Frank Stack

American, (1937–2026)

He attended the University of Texas at Austin, initially as a journalism student, but ultimately chose to major in art. During this time, he was deeply involved with The Texas Ranger, the university's nationally known humor magazine, where he became part of a celebrated tradition of writers and artists. Stack devoted nearly four decades to teaching art and printmaking at the University of Missouri, where he taught from 1963 until his retirement in 2001 and was later named professor emeritus.
Stack is widely recognized as one of the founders of the underground comics movement. Working under the pseudonym Foolbert Sturgeon, he published The Adventures of Jesus in 1964, a work regarded by many as the first underground comic. A comic strip, Dorman's Doggie, was syndicated nationally by the Underground Press Syndicate from 1976 to 1978. From 1986 to 2001, he was a regular contributor to Harvey Pekar's American Splendor and illustrated Our Cancer Year, written by Pekar and Joyce Brabner, which won the 1995 Harvey Award for Best Original Graphic Novel. In 2025 he was inducted into the Comic-Con's Hall of Fame as a founder of the underground comics movement.