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| From Wham! #25, cover-dated December 5th 1964. Copyright REBELLION |
Well, peeps, it's time once again for some further examples of the superlative FRANKIE STEIN strip by KEN REID from the pages of WHAM!, which once burned brightly-but-briefly amidst the weekly paper periodicals produced for Britain's '60s baby-boomer youth.
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Intended by ODHAMS PRESS as their answer to D.C. THOMSON's The BEANO, Wham! never quite managed to match its rival in terms of sales and circulation, quietly fizzling out and merging with sister-title POW! at the beginning of 1968.
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| From Wham! #30, cover-dated January 9th 1965 |
In it's relatively short three and a half years, the comic came up with some characters that lived well beyond its own lifespan. Such a one was Frankie Stein, who resurfaced in a number of '70s titles, this time drawn by ROBERT NIXON, who was a magnificent artist indeed.
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However, to those of us of a certain age, nothing quite matched the sheer anarchic lunacy of the original '60s version. Hopefully, the accompanying strips demonstrate why.
Thanks again Kid - these are magnificent!! Zooming right in on the enlargements reveals just what a superb command of linework the late Mr Reid had - that face-to-face of Frankie and the copper then mr plod's reaction shot in the next panel is priceless, not just for the rendition but for the very funny drawing.
ReplyDeleteIndeed, his mastery of linework is superb, Phil. Can you imagine how difficult it would've been to animate his art for cartoons, had anyone been of a mind to?
ReplyDeleteReally interesting to see these two together. I noticed the blue pencil was active on the first page of the earlier strip. There's also a nice bit of social documentary with the old cinema as a bingo hall. It's also interesting to note the increase in the use of half tone in the later strip, the line work on the policeman makes it looks as though that was Reid's work, I wonder who it was executed.
ReplyDeleteWhen you think of how often Leo Baxendale's art style was copied, you'd think more people would've had a go at imitating Ken, eh?
ReplyDeleteJust brilliant thanks again for this some of his best work in these 2 strips (imho)- I doubt many folk could "copy" Reids art regularly mabye a few generic/ copied facial expressions but thats about it - Baxendales can be copied a lot easier, but is rarely bettered for originality/humour by his imitators- McScotty
ReplyDeleteAgreed in Reid's case, although I think Tom Paterson does a brilliant Bax impression which is oftimes hard to tell from an original.
ReplyDeleteHaving another look at the strips and I just noticed that the old guy on the soapbox outside the Bingo Hall could be a descendant of Jasper the Grasper - especially when his hat comes off. And speaking of Jasper - have you noticed how much detail goes into drawing Jasper's long straggly hair? - Ken Reid must have been very quick or worked long hours to put in that much effort, specially during the few issues where he drew both Jasper and Frankie!
ReplyDeleteI noticed the Jasper likeness myself, Phil, and wondered if it was deliberate. Looking at Ken's ink lines in close up, they seem remarkably assured yet spontaneous, but it may be that he first did all the groundwork in pencil. (Unlike D.D. Watkins, who drew sausage figures in pencil and did the actual detail with the pen or brush.)
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