Freewheelin' Franklin Freek

Few characters capture the freewheeling spirit of the underground comix revolution quite like Freewheelin' Franklin Freek, who burst onto the scene in 1969's Feds 'N' Heads Comics, conjured up by the legendary duo of Gilbert Shelton and Lieuen Adkins. A Silver Age creation born outside the mainstream entirely, Franklin has rolled through the countercultural landscape for an astonishing five-plus decades, turning up across The Fabulous Furry Freak Brothers, Rip Off Comix, and even the pages of High Times Magazine — a publishing résumé that tells you everything about the world he inhabits. He shares his anarchic adventures with the likes of Phineas T. Phreak, Phineas T. Freakers, and the notorious Fat Freddy's Cat, rubbing shoulders too with underground icons Wonder Wart-hog and Philbert Desanex. With 63 catalog appearances spanning from the psychedelic late '60s all the way to 2024 — including at least one key collector issue — Franklin is a genuine artifact of comics history, proof that the underground scene produced characters with staying power every bit as remarkable as anything the big publishers put out.