A review by kinbote4zembla
The Frank Book by Jim Woodring
4.0
Wow. Part of me thinks I should reserve my rating of this book until I've read it again. I loved it but I cannot honestly say I fully understood it.
Almost completely wordless, this is a collection of comics Jim Woodring made about an anthropomorphic animal of ambiguous species. The art is absolutely beautiful but it really shines in the assortment of full-colour comics included in this collection.
I've seen these comics described as parables and I wouldn't necessarily disagree - though "fable" may be more apt. And Woodring has said that he will not speak to the meaning of his works, allowing them to operate in the mind of the reader as usually happens with literature and fine art.
But the level of ambiguity on display in these comics is both maddening and exhilarating. In a story where things bear very little resemblance to anything real, the level of abstraction increases beyond that inherent in the comics medium.
These are dreamy, surreal comics, illustrated in a seemingly storybook style, about very dark subjects. It would be easy to suggest some kind of Freudian reading of these works - vaginas, penises and anuses can definitely be seen in some design elements of the creatures and environments - but that seems much too simple for what's going on here.
I really did love this. But I'm going to reserve a five-star rating until I've read it again so that I can better unpack some of its symbolism.
4 Gentlemanhogs out of 5
Almost completely wordless, this is a collection of comics Jim Woodring made about an anthropomorphic animal of ambiguous species. The art is absolutely beautiful but it really shines in the assortment of full-colour comics included in this collection.
I've seen these comics described as parables and I wouldn't necessarily disagree - though "fable" may be more apt. And Woodring has said that he will not speak to the meaning of his works, allowing them to operate in the mind of the reader as usually happens with literature and fine art.
But the level of ambiguity on display in these comics is both maddening and exhilarating. In a story where things bear very little resemblance to anything real, the level of abstraction increases beyond that inherent in the comics medium.
These are dreamy, surreal comics, illustrated in a seemingly storybook style, about very dark subjects. It would be easy to suggest some kind of Freudian reading of these works - vaginas, penises and anuses can definitely be seen in some design elements of the creatures and environments - but that seems much too simple for what's going on here.
I really did love this. But I'm going to reserve a five-star rating until I've read it again so that I can better unpack some of its symbolism.
4 Gentlemanhogs out of 5