View source for Jim (comics)

{{Short description|Comic book series}}
{{Infobox comic book title <!--Wikipedia:WikiProject Comics--> 
|title     = Jim
|image     = Jimv2no2woodring.jpg
|caption   = ''Jim'', Vol. II No. 2
|publisher = [[Fantagraphics Books]]
|startmo   = Sept
|startyr   = 1987
|endmo     = May
|endyr     = 1996
|issues    = 4 (Vol. I)<br />6 (Vol. II)
|creators  = [[Jim Woodring]]
|sort      = Jim (comics)
|nonUS     = 
}}

'''''Jim''''' is a [[comic book]] series by [[Jim Woodring]]. It began in 1980{{citation needed|date=April 2011}} as a self-published [[zine]] and was picked up by [[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 [[surrealism|surreal]] drawings and free-form text which resembled Jimantha [[automatic writing]]. Besides dreams, the work drew on Woodring's childhood experiences, [[hallucination]]s, past [[alcoholism]], and [[Hinduism|Hindu]] beliefs. It also included stories of recurring Woodring characters such as Pulque (the embodiment of [[drunkenness]]), boyhood friends Chip and Monk, and, in ''Volume II'', his signature creation [[Frank (comics)|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 (magazine)|Mad]]'' tradition.{{sfn|Constant|2014}}

==Publication==

The series began as a photocopied 12-page [[minicomic]] that Woodring self-published in 1980.  The contents were drawn from Woodring's autojournal—a journal in which he recorded his dreams in comics, prose, drawings, and paintings.{{sfn|Van Winkle|2014}}  [[Fantagraphics Books]] co-owner [[Gary Groth]] began publishing the series;{{sfn|Constant|2014}} the four issues of the first volume ran from 1987 to 1990.{{sfn|Spurgeon|2013}}

Most of the contents of the first volume were reprinted in the book collection ''The Book of Jim'' in 1993.{{sfn|Spurgeon|2013}}  A collection of both volumes appeared in 2014 under the title ''Jim'', subtitled ''Jim Woodring's Notorious Autojournal''.{{sfn|Constant|2014}}

===Vol. I===

#(Sep. 1987)
#(Jan. 1988)
#(Jan. 1989)
#(Oct. 1990)

===Vol. II===

#(Dec. 1993)
#*''Manhog Beyond the Face'' (color)
#*''Quarry Story''
#(April 1994)
#*untitled ''Frank'' story (color)
#*untitled
#*untitled ''Pulque'' story (color)
#*untitled ''Big Red'' story
#(July 1994)
#*untitled
#*''Authorized Only'' (digital color)
#*''The Reform of the Apple''
#(Dec. 1994, printed Nov. 1994)
#*''Frank and the Toy without Pity''
#*untitled ''Frank'' story (color)
#*''Frank in the Cave of his Ancestors''
#(May 1995)
#*''Dive Deep''
#*''Peeker'' (color)
#*''The Stairs''
#*''Frank and the Sugar of Vengeance''
#*''Echo'' (inside back cover)
#(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 [[Justin Green (cartoonist)|Justin Green]] and the mundane stories of [[Harvey Pekar]] defined the range of [[autobiographical comics]].{{sfn|Spurgeon|2013}}

''Jim'' ranked No.&nbsp;71 on ''[[The Comics Journal]]''{{'}}s list of the hundred greatest English-language comics of the 20th century.{{sfn|Spurgeon|2013}}

==Notes==

{{Reflist}}

==References==

{{Refbegin}}

* {{cite web
|last       = Constant
|first      = Paul
|title      = A Stranger Genius of Literature, Back When He Used Words
|date       = September 3, 2014
|work       = [[The Stranger (newspaper)|The Stranger]]
|url        = http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/a-stranger-genius-of-literature-back-when-he-used-words/Content?oid=20487063
|access-date = January 18, 2015
}}
* {{cite web
|last       = Spurgeon
|first      = Tom
|author-link = Tom Spurgeon
|title      = Fantagraphics Announces Re-Packaging Of Woodring Classic
|date       = July 20, 2013
|work       = The Comics Reporter
|url        = http://www.comicsreporter.com/index.php/fantagraphics_announces_re_publishing_of_woodring_catalog/
|access-date = January 18, 2015
}}
* {{citation
|last       = Van Winkle
|first       = Nick
|title       = Northwest Reads by the University Book Store: 'Jim: Jim Woodring's Notorious Autojournal' by Jim Woodring
|url       = http://www.newsofmillcreek.com/content/northwest-reads-university-book-store-jim-jim-woodring%E2%80%99s-notorious-autojournal-jim
|date       = August 18, 2014
|access-date       = January 18, 2015
|archive-date       = January 18, 2015
|archive-url       = https://web.archive.org/web/20150118104818/http://www.newsofmillcreek.com/content/northwest-reads-university-book-store-jim-jim-woodring%E2%80%99s-notorious-autojournal-jim
|url-status       = usurped
}}

{{Refend}}

==External links==
*{{comicbookdb|type=title|id=30307|title=Jim}}
*{{gcdb|id=26317|title=Jim}}
{{Portal bar|Comics}}

{{Jim Woodring}}
{{Fantagraphics comics}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Jim (Comics)}}
[[Category:Autobiographical comics]]
[[Category:Comics by Jim Woodring]]
[[Category:Fantagraphics titles]]
[[Category:1986 comics debuts]]
[[Category:1996 comics endings]]
[[Category:Comics characters introduced in 1986]]


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