The Portable Frank [Paperback]

Jim Woodring (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 15, 2008

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.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Starred Review. As with so many works of near-genius, the first reaction to reading Woodring's perplexing, bewitching Frank is bafflement, followed not long after by wonder and delight. The kind of cartoonist other cartoonists rave about like love-struck bobby-soxers (Chris Ware and Daniel Clowes hyperbolically blurb this collection), Woodring presents in these 14 almost entirely wordless tales a strange sort of wisdom, spun out of low humor and harsh but simple truths. His none-too-bright protagonist is a Mickey Mouse–like character living in a world of magic surreality that resembles a Grimm fairy tale gone horribly awry. Buildings sprout like onion-domed planets, and nightmare creatures (usually either dumb or malevolent) wander a landscape that frequently molts into cross-dimensional traps. Curious Frank goes wandering, often drawn by the promise of greener grass, and usually pays for his greed or callow cruelty. Lessons are taught but often ignored, with Woodring leaving the occasional gnomic clue in the bottom of a frame (His father was a great machine). A calamitous comedy that reads like silence, this concise edition is an ideal entry into Woodring's unique universe. (Sept.)
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Review

“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’s universe follows its own inscrutable laws that are very reminiscent [of] a dream’s free association.” (PJ McGee and Ian Johnson - Comics Foundry )

“As with so many works of near-genius, the first reaction to reading Woodring’s perplexing, bewitching Frank is bafflement, followed not long after by wonder and delight.” (Publishers Weekly )

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 200 pages
• Publisher: Fantagraphics Books (September 15, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 156097978X
• ISBN-13: 978-1560979784
• Product Dimensions: 8.7 x 6.4 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #809,017 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Agonizingly brief, September 13, 2008

By 

Babytoxie (Dallas, TX USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Portable Frank (Paperback)

I had to laugh upon reading the product description for Jim Woodring's THE PORTABLE FRANK, as that one paragraph provides more detail on Frank and his world than I've been able to glean from almost 15 years of reading these stories. This book collects 14 of Woodring's black and white tales featuring his anthropomorphic whatsit under one compact cover. They are wordless, meandering, and hallucinatory, and the stories depend as much on the reader's attention as on Woodring's considerable skill as a storyteller to make them work. Don't get me wrong - this book is full of great stories, but some of them require effort, so while you may think that a story without words would require a couple of minutes at best, they can all benefit from slow, multiple reads, taking time to soak in the atmosphere and detail. Woodring's art incorporates elements of Disney, Dali, and Hinduism, blending it into a distinctive whole. He certainly stands out among the field of today's comic artists.

So, this is an excellent introduction for anyone to Frank. The only drawback is that it doesn't include more pages. Hopefully, a collection of the color stories is around the corner...

5.0 out of 5 stars Great!!!, June 4, 2011

By 

carlton315 - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Portable Frank (Paperback)

This is a really great collection. Would definitely recommend it to anyone looking for something out of the norm. Frank will blow your mind!

5.0 out of 5 stars fan of Frank, June 29, 2010

By 

HEW "gryphongirl" (CA) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Portable Frank (Paperback)

I picked up a Frank book at the library one day and was sucked into it's other worldy, seemingly drug induced, bizarre, and beautiful world. I couldn't imagine the kind of person who would (and could) draw such a thing. I've never seen anything like it.. and still haven't. Mad talent is ALL over the pages. The best description I've seen is "surreal and often nightmarish quality"

Years later, this book still comes to mind. Like remembering the time you saw an alien. Like crazy eye candy. So I decided I wanted a copy for my own shelves. Each frame has so many layers and movement. Many times I can't quite figure out what's going on, but that's okay. It entertains my mind, and I love looking at all the detail and the parts I might have missed before.

Frank is fun and lovely. The demon guy and his perpetual smile scares me. Man-pig is a sad, pathetic character (I love the one story where he smiles). Frank's angry "cat" reminds me of my own.

I picked this particular Frank book because even though it wasn't color, it's pretty big, and for a good price. If I only own one Frank book, this was a good one.