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Frank Stack
Frank Stack
Frank Stack
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Frank Huntington Stack (born October 31, 1937, in Houston, Texas)[2] is an American underground cartoonist and artist. Working under the name Foolbert Sturgeon to avoid persecution for his work while living in the Bible Belt, Stack published what is considered by many to be the first underground comic, The Adventures of Jesus, in 1964.[3][4]

Key Information

Stack's main artistic influences were Gustave Doré, Roy Crane, and V. T. Hamlin.[5] He is widely known as a printmaker, specializing in etchings and lithographs, and his sketchy comics style evokes Stack's background as an etcher. (His technique of creating etchings on-site was featured in American Artist magazine.)[citation needed] His oil paintings and watercolors mostly feature landscape and figure compositions. He lives in Columbia, Missouri, where he was a longtime professor at the University of Missouri.

Education and teaching career

[edit]

Stack graduated from the University of Texas at Austin with a BFA in 1959.[6] He received his M.A. at the University of Wyoming, and also studied at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago and the Académie de la Grande Chaumière of Paris.[5]

He was a long-time professor of art at the University of Missouri, where he taught from 1963 to 2001, and is now a professor emeritus. In addition, he did teaching stints at Appalachian State and Virginia Tech.[citation needed]

Comics

[edit]

While at the University of Texas, Stack joined the staff of The Texas Ranger student humor magazine in 1957,[7] and was editor of the magazine in 1958–1959. As editor, Stack aspired for the Ranger to emulate the humor exemplified by The New Yorker and Punch.[7] He published comic strips by fellow UT student Gilbert Shelton, later known for Wonder Wart-Hog and The Fabulous Furry Freak Brothers.

Soon after graduating from UT, Stack entered the U.S. Army, stationed at Governors Island, New York, in 1961–1962.[7]

Although he had already graduated in 1959, starting in 1962, (using the pen-name Foolbert Sturgeon) he published The Adventures of Jesus in The Texas Ranger (as well as early counterculture publications like The Austin Iconoclastic and The Charlatan). In 1964, then Texas Ranger editor Gilbert Shelton collected about a dozen of the Jesus strips, designed a cover, and made 50 photocopies of the collection, giving them to associates around the UT campus.[8]

Stack's most prolific period as a cartoonist was in the late 1960s and early 1970s. During this period, Rip Off Press (co-founded by Shelton and fellow UT cartoonist Jaxon) published three issues of Stack's Jesus Comics, as well as such solo titles as Feelgood Funnies and Amazon Comics. In 1972 Stack contributed to The Rip Off Review of Western Culture with "Jesus Goes To The Faculty Party." In addition to publishing several articles in The Comics Journal, Stack contributed comics to such anthologies as Zero Zero, Blab!, Snarf, Rip Off Comix, and Weirdo. His strips The Case of Dr. Feelgood and Dorman's Doggie were syndicated by the Underground Press Syndicate in 1976–1978.[5]

From 1986 to 2001, Stack was a regular contributor to Harvey Pekar's American Splendor. He also illustrated the acclaimed nonfiction graphic novel Our Cancer Year, written by Pekar and his wife Joyce Brabner, which won the 1995 Harvey Award for best original graphic novel.[9]

Personal life

[edit]

Stack met his future wife Robbie Powell at the University of Texas, where they were both staffers on The Texas Ranger. Stack and Powell were married from 1959 until her death in 1998.[7]

Exhibitions

[edit]

Comics and books

[edit]
  • The Adventures of Jesus (published in zine form by Gilbert Shelton, 1964)
  • Jesus Comics (Rip Off Press, 1969–1972)
    • #1: The New Adventures of Jesus (1969)
    • #2: Jesus Meets the Armed Services (1970)
    • #3: Jesus Joins the Academic Community (1972)
  • Feelgood Funnies (2 issues, Rip Off Press, 1972, 1984)
  • Amazon Comics (Rip Off Press, 1972)
  • Dorman's Doggie (Rip Off Press, 1979) ISBN 9780878160976
  • Our Cancer Year (Four Walls Eight Windows, 1994) — written by Harvey Pekar and Joyce Brabner
  • Naked Glory: the Erotic Art of Frank Stack (Eros Comix, 1998) ISBN 9781560972297
  • The New Adventures of Jesus: The Second Coming (Fantagraphics, 2007) ISBN 9781560977803

Filmography

[edit]

Notes

[edit]

Further reading

[edit]
[edit]
Revisions and contributorsEdit on WikipediaRead on Wikipedia

Frank Stack

View on Grokipedia
from Grokipedia
Frank Stack is an American underground cartoonist, artist, and educator known for his pioneering contributions to the underground comix movement, including the creation of The Adventures of Jesus in the early 1960s, often cited as one of the first underground comic books. Publishing much of his early satirical and controversial work under the pseudonym Foolbert Sturgeon to safeguard his academic career, he produced influential titles that challenged conventional comics with religious parody, social critique, and adult themes. Stack also gained recognition for illustrating Our Cancer Year (1994), the acclaimed graphic novel by Harvey Pekar and Joyce Brabner documenting Pekar's cancer battle. For over four decades, he served as a professor of art at the University of Missouri in Columbia, teaching painting, printmaking, drawing, and comics while exhibiting his fine art internationally. Born on October 31, 1937, in Houston, Texas, Stack earned a B.F.A. from the University of Texas at Austin and an M.A. from the University of Wyoming, with further studies at the Art Institute of Chicago and the Académie Grande Chaumière in Paris. He joined the University of Missouri faculty in 1963, retiring in 2003 after teaching a wide range of courses, including one of the earliest university classes on comics, and receiving academic honors and residencies at institutions such as Appalachian State University and Virginia Polytechnic University. His underground comics career began in the 1960s with privately circulated works like The Adventures of Jesus, followed by publications through Rip Off Press including The New Adventures of Jesus (1969), Amazon Comics (1972), Feelgood Funnies (1972), and contributions to anthologies such as Snarf and Radical America Komiks. Stack's work often blended sharp satire on religion, authority, and social issues with his passion for fine arts, including etchings, paintings, and erotic pieces collected in Naked Glory. He has written articles for The Comics Journal, edited reprint collections of classic strips such as Alley Oop, and maintained connections with fellow underground cartoonists like Gilbert Shelton and Robert Crumb. His dual legacy as both an innovative cartoonist and a dedicated educator has influenced generations in comics and the visual arts.

Early life and education

Childhood and family background

Frank Stack was born on October 31, 1937, in Houston, Texas. Information about his childhood and family background remains limited in available sources. His biological father died when Stack was young, after which he was raised by a stepfather who did not seem to care for him, leaving Stack largely to his own devices. This early experience prompted him to educate himself and to pledge a commitment to candor and honesty even as a child, according to his daughter Joan Stack. No further verified details on his immediate family, such as siblings or extended relatives, or specific aspects of his upbringing in Houston have been documented in reliable sources. He had at least two children: daughter Joan Stack and son Robert Stack.

University years and early influences

Frank Stack attended the University of Texas at Austin, where he earned his Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in 1959. During his time there, he joined the staff of the university's humor magazine The Texas Ranger in 1957 and served as its editor from 1958 to 1959. As editor, Stack published his own early cartoons and featured the first published cartoons of fellow student Gilbert Shelton in 1959, fostering a creative environment that emphasized satirical humor in the style of The New Yorker and The Harvard Lampoon. He married Mildred Roberta "Robbie" Powell in June 1959 in Conroe, Texas. Stack later received a Master of Arts degree from the University of Wyoming in 1963. He also pursued additional art studies at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago and the Académie de la Grande Chaumière in Paris. These university experiences and associations, particularly his editorial role and collaborations at The Texas Ranger, provided foundational influences on his cartooning style and set the stage for his later independent works, including the early Jesus strips that emerged in the early 1960s.

Comics career

Pioneering underground comix

Frank Stack emerged as a pioneer of underground comix in the 1960s through his satirical work under the pseudonym Foolbert Sturgeon, which he adopted to shield himself from potential persecution in the conservative Bible Belt region where he lived and taught as a university professor. The irreverent religious content of his comics risked ostracism or even threats, leading him to disguise his identity behind the alias to protect his academic career. He began creating The Adventures of Jesus in the early 1960s. In 1964, fellow cartoonist Gilbert Shelton collected photocopies of the strips and assembled them into a stapled booklet titled The Adventures of Jesus, marking an early milestone in underground distribution. With the rise of the underground comix scene, Rip Off Press brought Stack's work to wider attention through the Jesus Comics series: The New Adventures of Jesus appeared in 1969, followed by Jesus Meets the Armed Services in 1970, which skewered American military culture, and Jesus Joins the Academic Community in 1972, which satirized university life and faculty pretensions. During the 1970s, Stack produced additional titles including Feelgood Funnies (1972, reprinted 1984), Amazon Comics (1972), and Dorman's Doggie, which ran as a syndicated strip from 1976 to 1978 and was collected in book form in 1979. He also contributed to several underground anthologies such as Rip Off Comix, Snarf, Weirdo, Zero Zero, and Blab!. Stack's sketchy drawing style, influenced by his background in etching, lent a distinctive texture to these works, which established him as a trailblazer in religious satire within the conservative cultural environment of his region. In the 1980s he transitioned toward collaborations, including later work with Harvey Pekar.

Collaboration with Harvey Pekar

Frank Stack began a long-term collaboration with Harvey Pekar in 1986 as a regular contributor to the autobiographical comic series American Splendor, illustrating Pekar's scripts depicting everyday life experiences. His distinctive drawing style, characterized by expressive linework and attention to mundane details, made him one of the series' most consistent and recognizable artists over the following years. Stack's contributions appeared in multiple issues of American Splendor from 1986 through 2001, helping to shape the visual identity of Pekar's stories during this period. In 1994, Stack served as the primary illustrator for the graphic novel Our Cancer Year, co-written by Pekar and Joyce Brabner, which documented Pekar's diagnosis, treatment, and recovery from lymphoma while also addressing broader themes of illness, marriage, and political activism. The book was published by Four Walls Eight Windows and received critical praise for its honest portrayal of personal crisis, with Stack's artwork noted for effectively conveying emotional intensity through realistic and empathetic visuals. Stack also made occasional appearances in related anthology publications tied to Pekar's work during this era. Stack briefly appeared as himself in the 2003 film adaptation American Splendor, directed by Shari Springer Berman and Robert Pulcini.

Later comics publications

In the late 1990s and into the 2000s, Frank Stack produced and compiled additional comics-related works, including erotic art collections and comprehensive editions of his earlier satirical series. In 1998, Eros Comix published Naked Glory: The Erotic Art of Frank Stack, a volume dedicated to his illustrations of women rendered in diverse media such as pens, brushes, engraving plates, lithographs, charcoal, etchings, and wash. The book includes 16 full-color plates, an introduction by Jim Woodring, and a section of commentary and notes by Stack himself. In 2006, Fantagraphics Books released The New Adventures of Jesus: The Second Coming, a collected edition gathering over 40 years of Stack's satirical Jesus comics, which place the figure in modern and absurd situations drawn from underground publications. This edition incorporated reprints of stories and gags alongside one brand-new piece created for the book, "Jesus Meets Intellectual Property Rights," and featured a foreword by R. Crumb and an introduction by Gilbert Shelton. Fantagraphics later issued Foolbert Funnies: Histories and Other Fictions in 2015, compiling selected short comics and strips spanning 1970 to 2007, including material originally published in outlets like National Lampoon under Stack's pseudonym Foolbert Sturgeon.

Academic career

Teaching at the University of Missouri

Frank Stack joined the faculty of the University of Missouri in 1963 as an Instructor in the Department of Art. He advanced to Assistant Professor in 1968, holding that rank until 1974, then became Associate Professor from 1974 to 1978, before being promoted to full Professor in 1978. He continued in that position until his retirement in 2003, after which he was named Professor Emeritus. Stack taught art for forty years at the university in Columbia, Missouri.

Other academic roles and contributions

Frank Stack held artist-in-residence positions at Appalachian State University, Shepherd College (West Virginia), and Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University (Virginia Tech), in addition to his primary teaching career at the University of Missouri. These residencies supported his engagement with art education beyond his long-term institutional role. In the field of comics scholarship, Stack served on the editorial board of Inks: Cartoon and Comic Art Studies, the academic journal published by Ohio State University. He also edited Kitchen Sink Press reprints of V. T. Hamlin's Alley Oop comic strip collections, contributing editorial oversight and introductory material to several volumes published in the early 1990s. Stack further contributed to comics criticism through several articles published in The Comics Journal.

Fine art and printmaking

Painting and etching work

Frank Stack is a painter and printmaker known for his landscape and figure compositions executed in oils, watercolors, etchings, and lithographs. He has published numerous limited-edition prints, with a particular emphasis on etchings and lithographs created through hand-pulled processes. His work in these media has been featured in American Artist magazine. Stack's etchings typically portray realist depictions of American small-town and urban environments, including houses, porches, backyards, streets, trees, steeples, and occasional figures such as sunbathers or subway passengers. He also produces lithographs that incorporate similar architectural themes alongside more figurative subjects, including bathers and nudes. Additionally, Stack creates monoprints that yield unique impressions, often focused on figure studies. In painting, Stack works in oils and watercolors, frequently exploring landscapes painted from direct observation of nature and figure studies that include nudes. His watercolors often depict female nudes in intimate poses, such as reclining, standing, or emerging from a shower. In 1997, he published Naked Glory, a collection of his nudes that highlights this aspect of his figure work in a fine art context.

Exhibitions and recognition in fine arts

Frank Stack has developed an international reputation as a painter and printmaker, with his pictures housed in museums and private collections around the world. His fine art works, including oils, watercolors, lithographs, and etchings, reflect nearly fifty years of depicting the Missouri landscape and changing urban environments. A major retrospective, "Frank Stack at 75," was presented at the State Historical Society of Missouri's Research Center-Columbia Main Gallery from October 2012 through January 2013. The exhibition featured a selection of his oils, watercolors, lithographs, and etchings, documenting his fifty-year career in Missouri and honoring the artist in his 75th year. The Society has collected Stack's work since the 1960s, underscoring its long-term recognition of his contributions to fine arts. Stack led a personal walk-through of the exhibition on December 8, 2012, where he discussed his creative process and the evolution of the local landscape. Examples of Stack's twenty-first-century works are preserved in the State Historical Society of Missouri's art collection, ensuring their availability for future generations.

Film appearances

Acting roles in feature films

Frank Stack has made only a handful of appearances in feature films, primarily in small, supporting roles within independent horror productions. These roles are generally brief and cameo-like, reflecting his limited involvement in acting compared to his primary work in comics and fine arts. In the 2010 horror film A Horrible Way to Die, Stack portrayed the Elderly Man. He next appeared in the 2012 anthology film V/H/S, playing the Old Man in the segment "Tape 56." These occasional credits highlight Stack's minor but distinctive presence in underground and indie cinema.

Personal life

Marriage and residence

Frank Stack married Roberta Powell, known as Robbie, in 1959 after meeting her during his university years at the University of Texas. The couple remained married for nearly four decades until her death in 1998 from heart complications. Stack relocated to Columbia, Missouri in 1963, and he and his wife established their long-term residence there, where he has continued to live for nearly six decades. This residence in Columbia coincided with his extended professional tenure in the area.

Awards and recognition

Comics and artistic honors

Frank Stack's work in comics has earned notable recognition from industry awards. Our Cancer Year, the graphic novel he illustrated in collaboration with writers Harvey Pekar and Joyce Brabner, won the Harvey Award for Best Graphic Album - Original Work in 1995. He received the Haxtur Award in the "Autor Que Amamos" (Author That We Love) category in 2006 at Spain's Salón Internacional del Cómic. In 2011, Comic-Con International honored him with the Inkpot Award for his contributions to the comics field. These honors acknowledge his pioneering role in underground comix and his lasting influence on alternative graphic storytelling.

References

  1. https://www.fantagraphics.com/collections/frank-stack
  2. https://www.deniskitchen.com/mm5/merchant.mvc?Store_Code=ag&Screen=CTGY&Category_Code=BIOS_FS
  3. https://www.lambiek.net/artists/s/stack_frank.htm
  4. https://www.columbiamissourian.com/news/local/frank-stack-looking-at-the-life-and-career-of-columbias-art-pioneer/article_d394c6e4-6439-11ed-86f5-1fd6588a57ed.html
  5. https://library.missouri.edu/specialcollections/collections/show/27
  6. https://www.askart.com/artist/Frank_Huntington_Stack/124757/Frank_Huntington_Stack.aspx
  7. https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/101114034/mildred-roberta-stack
  8. https://www.artoftheprint.com/artistpages/stack_frank_nude_study.htm
  9. https://comixjoint.com/texasranger.html
  10. https://comixjoint.com/jesuscomics.html
  11. https://books.google.com/books/about/The_New_Adventures_of_Jesus.html?id=iWtQAAAAMAAJ
  12. https://www.amazon.com/Naked-Glory-Art-Frank-Stack/dp/1560972297
  13. https://www.comics.org/issue/807921/
  14. https://www.amazon.com/Foolbert-Funnies-Histories-Other-Fictions/dp/1606998080
  15. https://www.como.gov/cultural-affairs/commemorative-poster-gallery/missouri-river-august/
  16. https://www.invaluable.com/artist/stack-frank-huntington-xc27lkgsz9/sold-at-auction-prices/
  17. https://shsmo.org/sites/default/files/pdfs/missouri-times/2012august.pdf
  18. https://shsmo.org/sites/default/files/pdfs/missouri-times/2013february.pdf
  19. https://shsmo.org/sites/default/files/pdfs/missouri-times/2012november.pdf
  20. https://shsmo.org/collections/art
  21. https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1617620/fullcredits/
  22. https://www.imdb.com/name/nm3400177/
  23. https://www.imdb.com/title/tt2105044/characters/nm3400177/
  24. https://www.harveyawards.com/en-us/winners/previous-winners.html
  25. http://www.hahnlibrary.net/comics/awards/harvey95.php
  26. http://www.elwendigo.net/haxtur/hax06/haxt2006.htm
  27. https://www.comic-con.org/awards/inkpot/
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