Portable Frank

Frank is a unique, visionary comic, exquisitely drawn and so fully realized that adults and children alike find themselves drawn deeply into Woodring's hallucinatory mindscape. The stories, almost entirely wordless, unravel like a good puzzle, rewarding re-reading, providing an experience as immersive as that first love affair, that first samadhi, or that first breath. Simply put, the world of Frank must be experienced to be understood.

Frank is an 11-year-old generic anthropomorph who lives in a force-laden landscape called the Unifactor. He is curious but not smart, naïve but not noble, and his most outstanding character trait is his ineducability. Along with Pupshaw, Frank's semi-subservient housedog-like godling, the two traipse across their surreal landscape, occasionally encountering Manhog, the bloated bladder of sin with a heart of radiance who exists to thwart their prosperity. And then there's the platonic Jerry Chickens, and the lachrymose Lucky, as well as Frank's Real Pa and Faux Pa, each a part of one of the great cartoon achievements of the 20th century.

For all its mystery, the world of Frank is a simple, delightful, mesmerizing example of world-building at its most fanciful, surely to delight parents and children alike.

"Frank's universe follows its own inscrutable laws that are very reminiscent [of] a dream's free association." PJ McGee and Ian Johnson

"Jim Woodring has been to another spiritual plane, vibrant and frightening, familiar yet totally alien, a place that lives deep inside all our consciousnesses...colorful hallucinatory vistas providing the backdrop for the most primal tales of doing and undoing." Dig Comics

Frank is a unique, visionary comic, exquisitely drawn and so fully realized that adults and children alike find themselves drawn deeply into Woodring's hallucinatory mindscape. The stories, almost entirely wordless, are told with brilliant, candy colors that people of all ages find alluring. Frank is an 11-year-old generic anthropomorph who lives in a force-laden landscape called the Unifactor. He is curious but not smart, naive but not noble, and his most outstanding character trait is his ineducability. Along with Pupshaw, Frank's semi-subservient housedog-like godling, the two traipse across their surreal landscape, occasionally encountering Manhog, the bloated bladder of sin with a heart of radiance who exists to thwart their prosperity. For all its mystery, the world of Frank is a simple, delightful, mesmerizing example of world-building at its most fanciful, surely to delight parents and children alike.

A visionary work of comic art for all-ages! Readers who haven't discovered Jim Woodring's Frank stories have a colossal treat waiting for them in this all-ages gem collecting the character's greatest adventures.

As with so many works of near-genius, the first reaction to reading Woodring"s perplexing, bewitching Frankis bafflement, followed not long after by wonder and delight.Jim Woodring has been to another spiritual plane, vibrant and frightening, familiar yet totally alien, a place that lives deep inside all our consciousnesses'colorful hallucinatory vistas providing the backdrop for the most primal tales of doing and undoing.

is a unique, visionary comic, exquisitely drawn and so fully realized that adults and children alike find themselves drawn deeply into Woodring's hallucinatory mindscape. The stories, almost entirely wordless, unravel like a good puzzle, rewarding re-reading, providing an experience as immersive as that first love affair, that first , or that first breath. Simply put, the world of Frank must be experienced to be understood.

Jim Woodring lives in Seattle, WA, where he was recently won the Stranger Genius Award for literature for his graphic novel, Weathercraft. It was the first wordless novel to receive the award.