Frank

Frank is a recurring character in Jim Woodring's surreal, largely wordless comic series, inhabiting a strange dreamlike world of unsettling wonder. His origins are never explicitly explained — he simply exists as an enigmatic, cat-like being navigating bizarre spiritual and psychological landscapes.

Few characters in alternative comics carry the quiet, dreamlike gravity of Frank, the enigmatic creation of Jim Woodring who first stepped onto the page in Jim #4 in 1990. Born at the dawn of the Copper/Modern Age and published across an extraordinary three-plus decades, Frank inhabits a wordless, surreal universe that Fantagraphics has shepherded with care through titles like Jim, Frank, and Tantalizing Stories. His world is populated by singular figures — Manhog, Pupshaw, Whim, and others — whose presence makes every encounter feel charged with strange, fable-like meaning. If you haven't yet lost yourself in Frank's peculiar, hypnotic existence, you're in for one of the most genuinely singular experiences alternative comics has to offer.