5 out of 5

Mark Martin’s version of a kid’s comic definitely springs from the era of cartoons where smoking and killing were part of the game, “dad gummit” was acceptable swearance, and general mayhem wasn’t scrutinized for improper moral lessons.  Kids play pretend in the mud and sand and get bruises while pretending to cowboys and indians each other, and that’s spun up to excellently distorted extremes with Montgomery Wart, an always schemin’ frog-like thing who hawks grampa’s cigars and gamma’s soda pop for money to purchase whatever it is from the corner store.  In the early 90s when Tantalizing Stories would’ve been published I think this version of childhood was already fading from reality, but as it taps into an equal amount of cartoonish insanity as, say, Ren and Stimpy, if “Tantalizing” could woo a kid in the comic shop with its pop cover colors and fantastically wacky characters (either Wart or the odd and yet friendly looking Woodring creation Frank, or a collabo between both artists), and if said kid could deal with the interiors being in black and white (richly shaded as they were, they are not color…), then the 6 issues of “Tantalizing” capture such a daring display of kid’s tales that any youngin’ blessed with a parent cool enough or ignorant enough to let them read it would be in for a treat.

Wart’s adventures are insane and wouldn’t fly with parents today – except in a censored form that removes a lot of the playfulness and god, who knows, the phonetic misspellings – but it’s harder to imagine the Jim Woodring portion of the book – mostly Frank adventures and a “those darn kids” adventures that start with a normal trip to granny’s and evolve (devolve) into a weirdo playtime with alien pets – as being directly appealing to kids, as Jim’s work is much more moody and thoughtful and not as expressive as Martin, even when doing a more “straight-forward” cartoon strip as with the kids.  And in one issue when the Farmer one-pagers poke up, with their tiny many-paneled many-worded format, one has to wonder if Jim and Mark really figured that the kids would be reading this and not have it purchased for them by hopeful adults who would then slaver over it and bag and board it for their own collection.

Because: this is genius stuff.  Mark and Jim are already geniuses, this we know, but Mark’s humor works best in bite-sized amounts, and Jim’s surrealism is more easily studied in one-off stories as well.  Combining these two styles – the wacky and the seemingly serene (as Frank is mostly wordless) – makes for just an amazing reading experience, two incredibly polished authors / artists bringing their full A-game to every single panel, not one dribble of page wasted, as cover to cover, even the letters page gets a dollop of Mark’s random humor or scribbles from Jim.  And though I question the kid appeal, I can imagine myself flipping over the Frank stuff and inadvertently forming fond memories of this cute character and his band of oddly shaped supporting crew – not getting it, but absorbing it.  Then, years later, I would make a connection between my current tastes and the influence Frank could’ve had – a subconscious link of which Woodring might approve – and go back and reread my old “Tantalizing” books, marveling at how insane this stuff was and how my little kid brain did or didn’t pick up on it.  THAT DIDN’T HAPPEN, but I can see how it could, and is a reason to give your kids the seeds with which they can flourish their own imaginations.  Or something.  I mean, I turned out okay without Frank.  I don’t know where I’m going with this.

With our trend-obsessed and culturally aware kids, there’s actually more of an ability to grab more daring youth books along the lines of “Tantalizing,” but they won’t carry the same appreciation for eras past that bubbles through the creator’s works, making this short 6-issue burst something special, and something to nab with “get out of my way” gusto if you see it in a store.  Yes, I have these Frank tales collected elsewhere, but I promise you, they take on new dimension when spread open in a comic, backed by Mark Martin’s tales, as opposed to a more professional trade format.  Doop.