I was introduced to the work of the disturbing but brilliant cartoonist Mr Jim Woodring by a former flatmate who shared his profession. It all seemed fairly innocent to start with, albeit slightly weird — childlike perhaps, made up of simple, beautiful colours and quirky storylines.
That is, until I unfortunately stumbled upon the genius that is Manhog. Manhog sums up the worst of both humanity and nature — he is without morals, dignity, integrity or kindness. He creeps and snoops and sticks his disgusting snout in other characters’ business, usually ruining their day or even the rest of their lives.
The other main character, Frank (which is the title of the comic book), is a sort of paranoid, hybrid dog-cat Mickey Mouse on acid. Frank is consistently freaking out at the extremely nightmarish and screwed-up psychedelic world he inhabits. You can imagine what sort of relationship Frank and Manhog have developed. Frank has briefly shown Manhog a caring side before, but only after warding him off by jamming a sharp stick in the thing’s ear. There are some really horrific scenes that have lodged themselves in my psyche. Still, I always come back for more!
To understand the world of Jim you have to buy the book and find out for yourself. When I toured with the American band Sparklehorse a few years ago, I managed to get Mark Linkous and Scott Minor from the band so obsessed with Manhog that they were having dreams in which he watched them from the shadows. Leo, a friend and guitarist, is also a disciple — he has a T-shirt depicting Frank riding Manhog and dangling a gherkin like a carrot in front of Manhog’s nose. I also have a framed picture of Frank.
I actually met Jim Woodring in Seattle last year through mutual friends. I nervously asked him whether he designed tattoos for his fans and he told me a little story: “This fat guy shuffled up to me, pulled up his sleeve to show me a shitty faded Frank and said, ‘Uh, whaddyathink, Jim?’ and I told this schmuck, ‘What do you think that’s gonna look like when you’re lying dead on a marble slab, eh?’ ” So I guess that was probably a no. However, he signed my own personal copy and caused a nerdy young man (fan) to skip off to his gig a happy chappy.
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I believe Jim drew the album sleeve for a great Beachwood Sparks record, Make the Robot Cowboys Cry, and has also illustrated for Mojo magazine; but if you really want a proper glimpse into this surreal and frightening Frankenstein of comics, then I suggest you start with The Frank Book, which is about £27 and has an introduction by Francis Ford Coppola no less. Try not to dream, though — Manhog will be waiting.
Ed Harcourt’s new single, This One’s for You, is released on Monday. An LP, Strangers (Heavenly Recordings), follows on Sept 13