shiver and Shake 5, Whizzer and Chips 5 |
| JAN-1980 | 94 | 9 | 10 | Shiver and Shake 4, Whizzer and Chips 5 |
| FEB-1980 | 23 | 3 | 13 | Shiver and Shake 1, Whizzer and Chips 2 |
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