Frank Huntington Stack (born October 31, 1937 in Houston, Texas) is an American underground

cartoonist A cartoonist is a visual artist who specializes in both drawing and writing cartoons (individual images) or comics (sequential images). Cartoonists differ from comics writers or comic book illustrators in that they produce both the literary an ...

and fine artist. Working under the name Foolbert Sturgeon to avoid persecution for his work while living in the

Bible Belt The Bible Belt is a region of the Southern United States in which socially conservative Protestant Christianity plays a strong role in society and politics, and church attendance across the denominations is generally higher than the nation's av ...

, Stack published what is considered by many to be the first underground comic, ''The Adventures of Jesus'', in 1964. Stack's main artistic influences were Gustave Doré, Roy Crane, and

V. T. Hamlin Vincent Trout Hamlin (May 10, 1900 – June 14, 1993), who preferred the name V. T. Hamlin, was an American comic strip cartoonist. He created the popular, long-run comic strip ''Alley Oop'', syndicated by the Newspaper Enterprise Association. ...

."Special Collections and Rare Books: Frank Stack Collection,"
University of Missouri Libraries. Accessed Dec. 29, 2016. 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 A list by date of birth of historically recognized American fine artists known for the creation of artworks that are primarily visual in nature, including traditional media such as painting, sculpture, photography, and printmaking, as well as ...

'' magazine.) 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 The University of Missouri (Mizzou, MU, or Missouri) is a public land-grant research university in Columbia, Missouri. It is Missouri's largest university and the flagship of the four-campus University of Missouri System. MU was founded ...

Education and teaching career

Stack graduated from the

University of Texas at Austin The University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin, UT, or Texas) is a public research university in Austin, Texas. It was founded in 1883 and is the oldest institution in the University of Texas System. With 40,916 undergraduate students, 11,075 ...

with a BFA in 1959. He received his M.A. at the

University of Wyoming The University of Wyoming (UW) is a public land-grant research university in Laramie, Wyoming. It was founded in March 1886, four years before the territory was admitted as the 44th state, and opened in September 1887. The University of Wyomin ...

, and also studied at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago and the Académie de la Grande Chaumière of Paris. He was a long-time professor of art at the

, where he taught from 1963 to 2001, and is now a

professor emeritus ''Emeritus'' (; female: ''emerita'') is an adjective used to designate a retired chair, professor, pastor, bishop, pope, director, president, prime minister, rabbi, emperor, or other person who has been "permitted to retain as an honorary title ...

. In addition, he did teaching stints at Appalachian State and

Virginia Tech Virginia Tech (formally the Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University and informally VT, or VPI) is a Public university, public Land-grant college, land-grant research university with its main campus in Blacksburg, Virginia. It also ...

Comics

While at the University of Texas, Stack joined the staff of '' The Texas Ranger'' student humor magazine in 1957,Holland, Richard A. ''The Texas Book: Profiles, History, and Reminiscences of the University'' (University of Texas Press, 2006), pp. 223–299. 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 ''The New Yorker'' is an American weekly magazine featuring journalism, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons, and poetry. Founded as a weekly in 1925, the magazine is published 47 times annually, with five of these issue ...

'' and ''

Punch Punch commonly refers to: * Punch (combat), a strike made using the hand closed into a fist * Punch (drink), a wide assortment of drinks, non-alcoholic or alcoholic, generally containing fruit or fruit juice Punch may also refer to: Places * Pun ...

''. 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 Governors Island is a island in New York Harbor, within the New York City borough of Manhattan. It is located approximately south of Manhattan Island, and is separated from Brooklyn to the east by the Buttermilk Channel. The National Park ...

, New York, in 1961–1962. 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. 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 ''The Rip Off Review of Western Culture'' was an underground comics magazine published by Rip Off Press and produced out of San Francisco, California. It published three issues in 1972. The publication was historically significant in that it br ...

'' with "Jesus Goes To The Faculty Party." In addition to publishing several articles in ''

The Comics Journal ''The Comics Journal'', often abbreviated ''TCJ'', is an American magazine of news and criticism pertaining to comic books, comic strips and graphic novels. Known for its lengthy interviews with comic creators, pointed editorials and scathing r ...

'', Stack contributed comics to such anthologies as '' Zero Zero'', '' Blab!'', '' Snarf'', '' Rip Off Comix'', and ''

Weirdo Weirdo may refer to: * An eccentric * ''Weirdo'' (comics), an alternative comics anthology published by Last Gasp * "Weirdo" (song), a single by the Charlatans UK off their album ''Between 10th and 11th'' * ''Weirdos'' (film), a 2016 Canadian d ...

''. His strips ''The Case of Dr. Feelgood'' and ''Dorman's Doggie'' were syndicated by the Underground Press Syndicate in 1976–1978. From 1986 to 2001, Stack was a regular contributor to

Harvey Pekar Harvey Lawrence Pekar (; October 8, 1939 – July 12, 2010) was an American underground comic book writer, music critic, and media personality, best known for his autobiographical '' American Splendor'' comic series. In 2003, the series inspired a ...

'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 The Harvey Awards are given for achievement in comic books. Named for writer-artist Harvey Kurtzman, the Harvey Awards were founded by Gary Groth in 1988, president of the publisher Fantagraphics, to be the successor to the Kirby Awards that we ...

for best original

graphic novel A graphic novel is a long-form, fictional work of sequential art. The term ''graphic novel'' is often applied broadly, including fiction, non-fiction, and anthologized work, though this practice is highly contested by comic scholars and industry ...

Personal life

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.

Exhibitions

* 2012 – 2013:

State Historical Society of Missouri The State Historical Society of Missouri, a private membership and state funded organization, is a comprehensive research facility located in Columbia, Missouri, specializing in the preservation and study of Missouri's cultural heritage. Estab ...

(

, Columbia, Missouri) — "Frank Stack at 75"

Comics and books

*''The Adventures of Jesus'' (published in

zine A zine ( ; short for '' magazine'' or '' fanzine'') is a small-circulation self-published work of original or appropriated texts and images, usually reproduced via a copy machine. Zines are the product of either a single person or of a very s ...

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) *'' Our Cancer Year'' ( Four Walls Eight Windows, 1994) — written by

and Joyce Brabner *''Naked Glory: the Erotic Art of Frank Stack'' ( Eros Comix, 1998) *''The New Adventures of Jesus: The Second Coming'' (

Fantagraphics Fantagraphics (previously Fantagraphics Books) is an American publisher of alternative comics, classic comic strip anthologies, manga, magazines, graphic novels, and the erotic Eros Comix imprint. History Founding Fantagraphics was fou ...

, 2007)

Filmography

* 2010 - A Horrible Way to Die - Elderly Man * 2012 - V/H/S - Old Man (segment "Tape 56")

Notes

External links

*
Stack bio
at Lambiek's Comiclopedia

at the University of Missouri Libraries {{DEFAULTSORT:Stack, Frank American cartoonists Underground cartoonists American comics artists Virginia Tech faculty University of Missouri faculty 1937 births Living people American Splendor artists University of Texas at Austin alumni People from Houston Artists from Columbia, Missouri University of Wyoming alumni School of the Art Institute of Chicago alumni Alumni of the Académie de la Grande Chaumière Appalachian State University faculty