Jim Franklin (born 1943 in

Galveston, Texas Galveston ( ) is a coastal resort city and port off the Southeast Texas coast on Galveston Island and Pelican Island in the U.S. state of Texas. The community of , with a population of 47,743 in 2010, is the county seat of surrounding Galvesto ...

) is an artist, illustrator, and underground cartoonist best known for his poster art created for the

Armadillo World Headquarters Armadillo World Headquarters (The 'Dillo or Armadillo WHQ) was an influential Texas music hall and beer garden in Austin at 525 Barton Springs Road – at South First Street – just south of the Colorado River and downtown Austin. The 'Dillo f ...

, a former

Austin, Texas Austin is the capital city of the U.S. state of Texas, as well as the county seat, seat and largest city of Travis County, Texas, Travis County, with portions extending into Hays County, Texas, Hays and Williamson County, Texas, Williamson co ...

, music hall. He is also known for his detailed, surrealistic illustrations of

armadillos Armadillos (meaning "little armored ones" in Spanish) are New World placental mammals in the order Cingulata. The Chlamyphoridae and Dasypodidae are the only surviving families in the order, which is part of the superorder Xenarthra, along w ...

Career

Franklin studied at the

San Francisco Art Institute San Francisco Art Institute (SFAI) was a private college of contemporary art in San Francisco, California. Founded in 1871, SFAI was one of the oldest art schools in the United States and the oldest west of the Mississippi River. Approximately ...

. Returning to Texas, he teamed with musicians and artists to open a psychedelic music hall in Austin, called the

Vulcan Gas Company The original Vulcan Gas Company (usually called simply Vulcan) was the first successful psychedelic music venue in Austin, Texas. The Vulcan opened its doors at 316 Congress Avenue in the fall of 1967, and closed in the summer of 1970. Gary Scanlo ...

. Franklin lived in the club and was its primary poster artist for bands such as Shiva's Headband,

13th Floor Elevators The 13th Floor Elevators was an American rock band from Austin, Texas, United States, formed by guitarist and vocalist Roky Erickson, electric jug player Tommy Hall, and guitarist Stacy Sutherland. The band was together from 1965 to 1969, a ...

, Conqueroo, and

Canned Heat Canned Heat is an American band formed in Los Angeles, California, in 1965. The group is noted for its efforts to promote interest in blues music and its original artists and rock music. It was founded by two blues enthusiasts Alan Wilson and Bob ...

. At the Vulcan, Franklin and

Gilbert Shelton Gilbert Shelton (born May 31, 1940) is an American cartoonist and a key member of the underground comix movement. He is the creator of the iconic underground characters ''The Fabulous Furry Freak Brothers'', '' Fat Freddy's Cat'', and ''Wonder W ...

worked together for the first time. Franklin began drawing armadillos in 1968 and they became a symbol of the hippie counterculture movement in Texas. He used this armadillo motif when creating the album art for Shiva's Headband's first record, ''Take Me to the Mountains'' and poster art for the

Commander Cody and His Lost Planet Airmen Commander Cody and His Lost Planet Airmen were an American rock band founded in 1967. The group's leader and co-founder was pianist and vocalist George Frayne IV, alias Commander Cody (born July 19, 1944 in Boise, Idaho, died September 26, 2021 i ...

's live recording, ''

Live from Deep in the Heart of Texas ''Live from Deep in the Heart of Texas'' is an album by American rock band Commander Cody and His Lost Planet Airmen. It was recorded live at the Armadillo World Headquarters in Austin, Texas in November 1973, and released in 1974. Unlike many liv ...

'', features Franklin's armadillo art, as do the

Freddie King Freddie King (September 3, 1934December 28, 1976) was an American blues guitarist, singer and songwriter. He is considered one of the "Three Kings of the Blues Guitar" (along with Albert King and B.B. King, none of whom were blood related). Mos ...

albums, '' Texas Cannonball'' and '' Woman Across the River''. Franklin's surrealistic armadillos and other art often appeared on the cover of Austin's underground newspaper, ''

The Rag ''The Rag'' was an underground newspaper published in Austin, Texas from 1966–1977. The weekly paper covered political and cultural topics that the conventional press ignored, such as the growing antiwar movement, the sexual revolution, gay l ...

''. According to Robert Lemmo, Franklin "catapulted to countercultural fame when his obsessively detailed and surrealistic armadillos began to fill the pages of an underground weekly called ''

''. The armadillo became a folk hero the likes of which hadn't been seen in Texas since Davy Crockett days." Franklin also wrote

Underground comix Underground comix are small press or self-published comic books that are often socially relevant or satirical in nature. They differ from mainstream comics in depicting content forbidden to mainstream publications by the Comics Code Authority, ...

and created ''Armadillo Comics''. Franklin's armadillo paintings earned him the nickname, the "Michelangelo of armadillo art". In 1971, ''

The New Yorker ''The New Yorker'' is an American weekly magazine featuring journalism, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons, and poetry. Founded as a weekly in 1925, the magazine is published 47 times annually, with five of these issues ...

'' ran a feature story on Franklin and his work, entitled "Armadillo Man". A portion of

Les Blank Les Blank (November 27, 1935 – April 7, 2013) was an American documentary filmmaker best known for his portraits of American traditional musicians. Life and career Leslie Harrod Blank Jr. was born November 27, 1935 in Tampa, Florida. He atten ...

's long-unreleased 1974 documentary, '' A Poem Is A Naked Person'', depicts Franklin's creation of a mural in

Leon Russell Leon Russell (born Claude Russell Bridges; April 2, 1942 – November 13, 2016) was an American musician and songwriter who was involved with numerous bestselling records during his 60-year career that spanned multiple genres, including rock and ...

's empty swimming pool.Alex Pappademas
"SXSW Film Fest Superlatives: Rock Docs, Yuppie Nightmares, and a Ghost in Your iPhone"
''

Grantland ''Grantland'' was a sports and pop-culture blog owned and operated by ESPN. The blog was started in 2011 by veteran writer and sports journalist Bill Simmons, who remained as editor-in-chief until May 2015. ''Grantland'' was named after famed ...

'', March 23, 2015. Many of Franklin's paintings and posters are signed with the initials JFKLN. He continues to paint and is often seen on opening nights at the South Austin Museum of Popular Culture.

References

External links

Jim Franklin Art Studios

South Austin Popular Culture Center

Photos of Franklin at the Ritz, 1975

Jim Franklin on Rag Radio
interviewed by

Thorne Dreyer Thorne Webb Dreyer (born August 1, 1945) is an American writer, editor, publisher, and political activist who played a major role in the 1960s-1970s counterculture, New Left, and underground press movements. Dreyer now lives in Austin, Texas, whe ...

, April 20, 2010
Franklin bio at Lambiek's Comiclopedia
{{DEFAULTSORT:Franklin, Jim 1943 births American cartoonists Living people Artists from Austin, Texas Psychedelic artists American poster artists Underground cartoonists

Career

See also

References

External links