Tantalizing Stories Presents Frank in the River

Frank in the River
The opening panel of "Frank in the River"
Publication information
Publisher	Tundra
Format	One-shot
Genre	Alternative comics
Publication date	1992
No. of issues	1
Creative team
Created by	Jim Woodring

Frank in the River is a 24-page comic story by Jim Woodring.

Like all Frank stories, Frank in the River is virtually wordless and the story is conveyed entirely in pantomime.

It was published by Tundra in 1992 in a special full-color issue of Tantalizing Stories, Tantalizing Stories Presents Frank in the River, and features Woodring's signature character, Frank. The special issue also included a shorter full-color story by Mark Martin featuring his character Montgomery Wart.

While trespassing inside an elaborate ornamental garden, Frank accidentally knocks over a huge statue, destroying it and part of a wall. Receiving a bill for the damages, he takes a job cleaning the inside and grounds of a large building which seems to be a palace. While he is cleaning he notices a red cistern in the center of one of the palace rooms. At the end of the day he is fed a meal of gruel by Manhog, who apparently is also a palace employee.

The next morning a swarm of strange monsters clamber out of a nearby river and onto the palace grounds. Frank runs out to do battle with them, and by the end of the day has killed them all. He buries their corpses in a hole which he covers with a large rock. Cleaning up after the battle, he peeks in the cistern and finds a small figurine which resembles the statue he knocked over. At dinner Frank finds that Manhog has chopped up the remains of the monsters he killed and cooked them into a nauseating porridge. Rejecting the food, Frank goes to bed.