Frank Vol. 1

Rating:
Summary: Eeee! Not for Children!
Review: I wish some of the previous reviews had noted some of the (admittedly relatively minimum) violence in this graphic novel. While overall it was indeed very surreal and rather amazing, I personally couldn't stomach some of what I'd consider the gory parts. Because of that, I have to give it a lower rating. I'm sorry to everyone who really likes this comic but... some things I don't want to see and even though I know it isn't real, it shocked me. I'm sensitive, I admit it. Anyone who is considering buying this for a child, it's not really for kids and I would only suggest giving it to a teenager as a few things may really upset children and some teens. Most of the stories aren't really bad but two come to mind instantly as being somewhat gruesome. Just be careful. I'd recommend trying to find it in a store first and see for yourself whether or not this particular comic is for you. Aside from that cautionary paragraph, it really is a bizarre graphic novel with enough dream-like (sometimes nightmarish) ambiguity to set your imagination and reasoning on fire. The stories themselves aren't easy to explain, as they are breathtakingly odd and yet familar and highly symbolic in their own way. Just like dreams.

Rating:
Summary: I Loved It
Review: Jim Woodring's wordless Frank stories are parables from Somewhere Else. "I'm just the secratary here," says Jim, who claims that he doesn't make up these stories, that they somehow pop into his mind whole without any effort on his part. Beautifully drawn and endlessly fascinating, this book is something rare and special.

Rating:
Summary: Brilliant and bizarre
Review: These books (since this review will show up under Frank vol. 1 and Frank vol. 2) are amazing. Wordless stories drawn in all different styles, always beautiful. The comparison to Krazy Kat is certainly apropos. These stories usually involve just a few key characters playing off each other in each story in different and fascinating ways every time. Manhog, the loser; Jerry Chicken, the mercant; Pupshaw, the "godling" (Frank's pet -- "god" is obviously related to "dog" in this case); and Frank, "our hero" who isn't always moral. In the black and white stories, the backgrounds are drawn in a woodcut style, and the color stories are painted with a beauty that can be compared to (I wish I knew more about this stuff) Dali and such. FRANK is completely different from anything you'll ever read, and it's quite possible (as another reviewer says) that it is the only comic from Fantagraphics, Drawn & Quarterly, or anybody to show any real vision. Certainly it's the only one today to use original characters, doing interesting, cartoony doings and still be amazing art. Chris Ware is brilliant but seems capable only of one set of emotions; besides "Ghost World," Daniel Clowes really isn't that great; and I hate R. Crumb except for his very early greeting-card and sketchbook stuff, which amounts to just well-made funny comics (which were all over the place in the fourties, and aren't really that special except that no one is really doing them anymore).

Anyway, these books are wonderful. I give them four stars because I like better the current ongoing FRANK comic magazines from Fantagraphics (five so far, 12 or so pages each). They further simplify the characters and environment to the essence. And they have more PUPSHAW! I can't tell you how much I love Pupshaw and Pushpaw. I would buy an 800-page book if Pupshaw and Pushpaw were on every page.

Anyway, get these books because no one else today is doing work this brilliant.

Rating:
Summary: I Loved It
Review: This is one bugged out disturbing little book of pictures. Simplistic, grotesque, and subtley beautiful all at the same time.Pick it up!

Rating:
Summary: More woodchuck dreams from Jim Woodring
Review: Whereas the first (excellent) volume of Frank tales tended to have a moody dreamlike quality, this second collection is a bit more dark and nightmarish--but then everyone who reads Frank has a different reaction; that's what makes Woodring's work so good. My only gripe is the editorial decision to present the first story, "Frank's Real Pa," in a large panel format, thereby taking up a whopping fifty pages when it could have just as easily taken up ten, leaving more room for other Frank tales.