Whizzer and Chips - The Cheeky Raids part 45

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.

Whizzer and Chips dated 12 March 1988 - Mustapha is once again the victim of a frequent interloper into his stories. Are you on the ball enough to spot the regular raider? Scroll down to see the identity of the unwanted guest.

Art: Frank McDiarmid

Yes, it's that monocular menace Odd-Ball again. AND he's reverted to using that flippin' annoying phrase which we haven't seen since Lazy Bones hitched a ride in another of Mustapha's aircraft in the issue dated 25 July 1987.

Mustapha's story this week is rather shocking to our 21st century sensibilities. Our pecunious pal clearly wasn't familiar with the term 'carbon footprint'.

Frank includes an in-joke on the wrestling poster advertising a bout between Mad Dog Cumming and Panting Paynter. I don't know who the Cumming referred to might be (UPDATE - see Andy Boal's comment below), but his opponent's name is a reference to IPC group editor Bob Paynter.

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	Animalad Mustapha Million	The Krazy Gang (Cheeky) Boy Boss
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	Odd-Ball Calculator Kid	Calculator Kid Store Wars
05 October 1985	Mustapha Million	Animalad
19 October 1985	Odd-Ball	Mustapha Million
23 November 1985	Sweeny Toddler Sweeny Toddler Sweeny Toddler	Calculator Kid The Krazy Gang (Cheeky) Mustapha Million
18 January 1986	Mustapha Million	Super Steve
25 January 1986	Odd-Ball Cheeky	Mustapha Million Odd-Ball
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
12 September 1987	Mustapha Million	Sweet Tooth
19 September 1987	Odd-Ball	Mustapha Million
24 October 1987	Odd-Ball	Mustapha Million
12 December 1987	Joker	Mustapha Million
13 February 1988	Bloggs (Store Wars)	Mustapha Million
20 February 1988	Mustapha Million	Joker
12 March 1988	Odd-Ball	Mustapha Million

The Whoopee! Years - Cheeky Valentine Cards and Cheeky's Special Crossword

During our toothy pal's appearances in the first run of his eponymous strip in Whoopee! and Cheeky, he also turned up in 2 special features, the first of which I examined back in 2014. So if I may I'll direct you here to read about the Cheeky Valentine Cards in the 14 February 1981 issue. 4 pages of that week's edition were devoted to the amatory tokens which meant that, along with the same issue's 4-page 'Cheeky' strip, readers were either subjected to, or enjoyed (depending on their disposition towards the jerseyed japester), 8 pages of grinning-gagster-related jocularity.

4 months after the Valentine's Day issue, Cheeky's Special Crossword made a one-off appearance. Although this was clearly a filler (featuring another use of what I refer to as the Standard Cheeky Face, an image etched into the memories of many of us due to its association with the disturbing 'left hand on right arm' outings of our toothy pal), a smattering of clues did relate to Cheek's universe.

Whoopee! and Cheeky 13 June 1981

Whizzer and Chips - The Cheeky Raids part 44

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 Bloggs gatecrashed his strip for the second time, Mustapha exacted revenge on those pesky Whizz-kids. Can you spot him on his trip into enemy territory?

Art: Sid Burgon

I say, Mustapha, that's uncharacteristically coarse language! Those rough Whizzer and Chips types are having a bad influence on you. Despite this, I have chosen to believe that, contrary to all appearances, it was Joker's pal and not you who attached the bucket to the fishing line.

Mustapha had previously intruded upon the buttonhole-squirter-sporting Whizz-kid prankster in the issues dated 07 June and 16 August 1986, while Joker had raided our affluent chum in the 27 July 1985 and 12 December 1987 editions.

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	Animalad Mustapha Million	The Krazy Gang (Cheeky) Boy Boss
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	Odd-Ball Calculator Kid	Calculator Kid Store Wars
05 October 1985	Mustapha Million	Animalad
19 October 1985	Odd-Ball	Mustapha Million
23 November 1985	Sweeny Toddler Sweeny Toddler Sweeny Toddler	Calculator Kid The Krazy Gang (Cheeky) Mustapha Million
18 January 1986	Mustapha Million	Super Steve
25 January 1986	Odd-Ball Cheeky	Mustapha Million Odd-Ball
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
12 September 1987	Mustapha Million	Sweet Tooth
19 September 1987	Odd-Ball	Mustapha Million
24 October 1987	Odd-Ball	Mustapha Million
12 December 1987	Joker	Mustapha Million
13 February 1988	Bloggs (Store Wars)	Mustapha Million
20 February 1988	Mustapha Million	Joker

The Whoopee! Years - Cheeky Diary 1982

Whoopee!'s first edition of 1982, under the banner 'What a start to the new year!', announced on its cover a selection of inducements designed to attract new readers. First was a competition to win Corgi Dial-A-Design toys, followed by a plug for new strip Teacher's Pets, and finally the first part of the Cheeky Diary 1982, yet another in the long tradition of IPC cut-out-and-collect promotions, was heralded. Friends of Cheeky who had been reading their toothy pal's own comic back in late 1977/early 1978 would have memories of the Cheeky Diary 1978. That earlier cut-out-and-keep journal, drawn by Jim Petrie and spanning as it did 8 Cheeky Weekly pages over 4 issues, allowed only weekly entries to be recorded. However, the version for 1982 was allotted 16 pages over 4 weeks (with, as before, each comic page carrying 2 diary pages), facilitating daily diary entries.

Since a month's worth of diary entries occupied one comic page (once excised from Whoopee!, the diary pages were designed to be folded in half before compilation), and the diary front and back covers took up a further page, there were an extra 3 pages which Frank McDiarmid put to good comedic use. The first of the extra pages featured a 'personal details' page which Cheeky had helpfully partially completed, coupled with the toothy funster's predictions for the coming year. The second consisted of a humorous take on the helpful information and memorable dates/anniversaries sections often appearing in diaries, while the third contained a spoof map of 'your town - or one very like it'.

Art: Frank McDiarmid

Any Whoopee! readers who were not Cheeky fans (hey, it's possible I suppose) and were delighted when the amount of Cheeky content was halved in September 1981, would have been dismayed by the (as they saw it) intrusion of 4 pages of toothy funster-related material in addition to the 2 pages of Cheeky and pals in the 02 January 1982 edition, and 3/4 of a page of Cheeky's Week in the subsequent 3 issues (the bottom 1/4 page carried the instructions for compiling the diary). However those in the anti-Cheeky camp may have been more favourably disposed towards the diary if they were in need of somewhere to record their daily doings

Each month was encapsulated by a Frank McDiarmid cartoon at beginning and end.

Lack of attention when assembling the diary could
lead readers to believe that Christmas Day 1982
fell on 25 January

Frank McDiarmid provided all the diary artwork.

The fourth and final instalment of the diary was printed in Whoopee! dated 23 January 1982.