Cheeky Annual 1985

 

Whoopee and Wow! 01 Sep 1984

Reluctant possessor of vast wealth and mangelwurzel enthusiast, Pa Bumpkin was again given the job of alerting Whoopee readers to the existence of the latest Annual version of their favourite comic as Christmas 1984 loomed. Whoopee and Wow! dated 01 September 1984 was chosen as the issue in which the Whoopee Annual with cover year 1985 was unveiled. At this point in Whoopee’s history, Cheeky had been featuring in the weekly comic in just a single row of panels for 14 months. This reduced presence in the regular title was instigated just 2 months before publication of the Cheeky Annual carrying the cover year 1984, and fans of the grinning gagster who were concerned that the dwindling Cheeky quotient in weekly Whoopee and Wow! would result in the cancellation of any further Annuals starring their toothy pal were no doubt relieved to see that the Cheeky Annual 1985 was among the treats listed in the rather extravagant 4-page flyer which boosted to 36 the page count of the edition of Whoopee and Wow! dated 29 September 1984.

The 1985 Cheeky Annual is allocated a prime spot on the second page of the flyer, sandwiched between the mighty Buster Book and the Cor!! Annual which, despite its weekly version having ceased publication in June 1974, continues to jostle for space on newsagents’ shelves as Christmas approaches. The final Cor!! Annual would be issued a year later, bringing the total number of posthumous Annuals for that title to 14!

The pink flyer appeared only once in Whoopee and Wow! that year. The ‘presented by Pa Bumpkin’ ad for the Whoopee Annual 1985 (the exclamation mark having been shorn from the Annual as a consequence of the merger with Wow!) as shown above was, after its 01 September 1984 debut, also in evidence in the issues of Whoopee and Wow! dated 08 September, 10 and 24 November and 08 and 22 December. Another Annual ad appeared in Whoopees dated 03 November, and 01 and 15 December, and this one publicised a selection of Fleetway Annuals but Cheeky’s was not among those on display.

The Chopper bike is the pedal-powered mode of transport choice of the coolest 80s kids, so quite how our toothy hero comes to be astride an example of the extended-front-forked beast is something of a puzzle - I'm guessing he's borrowed it from Disco Kid. This seventh Cheeky Annual joins the Annual cover-dated 1982 in having no Christmas elements on the front page, and in this case that’s because the image of Cheeky, Chopper and a selection of chuckles was designed by Mike Lacey for the front page of Krazy (the title in which the grinning gagster originated) dated 12 February 1977. I must admit that it wasn’t until I read Bruce’s précis of this Annual some years ago that I became aware that its cover was a reprint. From his debut in the first issue of Krazy dated 16 October 1976, Cheeky’s jumper carried the letter K to denote his membership of The Krazy Gang, but as his popularity increased and in preparation for the October 1977 launch of his own comic, the K was replaced in the pages of Krazy by the now more familiar C as of August 1977. For this reprint Cheeky’s jersey adornment has been updated, and some of the colours have been altered.

Last year’s Cheeky Annual was the first to feature a reprint on the inside of the front cover, but this time page 2 sees the toothy funster ruminating on a big top career in a new feature entitled Starstruck Cheeky. The opening panel depicts Cheeky reading what appears to be some bound copies of Whoopee, and specifically Stage School, a feature that originated back in his own comic and continues to appear weekly in Whoopee and Wow! The 4-page strip gives us a glimpse into our grinning chum’s daydream as he tries out various circus roles, and we leave the imaginary Cheeky plunging towards the ground, having been dropped by his trapeze partner, Bump-Bump Bernie. Despite this imagined disaster, Cheeky still wants to be a star, and a note tells us there’ll be more showbiz musings on page 26.

Art: Frank McDiarmid

 

Colour printing continues as Mustapha Million confuses jumble sale with jungle sale in a 3-page tale drawn by Joe McCaffrey. Mustapha, who had accompanied Cheeky and a select few survivors into Whoopee! when Cheeky Weekly folded in February 1980, continues to appear in the weekly Whoopee and Wow!, although his adventures there have been reprints of Cheeky Weekly strips (most of which feature art by Reg Parlett) since April 1984. This Annual 3-pager is new.

Page 9 sees the commencement of black and white material, as Tub, a character who didn’t survive Cheeky Weekly’s merge into Whoopee but who has appeared in all the Cheeky Annuals published since that dated 1980 (his September 1978 debut in the toothy funster’s title being too late for his inclusion in the first Cheeky Annual) visits the supermarket and scoffs the entire promotional table-load of samples made with Staytrim margarine.

A Winter’s Snail is a new, Shakespeare-referencing title for a strip starring our favourite mollusc. In last year’s Annual, Cheeky’s slithering sidekick was given a new, TV-based format but the premise of this feature recalls the back-garden-based Snail of the Century scenario dating from the Cheeky Weekly days, although in this story our shell-bearing hero escapes his frozen environs and travels to Spain.

Art: Frank McDiarmid

The editor of the Cheeky Annuals and Specials has previously dipped into the Cheeky Weekly archives to source material for the Spot The Difference features in the Cheeky Holiday Special 1980, the same year’s Cheeky Annual (dated, of course 1981) and the 1982 Cheeky Annual. All of these STDs (if you’ll excuse the unfortunate acronym) were based on artwork lifted from single panels of various strips that originally appeared in the toothy funster’s comic. However, pages 12 and 13 of this Annual are home to the first instance of a whole strip from Cheeky Weekly being reprinted in a Cheeky title, as they feature an episode of Calculator Kid which first appeared in the 21 October 1978 edition of Cheeky Weekly. On its debut the tale originally concluded in a single page but the editor of this Annual, keen to extract every possible budgetary advantage from the recycled material, has decreed that it be stretched to occupy 2 pages on this occasion.

Cheeky Weekly 21 Oct 1978
Art: Terry Bave

First page of reprint
in Cheeky Annual 1985

Having journeyed back to 1978 for this Calculator Kid escapade, we then travel further into the past to join Dick Twerpin (who for the first time is given the soubriquet ‘The Dozey Highwayman’) in a narrative concerning typically nefarious yet fruitless undertakings, courtesy of Martin Baxendale. Although never featuring in Cheeky Weekly, the blunderbuss-wielding buffoon has appeared in all the Cheeky Annuals since the collection dated 1980, and also in the 1982 Cheeky Summer Special. This tale of failed robbery attempts is allocated a 4-page slot.

Another strip that never graced the pages of Cheeky Weekly makes a return next, although this feature has not got as long a history in the Annuals as that of the felonious Twerpin. Roy of the Robots made its debut in the previous Cheeky Annual, and when I examined last year’s Roy strip, I said it reminded me of Ro-Busters. This episode, with the character named Ro-Rolls, brings to mind that most memorable Ro-Buster, the aromatic droid, Ro-Jaws.

 

Art: Alan Rogers

Back on page 2 we witnessed the reverie induced in Cheeky as a result of his reading a Stage School strip, and page 20 sees the commencement of a tale featuring those very same aspiring entertainers. Doug Jensen, who has previously drawn one episode of Stage School, in the weekly Whoopee and Wow! dated 30 July 1983, is the artist for this tale in which Sir is happy to be temporarily relieved of his wallet so that he can avoid paying a debt. However, by the end of this 3-page sequence he hasn’t managed to retrieve his moolah.

 

On the following page is a character who I’d hoped we’d seen the last of in the previous Cheeky Annual. It’s that hideous human/reptile hybrid, the ghastly Croc, inexplicably revived from ancient issues of Whizzer and Chips. We should, however, be grateful that Croc’s pluvial predicament has not been expanded to fill 2 pages in the manner of Calculator Kid’s earlier reprinting.

 

Turning the page swiftly with a shudder, we encounter Disaster Des. The artist, with whom I am unfamiliar but who helpfully signs him/herself simply Ricky, has been commissioned to illustrate a 2 page story detailing the chaos generated by Des’ visit to the bank, which culminates in the cash reserves of the bank vaults being shredded.

 

Another Starstruck Cheeky sequence commences next, and our toothy hero is still being inspired by Stage School. This time we witness Cheeky’s thoughts about a career treading the boards. In the final panel of this 4-page set, we see the grinning gagster clutching what would appear to be a Cheeky Annual 1984 (which is not what he held in the first instalment).

 

My apologies to our cheery chum and his mollusc mate for this undignified inversion
Art: pᴉɯɹɐᴉᗡɔW ʞuɐɹℲ

 

The first page of the Creepy Crawley adventure which follows contains the salient facts behind the strip’s premise for the benefit of readers who have either forgotten the details of the feature’s debut in last year’s Cheeky Annual or, unlike Cheeky, weren’t lucky enough to get a copy. The 5-page instalment ends on a cliffhanger as an impecunious Lord Trentham announces that he will have to sell Trentham Towers, which will leave Tim’s mum and dad homeless and without work. Robert MacGillivray illustrates the tale, as he did last year.

Baker’s Boy was clearly a popular character with the readers of Krazy - Cheeky's regular prize of a free cake from the comestible-carrying character was no doubt a very appealing scenario. In addition to his many Krazy outings in Cheeky’s regular strip, the Baker's Boy featured in 4 episodes of Krazy’s Cheeky’s Pal feature, and it’s one of these that is the source of the material on page 35 of this Annual, as we revisit a selection of quips that was first seen in Krazy dated 24 December 1977. There has been a change in the punchline to the joke reading, ‘What tall building in London helps to dig the garden?’ The original answer was ‘The Post Office Trowel’, but it has been changed on this occasion, due to the re-branding of the building in question following the creation of British Telecommunications in 1981, to ‘The Telecom Trowel’.

Some of the female members of Cheeky’s supporting cast gather, as they have in all previous Cheeky Annuals, for a 4-page feature entitled The Girls.

Just in case you’re wondering who the character with the new hairstyle is (as I was) – it’s Do-Good Dora, who has something of a history of experimental coiffure (not to mention eyewear dalliances).

 

 

After the female funfest, the editor again presents a page which previously amused the readers of Krazy. It’s titled Teacher (a Cheeky’s Pal feature in all but name), lifted from Krazy’s ‘Space’ issue dated 04 March 1978, in which Cheeky imagines his nemesis being sent into orbit.

6 Million Dollar Gran was a stalwart of Cheeky Weekly, appearing in all but 3 of that comic’s 117 issues, and was among the characters to transfer into Whoopee! following the extirpation of the toothy funster’s title. The oldster has undergone a number of refashionings during her Whoopee! (and Whoopee) career, and as of the 03 July 1983 issue which saw the incorporation of survivors from Wow!, has been appearing in a vehicle entitled Gran’s Gang. This latest revision of the Gran mythos, saw the previously-robotic senior citizen re-imagined as a human. The strip which occupies pages 41 – 43 of this Annual appears under the title of Granny but, despite being a new strip, takes us back to the scenario which preceded Gran’s Gang, when the feature was entitled Robot Granny. Thus in this Annual outing, printed with red spot colour and signed by artist Andy Robb, the titular senior citizen demonstrates abilities pertaining to her former mechanical construction.

 

Also enjoying the ruddy tones is Cheeky, whose latest instalment of Starstruck Cheeky is next (it’s not clear what he’s reading now). This time our grinning chum is considering a career in radio and TV, but by the end of this 4-page set decides that jobs in the broadcast media necessitate too much hard work.

 

Another Mustapha Million escapade follows, but unlike his earlier adventure, this one is a reprint, originating from Cheeky Weekly dated 03 December 1977. In order to better fit the proportions of the Annual pages, the tale has been given a new, larger title banner, and the panels have been expanded to heighten them. When the story, relating Mustapha’s encounter with an irascible workman and drawn by Reg Parlett, originally appeared it spanned 2 pages, as is the case with its reprint here, although the reprint benefits from spot colour whereas the original was monochrome.

The ‘establishing shot’ at the beginning of the next Roy of the Robots episode reveals the initial scene to be taking place aboard the space station from which the titular businessman runs his robot hire enterprise, but though last year’s Cheeky Annual showed the name of the concern to be Rent-A-Robot, this time it’s shown to be Rent-Robot – maybe the A was displaced by a passing meteor. The escapade, in which Roy rents out a mechanical chef, is printed in spot colour.

Art: Alan Rogers

 

Another reprint from the Cheeky Weekly archives appears next, and this time it’s the Calculator Kid adventure that originally entertained readers of the 17 February 1979 edition of that mighty, if short-lived, comic. As with the earlier CK reprint in this Annual, the original single-page story has been expanded to cover 2 pages, but in this case spot colour has been applied to the recycled material.

Sir is still in pursuit of his missing moolah as the second Stage School instalment commences in spot colour on page 54. Doug Jensen is again the artist as the irritable educator eventually SPOILER ALERT locates his errant fiver, only to see the caretaker (to whom it is owed) retrieve and claim it. This 3 page sequence brings the black, red and white printing in the centre of the Annual to a conclusion.

D Phipps is the artist on the 3-page Hair-Raising Adventures of Harry, and I only know that as she/he has signed the final panel. This feature has not previously been seen in any Cheeky title. Young Harry is keen to preserve his luxurious locks, despite his parents’ desire to see them trimmed. Our hirsute hero spends the 3-page story evading various close shaves, until he’s cornered by mum and dad outside the joke shop, then marched into Guido’s hair salon. D Phipps does a nice job, the artwork easily being of a standard that could grace the pages of any comic. The script, with its reference to a 'baldy wig', could have done with a an edit, since the toupee clearly wasn't lacking hair when it was purchased.

 

Cheeky vs The Puzzler, a brain-teasing feature which first appeared in last year’s Cheeky Annual, returns with another collection of riddles and puzzles drawn once again by the artist with the semi-legible signature, either Golding or Goldy. As with last year’s outing for this feature, Goldy/Golding draws the toothy funster without the C on his jumper, although in the previous Annual the artist did depict Cheeky in his customary stripey jersey, whereas this time our grinning chum is sporting a plain top.

 

4 pages are devoted to the titanic battle of intellects between Cheeky and his quizzing opponent, after which we can relax and enjoy a trip back to the times when Cheeky would regularly be seen attending the Saturday morning picture show in the pages of Cheeky Weekly. Although sourced from Krazy dated 14 January 1978, the Cheeky’s Pal strip reprinted on page 64 of this Annual and focusing on the fearsome Ursula, references the aforementioned cinema trips which were a feature of Cheeky Weekly from the first edition dated 22 October 1977 to the issue dated 02 December 1978. This strip’s original appearance was used as a promotional opportunity, but for the reprint Baby Burpo’s mention of Cheeky Weekly has been excised, and the strip has been resized.

 

Cheeky Annual 1985

 

Krazy 14 January 1978

The revoltingly reptilian Croc sleeps through the entire strip in which he next appears, while a headscarfed woman cleans the room then winds some wool. The nature of the relationship between the woman doing the chores and the titular horror is not clear. The strip doesn't explain whether she's a hired cleaner, or the lead character's mum. If the latter, then that raises a whole lot more questions.

Art: Mike Lacey

 

The star of this Annual is certainly immersing himself in a binge-read of Stage School, as in the next Starstruck Cheeky segment he is inspired by the strip to imagine himself as a film star. Via his mind’s eye we see him playing the part of Inspector Clueless in a film entitled The Disappearing Diamond, a comedy thriller concerning the disappearance of a gemstone owned by Uncle Hamish. For long-time Cheeky fans, this will bring back memories of the Movie Masterpieces.

 

Do-Good Dora has reverted to her '3 triangle' hairstyle
Art: Frank McDiarmid

In last year’s Annual Paddywack appeared on 3 pages, each of which contained three 2-panel gags. This year our buffoon buddy is allocated 3 pages again, but each one sees a single gag play out over 5 panels (not including the title panel, which carries the warning Look Out – It’s Paddywack). In the first of this year’s appearances, the welly-wearing wally is perplexed by events at a wedding.

Art: Jack Clayton

The dusty corner of IPC’s archive containing material originally prepared for Krazy has once again been mined, and this time it’s another variation on the Cheeky’s Pal idea. Baby Burpo was on 4 occasions during Krazy’s run allocated a starring feature. Two of these were indeed under the Cheeky’s Pal title and a third was presented as a Burpo Special (a feature that of course transferred into Cheeky Weekly). However, the strip chosen for this next reprint is Krazy’s final feature focusing on the toddler terror, originating from that fondly-remembered (by me, anyway) title’s edition dated 24 September 1977, and under a banner reading Baby Burpo. A couple of changes have been made to the text - a reference to Krazy Town has been removed from the penultimate panel, although I'm not sure why since Cheeky's home town was mentioned many times in Cheeky Weekly, and the word Krazy has been altered to Crazy in the final panel, which is more understandable since it originally referenced the comic rather than the toothy funster's patch. Frank McDiarmid's artwork has also been elongated to better fit the proportions of the Annual.

Cheeky Annual 1985

Krazy 24 September 1977

Another reprint follows, but this time it’s Mustapha Million reliving the adventure he originally had in Cheeky Weekly dated 05 November 1977. Reg Parlett’s artwork has been resized (sacrilege!).

Next up is a strip that’s had me puzzling for a while. Ad Lad, a character who originated in the first issue of Whoopee! back in 1974, made his debut as a Cheeky Annual filler in last year’s offering. The three strips featured therein, drawn by Trevor Metcalfe, were as far as I’m aware, reprints. According to Fleetway Street, the strip’s original run continued until 1975 or ‘76. Now, it looks to me as though this Ad Lad adventure in the Cheeky Annual is illustrated by Barry Glennard, but surely Barry wasn’t drawing (at least professionally) in the early to mid 70s, so I’m guessing that this escapade, which spans 3 pages and spoofs the Cadbury's Milk Tray TV campaign, is a new piece of work.

 

Page 77 sees a continuation of advertisement-based plotlines, but this time it’s Croc who’s inducted into a TV campaign. Possibly I’m becoming inured to the gruesome nature of this strip by now, but Tom Williams’ version of the lead character seems slightly less horrific than Mike Lacey’s.

 

 

Our dunderhead pal, under pressure, misunderstands the purpose of a barometer in the Look Out-It’s Paddwack page which follows, then Cheeky’s wooden chum Knock-Knock Door provides a page of ‘Who’s there?’ gags, which is new and not a reprint of either of the 2 occasions on which the was the subject of Cheeky’s Pal strips in Krazy, nor a reprint from the Cheeky’s Cut-Out Comedy Catalogue of Knock-Knock Door Jokes in Cheeky Weekly.

The concluding part of the Creepy Crawley story which commenced earlier sees a wealthy American couple offer to buy Trentham Towers, with the intention of dismantling the building and shipping the constituent parts to their home country, where they will reconstruct the ancient edifice. This idea displeases ghostly butler Crawley so much that he fires a cannonball into the wall in order to scare off the prospective purchasers, but SPOILER ALERT among the rubble resulting from this act of spectral vandalism, gold bars hidden by the first Lord Trentham are revealed. This new-found wealth means the current Lord T will not now have to sell the ancestral pile, so all ends happily (except maybe for the thwarted US citizens).

In the second and final Tub strip of this Annual some gatecrashers at the disco entrance rebound from our portly pal’s ample midriff, and the tale ends in typical comic format with a pun on the word ‘bouncer’.

Sid Burgon then provides a double page spread of King Kong capers entitled Ape Japes. This collection of single panel giant gorilla gags, over which looms the mighty former inhabitant of Skull Island, is reprinted from Krazy dated 05 February 1977, which also featured a representation of the super-sized simian on its cover.

A further examination of various failures endured by would-be highwayman Dick Twerpin is next, and as before this 4-page set is drawn by Martin Baxendale. Also bowing out of this Annual with a second adventure is Roy of The Robots, who is having to contend with giant and tiny aliens requiring the services of his mechanised workers.

Making their third appearance in the Annual are the kids of Stage School, along with Sir who is still lamenting the loss of his fiver. However at the end of the 3-page story the bad-tempered educator is handed a fistful of cash by the director of a film in which the kids are appearing, after being mistaken for the young actors’ script coach. Like the 2 previous Stage School tales in the Annual, this is drawn by Doug Jensen.

The next strip begins in a classroom, but not of the showbiz variety, and we join proceedings as the dinner bell rings. Young Croc is delayed on his journey to the canteen as he has been tasked with cleaning the blackboard. Dismayed to find his lunch (consisting of the traditional British comic repast of piled mash with protruding sausages) has been claimed by fellow pupil Fatty Foster, the reptilian hero eventually retrieves his grub by biting through the table with which Foster has pinned him to the wall. Mike Lacey returns to Croc artwork duties on this reprinted page.

The Disaster Des story that plays out over pages 98 and 99, once again drawn by the enigmatic Ricky, has a photographer following Des around (presumably) Doomsville, in the hope of snapping the calamities which will surely erupt in the vicinity of the junior jinx. The cameraman, after clicking away at a couple of catastrophic situations, suffers a disaster of his own, but I’ll just say ‘lens cap’ and you can work it out for yourself.

Attention then turns to Snail who has evidently found his way back to Krazy Town following his earlier trip to foreign climes. Cheeky’s slithering sidekick decides to investigate the subterranean doings in the toothy funster’s back garden, and finds the subsurface denizens are enjoying a joke contest. Frank McDiarmid is the artist on Snail ‘Down Under’.

A Mustapha Million reprint, originally presented in Cheeky Weekly dated 26 November 1977 and originating from the pen of Reg Parlett (but with additions/alterations in this instance by hand unknown) is next up for our consideration, and is followed by another reprint in the form of the Cheeky’s Pal episode devoted to Jogging Jeremy, originally from Krazy dated 17 December 1977. Once again references to Cheeky Weekly in Baby Burpo's dialogue have been replaced, and in addition a couple of new gags have been written in the gaps inserted between certain panels to elongate the page.

Colour printing resumes on page 105 as our nincompoop pal is working in the zoo during the final Look Out-It’s Paddywack of this Annual. Charlie Counter finds that the map which Calc suggests he carry while on a cross-country run has more uses than he might have expected in the Calculator Kid 2-pager which appears on pages 106 and 107. This is a colour reprint of what was originally a single page, spot colour CK adventure in Cheeky Weekly dated 02 September 1978.

Cheeky is allocated the final 4 internal pages of the Annual, and in this concluding Starstruck Cheeky sequence our punning pal. who's now reading this year's Annual, imagines himself as a pop star. At first he enjoys the trappings of fame but then sees himself being trampled and divested of his outer garments by The Girls, and on returning to reality this vision of the negative aspect of celebrity leaves him deflated, with Snail shedding a sympathetic tear. However, the editor clearly can’t close the Annual with a downhearted Cheeky, so the toothy funster’s chums are on hand to restore him to his chipper self.

Art: Frank McDiarmid

All the previous Cheeky Annuals have carried identical front and back cover images, but this one uses the back of the book as an opportunity for advertising, as the freakish characters symbolic of Smiths’ Monster Munch assemble in the hope of instilling in readers a hankering for salty snacks.

You won't be surprised to learn that the price of this year's Annual has increased again. The first 5 Cheeky Annuals contained 128 pages including the covers, but last year the page count (inc covers) was reduced to 112, and that smaller number of pages is also in evidence this year. The revenue generated by Smiths' placement of their ad seems to have done little to ameliorate the price-per-page increase.

Title	Price	Pages	Price per Page
Cheeky Annual 1979	£1.10	128	£0.09
Cheeky Annual 1980	£1.25	128	£0.10
Cheeky Annual 1981	£1.50	128	£0.12
Cheeky Annual 1982	£1.95	128	£0.15
Cheeky Annual 1983	£2.25	128	£0.18
Cheeky Annual 1984	£2.50	112	£0.22
Cheeky Annual 1985	£2.75	112	£0.25

Cheeky's starring strip in this Annual undergoes another refreshment, as last year's Cheeky's Family Tree episodes are replaced with the Starstruck Cheeky sequences, keeping things interesting for fans of our toothy pal. The Girls is present again, as it has been in all previous Cheeky Annuals, but that's no bad thing. Once again Frank McDiarmid delivers his trademark energetic work with plenty of extra gags. There's a slight increase in the number of elements delivered by Frank over last year's Annual, but of course 3 of the 31 elements by Frank are reprints, so actually the number of new elements from the pen of the mighty Mr McD are the same as last year.

Title	Published	Artist	Total Elements	Of Which Reprint =
Cheeky Annual 1979	Sep-1978	Frank McDiarmid	5	0
Cheeky Annual 1980	Sep-1979	Frank McDiarmid	7	0
Cheeky Annual 1981	Sep-1980	Frank McDiarmid	3	1
Cheeky Annual 1982	Aug-1981	Frank McDiarmid	44	0
Cheeky Annual 1983	Aug-1982	Frank McDiarmid	26	0
Cheeky Annual 1984	Aug-1983	Frank McDiarmid	28	0
Cheeky Annual 1985	Sep-1984	Frank McDiarmid	31	3

For the second time in the history of the Cheeky Annuals, the reprint quotient has reduced compared to the previous year. Maybe the cash raised by IPC from the Monster Munch crew was spent on commissioning new material.

Published	Title	Feature Elements	Original Elements	Reprint Elements	Reprint %
Sep-1978	Cheeky Annual 1979	130	114	16	12.31
Sep-1979	Cheeky Annual 1980	128	107	21	16.41
Sep-1980	Cheeky Annual 1981	128	103	25	19.53
Aug-1981	Cheeky Annual 1982	128	102	26	20.31
Aug-1982	Cheeky Annual 1983	128	103	25	19.53
Aug-1983	Cheeky Annual 1984	112	83	29	25.89
Sep-1984	Cheeky Annual 1985	111	87	24	21.62

This is the first Cheeky Annual to include a significant number of reprints originally appearing in its progenitor title, Cheeky Weekly. The toothy funster's own comic had previously been the source of material re-used in the Spot the Difference features in the Cheeky Annuals dated 1981 and 1982. This final Cheeky Annual includes 12 elements originating from Cheeky Weekly. Monster Fun was the biggest contributor of recycled elements across the history of the Cheeky Annuals, donating 35 elements in all, with Whizzer and Chips in second place, having contributed 31 reprints over the 7 Annuals.

Number of Reprint Elements by Source

Title	Published	Buster	Cheeky Weekly	Cor!!	Knockout (IPC)	Krazy	Monster Fun	Shiver and Shake	Smash!	Whizzer and Chips	Whoopee!	Total
Cheeky Annual 1979	09-1978	6	0	0	0	0	0	6	0	4	0	16
Cheeky Annual 1980	09-1979	0	0	0	5	0	8	3	0	5	0	21
Cheeky Annual 1981	09-1980	4	1	0	0	0	8	8	0	4	0	25
Cheeky Annual 1982	08-1981	5	1	0	0	0	8	4	0	8	0	26
Cheeky Annual 1983	08-1982	9	0	6	0	0	0	2	8	0	0	25
Cheeky Annual 1984	08-1983	0	0	6	0	0	11	0	0	6	6	29
Cheeky Annual 1985	09-1984	0	12	0	0	8	0	0	0	4	0	24
		24	14	12	5	8	35	23	8	31	6	166

 

Speed Squad, a feature which originated in Cheeky Weekly and, though it didn't transfer into the weekly Whoopee, has appeared in all previous Cheeky Annuals since the one dated 1980, is absent this year. All the Cheeky-related features that were appearing in Whoopee and Wow! at the time of this Annual's publication are represented in this final collection, although sometimes under a different name;

As mentioned earlier, Cheeky had been featuring in an eponymous, single-row-of-panels strip in Whoopee since July 1983, but in this Annual he appears in the Starstruck Cheeky episodes, The Girls and of course Cheeky Vs The Puzzler. Paddywack has suffered a similar fate as our toothy pal over in the weekly, but enjoys a respectable 3 Look Out! It's Paddywack full-page outings in this Annual. Stage School appears in the Annual under its usual name where it is allocated a whopping 9 pages. As explained above, the character formerly known as 6 Million Dollar Gran goes by the name Granny in this Annual. Mustapha Million appears here under the same monicker as he does in the weekly comic, as does Calculator Kid.

Of course Cheeky fans didn't know at the time that this was to be the final Cheeky Annual' although it's quite probable that IPC management had already decided that was to be the case. The weekly Whoopee was cancelled following the issue dated 30 March 1985. We know that the toothy funster was never among the most popular characters in Whoopee, so it's not surprising that Cheeky's solo feature wasn't among the strips to survive Whoopee's merge into Whizzer and Chips. However, Cheeky had been appearing in the Chips section of W&C since April 1978 as a member of The Krazy Gang, and he continued to do so until that strip was retired in February 1986. However, the IPC bigwigs possibly felt that to continue to publish Cheeky Annuals could no longer be justified now that the character no longer had a solo strip in weekly comics. Or maybe the creative team had just run out of ideas for Cheeky and pals, since our cheery chum had been through a variety of different formats during his tenure in Whoopee, and also in his own Annuals.

Nevertheless, a tally of 7 Cheeky Annuals, 5 of which were published after the demise of his own weekly comic, means our punster chum bowed out of the annals of comic history having made a significant and distinctive contribution to the medium, recalled with affection by that band of aficionados who were captivated by his innovative Krazy Town frolics.

Mustapha Million did survive into Whizzer and Chips, at first as reprints, but then with new strips as of  February 1986, which ran until the final issue. Calculator Kid also made the transfer but eventually lapsed into reprint before being dropped in July 1986. Stage School briefly featured in Whizzer and Chips, making just 2 appearances.

Some of Cheeky's strips were featured in issues of IPC's reprint collections appearing under the title Best of Whoopee Monthly, but new material featuring the toothy funster was among the contents of Rebellion's Cor!! Buster Humour Special, published in 2019.

	Cheeky Annual 1985 - published September 1984
Page	Details
1	Cover reprint from Krazy 'Chopper Chuckles' - Art Mike Lacey
2	Starstruck Cheeky - Art Frank McDiarmid
3	Starstruck Cheeky - Art Frank McDiarmid
4	Starstruck Cheeky - Art Frank McDiarmid
5	Starstruck Cheeky - Art Frank McDiarmid
6	Mustapha Million - Art Joe McCaffrey
7	Mustapha Million - Art Joe McCaffrey
8	Mustapha Million - Art Joe McCaffrey
9	Tub - Art Nigel Edwards
10	A Winter's Snail - Art Frank McDiarmid
11	A Winter's Snail - Art Frank McDiarmid
12	Calculator Kid reprint from Cheeky Weekly - Art Terry Bave
13	Calculator Kid reprint from Cheeky Weekly - Art Terry Bave
14	Dick Twerpin - Art Martin Baxendale
15	Dick Twerpin - Art Martin Baxendale
16	Dick Twerpin - Art Martin Baxendale
17	Dick Twerpin - Art Martin Baxendale
18	Roy of the Robots - Art Alan Rogers
19	Roy of the Robots - Art Alan Rogers
20	Stage School - Art Doug Jensen
21	Stage School - Art Doug Jensen
22	Stage School - Art Doug Jensen
23	Croc reprint from Whizzer and Chips - Art Mike Lacey
24	Disaster Des - Art Ricky
25	Disaster Des - Art Ricky
26	Starstruck Cheeky - Art Frank McDiarmid
27	Starstruck Cheeky - Art Frank McDiarmid
28	Starstruck Cheeky - Art Frank McDiarmid
29	Starstruck Cheeky - Art Frank McDiarmid
30	Creepy Crawley - Art Robert MacGillivray
31	Creepy Crawley - Art Robert MacGillivray
32	Creepy Crawley - Art Robert MacGillivray
33	Creepy Crawley - Art Robert MacGillivray
34	Creepy Crawley - Art Robert MacGillivray
35	Cheeky's Pal reprint from Krazy 'Baker's Boy' - Art Frank McDiarmid
36	The Girls - Art Frank McDiarmid
37	The Girls - Art Frank McDiarmid
38	The Girls - Art Frank McDiarmid
39	The Girls - Art Frank McDiarmid
40	Teacher reprint from Krazy - Art Frank McDiarmid
41	Granny - Art Andy Robb
42	Granny - Art Andy Robb
43	Granny - Art Andy Robb
44	Starstruck Cheeky - Art Frank McDiarmid
45	Starstruck Cheeky - Art Frank McDiarmid
46	Starstruck Cheeky - Art Frank McDiarmid
47	Starstruck Cheeky - Art Frank McDiarmid
48	Mustapha Million reprint from Cheeky Weekly - Art Reg Parlett
49	Mustapha Million reprint from Cheeky Weekly - Art Reg Parlett
50	Roy of the Robots - Art Alan Rogers
51	Roy of the Robots - Art Alan Rogers
52	Calculator Kid reprint from Cheeky Weekly - Art Terry Bave
53	Calculator Kid reprint from Cheeky Weekly - Art Terry Bave
54	Stage School - Art Doug Jensen
55	Stage School - Art Doug Jensen
56	Stage School - Art Doug Jensen
57	The Hair-Raising Adventures of Harry - Art D Phipps
58	The Hair-Raising Adventures of Harry - Art D Phipps
59	The Hair-Raising Adventures of Harry - Art D Phipps
60	Cheeky v The Puzzler
61	Cheeky v The Puzzler
62	Cheeky v The Puzzler
63	Cheeky v The Puzzler
64	Cheeky's Pal reprint from Krazy 'Ursula the Usherette' - Art Jim Watson
65	Croc reprint from Whizzer and Chips - Art Mike Lacey
66	Starstruck Cheeky - Art Frank McDiarmid
67	Starstruck Cheeky - Art Frank McDiarmid
68	Starstruck Cheeky - Art Frank McDiarmid
69	Starstruck Cheeky - Art Frank McDiarmid
70	Look Out - It's Paddywack - Art Jack Clayton
71	Baby Burpo reprint from Krazy - Art Frank McDiarmid
72	Mustapha Million reprint from Cheeky Weekly - Art Reg Parlett
73	Mustapha Million reprint from Cheeky Weekly - Art Reg Parlett
74	Ad Lad - Art Barry Glennard
75	Ad Lad - Art Barry Glennard
76	Ad Lad - Art Barry Glennard
77	Croc reprint from Whizzer and Chips - Art Tom Williams
78	Look Out - It's Paddywack - Art Jack Clayton
79	Knock-Knock Door Jokes
80	Creepy Crawley - Art Robert MacGillivray
81	Creepy Crawley - Art Robert MacGillivray
82	Creepy Crawley - Art Robert MacGillivray
83	Creepy Crawley - Art Robert MacGillivray
84	Creepy Crawley - Art Robert MacGillivray
85	Tub - Art Nigel Edwards
86	Ape Japes reprint from Krazy - Art Sid Burgon
87	Ape Japes reprint from Krazy - Art Sid Burgon
88	Dick Twerpin - Art Martin Baxendale
89	Dick Twerpin - Art Martin Baxendale
90	Dick Twerpin - Art Martin Baxendale
91	Dick Twerpin - Art Martin Baxendale
92	Roy of the Robots - Art Alan Rogers
93	Roy of the Robots - Art Alan Rogers
94	Stage School - Art Doug Jensen
95	Stage School - Art Doug Jensen
96	Stage School - Art Doug Jensen
97	Croc reprint from Whizzer and Chips - Art Mike Lacey
98	Disaster Des - Art Ricky
99	Disaster Des - Art Ricky
100	Snail Down Under - Art Frank McDiarmid
101	Snail Down Under - Art Frank McDiarmid
102	Mustapha Million reprint from Cheeky Weekly - Art Reg Parlett
103	Mustapha Million reprint from Cheeky Weekly - Art Reg Parlett
104	Cheeky's Pal reprint from Krazy 'Jogging Jeremy' - Art Jim Watson
105	Look Out - It's Paddywack - Art Jack Clayton
106	Calculator Kid reprint from Cheeky Weekly - Art Terry Bave
107	Calculator Kid reprint from Cheeky Weekly - Art Terry Bave
108	Starstruck Cheeky - Art Frank McDiarmid
109	Starstruck Cheeky - Art Frank McDiarmid
110	Starstruck Cheeky - Art Frank McDiarmid
111	Starstruck Cheeky - Art Frank McDiarmid
112	Ad: Smiths 'Monster Munch'

Cheeky Annual 1985 Features Currently running in Cheeky Weekly

Cheeky Annual 1985 Feature

Cheeky Weekly Dates

Cheeky Annual 1985 Features ending earlier in Cheeky Weekly

Cheeky Annual 1985 Feature	Cheeky Weekly Dates
Mustapha Million	22-Oct-77 to 02-Feb-80
Calculator Kid	01-Jul-78 to 02-Feb-80
Tub	30-Sep-78 to 02-Feb-80
Disaster Des	30-Sep-78 to 02-Feb-80
Stage School	07-Jul-79 to 02-Feb-80

Cheeky Annual 1985 Features running later in Cheeky Weekly

Cheeky Annual 1985 Feature

Cheeky Weekly Dates

Cheeky Annual 1985 Features never running in Cheeky Weekly

Cheeky Annual 1985 Feature

A Winter's Snail

Ad Lad

Ape Japes

Baby Burpo

Cheeky v The Puzzler

Cheeky's Pal

Cover

Creepy Crawley

Croc

Dick Twerpin

Granny

Knock-Knock Door Jokes

Look Out - It's Paddywack

Roy of the Robots

Snail Down Under

Starstruck Cheeky

Teacher

The Girls

The Hair-Raising Adventures of Harry

Cheeky Annual 1985 Reprint Feature Elements by %

Total Feature Elements	Original Feature Elements	Reprint Feature Elements	Reprint %
111	87	24	21.62