Seattle has spawned some weird things: grunge; the Space Needle; iced half-caf cappuccinos with a hint of mocha. But nothing is weirder than Jim Woodring’s art.
Woodring is best known for his surrealist comic Frank, about the dream world of a bearlike anthropomorph, and his autobiographical The Book of Jim. Jazz fans will know Woodring’s work from guitarist Bill Frisell’s 1996 album Gone, Just Like a Train and 2001’s Bill Frisell With Dave Holland and Elvin Jones. The two have teamed up again for Trosper, a children’s hardcover book that really shouldn’t be read by children: kidnapped babysitters don’t go over so well with kids. Adults with wide imaginations and brief attention spans will love it, however. Frisell provides a suitably moody soundtrack-all of six minutes long, which is longer than it takes to read Woodring’s wordless 18-page narrative.
