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

HAVING FUN ON EBAY

After quite a long while, I spent some time on eBay tonight.

Beano No. 1242 is the only one I don’t have from 1966. It is the famous ‘Eric Clapton’ number that appears to be in very high demand among fans. The copy offered by the seller was described as Very Good, so I knew it wasn’t going to go cheaply, but the winning bid of £101.55 was nearly £10 more than I was prepared to offer this time… I know I will get my copy one day; in the meantime, here are the covers from the auction site, front and back:

Another seller had quite a selection of good-looking copies of WHAM! in batches of 10 issues or so. These stirred little interest on eBay tonight and went for less than a pound per issue! Quite a contrast to the prices that I paid in the process of collecting my complete run a few years ago, but that’s eBay for you… Someone got himself some good bargains!

THE WHAM! EASTERS OF FRANKIE STEIN

Let’s take a look at all three Easter episodes of Frankie Stein in WHAM! comic. Those from 1965 and 1967 editions were by Ken Reid while the one in the middle (1966) was by someone else because Ken was too busy with The Queen of the Seas at the time and had to give up drawing Frankie Stein temporarily. Which is a pity because the period when Ken was substituted by another artist coincided with Frankie’s days at Madam McAbre’s Academy for Frustrated Freaks (or Monster Manor) inhabited by fiendish characters of all sorts. One can only imagine how brilliant the episodes would have been, had they been illustrated by Frankie Stein’s original artist.

Happy Easter!