RICH BEYOND THE DREAMS OF AVARICE...

Image copyright REBELLION

Back in the 20th century - 1973 to be exact - an envelope addressed to myself popped through the letterbox one morning.  Being only 14 or so, receiving personal mail wasn't a regular occurrence for me, so naturally enough I wondered what it was.  I soon found out - a postal order for £1, along with a cover-note telling me that my "Creepy Creation" would be featured in the very next issue of SHIVER & SHAKE.

When the day arrived, I rushed out and bought a copy.  Nevertheless, thrilled as I was about my moment of fame (to say nothing of my untold wealth), I was surprised to see that it seemed to be my actual drawing that had been printed - albeit with a super-duper, touch-up inking job by the mighty KEN REID.  I'd hoped that my original drawing would be good enough to be published as is, but I was resigned to the likelihood that it would be completely redrawn by Mr. Reid himself.

But no - all the glaring imperfections of my original art were still all-too obvious - surely Ken would've fixed them if he'd completely redrawn my submission from scratch?  Honest - that really appears to be my basic drawing under the super-slick inking style of the artist of FRANKIE STEIN and FACEACHE and loads of other characters.  The wings are a bit more ornate than I would've rendered them, but what you're looking at is a genuine Robson/Reid collaboration.

Ken wasn't the only one to recognize quality when he saw it, though.  (Relax - my tongue is half in my cheek.)  A few years later, someone traced my character and submitted it to a competition in one of MARVEL's U.K. weeklies (I think) -  and was one of a 100 runners-up.  To add insult to injury, I'd also entered the competition and was amongst the top ten of those 100 runners-up, but my prize of a Treasury Edition must have been lost in the Twilight Zone because I never received it.

So feast your eyes - the only Kid Robson/Ken Reid drawing in existence.  (I suppose his name really should come first - but it's my blog.  And he got paid far more than a £1 for his share of the work.)