RAMBLING REPOST: RICH BEYOND THE DREAMS OF AVARICE...

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 occur-

rence 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 compe-

tition in one of MARVEL U.K.'s weeklies -  and was one of a 100

runners-up.  To add insult to injury, I'd also entered the competi-

tion 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.)

Posted in: Cartoons