Snail of the Century artwork reassigned

Prior to writing my post on Snail of the Century I had believed that all the SotC strips were drawn by Frank McDiarmid. However while re-reading the series for research purposes it became apparent that artwork on one of the episodes was by Barrie Appleby, while a second was probably by Barrie rather than Frank.

This is the one that's unmistakably (except that I did mistake it) the work of Barrie...

Cheeky Weekly 13 October 1979

This one (from the following week's issue) is less obviously Barrie's work but I reckon the book pages in panel 2, the building in panel 3 and Dan-Dan in the final row are sufficiently Appleby-esque for me to make an attribution - it's a bit hard to use the manner of Cheeky's rendition to determine the artist, as the toothy funster is depicted as being uncharacteristically groomed, gleaming and not a little shocked by the whole cleaning experience.

Cheeky Weekly 20 October 1979

I don't need to change my SotC post as I had already reassigned the artwork credits for these episodes before embarking upon it, but I have had to update the following posts...

Cheeky Weekly Index

Cheeky Weekly Artist Index

Cheeky's Week - Artists by issue and %

The Other Cheeky Artists - Barrie Appleby

Cheeky's Week artist roundup

Cheeky Weekly cover date 28 April 1979

Unlike the two previous issues, there is a reference to the latest instalment of the Top Ten Poster on this week's cover, teasing readers over the identity of the celebrity voted most popular with readers of the toothy funster's comic.

There then follows front-page fun with feeble fitness fanatic Jogging Jeremy, and bactrian banter from animal admirer Petula.

6 Million Dollar Gran exhibits anger management issues when outraged at the price of chips in her story (again reduced to 2 pages due to pressure on space) this week. This isn't the first time the aged automaton has caused robotic ructions while shopping – the same counter-thumping behaviour was evident when she attempted to purchase a parrot in the 06 January 1979 issue. Maybe her electronic brain circuits require recalibrating. Nigel Edwards stands in for regular Gran artist Ian Knox for the eighth time, and coincidentally (or possibly not) Nigel also drew Gran's previous explosive outburst.

On Monday, in only her second appearance, Hypno-Tessa achieves an astounding feat of mesmerism.

Art: Frank McDiarmid

This week's tea-based Calculator Kid tale ends on an atypically jarring note as Charlie seems a little unappreciative of his electronic pal's efforts.

Art: Terry Bave

The scene in the ticket office on Paddywack's page suggests that one of Cheeky's relatives has won the coveted title Miss British Rail.

Art: Jack Clayton

It's been a while since one of Cheeky's pals has made multiple appearances in a single issue - Presto the Magic Rabbit appeared throughout Cheeky's Week in the 21 October 1978 first anniversary comic, but he's not a Cheeky's Week regular. The most recent instance of 'Cheeky's pal throughout the week' was in the 23 September 1978 issue wherein the recurring character was Crystal Belle. In the current issue Hid Kid is 'in evidence' (or at least as in evidence as the extremely bashful character ever is) every day except Friday. On Wednesday he bags first read of the Mystery Comic.

A crowd of  reward-seeking pursuers mistakes the captain of a ferry for the titular fugitive in Elephant on the Run. As the ferry sinks under the weight of the mob, we learn that a Cheeky Weekly reader has helped our pachyderm pal evade capture.

Art: Robert Nixon

Star Guest intrudes upon the Mystery Comic pages for the third week running. This time the visitor is Whoopee's Scared-Stiff Sam, whose mum is attempting to engender in her petrified progeny an interest in athletics.

Also obtruding on the comic-within-a-comic is (as highlighted on the cover) the final part of the Top Ten Poster. So which celebrity received the most votes in the readers' poll? The winner, teeth gleaming out of the murk of a smudgily-printed black and white photo, is...John Travolta.

This week brings to an end a run of 4 consecutive 12-page Mystery Comics (the highest page counts to feature in TMC's 37-week run), coinciding with the Top Ten Poster promotion. Despite the extra pages, Mustapha Million has been bumped due to the presence of the concluding 2-page poster segment, Star Guest and 2 pages of IPC adverts (the first consisting of half-page ads, one for new title Jackpot - first issue coming next week - and the other pushing the Buster and Monster Fun Spring Special, plus another page devoted to the Kellogg's Two Shakes promotion starting in Buster this week – as mentioned in last week's Cheeky Weekly).

Cheeky's Week resumes with Thursday, whereupon Barrie Appleby takes over artwork duties from Frank McDiarmid for the remainder of the week (apart from a single panel and the Burpo Special). The different style of lettering in Jogging Jeremy's speech balloon in the final panel on that page, together with the appearance of a Frank McDiarmid rendition of the toothy funster, suggests the original closing panel has been changed (making this the fourth consecutive issue to feature such apparent modifications). It may be the case that the original final panel contained Cheeky's intro to the Skateboard Squad, who are absent this week perhaps to allow room for the aforementioned Star Guest.

Art: Barrie Appleby (with cut and paste element
in final panel)

On the Chit-Chat page, Cheeky tantalises readers with a cryptic reference to some 'new things' coming soon to Cheeky Weekly. Our grinning pal also makes mention of an upcoming gift, but we first learned about the forthcoming free sachet of milkshake in last week's issue. The Spotter Book he also mentions is presumably yet another in the tedious line of incessant cut-out booklets with which IPC plague their comic purchasers.

After a strenuous Saturday spent swapping gags with his pals, a famished Cheeky returns home for his mum's fish and chips.

Art: Barrie Appleby

Mike Lacey deputises on the back cover's Burpo Special focusing on this week's cover co-star, Jogging Jeremy, bringing another fun-packed issue to a conclusion.

This issue of Cheeky Weekly appeared in the episode of BBC TV's detective drama Shoestring aired on 04 November 1979.

Frank McDiarmid provides 5 Cheeky's Week elements, with Barrie Appleby delivering 4 and Mike Lacey giving us a Burpo Special for the third time. This is the last time Barrie will draw Thursday, Friday and Saturday but he will provide artwork in a further 3 issues.

Cheeky Weekly	Cover Date: 28-Apr-1979, Issue 77 of 117
Page	Details
1	Cheeky's Week - Art Frank McDiarmid
2	Sunday - Art Frank McDiarmid
3	6 Million Dollar Gran - Art Nigel Edwards
4	6 Million Dollar Gran - Art Nigel Edwards
5	Ad: WH Smith
6	Monday - Art Frank McDiarmid
7	Calculator Kid - Art Terry Bave
8	Tuesday - Art Frank McDiarmid
9	Paddywack - Art Jack Clayton
10	Wednesday - Art Frank McDiarmid
11	Tub 'Mystery Comic' 26 of 34 - Art Nigel Edwards
12	Elephant On The Run 'Mystery Comic' 26 of 34 - Art Robert Nixon
13	Elephant On The Run 'Mystery Comic' 26 of 34 - Art Robert Nixon
14	Star Guest 'Scared-Stiff Sam' - Art Mike Lacey (single art on feature)
15	Ad: IPC 'Jackpot No 1'Ad: 'Buster and Monster Fun Spring Special' 3 of 3
16	Top Ten Poster (final appearance)
17	Top Ten Poster (final appearance)
18	Ad: IPC 'Free milkshake promo' 1 of 3
19	Why, Dad, Why? 'Mystery Comic' 21 of 28 - Art John K. Geering
20	Disaster Des 'Mystery Comic' 24 of 30 - Art Mike Lacey
21	Mystery Boy reprint from Whizzer and Chips 'Mystery Comic' 28 of 37 - Art John Richardson
22	Ad: Palitoy 'Pippa' 2 of 4
23	Thursday - Art Barrie Appleby (final art on feature)
24	Joke-Box Jury
25	Friday - Art Barrie Appleby (final art on feature)
26	Menace of the Alpha Man reprint from Shiver and Shake - Art Eric Bradbury
27	Menace of the Alpha Man reprint from Shiver and Shake - Art Eric Bradbury
28	Chit-Chat
29	Top Ten Poster instructions (final appearance)
30	Saturday - Art Barrie Appleby (final art on feature)
31	Saturday - Art Barrie Appleby (final art on feature)
32	The Burpo Special 'Jogging Jeremy' - Art Mike Lacey

Cheeky's Week Artists Cover Date 28-Apr-1979

Artist	Elements
Frank McDiarmid	5
Barrie Appleby	4
Mike Lacey	1

The features - Laugh and Learn

Cheeky's Teacher gained his own puzzle feature, Teacher's Teasers, as from 26 August 1978. Although Teacher's Teasers was a filler that appeared in just 3 issues, it seems that the Cheeky Weekly editor felt the podgy pedadogue deserved elevation to co-star status with the toothy funster himself in a new feature, Laugh and Learn.

Laugh and Learn had a sporadic, 5-issue run between Cheeky Weekly's 07 October 1978 and 09 December 1978 comics. Each episode was set in Cheeky's classroom, where Teacher would focus on a particular area of general knowledge. As Cheeky's tubby tutor attempted to impart salient facts relating to the topic in question, our toothy pal would counter each point with a wily witticism. Only in the 04 November 1978 comic did Cheeky emerge from the lesson punishment-free; in all the other episodes Teacher gave him lines or, on one occasion, an essay to complete.

In the first strip Barrie kids us that Bubblegum Boy
has been aloft since the Cretaceous period,
67 to 65.5 million years ago.
We know he actually emerged in the Krazy era (1976-1978).

Teacher's lectures commenced with the lesson on prehistoric creatures shown above, and subsequent episodes covered the following topics;

• Chivalry and Knighthood (this was the only single-page Laugh & Learn, all the others being 2 pages)
• The Seven Wonders of The World
• The History of Transport
• British Wildlife

The artwork on the series was unusual for a British humour comic, as each episode was a collaborative effort between Barrie Appleby, who drew the classroom and characters therein in his usual fun, zany style, and Brian Walker who did some very nice work illustrating the topics on which Teacher was expounding. Brian signed his work in all but the first strip, whereas Barrie didn't sign at all.

Cheeky avoids a punishment

Despite the caption in the final panel of the fifth Laugh and Learn, dated 09 December 1978, reading 'There'll be another feast of fun and facts soon pals!', it was the last episode to appear - see below. Maybe reader feedback indicated that kids found the educational element of the feature uncomfortably similar to actual lessons.

Laugh and Learn in the Cheeky Weekly Index

Feature	First Appearance	Final Appearance	Total Issues	Total Issues Missed In Run	Page History
Laugh and Learn	07-Oct-78	09-Dec-78	5	5	6,7,8,9,22,23

Issues Missed In Run

14-Oct-78

28-Oct-78

11-Nov-78

18-Nov-78

25-Nov-78

Feature	Artist	Number of Issues	First Appearance	Final Appearance
Laugh and Learn	Barrie Appleby	5	07-Oct-1978	09-Dec-1978
Laugh and Learn	Brian Walker	5	07-Oct-1978	09-Dec-1978

Goodbye Krazy

In the same week that Cheeky Weekly number 26 hit the newsagents, readers of Krazy comic, in which the Cheeky character had originated, learned that the current issue was to be the last, and as from next week Krazy would merge into one of IPC's long-running titles, Whizzer and Chips.  Merges were the customary fate of comics whose sales figures had fallen below viable levels.  By merging the most popular strips from the failed title with an existing, more successful comic, the publishers hoped to deliver a circulation boost to the established title, in the form of the erstwhile readers of the defunct comic.

Krazy, which launched on 16 October 1976, almost exactly a year before Cheeky Weekly appeared, was a bold attempt to try something new; a melding of the traditional British humour comic with a less rigid, Mad Magazine-influenced style.  In Krazy, one-off humorous features appeared alongside the standard weekly strips, so that readers were never entirely sure what each issue would contain.  Some found this approach refreshing, but maybe it was too unsettling for those who preferred a comic consisting of the same strips every week.

Launching spin-off title Cheeky Weekly may in fact have hastened Krazy's demise.  Not all comic readers had access to unlimited budgets, and a significant number of those who had up until then read Krazy may have opted to drop Cheeky's progenitor title in order to fund their purchase of Cheeky Weekly.

Ironically, Cheeky made a reference to Krazy comic on the Tuesday page of Cheeky Weekly issue 26, which shared the same cover date as the final Krazy.  Krazy's precarious state would have been obvious to readers of Cheeky Weekly, as in the issues dated 14 January 1978 and 25 March 1978 the slogan 'Save a comic - buy Krazy' had been seen in the Cheeky's Week strips.  Presumably the decision to bring Krazy to an end had already been made by that stage.  The demise of  their comic would not have been a surprise to Krazy readers, either, as the cover of Krazy's 11 March 1978 issue, had read 'Save this comic, buy it'.

Cheeky had featured in 2 regular strips in Krazy; his own 'Ello, It's Cheeky feature, and The Krazy Gang where he appeared as a member of the titular group.  The Krazy Gang (with Cheeky) survived the merge and continued to appear in Whizzer and Chips.  'Ello, It's Cheeky did not continue after the merge, except in the sense that its format continued in the Cheeky's Week strips in Cheeky Weekly.  An intermittent Krazy series that began under the title Cheeky's Pal eventually evolved into The Burpo Special, a feature that was resurrected in the pages of Cheeky Weekly some 8 months after Krazy's cancellation.

In Krazy's final 'Ello, It's Cheeky strip, the toothy funster introduced his pals from Cheeky Weekly and invited readers to join him in his own comic, thereby risking a split in readership as some decided to move to Cheeky Weekly, while others opted to follow their Krazy pals into Whizzer and Chips.

In addition to the work he did in Cheeky Weekly, the prolific Frank McDiarmid had produced a total of 44 Cheeky-related pages in Krazy since Cheeky Weekly's launch, including the final 'Ello, It's Cheeky strip.  As with his Cheeky's Week work in Cheeky Weekly, Frank's terrific workload was eased by other artists on the Cheeky-related strips in Krazy.  The other artists' Cheeky output in Krazy since Cheeky Weekly started breaks down as follows; Barrie Appleby 7 pages, Dick Millington 18, Jim Petrie 4, Jim Watson 25, and there is one artist whose name I don't know, who drew the Bird Spotting page (a Cheeky-related feature) in Krazy dated 25 February 1978.

The Other Cheeky Artists - Barrie Appleby

Please note that Barrie's work on the Laugh and Learn features in Cheeky Weekly (on which he collaborated with Brian Walker) are not covered in this topic. Laugh and Learn was never drawn by Frank McDiarmid, and it's therefore outside the scope of this series on artists who ghosted Frank's features.

Barrie Appleby joined the elite band of Cheeky's Week artists in Cheeky Weekly issue 21, dated 11 March 1978, in which he drew 5 full pages, from Wednesday (which featured a guest appearance by The Two Ronnies) to the Interval page, and a further 3 panel strip which concluded Saturday.

Barrie supplied 4 full pages in the issue dated 25 March 1978, this time drawing Wednesday to Saturday. In the issue dated 08 April 1978 he started at the beginning of the week, with 5 pages from Sunday to Tuesday (Sunday being comprised of Sunday and Sunday evening, and Monday covering Monday and Suddenly).

In the 22 April 1978 issue, Barrie's 4 full pages of artwork commenced on Thursday, and ended with Interval, but Barrie also supplied the closing Saturday three-panel segment, and in the 06 May 1978 issue he provided the same elements again.


The comic dated 20 May 1978 saw Barrie contribute his highest number of pages in a single issue yet, with a set of 6 full pages running from Sunday to the first part of Wednesday, and also the three panel Wednesday strip following that week's Creepy Sleepy Tale.

However, this high point was followed by 2 issues where Barrie provided only the post-Tale 3-panel strips; 27 May and 03 June 1978.

The 10 June 1978 issue contained 6 full pages of Barrie's work, plus the 3-panel Wednesday closer, but on 17 June he was back to providing only the Wednesday conclusion.

Barrie provided 6 full pages for the issue dated 24 June 1978, but this time he didn't draw the concluding Wednesday strip.  In the following week's 01 July 1978 issue, the 3-panel conclusion of Wednesday was his sole contribution.

Barrie's work adorned the cover of the 08 July 1978 comic, with that week's What a Cheek strip, but his only work inside was again the Wednesday conclusion, and on 15 July he provided only the What a Cheek feature.

Following these weeks of minimal fill-ins, Barrie was back, with what was to be his only full Cheeky's Week, in the comic dated 22 July 1978.  The Cheeky features this week consisted of 10 full pages and a 3-panel Wednesday conclusion.

In the 12 and 19 August 1978 comics, Barrie delivered only the main Wednesday pages, and on 26 August his work appeared in the concluding 3 panels of Wednesday only.  This was the final appearance of the concluding Wednesday strip, as the Creepy Sleepy Tales came to an end in this issue.

Barrie's work didn't feature again until the comic dated 10 February 1979, in which he contributed 8 full pages and the cover's What a Cheek 3-panel strip.  This was almost a full Cheeky's Week, but Frank contributed that week's Burpo Special (I include The Burpo Special as part of Cheeky's Week).
A month later the position was reversed, with the Cheeky's Week content of the 10 March 1979 comic being comprised of 9 elements by Frank McDiarmid and Barrie contributing a Burpo Special only (the only occasion on which Barrie drew the strip).

Later that month Barrie provided 4 pages in the 31 March 1979 issue, and there was another Barrie 4-page issue dated 28 April.

The 26 May 1979 issue featured Barrie's art on the cover only. In the editions dated 13 and 20 October 1979, Barrie stood in for Frank McDiarmid on Snail of the Century.

The issue dated 10 November 1979 featured another 4 pages from Barrie, and his final work on Cheeky Weekly graced the cover of edition number 106, dated 17 November 1979.

Barrie Appleby's Cheeky's Week pages in Cheeky Weekly

Cover Date	Page	Element
11-Mar-1978	15	Wednesday
11-Mar-1978	19	Thursday
11-Mar-1978	21	Friday
11-Mar-1978	25	Saturday
11-Mar-1978	28	Interval
11-Mar-1978	31	Saturday
25-Mar-1978	15	Wednesday
25-Mar-1978	19	Thursday
25-Mar-1978	21	Friday
25-Mar-1978	25	Saturday
08-Apr-1978	2	Sunday
08-Apr-1978	4	Sunday evening
08-Apr-1978	9	Monday
08-Apr-1978	12	Suddenly
08-Apr-1978	13	Tuesday
22-Apr-1978	19	Thursday
22-Apr-1978	21	Friday
22-Apr-1978	25	Saturday
22-Apr-1978	28	Interval
22-Apr-1978	31	Saturday
06-May-1978	19	Thursday
06-May-1978	21	Friday
06-May-1978	25	Saturday
06-May-1978	28	Interval
06-May-1978	31	Saturday
20-May-1978	2	Sunday
20-May-1978	4	Sunday evening
20-May-1978	8	Monday
20-May-1978	11	Suddenly
20-May-1978	13	Tuesday
20-May-1978	15	Wednesday
20-May-1978	17	Wednesday (conclusion)
27-May-1978	17	Wednesday (conclusion)
03-Jun-1978	17	Wednesday (conclusion)
10-Jun-1978	2	Sunday
10-Jun-1978	4	Sunday evening
10-Jun-1978	9	Monday
10-Jun-1978	12	Suddenly
10-Jun-1978	13	Tuesday
10-Jun-1978	15	Wednesday
10-Jun-1978	17	Wednesday (conclusion)
17-Jun-1978	17	Wednesday (conclusion)
24-Jun-1978	2	Sunday
24-Jun-1978	4	Sunday evening
24-Jun-1978	8	Monday
24-Jun-1978	11	Suddenly
24-Jun-1978	12	Tuesday
24-Jun-1978	15	Wednesday
01-Jul-1978	17	Wednesday (conclusion)
08-Jul-1978	1	What a Cheek
08-Jul-1978	18	Wednesday (conclusion)
15-Jul-1978	1	What a Cheek
22-Jul-1978	2	Sunday
22-Jul-1978	4	Sunday evening
22-Jul-1978	8	Monday
22-Jul-1978	13	Tuesday
22-Jul-1978	16	Wednesday
22-Jul-1978	18	Wednesday (conclusion)
22-Jul-1978	20	Thursday
22-Jul-1978	23	Friday
22-Jul-1978	25	Saturday
22-Jul-1978	28	Interval
22-Jul-1978	31	Saturday
12-Aug-1978	14	Wednesday (conclusion)
19-Aug-1978	14	Wednesday (conclusion)
26-Aug-1978	17	Wednesday (conclusion)
10-Feb-1979	1	Cheeky's Week
10-Feb-1979	2	Sunday
10-Feb-1979	8	Monday
10-Feb-1979	10	Tuesday
10-Feb-1979	12	Wednesday
10-Feb-1979	23	Thursday
10-Feb-1979	25	Friday
10-Feb-1979	30	Saturday
10-Feb-1979	31	Saturday
10-Mar-1979	29	The Burpo Special 'Constable Chuckle'
31-Mar-1979	2	Sunday
31-Mar-1979	6	Monday
31-Mar-1979	9	Tuesday
31-Mar-1979	12	Wednesday
28-Apr-1979	23	Thursday
28-Apr-1979	25	Friday
28-Apr-1979	30	Saturday
28-Apr-1979	31	Saturday
26-May-1979	1	Cheeky's Week
13-Oct-1979	32	Snail of the Century
20-Oct-1979	32	Snail of the Century
10-Nov-1979	2	Sunday
10-Nov-1979	7	Monday
10-Nov-1979	10	Tuesday
10-Nov-1979	15	Wednesday
17-Nov-1979	1	Cover Feature 'Gunga Jim'