Frank: The Silent Muse Behind a Meme Movement

Before Boy’s Club became a viral cultural phenomenon — spawning icons like Pepe, Brett, Andy, and Wolf — there was Frank. Not a meme. Not a token. But a surreal, wordless comic book character created by artist Jim Woodring. To those familiar with Woodring’s work, Frank represents more than just visual absurdity — he is a portal into a bizarre, dreamlike universe unbound by logic, language, or expectation. And for the creator of Boy’s Club, Frank was the spark that ignited it all.

The Surreal Inspiration Behind Pepe

“I was really deep into this one comic book character called Frank,” the creator shares. “Frank wasn’t just a character to me; he was like a whole universe wrapped up in a silent, surreal creature.”

Unlike conventional comic protagonists, Frank existed without dialogue, traversing a morphing landscape filled with strange beings and psychological symbolism. It was this unstructured and fluid energy that would later be channeled into the design and personality of Boy’s Club’s characters. The boundaryless, nonsensical charm of Frank gave the creator a blueprint for building a world where nothing had to make sense and that was the point. “There was something about his form, his vibe, that stuck with me. It was weird, absurd, kind of dreamlike exactly the kind of energy I wanted to bring into my own work.”

Pepe and his crew weren’t modeled after Frank in appearance, but in spirit. Just like Frank, they evolved freely with each drawing, untethered from rules or logic. That visual freedom became central to the Boy’s Club identity weird, mutable, and alive.

“Frank was kind of the prototype. Not in a literal sense, but spiritually. Without Frank, I don’t think Pepe would’ve ever looked the way he does. Frank really lit the match.”