The psychedelic, surreal, and nightmarish landscapes of Jim Woodring's "The Frank Book"
59Good ol' Frank. My brother and I first discovered Frank at some point in the early 90s in floppy format during the burgeoning early 90s indie comic scene. It was either Tundra or Kitchen Sink, or from one via the other... I don't remember anymore. Needless to say it left an impression on our adolescent minds, and being a fan of surrealist art I've always kept an eye on Woodring's work since.
I'd say The Frank Book is probably the most accessible and most value- friendly of all his work, clocking in at 300+ pages of both black and white as well as color stories.
The stories (mostly) star Frank, a strange anthropomorphic animal guy who ends up in bizarre situations with a reoccurring cast of equally strange friends.
There's no dialogue really either. A lot of the stories are left up to the readers' interpretation and told through pantomime.
Don't mistake the cutesiness for something wholesome and family friendly either. While the Frank Book isn't too bad, some of the long form graphic novels Woodring has put out really get into some strange and nightmarish situations- there's a bit of that here too, if you're into that.
A quick check on Amazon shows it's still in print and for a reasonably price, so if you're interested, do check it out! https://amzn.to/3jTs5aa
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