The process of creating art and comics, even movies and TV shows, always happens a step at a time. You start with an inspiration, a vague idea, a sketch or just an emotional response to something.  And then you start messing with it, making notes, additional drawings, outlines, structure charts, character designs -- a whole lot of stuff happens before the actual story material starts churning out.  Why do all this extra work no one ever sees?  Because it helps the creator build consistent and elaborate characters and worlds.  And it is a lot easier to change a project in the development stage than it is after you have started down the road of telling the story.  In the development stage you have permission to fail.  And that kind of permission is pure freedom to create!

So, about the time I had a handful of character designs and some location drawings done for Frankenstein Mobster I began to realize that the tone of this series was going to be different from every other comic I've done.  Creepy, spooky and even a little kooky!  In an effort to capture this vague style I wrote the following snippit of story.  I never intended to use this for more than my own exploration.  Fortunately it turned out nice and has charm.  So I'm going to let you read it here.  But keep in mind that these scenes "never happened" and the real story is the one you can read in the Made Man epic that ran in issues number 0 through 7 of Frankenstein Mobster from Image Comics, and was collected into the graphic novel Frankenstein Mobster Noir from Insight Studios...

ORIGINAL FRANKENSTEIN MOBSTER STORY DEVELOPMENT FRAGMENT

Ronny Carse was drenched before he dove into the first taxi that stopped.  He sluiced water from his coat sleeves as he told the driver, "Follow that car, but don't make it obvious!"

The driver hunched over the steering wheel and mumbled, "Effry body in hurry."

Ronny examined the driver's taxi license and muttered, "Not a damn mummy!"  The license's information stated, RAMU DRAKO (UNDEAD) CAB NO. 0000147-00-586

The driver ignored Ronny and diligently tailed the ominous black sedan saying, "Hate this rain. I'm growing mold."

Ronny looked out the window at the wet street and the people who were still scattering for shelter, "Yeah =snf= you ever hear using an air freshener?"

Soon they were at the waterfront.  Ronny watched as the black sedan stopped at the DAVY JONES LOCKER, Bar & Grill to unload a dapper looking man and two guards.  The mummy asked, "Gimmie a break. Who we watchin?" 

Ronny snorted, "What's a mummy care about crime in Monstros City?"

The mummy answered, "Crime?  Is what this is?"

Another car pulled up to the bar.  Ronny said, "We're watching our local Mob Bosses have a night out.  They got most the money in town, but for some reason they can't resist the culinary delights offered by a waterfront dive that depends on the strength of the alcohol to kill the germs in the food."

The watched car disgorged a short man and two more guards with golf umbrellas.  Ronny pointed, "That's Mel Haven, he's running things on the south side since Pierce Franken got killed last week.  The guy who went in ahead of him was Tom Garney.  He took over from Stitches O'Neill after Stitches fell apart day before yesterday.  There's been a total shift in power in this city over the last month.  The feds were in town and knocked off Twitch Randall, Hammer Grady, and Max Poe about three weeks ago."

Another car arrived and two men and four guards landed on the sidewalk, "There's the pair that should interest a monster.  You live in the Dead End don't you?"

The mummy turned his red eyes on Ronny, "Yeah, but we don't like being called monsters."

"Yeah, yeah, you're an 'Extraordinary'  but I'll always call you a Monster because that sounds so much more charming to me and most the other people in this city."

The Mummy glared at Ronny until the reporter said, "And I mean that in the best sense of the word.  So the reason you should want to know about Ken and Carver Beal is that they pretty much run things in the Dead End since Twitch bought the farm.  The Beal Twins are not good people, and they have an 'Extraordinary' dislike for monsters. "

The Mummy asked, "What they doing here?"

"Why are the Nuevo Mobsters of Monstros City gathering at a waterfront dive at midnight on Friday the 13th?  Well, my not-so-tightly wrapped friend… that is indeed the question.  And the answer is… I don't know.  In fact, I don't think I want to know because I'm a reporter and if I knew what was going on I might be tempted to do my job and tell this city all about it… and that not only could lose me my job but also drastically curtail my long-term retirement plans."

The storm raged on.  Lighting stabbed at the DAVY JONES again and again.  Even the mummy noticed it, "Place sure calls down the lightning."

Ronny considered that bit of information, "Hummm.  Very observant.  I count almost a dozen hits in the last twenty minutes.  I'm no scientist… but I gotta believe any strikes over three would be very much against the odds."

The lightning sizzled out of the sky and caressed the complex array of rods and cables that had turned the roof of the DAVY JONES into a pin cushion.

The resulting electric charge raced along a cable and headed down to earth, seeking a ground.

Like gold fire the electric charge flashed down past the three floors of the building.

Lightning was striking again and again.  The power poured down the cable and flowed deep into the earth.

In a damp cavernous catacomb, hundreds of feet below the basement of the DAVY JONES, the power crackled and hummed, dancing across the arcane equipment of a mad scientist's laboratory.

Dr. Solva Quinn shifted her weight in her wheelchair, squinted through bottle-bottom glasses and smiled with approval, "Perfect.  Everything is perfect, gentlemen!"

The Mobsters and their guards were standing uncomfortably close together. The cluttered lab was not designed to contain an audience.  Small pools of water were forming where the men stood.

Ken Beal clearly thought this was a waste of his time, "I'm a busy man, Dr. Quinn."

Carver Beal added, "Do your trick, lady -- we got monsters to fry."

Dr. Quinn regarded the Mobster twins calmly, "I'm sure you do.  But I think you can spare a half an hour to watch me create life."

To be continued, as they say -- but in a very different form as the details shift and change in the final version of the story.  Grab a copy of issue number 1 of Frankenstein Mobster or the Frankenstein Mobster Noir graphic novel and see how things changed. And be sure to check out ComicMix.com for the free online adventures of the Frankenstein Mobster and Vampirella!

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.