| Weathercraft | |
| Publisher: | Fantagraphics Books |
| Date: | 2010 |
| Series: | Frank |
| Creator: | Jim Woodring |
| Pages: | 104 |
| Next: | Congress of the Animals |
| Next-Date: | 2011 |
| Us: | y |
| Single Creator: | y |
Weathercraft is a 2010 graphic novel by American cartoonist Jim Woodring, featuring his best-known characters Frank, Manhog and Whim. While Frank stars in most of Woodring's stories set in the fictional universe of the Unifactor, this book stars Manhog, with Frank making only a brief appearance. Manhog, after trials and tribulations, sets out on a transformative journey, returning to face off against the devilish Whim, who has enslaved and transformed his friends. Like all other stories set in the Unifactor, Weathercraft unfolds entirely in pictures, with no dialogue balloons or captions. Weathercraft was Woodring's first book-length work.
Weathercraft was published in book form without previously being serialized, a first for Woodring. Some panels of the book were previewed on Woodring's blog leading up to publication. When asked in an interview with The A.V. Club why, after 30 years of doing comics, he had now decided to produce his first graphic novel, he replied:
The dust jacket was quite verbose, in contrast with the pantomime of the book itself. On this he said, "I thought it would be funny to have a book that was almost word-free and a dust jacket that was slathered in copy."
Weathercraft, like all of the works set in Woodring's Unifactor (the world in which Frank and associated characters appear), is executed in wordless pantomime, with no word balloons or captions of any kind. In contrast, the dust jacket is quite verbose, and provides clues to the interpretation of the story. "[A] cyclical telling of Manhog's suffering, punishment and enlightenment", the book actually stars Manhog, with Frank only appearing briefly. Another recurring character, the devilish Whim, also features.
The book is dense and intricate. It rewards (or requires) re-readings, and "blends [Woodring's] understanding of Vedantic beliefs with stylized, Max Fleischer nightmares to explore ideas about the evolution of consciousness. As if to hammer home this mysticism, Woodring notes that the Sanskrit symbol for the sacred syllable Aum [{{script|Deva|ॐ}}] is hidden on each page." Every detail of the book has meaning to Woodring, although he accepts and encourages "reader participation" and further or alternate interpretations.
After merging with a psychoactive plant known as Salvia divinorum, Whim proceeds to "distort and enslave Frank and his friends". After much suffering, Manhog sets out on a transformative journey, attaining enlightenment. Manhog then returns for a final encounter with Whim.
The book was included on numerous "Best of 2010" lists, including:
| Translations | |||||
| Language | Title | Publisher | Date | ISBN | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dutch | Weersomstandigheden[4] | De Bezige Bij | November 2009 | ||
| Norwegian | Værverk[5] | Jippi Forlag | November 2009 | ||
| French | Weathercraft | l'Association | 2010-01-09 | ||
| Italian | Weathercraft | Coconino Press | July 2010 | ||
| Czech | Mrakobití | Trystero | 2018 | ||