FRANK STACK. "Jesus in Academia,
page 2" (1972).
From "Jesus Meets the Academic Community,"
the lead story in Jesus Comics #3 (Rip Off Press).
Stack did a series of hilarious stories about a befuddled Jesus
Christ returning to the modern world, including a previous
issue devoted entirely to Jesus Meets the Armed Forces.
But nothing, even for the Lord Jesus himself, proves as
befuddling as the Byzantine halls of academia. In this key page,
Jesus, who has decided to "teach" as a forum, meets
smarmy Assistant Dean "Smiley" Fibeus. If Stack's cynical
view of higher education sounds like an insider's perspective,
it is. Stack, for many years was a Professor of Fine Art at the
University of Missouri in Columbia. In his early years, prior
to tenure, Stack was certain he would be fired if his academic
superiors discovered his underground comix side-career. So for
many years Frank Stack used the pen name Foolbert Sturgeon.
Provenance:
This original art is warranted to be from the artist's personal
collection (Stack is exclusively represented by this agency).
The art comes with a letter of authenticity upon request. See
"bio" section for information on Frank
Stack (a.k.a. Foolbert Sturgeon), one of the very
earliest and most important of the underground cartoonists.
Size/medium/condition/price: Drawn in brush, pen and ink, (with white-out cross-hatching
to make backgrounds appear grayer and recede) on heavy illustration
board measuring 10 inches wide by 15 inches high. Some light
blue pencil lettering guides remain visible. here is one spell
check in margin. There is some yellowing from age on the outside
edges of the illustration board, outside the image area. The
name of the story and page number is inked in the lower left
corner, also outside the image area. This is an excellent example
of Stack's early style, which tends to be more heavily detailed
and cross-hatched. If you are looking for a key Stack page for
your collection, this one is highly recommended. The top of the
art is hinge-mounted with archival tape to a professionally cut
mat measuring 16 inches wide x 20 inches high. $600.
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