The truth is, I'm the madman who created the Frankenstein Mobster.

I said mobster, not monster.  So yes, I created this pieced-together re-animated corpse.  And I did it because I wanted to draw monsters.  I wanted to draw everything from cutting-edge slime vampires to classic werewolves and space invaders.  See, I'm a comic book creator, not a mad scientist.  I don't work in an arcane laboratory - my personal den of iniquity is an art studio.  Oh I guess it is a laboratory of sorts.  But the rare chemicals are inks and dyes, paint and graphite, paper, tape and glue.  Yes, I do have a human skull sitting next to my drawing board - but that's just for reference!

My studio is also full of action figures (they are not dolls!), old comic books and crumbling pulp magazines.  I seem to be the one person on the planet who managed to keep their mother from throwing out their comic book collection.  I've still got all my comic books from when I was a kid.  And I'm not really a collector, even though I have a house full of old magazines and books.  I am an accumulator.  The difference is that I like to handle my old comic books.  I like to read them.  I like to smell them!  But I do stop short of dumping them on the floor and rolling in them.  Still, a lot of my old comic books have seen better days.  They grow yellow with age. Covers have pulled loose.  Even some pages fall out from time to time. All because I like to stay connected with the inspirations of my young, formative years.

That's where the Frankenstein Mobster came from.  I was inspired by old movies and old comic books.  I wanted to reconnect with those enticing feelings of fright and wonder that the original King Kong and Whale's Frankenstein had ignited in me in my grade-school years.  (I want those two movies on Blu-ray now!) I wanted a continuing cast of characters who could still pull together an eclectic stew of body parts in each and every issue just like the old EC comic books – Tales from the Crypt, Shock Suspenstories, Weird Science-Fantasy and the uber-cool Warren magazines Creepy, Eerie and Vampirella... 

 

The original and best horror comics were EC Comics.  And this is where it all got started, in Tales from the Crypt. 

 

This is the Jack Davis cover for the first issue of Creepy.  I remember getting my first few issues of the Warren Creepy magazine.  It felt like I was getting away with something - like hiding an issue of Playboy or something.  But my parents never read my comics - so they thought Creepy was just another comic book.  Ha!

 

How much do I like the old Warren Creepy magazine?  So much that when I was a kid in 1970, I purchased the original drawing Jack Davis made in his effort to design Uncle Creepy. After I bought the art in an auction I got to hang out with James Warren himself - the publisher of Creepy.  That's his hand-written note on the art, establishing with no room for doubt that this is an important piece of horror comics history.  And I still own this rare illustration!  Cool isn't it?  Uncle Creepy was almost a Pirate!  AAARGH!

 

In 2004 the San Diego Comic-Con requested tribute art for the program book that honored the anniversary of the first issue of Creepy, along with a few other notable comics and animation characters’ anniversaries.  The result was my chance to work Frankenstein Mobster into a fake cover for Creepy.  Who knew I would have a better and much more legitimate chance soon after?

 

This was that chance!  It was a dream come true when I got permission to use Vampirella in my Frankenstein Mobster web strip.  But it was even cooler to have the chance to paint the cover for the return of Vampirella magazine.  This was my nostalgic layout and logo that recalls the classic Warren era covers.  The real cover was just a normal modern layout that used my painting.  Not as much of a thrill for me.  But still very cool.

 

I also pulled inspiration from my pulp collection - taking object lessons from Doc Savage, The Shadow and The Spider to come up with a two-fisted adventurer. 

 

For my money, The Spider is the be-all and end-all of pulp heroes.  He is a more lurid, more violent, more salacious hero - and the action is non-stop.  If you think a show like 24 is doing something new, you will be surprised when you read The Spider.  I was lucky enough to do a single graphic novel of The Spider in my Titanic Tales pulp revival book several years ago.  And the second issue would have starred Frankenstein Mobster.  Frankie was designed to some extent to follow in the foot steps of destruction and mayhem established by The Spider.

 

Finally, I did it. I not only created a unique character in Frankenstein Mobster, but I created a large and growing cast of supporting characters.  I also created a place called Monstros City, where monsters live but mobsters rule.  I created an epic graphic novel, a daily comic, and a growing list of short stories.  And right now I'm digging up the corpse of what will be the second Frankenstein Mobster graphic novel.  Along the way I even managed to team Frankie up with that beautiful blood-sucker Vampirella!  And to date I've been approached by over thirty film and television producers, writers or directors all seeking to find the perfect formula to make my favorite mobster move.

 

The first step in creating a comic strip is drawing.  Well - okay - first I write a script.  But then I draw.  In the old days I used a pencil.  But these days I do it all with my Wacom tablet and draw directly into the computer.

 

The next step is inking.  In the old days, inking was limited to a solid black ink line.  With the range of modern printing and the display ability on the internet, I can render my art just about any way I want.  So when I ink - I also use a pencil.  I think it adds to a sense of rotting (not rotten!) that is appropriate for the Frankenstein Mobster art.

 

Final art for the first two daily strips featuring the very first meeting of Frankenstein Mobster and Vampirella.  My inner fanboy was having a very good day.

 

But how did it start?  How did I bring the Frankenstein Mobster to life?  Well, I'll tell you.  Over the next few weeks I will take you through the steps - the process of going from inspiration to developing the idea, designing the characters and settings – to final publication. You will get a chance to watch as the very act of creation occurs before your blood-shot eyes!

It all began with a pun…  They call a pun the lowest form of humor. This gem of wisdom obviously came from someone who couldn't come up with puns. I don't have that problem. When I'm listening to people talk, reading, watching a movie, driving down the road, my mind is constantly scrolling through a possible list of synonyms, analogs and tenuous relationships between associated subjects. What can I say?

I never metaphor that I didn't like.

In my creative process, often it is a pun, word-based or visual, that provides the seed of an idea. All I need is an element that puts an unexpected spin on the ordinary. That's how I got myself into writing and drawing this comic book series about a tough cop in a city of monsters and mobsters, the Frankenstein Mobster.

The simple movie pitch way to say it is: Frankenstein Mobster is The Addams Family meets Dick Tracy.

See?  You don't even need to add, "And he's a detective!"  The Dick Tracy angle already covers that.

 

 

If you read the early Dick Tracy comic strip from the 1930s by Chester Gould it is obvious that this is a no-holds-barred crime story.  And it isn't long before it takes on distinct elements of a horror story.  But at the time it was a horror story people were living with on a daily basis as an expected part of their daily lives.

 

 

Charles Addams sold a lot of books featuring his unique take on modern life.  Most of the cartoons originally appeared in the pages of The New Yorker.  Creepy, huh?

 

Made Man is the first graphic novel in the long series of exploits I have planned for my patchwork policeman.  It is just the beginning, act one if you will, in the story of the Frankenstein Mobster and the Todd family.  I'm looking forward to exploring a rich backstory of a family devoted to law and order set against the backdrop of a mob-owned city that has its own spooky history dating back to the American Revolution.

From mad scientist, witch and warlock, to bank jobs, fixed sporting events and crooked politicians, Frankenstein Mobster is a series that appeals to me on many levels.  There is a wealth of story material and a long list of visual elements that can keep my drawing hand twitching for many years to come.  Frankenstein Mobster has recognizable icons and situations to attract an audience while it sews together the old parts in new ways.

Next time I'll share secret details about Frankenstein Mobster and Monstros City that have never appeared in any of the Frankenstein Mobster comics!

Meanwhile - head on over to ComicMix.com and read the free Frankenstein Mobster comics there, including the Frankenstein Mobster and Vampirella in The Ballad of Franki and Vampi, which premieres on October 10th! You might also want to check out my Harvey Award-nominated EZ Street graphic novel that I co-wrote with fearsome horror film director Robert Tinnell and the Hammer of the Gods Viking epic that I'm doing with Mike Oeming.

 

 

Mark Wheatley holds the Eisner, Inkpot, Mucker, Gem and Speakeasy awards and nominations for the Harvey Award and the Ignatz Award.  His work has been repeatedly included in the annual Spectrum selection of fantastic art and has appeared in private gallery shows, The Norman Rockwell Museum and the Library of Congress--where several of his originals are in the LoC permanent collection.  His comic book creations include Ez Street, Lone Justice, Mars, Breathtaker, Black Hood, Prince Nightmare, Hammer of the Gods, Blood of the Innocent, Frankenstein Mobster, Miles the Monster and Titanic Tales.  His interpretations of established characters such as Tarzan the Warrior, The Adventures of Baron Munchausen, Jonny Quest, Dr. Strange, The Flash, Argus and The Spider have brought them to life for a new generation of readers.  He has written for TV, illustrated books, designed cutting-edge role-playing games and was an early innovator of the on-line daily comic strip form.