The Portable Frank

I know that I came across some Frank comic strips somewhere on the internet years ago, but I have no idea where. I want to say that it was something Woodring was posting online one page or panel at a time. I have no idea how that story ended, though maybe at some point I'll stumble onto those pages again.

But even though that was maybe a decade ago, I recognized the character as I was browsing the stacks of my local library (though what I saw first was One Beautiful Spring Day, a later collection) and decided to check it out.

Woodrings Frank stories are like old silent cartoons (which are frequently more bizarre than most know without going back and watching them) being acted out in a surreal landscape, one that is in many ways familiar to our own but more bizarre in others. Characters will suffer horrible cruelties, or bizarre transformations. Thing's that would get laughed off in a cartoon will be depicted with shocking reality. Ink blob demons will appear just as readily to the characters as Hindu Jiva's. It never crosses the line into edginess or pure shock value, but it feels like watching a dream shift back and forth into a nightmare and back.

I think another part of what makes these stories feel so unique is that there's also frequently a spiritual side to a lot of these stories. The character's will frequently get bogged down in the material world, senseless cruelty and the pain of everyday living. Frank will get caught up in the excitement of novelty which warps or harms him in the end, Manhog will be tortured or tormented by the other characters only to lash out when given any freedom, etc. But sometimes they will strive for something beyond that, or come to some betterment of themselves, if only for a single story.

Woodring's Frank stories are unique and enjoyable to read. He has a solid sense of panel to panel pacing, and his art is incredible. I can't wait to dive into the longer narrative of One Beautiful Spring Morning to see what he does with more space.