The Rejects - Dan Dan the Lollipop Man

A number of the supporting cast who populated Cheeky's Week in his own comic originated in the Cheeky pages in Krazy. However not all the characters who appeared in the toothy funster's Krazy strip made the transition into Cheeky Weekly. The character examined in this Rejects post differs somewhat from those featured previously in this series as he was not entirely rejected, but rather repurposed, as we will see...

Imagine a nightmare version of Krazy Town where (now steel yourselves for this) luscious Lily Pop is not the school crossing attendant. Unthinkable, yet there was a time when this was the case.

Krazy dated 26 March 1977 illustrated this horrific scenario, when Cheeky introduced one Daniel McSpaniel.

Krazy 26 March 1977
Art: Frank McDiarmid

Dan Dan made no further Lollipop Man appearances in Krazy, as (fortunately for Lily Pop’s many fans, including the motorists of Krazy Town) it seems he embarked on a new career before returning in Krazy dated 04 June 1977 in a role which was to transfer into the spin-off and become a Cheeky Weekly regular, that of school gardener Dan-Dan the Lavender Man.

The Rejects - Shorty

A number of the supporting cast who populated Cheeky's Week in his own comic originated in the Cheeky pages in Krazy. However not all the characters who appeared in the toothy funster's Krazy strip made the transition into Cheeky Weekly.

A year before Uncle Hamish made his debut in Cheeky Weekly, our toothy pal (at this time still sporting a 'K' on his jumper - he didn't begin wearing the sweater bearing his initial until Krazy dated 20 August 1977 in his own strip, although it was a week later before the toothy funster's 'C' jumper appeared on the Krazy Gang pages) had an encounter with another comical Caledonian...

Krazy 22 January 1977
Art: Frank McDiarmid

Cheeky's diminutive pal from north of the border made no further appearances in Krazy, nor did he transfer into Cheeky Weekly. As mentioned above, the role of frugal Scot in the pages of the toothy funster's own comic was fulfilled by Uncle Hamish.

The Rejects - April Apron

In this series of Rejects posts I'm examining the named characters who appeared in Cheeky's strips in Krazy but failed to make a transition into Cheeky Weekly. Attention turns this time to the rather curiously-surnamed April Apron.

April turned up in the 1977 April Fool edition of Krazy (cover date 02 April 1977).

 

Krazy 02 April 1977
Art: Frank McDiarmid

It's not surprising that April never migrated to Cheeky Weekly since she was very much a single-gag creation. Even the Cook/McDiarmid team behind the Krazy strip above had to admit to the somewhat strained nature of the joke associated with the character.

The Rejects – Wally the Waiter

In this latest post in the Rejects series, in which I'm examining the named characters who appeared in Cheeky's strips in Krazy but failed to make a transition into Cheeky Weekly, the spotlight falls on Wally the Waiter.

Wally the Waiter appeared in just a single 'Ello, It's Cheeky strip in Krazy (cover date 12 March 1977), but what an appearance it was. The dynamic dinner-deliverer set a new record for culinary quippage as he wisecracked his way around a restaurant, dispensing gustatory gags and mealtime mischief.

Art: Frank McDiarmid

Frank again

Wally was adjudged by a celebrity panel consisting of Cheeky and Roy Castle to have served up 14 waiter wisecracks, but despite this prodigious feat of feasting fun, Wally never returned to the pages of Krazy. One can imagine the gag-cracking garcon being easliy assimilated into the ranks of Cheeky's pals in the toothy funster's own comic, with Cheeky's wanderings around Krazy Town including a saunter past the local restaurant, but Wally was entirely absent from Cheeky's own title.

Maybe Wally's record attempt in Krazy exhausted the scriptwriter's supply of restaurant raillery. It's possible the Cheeky Weekly editor felt that Auntie Daisy dished up sufficient food fun for one comic. Or maybe Cheeky believed his plate-wrangling pal's adroitness with the funnies threatened his own seat at the top table of comic jokesters.

The Rejects – Big Strong Sam\Steve

In previous instalments of this series of 'The Rejects' posts, I've examined supporting characters from the 'Ello, it's Cheeky\'Ello I'm Cheeky pages of Krazy who, despite being given a name, didn't accompany the toothy funster into the pages of his own comic. However, the character coming under the spotlight today failed to make the break into Cheeky Weekly even though he was given two names.

Scrap yard worker Big Strong Sam made his debut in Krazy issue 2, dated 23 October 1976. All the artwork below is by Frank McDiarmid.

Krazy 23 October 1976
This page also saw the debut of
Manhole Man

A week later the Big Strong one returned, but now called Steve and seemingly the sibling of a Cheeky Weekly stalwart who made his debut on this page. This time Cheeky's muscular mate featured across a whole page, so at this point it looked as though he may become one of the regular cast of Cheeky's pals (if only the scriptwriter could sort his name out).

Krazy 30 October 1976

Sam\Steve was back in Krazy dated 27 November 1976 where he was unnamed among the Krazy Town FC 'supporters' at Saturday's match.

Krazy 27 November 1976

In the 04 December 1976 issue the mighty metal merchant reverted to his original name...

Krazy 04 December 1976

...but by the time of his next appearance in Krazy dated 26 February 1977 his name had changed back again...

Krazy 22 February 1977

And Steve it remained for his next Krazy outing...

Krazy 26 March 1977

Sam\Steve was then absent from Krazy until his final appearance, a silent and unnamed cameo in the first birthday issue dated 08 October 1977...

Krazy 08 October 1977

So despite a promising start, Cheeky's scrapyard stooge eventually fell into obscurity. Maybe the scriptwriter couldn't think of many 'strong' jokes. If Sam\Steve had transferred into Cheeky Weekly there would have been the opportunity to develop him into Ursula's boyfriend.

The Rejects - Brother Girl

A number of the supporting cast who populated Cheeky's Week in his own comic originated in the Cheeky pages in Krazy. However not all the characters who appeared more than once in the toothy funster's Krazy strip made the transition into Cheeky Weekly.

The 'Ello It's Cheeky strip in Krazy's debut issue included a panel in which the toothy funster was accosted by an un-named girl who set up a gag about her brother.

Brother Girl's debut in the
first issue of Krazy dated 16 October 1976.
Art on all these examples is by Frank McDiarmid

The same girl (who remained anonymous throughout her Krazy career - Brother Girl is my rather uninspired name for her since, with 2 exceptions, all her feed lines referred to her male sibling) went on to make a total of 9 appearances with the toothy funster in Krazy, although she had no dialogue when appearing among the Krazy Town supporters at the footie match in the 27 November 1976 issue. She appeared twice in the comic dated 04 December 1976, the first time setting up another brother gag, and the second as a non-speaking audience member at the theatre.

Brother Girl's second appearance,
Krazy 13 November 1976

Krazy 11 December 1976,
the first of Brother Girl's non-brother-related jokes

Brother Girl's extended moment in the Krazy spotlight occurred in the 25 December 1976 edition where, unlike all her other appearances as Cheeky's stooge, she got to feature in several panels.

Brother Girl's final appearance was in Krazy dated 26 February 1977, the 'Special Spooky Issue'...

Thus BG bowed out of Cheeky's life 8 months before the toothy funster's own comic made its debut. Maybe the scriptwriter got bored with the character. Maybe Louise saw BG as a rival for the toothy funster's affections and warned her off.

The Rejects – Greg's Gran

A number of the supporting cast who populated Cheeky's Week in his own comic originated in the Cheeky pages in Krazy. However not all the characters who appeared more than once in the toothy funster's Krazy strip made the transition into Cheeky Weekly.

One such was Greg's Gran, who first appeared in the 'Ello It's Cheeky strip in Krazy number 16, dated 29 January 1977.

Greg's Gran's first appearance.
Apologies to artist Frank McDiarmid for my rather crude
assemblage of panels, which originally spanned 2 pages

Two weeks later Greg and the toothy funster suffered a second drive-by soaking as Gran directed her new car through another kerbside puddle.

Greg's Gran's final Krazy appearance, less than a month after her debut, was in the 19 February 1977 issue where her back-story occupied a full 'Ello It's Cheeky page, plus two panels overleaf.

Art: Frank McDiarmid

Possibly Cheeky scriptwriter 'Willie' Cook (apparently a semi-pseudonym according to Frank McDiarmid's interview in Crikey! magazine) considered there was little scope for development of this idea (what would her next mode of transport be - a space ship?), or it was felt that Cheeky Weekly was already replete with Grans (6 Million Dollar and Gumdrop).

The Rejects - Lily Pop's Little Sister

A recent request to show this particular strip has prompted me to kick off a new series of posts that I've been planning for a while - The Rejects.

As we have seen, a number of the cast of the Cheeky's Week strips in Cheeky Weekly originated in the 'Ello, it's Cheeky/'Ello, I'm Cheeky pages in Krazy. However, some characters who appeared in those same Krazy pages failed to make the transition to Cheeky's own comic. This new series will focus on the toothy funster's Krazy pals who didn't make it to Cheeky Weekly.

This Cheekys' Pal page from Krazy dated 25 February 1978 introduced readers to luscious Lily Pop's little sister. Maybe the relationship established here between Baby Burpo and young Miss Pop was deemed to deviate too radically from the terrible tyke's tough toddler image, but for whatever reason Lily's sister was never seen again either in Krazy or Cheeky Weekly.

Burpo introduced Lily again in the first episode of Cheeky Weekly's run of Burpo Specials almost 10 months after the above strip was published.