Woodring's talent is finally captured in a definitive collection that lives up to his genius.

His escapades also include a recurring parade of characters: Pushpaw, Frank's faithful pet the repulsive Manhog, perennially unlucky liege of Whim (a sinister figure with a devilish barbed tail) Faux Pa and Real Pa and the Jerry Chickens, geometrically shaped fowl who play cards. The mostly wordless vignettes chronicling his misadventures are actually meditations on friendship, fear, consequence and cruelty, with a mixture of pathos, humor and gore that is often disquieting. For director Coppola, Woodring's work is magical and 'maliciously oblique.' While innocent Frank is principally defined by his curiosity, he isn't without guile. Many of the stories are in b&w, but when color appears, the palette is a cheerful kaleidoscope. Woodring uses cartoon grammar brilliantly: within a single panel, he captures the round, loose style of classic animated cartoons and conjures the best of early Disney, while simultaneously acting as master engraver, with a quality of line work and elegant shading reminiscent of Gustave Doré.

This book's hero, Frank, is a catlike anthropomorph who lives in a surreal, exotic world. Woodring's hallmarks are inventive, often bizarre creatures who inhabit otherworldly landscapes and dreamlike narratives. Woodring, a modern master of hallucinatory cartoon fables, specializes in comics that look normal but aren't.

Frank comic jim woodring