Grawk! It's 'Orrible!

Anybody out there remember Frankie Stein? When I was a kid I remember reading the Robert Nixon incarnation of the strip in Shiver & Shake every week and thinking it was kind of amiable... then I stumbled across a book reprinting the original, bonkers weirdness of the Ken Reid version and falling in love with it. Reid's world was ever so slightly sleazy and ramshackle (compared to Nixon's, which you could only really describe as "cuddly"). Frankie's "dad" and creator, the nervous wreck Professor Cube, was constantly trying to kill his "son" in horrible ways which always backfired. Terrific premise, although not as terrific as Reid's great lost strip idea which he was never allowed to use, that of a character who tries to commit suicide every week -- hilarity ensues! (Actually, being Ken Reid, it probably would have.)

Anyway, this is my take on Frankie a la Reid, done for a charity deck of cards, hence the card theme. More on Reid here and here.