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Thursday, January 12, 2006

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.

1 comment:

  1. That's one goofy monster!

    Thanks for the glimpse into the world of UK cartooning - Reid's art is appealingly weird and clean (somewhat Basil Wolverton-like?) in that first Frankie episode.

    ReplyDelete

The spam filter is back on because it just goes berserk if I switch it off. Sorry - I'll get to your comments ASAP!

About Me

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London, United Kingdom
Eisner and Harvey Award-winning cartoonist responsible for The Muppet Show Comic Book, Thor the Mighty Avenger, Snarked! and Fred the Clown. Would like to save the world through comics.