PROBLEMATIC is a 360-page collection of drawings from the pocket-sized Moleskine sketchbook Woodring has filled at least one per month since 2004. Quick concept sketches, figure studies, self-challenges, finished drawings, revenge portraits and caricatures, scene tryouts… everything goes into these idea batteries. Problematic provides the adventurous viewer with a bounty of unfiltered, hand-captured glimpses of life by an artist that Publishers Weekly called, “a modern master of hallucinatory cartoon fables.” Lots of this material re-emerges in the form of pictures and storylines, but much of it is just too baffling to be harnessed for any practical use. Of course, these untamable notions are the best and most interesting ones; and there are plenty of them here in the 300-page brick of Problematic. Problematic is a rollicking amalgam of reportage (i.e. the man who blew his arm off), speculative anatomy, fancy women, make-a-face games, picture-puzzles, gags, riffs and burlesques. Catalog and exhibition simultaneously, Problematic is your best bet for a brief, energizing stroll in a distinctively enjoyable neighborhood.

PROBLEMATIC retails for $28.95. You can buy a copy from Amazon.com for $18.44 or you can buy a copy from me for $100; the difference being that I will draw for you an original sketch on the blank last page of the book. The example shown is not the sketch you will get.

From the January 6 2013 ROBOT 6 interview with Jim Woodring: “When the idea of bringing Fran into Frank’s life occurred to me I thought it was a great notion and watched complacently as the story of Congress of the Animals unfolded. Then I realized her being there changed everything because Frank’s primary relationship had been with the Unifactor, which was always calling him to come and find out something. With the acquisition of a mate, Frank would either lose his wanderlust or go on adventures with her. Both possibilities seemed to spell death to the driving force of the whole enterprise. As things worked out, that’s not the case but the road away from that undesirable result is somewhat brutal.”

In addition to the stories there are lots of other enticements such as reproductions of the long-gone Frank card set, miscellaneous drawings, and an introduction by – wait for it- Francis Ford Coppola! Sure, you can pay $45 for it in any halfway-decent book store or you can splurge here and get a copy with an original pen and ink drawing as shown in the inset. It won’t be this drawing, of course, and it might not be Frank… but whatever it is it will be nice.
The Frank Book is 11.5: x 9″ and an inch thick. It weighs over three pounds! It comes carefully packaged to keep corners un-bumped.

In 1992 Woodring released the wordless cartoon fable Frank in the River, introducing adventurous readers to the gormless anthropomorph Frank, his creepy nemesis Manhog and the power-mad world of The Unifactor. Frank in the River won several industry awards and was hailed as an instant classic.

Since then Woodring has drawn hundreds of pages of Frank adventures, each story bringing new characters and circumstances into this ever-expanding realm of wonders. During this time Frank has been celebrated in animated films, musical compositions, toys and figurines, tattoos, furniture, videos and clothing.

And yet it is only now that Woodring has released the first bona fide Frank graphic novel, Weathercraft, a single hundred-page story that takes readers more deeply into the labyrinthine depths of the Unifactor than any previous outing.

In Weathercraft Manhog takes center stage as he experiences extremes of agony and exaltation brought into being by the occult machinations of two grotesque crones who twist and rip the fabric of reality with their ritual manipulations.

Weathercraft is a beautifully-made book, printed on thick tinted paper and bound in durable green library cloth with a handsome dust-jacket bursting with useful information about the characters and the story. There is even a FAQ section!

Published by Fantagraphics Books. 104 pages, 9.75″ x 7.34″, hardbound with dust jacket and color endpapers. We are offering this book with an original one-of-a-kind pen-and-ink drawing of Manhog and signature by Jim Woodring on the flyleaf.

That question is answered in Congress of the Animals, Jim Woodring’s much-anticipated second full-length graphic novel. In this gripping, satisfying saga an act of casual rudeness sets into motion a chain of events which propels Frank into a world where he is on his own at last; and like so many who leave home, Frank finds himself contending with realities of which he had no previous inkling.

In Congress of the Animals we are treated to the pitiful spectacle of Frank losing his house, taking a factory job, falling in with bad company, fleeing the results of sabotage, escaping the Unifactor in an amusement park ride, surviving a catastrophe at sea, traveling across hostile terrain toward a massive temple seemingly built in his image, being treated roughly by gut-faced men and intervening in an age-old battle in a meadow slathered in black and yellow blood. And when he finally knocks on opportunity’s door he finds… he finds…

Suffice to say he finds what most of us would like to find. Can he bring it back with him? Will the Unifactor accept him as he has become? Are his sins forgiven? Is love real? Is this the end of Frank as we know him?

Published by Fantagraphics Books. 100 pages, tinted paper, hardcover with dust jacket. We are offering this book with an original one-of-a-kind pen-and-ink drawing of a character from the story by Jim Woodring on the red flyleaf (a typical example is shown with the cover here). This edition is uniform with Weathercraft.

This book collects the most toothsome of these drawings and arranges them in four sections. “Lazy Robinson” is a series of portraits of forms taken by a cognizant object during the course of a specific and identifiable stream of thought. “Frogs” celebrates the tender proclivities of the most noble of all animals. “The Visible World” is a roundup of appalling scenes of sub-rational political activity. And “The Portfolio in Color” appears like a rainbow at the end of all this exalted storminess to send readers out into the world whistling with delight. Each section is preceded by a demiautobiographical essay. As with the previous hardcover edition, the grimmest drawings have been left out of this collection.

104-page B&W and color 8 1/2″ x 11″. Our price, signed and with original pen-and-ink drawing of THE FROG on the inside cover (as shown,) $60. We only have a few boxes of these left and there are no plans to reprint.