TWO VERSIONS OF A FRANKIE STEIN STORY

Leafing through my SHIVER AND SHAKE comics the other day, I found an episode of Frankie Stein by Robert Nixon, re-drawn from the original episode by Ken Reid in WHAM! No. 145 and based on Walter Thorburn’s original script. 

It is interesting to note how toned-down the new version is in comparison with the manic and violent original – both in terms of script and artwork. Excellent as Robert Nixon was, his take is hardly on par with Ken’s in my view. Ken surely was one of a kind!

Here’s the original page from WHAM! No. 145 (25th March, 1967), followed by both pages from Shiver and Shake No. 5 (April 7th, 1973). Which one do you prefer? :)

Robert Nixon also re-drew another Frankie Stein episode by Ken Reid/Walter Thorburn in SHIVER AND SHAKE issue No. 6. Check out my earlier post HERE (scroll down to the bottom of the article).

Click on the POWER PACK banner in the right-hand column and get your copy of the POWER PACK OF KEN REID - the deluxe two-volume set of Ken’s strips in WHAM!, SMASH! and POW! comics of the ‘60s.

Characters are © Rebellion Publishing Ltd

WHO DREW THESE?

This time I would like to ask for some assistance of those of my readers who have a sharp eye for recognising artists’ styles. Any suggestions as to who may have drawn the 6 pages shown below? Thanks!

THE CHRISTMASES OF SWEENY TODDLER – PART ONE

Sweeny Toddler the infamous demonic baby first appeared in the first issue of SHIVER AND SHAKE in March 1973. The paper lasted for less than two years, so there was only enough time for one X-mas episode of Sweeny Toddler. Script and artwork by Leo Baxendale:

SHIVER AND SHAKE was merged into WHOOPEE! in October 1974. It sounds quite surprising, but Sweeny didn’t make a straightforward leap to the new combined comic. It had to prove its strength by participating in a poll: WHOOPEE! editor selected 8 strips and invited readers to vote in a Pick-A-Strip competition that ran in the Autumn of 1974. Sweeny was declared victor in WHOOPEE! AND SHIVER & SHAKE cover-dated 22nd March, 1975, and his regular appearances recommenced a week later. This means that Sweeny Toddler would have missed the X-mas of 1974 even if WHOOPEE! hadn’t been affected by industrial action in the end of that year and the X-mas issue of the paper  had been published (WHOOPEE! missed the last week of 1974 and the first two weeks of 1975).

Leo Baxendale stopped drawing Sweeny Toddler in June 1975, and was succeeded by the excellent Tom Paterson who imitated Mr. Baxendale’s style very well indeed. Here are the next three festive episodes from the 1975, 1976 and 1977 X-mas issues of WHOOPEE! :

Come back soon for more X-mas stories featuring the little pest!

GUEST APPEARANCES AT SCREAM INN – FRANKIE STEIN

When SHIVER AND SHAKE merged into WHOOPEE! in October 1974, Scream Inn and Frankie Stein were among the strips that confidently made it to the combined paper. A few weeks after the merger Frankie Stein stopped by at the spooky inn and tried to win the million quid. Brian Walker was a very good imitator and his Frankie looked very much like that by Robert Nixon. It’s a shame the printing presses used by IPC at the time often failed to present beautiful artwork decently. The episode is from WHOOPEE! AND SHIVER & SHAKE cover-dated 23 November, 1974 (No. 38). Followed by both pages of the Frankie Stein strip from that same issue, by Robert Nixon, of course.

GUEST APPEARANCES AT SCREAM INN – I SPY LOOK-ALIKE

Shiver and Shake merged into Whoopee! in October 1974 and Scream Inn was one of the strips that found its way into the new paper with the clumsy title of Whoopee! and Shiver & Shake. 

The first guest appearance in Scream Inn can be found soon after the merger, in the issue cover-dated 26 October 1974 (No. 34), and it was quite an unusual one indeed. That week’s guest looked a lot like I Spy from SPARKY comic published by DCT. I believe this is one of very few examples in British comics when a character appeared in a rival publication produced by the competitor. Brian Walker illustrated I Spy starting from SPARKY issue No. 300 (17 October 1970), so the inclusion of a look-alike into the episode of Scream Inn in Whoopee! and Shiver & Shake (published by IPC) must have been a cheeky experiment on his part. Here is the episode, followed by the three-page set of I Spy from SPARKY, the first one by Brian Walker.

While we are on the subject of SPARKY’s I Spy and cheeky sneak-ins by Brian Walker, who is that bespectacled bloke in the top right corner of this panel of Scream Inn from Shiver and Shake issue 51 (February 23rd, 1974)?