Pretty Big Pen, Jim

September 3, 2010 8:26 AM

Jim Woodring speaks softly and carries a giant pen.
posted by Fuzzy Monster (21 comments total)

I can't tell if this is awesome or stupid. Stupid awesome.

Although I'm pretty sure he's overestimating the difficulty of the handle. You wouldn't need an enormous lathe--just build it up in sections. He's also probably underestimating the difficulty of the nib.
posted by DU at 8:33 AM on September 3, 2010

I support the actualization of any and all of Jim Woodrings dreams and visions. 'The Frank Book' is an amazing thing and everyone should put it in their eye-holes at least once.
posted by FatherDagon at 8:42 AM on September 3, 2010 [5 favorites]

Okay. Admit it. How many of you found out about Jim Woodring because he did the graphics for Microsoft Comic Chat which was used to make Jerkcity?
posted by griphus at 8:43 AM on September 3, 2010 [1 favorite]

Why doesn't Woodring simply do a series of videos on vimeo detailing the virtues, uses and gotchas of this medium? I certain they'd be utterly hypnotic, and a lot more effective.
posted by Scoo at 8:45 AM on September 3, 2010 [1 favorite]

Thanks for posting this Fuzzy Monster, I was considering it myself.

Jim Woodring is a Frickin' Genius.
posted by ecurtz at 8:46 AM on September 3, 2010

Woodring is my Pope. Thanks for posting this.
posted by jtron at 8:57 AM on September 3, 2010

Oh my god....

That's JEFF LEBOWSKI!


The pen is a pretty fun idea. I agree with DU; the handle could be made in sections that fit together sturdily.
posted by fantodstic at 8:58 AM on September 3, 2010

Once upon a time Woodring used to put out weekly one-panel comics with bizarre, evocative sentences under them. I used to be completely crazy about them and I still think many of them are amazing.
posted by deafmute at 9:06 AM on September 3, 2010 [2 favorites]

Giant pen is GO

GO pen is, Go!
posted by weapons-grade pandemonium at 9:17 AM on September 3, 2010 [1 favorite]

I love the fact that his supernatural creatures resemble rotifers, probably due to his affinity for Ernst Haeckel.
posted by benzenedream at 9:47 AM on September 3, 2010

I found about Jim Woodring from a maddeningly enigmatic single-page Frank comic in an issue of Heavy Metal in the early 90s. That page remained lodged in my brain for years before I found any actual Woodring comics, but when I did I was an instant fan.

For the past few years it's seemed like he wasn't all that interested in comics, focusing more on the 'fine art' side of his deal, but his new Frank comic Weathercraft is a total joy and a revelation.
posted by anazgnos at 9:49 AM on September 3, 2010

There's another new "comic" in the works as well, Congress of the Animals.
posted by ecurtz at 9:56 AM on September 3, 2010

"Out of the blue, in the middle of a recession, the phone rang. What would it cost, the caller asked, to fund a giant pen for Jim Woodring?"
posted by redsparkler at 10:11 AM on September 3, 2010

ecurtz, seeing Woodring with that Genius cake makes me want to see him try his hand at cake decorating, even though the cake could never, ever be eaten (although it would be very Woodringesque to have a piece taken out of it, and that be the only visual record of it).
posted by Halloween Jack at 10:45 AM on September 3, 2010

Only good will come of this.
posted by beerbajay at 10:45 AM on September 3, 2010

Keith Knight decks out his booth at comics cons with a giant (but non-functional pen); one of his collections is Fear of a Black Marker.
posted by Zed at 11:40 AM on September 3, 2010

I interviewed Jim Woodring in September 1989. It remains one of the most extraordinary two hours of my life... sitting across the table from him in a fairly nondescript restaurant in Hollywood, and trying to understand what seemed to be a window into an entirely alternate state of experiencing the world. Loved Jim's work then, love it now.

(I got back to the UK to discover the magazine I'd done the interview for had gone bust. I have the cassette somewhere, still. I ought to digitise it and put it online.)
posted by Hogshead at 12:41 PM on September 3, 2010 [1 favorite]

I ought to digitise it and put it online.

Doooooo it
posted by beerbajay at 1:29 PM on September 3, 2010

Okay. Admit it. How many of you found out about Jim Woodring because he did the graphics for Microsoft Comic Chat which was used to make Jerkcity?

*raises hand slowly, is devoured by shapeless man-pig*
posted by Ben Gertzfield at 8:57 PM on September 3, 2010

Hogshead, I can personally guarantee you a minimum of two pints in your eponymous chain of pubs if you could share that with us.
posted by Quantum's Deadly Fist at 7:24 PM on September 4, 2010

Although I'm pretty sure he's overestimating the difficulty of the handle. You wouldn't need an enormous lathe--just build it up in sections.

I spoke to him today at Bumbershoot, and he told me that he's already found a business that has a lathe that can do it as a single piece. He expressed concerns about the mass of the handle, but didn't specify what kind of wood he was going to use.
posted by Tube at 11:47 PM on September 4, 2010