| Frank Stack | |
|---|---|
| Born | (1937-10-31)October 31, 1937 (age 87) Houston, Texas, U.S. |
| Area(s) | Cartoonist, Printmaker, Painter |
| Pseudonym(s) | Foolbert Sturgeon |
Notable works |
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| Awards | Harvey Award, 1995 Haxtur Award, Artist That We Love, 2006 Inkpot Award, 2011 |
| Spouse(s) | Mildred Roberta "Robbie" Powell[1] (m. 1959–1998; her death) |
Frank Huntington Stack (born October 31, 1937, inHouston, Texas)[2] is an Americanundergroundcartoonist and fine artist. Working under the nameFoolbert Sturgeon to avoid persecution for his work while living in theBible Belt, Stack published what is considered by many to be the first underground comic,The Adventures of Jesus, in 1964.[3][4]
Stack's main artistic influences wereGustave Doré,Roy Crane, andV. T. Hamlin.[5] He is widely known as aprintmaker, specializing inetchings andlithographs, and his sketchy comics style evokes Stack's background as an etcher. (His technique of creating etchings on-site was featured inAmerican Artist magazine.)[citation needed] His oil paintings and watercolors mostly feature landscape and figure compositions. He lives inColumbia, Missouri, where he was a longtime professor at theUniversity of Missouri.
Stack graduated from theUniversity of Texas at Austin with a BFA in 1959.[6] He received his M.A. at theUniversity of Wyoming, and also studied at theSchool of the Art Institute of Chicago and theAcadémie de la Grande Chaumière of Paris.[5]
He was a long-time professor of art at theUniversity of Missouri, where he taught from 1963 to 2001, and is now aprofessor emeritus. In addition, he did teaching stints atAppalachian State andVirginia Tech.[citation needed]
While at the University of Texas, Stack joined the staff ofThe Texas Ranger student humor magazine in 1957,[7] and was editor of the magazine in 1958–1959. As editor, Stack aspired for theRanger to emulate the humor exemplified byThe New Yorker andPunch.[7] He published comic strips by fellow UT studentGilbert Shelton, later known forWonder Wart-Hog andThe Fabulous Furry Freak Brothers.
Soon after graduating from UT, Stack entered theU.S. Army, stationed atGovernors Island, New York, in 1961–1962.[7]
Although he had already graduated in 1959, starting in 1962, (using the pen-name Foolbert Sturgeon) he publishedThe Adventures of Jesus inThe Texas Ranger (as well as early counterculture publications likeThe Austin Iconoclastic andThe Charlatan). In 1964, thenTexas Ranger editor Gilbert Shelton collected about a dozen of theJesus 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 cartoonistJaxon) published three issues of Stack'sJesus Comics, as well as such solo titles asFeelgood Funnies andAmazon Comics. In 1972 Stack contributed toThe Rip Off Review of Western Culture with "Jesus Goes To The Faculty Party." In addition to publishing several articles inThe Comics Journal, Stack contributed comics to such anthologies asZero Zero,Blab!,Snarf,Rip Off Comix, andWeirdo. His stripsThe Case of Dr. Feelgood andDorman's Doggie were syndicated by theUnderground Press Syndicate in 1976–1978.[5]
From 1986 to 2001, Stack was a regular contributor toHarvey Pekar'sAmerican Splendor. He also illustrated the acclaimed nonfiction graphic novelOur Cancer Year, written by Pekar and his wifeJoyce Brabner, which won the 1995Harvey Award for best originalgraphic novel.[9]
Stack met his future wife Robbie Powell at the University of Texas, where they were both staffers onThe Texas Ranger. Stack and Powell were married from 1959 until her death in 1998.[7]
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