Frankenstein Mobster and Vampirella: The Ballad of Frankie and Vampi
The Ballad of Frankie and Vampi [Written and illustrated by Mark Wheatley]
Mark Wheatley, an award-winning writer-artist came up with a radical (at that time) way to publish one of his newest creations - Frankenstein Mobster. Instead of printing a comic book he decided to make a crossover with one of his long time favourite characters, Vampirella and publish it free on the internet as a daily strip.
The idea to do a crossover as a daily strip grew out of the high traffic on Wheatley's Sunny Fundays site, which has attracted thousands of viewers for online strips such as Liberty Meadows, Hammer of the Gods, and Atmos the Variable.
The daily cartoon strip ran for 20 weekdays starting on August 4th 2003.
"I've been in love with Vampirella since I was a kid living in my tree house," said Wheatley. "I had one of those six foot tall posters of Vampirella on the wall of my tree house living room! In fact it was the old Warren horror magazines that started me down the path that lead to creating the Frankenstein Mobster."
The Frankenstein Mobster is Terry Todd, a dedicated, almost fanatical, police officer who died and was revived in a patchwork body, with three unscrupulous gangsters sharing his skull!
Not the greatest Vampirella story, but working within the constraints of a two or three panel daily strip you have to give Mark Wheatley kudos for what he managed to achieve, and a free strip to boot.
Good one, Mark.
Full strip below ...
