This Week In: 1979 - Cheeky

One good thing about many of Fleetway's comics was the fact that they came out on a Monday. Monday is the worst day of the week as it's the day everybody has to go back to work or, more suitably for a comic, school, so the arrival of a new comic on a Monday was very welcome, the perfect way to beat those "Monday Blues"! Cheeky was another of the comics that came out on a Monday, a cheery and cheeky way to start the week!

I'll start with none other than Cheeky himself. If you've ever read an issue of Cheeky you'll know that Cheeky's strip is split up into seven parts and each part appears separately throughout the comic. There is one part for every day, starting on Sunday and finishing on Saturday, but for sakes of space I'll only show the 'Sunday' page here. Frank McDiarmid had a heavy workload as he drew all of Cheeky's pages week in week out!

Next up is Charlie, who you will know as Calculator Kid! Charlie is very lucky in that he has a talking calculator for a friend (and yes, he had real friends as well) that could predict the future - a very useful tool in Charlie's life that almost always led him to collecting a nice cash reward! Terry Bave was the illustrator here, and the strip would continue for a very long run continuing for several years after Cheeky in Whoopee.

My favourite strip in this issue has to go to The Gang. Although it doesn't have the most creative name in the world, this is a very well written strip, and it's well illustrated as well although I'm afraid I can't say who the artist is. The Cheeky Weekly blog tells me that The Gang is in fact a (poorly retitled) reprint of the Double Deckers from Whizzer and Chips.

Next up is Elephant On The Run, a strip about a man in a plastic mac who, for some unknown reason, is trying to capture our friendly elephant, who has lost his memory and has no idea why he's wanted! Bob Nixon is the artist.

The fantastic Mustapha Million, a great and extremely popular strip illustrated by Joe McCaffrey, took up the centre spread. Obviously the title of this strip is supposed to sound like "must have a million", but really the young lad must be a multi billionaire at least!

And finally, here's a queer advertisement for 'Mr. Bellamy's', showing all the (ahem) fun you can have with liquorice!

This Week In: 1969, 1971 and 1972!

I've a rather special post today because I head back to three different years, (I was hoping to do four, but I don't have a comic from this week in 1970), and take a look at not one, not two, but FOUR different comics! I'll dive straight into it, and the first comic I'll be taking a look at is Joe 90 issue #11, dated 29th March 1969! This comic was a bit pricier than other comics, costing you 8D to purchase.

Of course, the star of Joe 90 is Joe 90, and, as advertised on the cover, this week's adventure takes him to the Himalayas in an exciting three-page adventure!

The highlight of the comic for me is the Star Trek strip, which appeared on the centre spread in full colour! Since I last reviewed Joe 90 comic (here), I've seen a few Star Trek films and episodes, and it's not too bad! I believe Harry Lindfield was the artist for this strip.

And finally, here's an interesting advert from inside the comic for Joe 90 Kellog's Sugar Smacks. If you collected two packet tops plus sent along 8/11 you could get yourself a "Super model of Mac's car"! Whether or not this caught on I don't know, but many readers would already have a model of Mac's car as it was given away with the first issue, although it wouldn't surprise me if many of them had since been lost or destroyed.

If you are a fan of Joe 90, I believe it is possible (as with most programs) to buy all the episodes on Video or DVD. I found this old video amongst a load of others nobody watches anymore!

Moving on, and the next comic I'm going to cover is The Dandy, and this issue, numbered #1427, went on sale on the 29th March 1969. This issue would set you back you just 4D, half the cost of Joe 90.

Moving inside and the first strip we see is Desperate Dan, this is one of the very last episodes Dudley Watkins ever drew, as he died in the August of that year.

An interesting strip is The Purple Cloud, which is about the World's master crook - The Purple Mask! The purple cloud is some kind of chemical gas that can eat its way through anything to help the Purple Mask to escape! I think I remember reading that the strip was illustrated by Charlie Grigg (of Korky the Cat fame), but can anybody confirm this?

Bodger the Bookworm is an interesting strip, and is very similar to the better known Bookworm who started in Whoopee.

The third comic I've got lined up is the Cor comic that went on sale this week in 1971, or 27th March 1971 to be exact! Decimalisation was just coming in around the time this comic went on sale, and you could buy the comic for 8D or 3 1/2 new pence!

Football themed strips are always good, and Cor had Football Madd, which was about a young boy named Micky Madd who was, well, football mad! I'm not sure who the artist was for this strip was, my first guess would be Mike Brown, by Irmantas over at Kazoop suggested Peter Davidson. Does anybody know for sure?

I'll also show Whacky, not only because the artwork is brilliant (the artist is Mike Lacey), but also because he shares the same name as this blog!

And interestingly, Jack Pott didn't start in the comic Jackpot, but instead his origins can be traced back to Cor! Joe McCaffrey illustrated his adventures.

Moving on now to our final comic - TV Action. This issue is dated Week Ending 1st April 1972, and cost 5p.

Dr. Who and the Daleks were the stars of the cover, and the strip continued inside, illustrated by Gerry Haylock. It ends on a very exciting cliff-hanger, with the T.A.R.D.I.S plunging straight into the heart of the sun!

Stingray was a very well illustrated and coloured strip, although I'm not sure who the artist was.

That sums up a look at these four different comics. Whilst I was writing it up an idea occurred to me - why don't I write a blog post like this, but of the same comic over a period of four or five years. This would show how tastes changed and how the comic evolved to show that. It's just an idea for now, but stay tuned!