45 years since the the first appearance of Frankie Stein!

[philcom55]

I remember once being confined to bed with chicken pox and bored out of my mind when Mum brought in my weekly copy of Wham! which had just been delivered. Such was the amount of intricate detail Reid and Baxendale crammed into their strips that I was able to spend the rest of the day reading and rereading them - continually finding new details I'd not noticed before. Comics really gave you value for money in those days!

Personally I'd love to see Steve Holland doing a 'Complete Ken Reid Frankie Stein'!

- Phil Rushton

[klakadak-ploobadoof]

Here is some more:

[philcom55]

Brilliant!

Incidentally, I wonder who added that fanged head to the right of the masthead? It certainly doesn't look like Reid or Baxendale. Alf Cosser perhaps? It almost seems as though the 'Friendly Monster' byline was added as an afterthought just in case some of the younger readers were turned into gibbering wrecks by the sheer horror of Reid's creation!

- Phil Rushton

[klakadak-ploobadoof]

It almost seems as though the 'Friendly Monster' byline was added as an afterthought just in case some of the younger readers were turned into gibbering wrecks by the sheer horror of Reid's creation!

Interesting that you mentioned this because the early episodes did not have the byline; here is a sample:

[Lew Stringer]

Perfect examples of what I liked about Ken Reid's work in the Sixties; it didn't talk down to the reader and it was completely anarchic. Much as I admire Bob Nixon's work the IPC version of Frankie was so castrated and, has to be said, comparatively twee. Not that I'm blaming Bob for that. The IPC editors/management wanted to gear their comics to a younger audience and reigned in on the more irreverent themes.

The IPC version was "fun" but the Odhams version was funny. I know what I preferred in a humour comic.

Lew

[ISPYSHHHGUY]

totally psychotic stuff: yet beautiful at the same time! We will never see KEN'S like again.......

[philcom55]

the early episodes did not have the byline...

The original logo is so much better! If Bear Alley Books or anyone else ever do produce a collected edition it's to be hoped they use the unexpurgated version at the head of every page - the way Ken intended it!

- Phil Rushton

[Lew Stringer]

totally psychotic stuff: yet beautiful at the same time! We will never see KEN'S like again.......

He really was a one-off. My favourite comic artist of all time I think.

Lew

[philcom55]

Originally created and superbly drawn by Ken Reid, the crazy and occasionally violent adventures of Frankie Stein the friendly monster appeared in Wham! regularly for more than three years. The total page count came to 160, the majority of them drawn by Ken Reid.

I'm not sure if that just refers to the weekly comic, but it's worth remembering that Reid also contributed some Frankie strips to Wham! Annuals - for example these pages from the 1966 edition:



(...Unfortunately the colouring could be a bit garish on these so I've converted the last two into more appropriate greys)

It's a testament to the incredible fertility of Ken's imagination that he frequently introduced throwaway characters for one story only who could have easily supported strips of their own - the ghosts of spooky wood shown above, for example!

- Phil Rushton

[STARBOY]

Brillaint stuff although I have most of Ken Reids Odhams work, all these ones are missing from my collection so thanks to those that posted them. Ken Reid, without doubt is my all time favourite UK kids artist (and in my all time top 10 comics artists all genres) - he's easily in the same league as Wally Wood and the best of the MAD and European artists (as are others Baxnedale, Watkins etc) As a kid Ken Reids work used to seriously creep me out (in a good way). An insane cartoon genius.

[klakadak-ploobadoof]

Reid also contributed some Frankie strips to Wham! Annuals

Indeed, Frankie Stein appeared in all Wham annuals, but only the first two were by Ken Reid. These pages are from 1967 edition:

[Power fan]

the early episodes did not have the byline...

The original logo is so much better! If Bear Alley Books or anyone else ever do produce a collected edition it's to be hoped they use the unexpurgated version at the head of every page - the way Ken intended it!

- Phil Rushton

..although of course that isn't the original logo, which can be seen on Lew Stringer's blog here:

http://lewstringer.blogspot.com/2008/02 ... rives.html

[klakadak-ploobadoof]

..although of course that isn't the original logo, which can be seen on Lew Stringer's blog here:

http://lewstringer.blogspot.com/2008/02 ... rives.html

That logo appeared in the first three episodes only. It was then replaced, albeit only briefly (3 episodes), with yet another one, which I would consider the most appealing and in tune with the strip. Here is a sample from Wham No. 7:

[philcom55]

Personally I prefer Ken's second logo, though they're both pretty good. I've just dug out my own copies of those early issues and in retrospect it's amazing the way in which Frankie debuted in no.4 without any fanfare at all on the cover or in the previous week's comic; what's more, that rather dull first logo seems almost to have been knocked off at the last minute. It's as though the strip suddenly dropped out of the sky instead of being carefully developed for weeks beforehand like all the other initial Wham! series. (Hmmm, I'll have to unearth my copy of 'A Very Funny Business' to check how Leo describes the circumstances in which Reid finally came on board the Good Ship 'Odhams'. Could it be that he intended to offer the character to Thomson's up until that point...? )

- Phil Rushton

[Digifiend]

1964? Close call if he did intend to offer Frankie to Thomsons, I checked History of the Beano, Jinx finished in May 64, and was his final Beano work. Of course without any Diaries books I can't speak for the other comics.