Jim (comics)

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Jim
Fantagraphics Books
Publication dateSept 1987 – May 1996
No. of issues4 (Vol. I)
6 (Vol. II)
Creative team
Created byJim Woodring

Jim is a

Fantagraphics Books in 1986 after cartoonist Gil Kane introduced Woodring to Fantagraphics co-owner Gary Groth
. The publisher released four magazine-sized black-and-white issues starting in September 1987. A comic book-sized continuation, Jim Volume II, with some color, began in 1993 and ran for six issues until 1996.

Jim, which Woodring described as an "autojournal", contained comics on a variety of subjects, many based on dreams, as well as

drunkenness), boyhood friends Chip and Monk, and, in Volume II, his signature creation Frank
.

Content

Jim is made up of a variety of short comics, text pieces, and artwork. Most of the works are short comics based on Woodring's dreams. Some of the pieces are surreal parodies of advertisements in the Mad tradition.[1]

Publication

The series began as a photocopied 12-page

Fantagraphics Books co-owner Gary Groth began publishing the series;[1] the four issues of the first volume ran from 1987 to 1990.[3]

Most of the contents of the first volume were reprinted in the book collection The Book of Jim in 1993.[3] A collection of both volumes appeared in 2014 under the title Jim, subtitled Jim Woodring's Notorious Autojournal.[1]

Vol. I

  1. (Sep. 1987)
  2. (Jan. 1988)
  3. (Jan. 1989)
  4. (Oct. 1990)

Vol. II

  1. (Dec. 1993)
    • Manhog Beyond the Face (color)
    • Quarry Story
  2. (April 1994)
    • untitled Frank story (color)
    • untitled
    • untitled Pulque story (color)
    • untitled Big Red story
  3. (July 1994)
    • untitled
    • Authorized Only (digital color)
    • The Reform of the Apple
  4. (Dec. 1994, printed Nov. 1994)
    • Frank and the Toy without Pity
    • untitled Frank story (color)
    • Frank in the Cave of his Ancestors
  5. (May 1995)
    • Dive Deep
    • Peeker (color)
    • The Stairs
    • Frank and the Sugar of Vengeance
    • Echo (inside back cover)
  6. (May 1996, printed April 1996)
    • Obviously Not
    • untitled Chip and Monk story
    • Boyfriend of the Weather

Reception

Comics critic Joe McCulloch stated, "What Woodring did better than anyone was promote the idea that the subconscious, the imaginary, and the dreamtime state were perfectly valid terrains for autobiographical exploration" at a time when the confessional work of

autobiographical comics.[3]

Jim ranked No. 71 on The Comics Journal's list of the hundred greatest English-language comics of the 20th century.[3]

Notes

  1. ^ a b c Constant 2014.
  2. ^ Van Winkle 2014.
  3. ^ a b c d Spurgeon 2013.

References

  • Constant, Paul (September 3, 2014). "A Stranger Genius of Literature, Back When He Used Words". The Stranger. Retrieved January 18, 2015.
  • Spurgeon, Tom (July 20, 2013). "Fantagraphics Announces Re-Packaging Of Woodring Classic". The Comics Reporter. Retrieved January 18, 2015.
  • Van Winkle, Nick (August 18, 2014), Northwest Reads by the University Book Store: 'Jim: Jim Woodring's Notorious Autojournal' by Jim Woodring, archived from the original on January 18, 2015, retrieved January 18, 2015


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