Frankie Stein

&nbsp FRANKIE STEIN was the first of the outlandish creations spewed forth by the hyper-talented Ken Reid for Wham!: the first of the Power Comics put out by Odhams throughout the Sixties. Ken, of course, had put out sterling work for Beano since 1953, but over a decade later, he was offered double his page-rate by the 'Big O', and after mulling over this considerable offer, he appears to have been torn by at least some partial loyalty towards Thomson, suggesting to them that if they meet Odham's offer 'half-way', then he would be prepared to stay put. Thomsons responded to this plea with a resounding, unequivocal 'no!', and so, with the temptation of almost unlimited freedom offered by his new publishing house [and the not inconsiderable financial bonus of getting paid for coming up with script ideas: Ken had been embellishing scripts at Thomsons free of charge, as part of his personal perfectionism], Reid quite understandably jumped ship, and in the process unleashed some of the most astounding comic creationcs of the 1960s: or, indeed, of any era anywhere.