Jim

If you loved Frank for its self-oneness and offputting wordlessness, JIM promises to baffle you all the more. Man! Jim Woodring can also do stories that aren't so visceral and hieroglyphic that anyone, of any language or upbringing, would be disturbed by them! These people would give you back the Frank book and say, "A lot of it made me sick," but not Jim Woodring! He really seems like he might have a young daughter, based on this book.

I was hoping it would have more early cartoons by Woodring, but it is good as a history of his involvement in comics.

A mind altering blend of mysteries intangible. A smooth-cornered trip to a realm of doubt and dream.

Simply put, Jim Woodring is one of the most original cartoonists currently working... he has his own visual vocabulary and imagery combined with direct, simple storytelling, often without words or captions. He draws in a classic bigfoot style, but puts this style in service of illustrating the stuff of his dreams. His comics are as close to an acid trip you'll find this side of Ditko's Dr Strange. He's been doing comics since the early 80s, primarily published by Fantagraphics. He has had two ongoing comics, both named "Jim". He is definitely one cartoonist who has used the medium to it's fullest potential in his own unique way. He is indeed a treasure for comics lovers everywhere!!!What Jim is best known for is "Frank", his animal character that has been his go-to protagonist in much of his work, including a series of graphic novels (Weathercraft: A Frank Comic, Congress of the Animals, Fran) he has been recently working on. However, he has a wealth of material that does not star Frank which seems to get short shrift when compared to his cat-like character. These stories appeared in his self-published mini comics and both incarnations of "Jim". Best described as dream comics, they star Woodring himself in many bizarre settings and situations. Many of these stories were collected in the early 90s as The Book of Jim, but unfortunately, this book has fallen out of print. All of Woodring's "Frank" work has been reprinted in handsome hardback books, why not the "Jim" stuff?Lo and behold, Fantagraphics has come to the rescue with this tome... an abundance of non-Frank stuff from both incarnations of "Jim"!! The entire first issue of Woodring's first mini comic is represented, along with most of the "Book of Jim" material. Also included are the non-Frank stories from "Jim, v2". This book is a perfect companion to The Frank Book, which reprints all the Frank material from "Jim" and elsewhere.Although Woodring is mostly noted for his "Frank" stories, I have always been partial to the stuff in this book... there are a bunch of classic stories like "Invisible Hinge", "What the Left Hand Did" and "Quarry Story"... these underrated gems are every bit as good as the "Frank" stories!! There is also text stories, illustrations and the covers of the original magazines... a really nice package!! If you like the "Frank" stories but haven't read Woodring's other stuff, this is the book for you!

The book has little of the imaginative visual world that lovers of Frank enjoy. The graphic memoir is such an important form right now and some may welcome the author's lack of restraint in depicting his own life but I find this to be an ugly book on multiple levels.

This Guy *********

Good

Cover is not the same shown here but still beautiful book

perfect condition!