Black Panther Book of the Month!

Hi guys,

while I am still happy for all the praise that my run on Detective (with those talented Snyder and Jock fellas) is getting, I found out today that in the new Wizard Magazine (now on the shelves) my other BIG-TWO debut book with writer David Liss, Black Panther Man Without Fear #513, has been picked as "BOOK OF THE MONTH" in the PULL LIST section of the magazine by the Wizard staff.
The book will be in stores on December 15th - mark your calendars!
If you have been enjoying my noirish art on Commissioner Gordon, well you are gonna get 23 pages of down to the street noir/pulp action in here too :)
Will share some preview when we get closer to the release.

Cheers,
Francesco

All images © 2010 Francesco Francavilla.
Black Panther ™ and © 2010 Marvel Entertainment

Everyone Loves Detective

(click on the above image for a bigger reading experience ;))

Hi guys,

Detective Comics #871 (with the brand new team of Scott Snyder on the story, and Jock, David Baron, and me on art chores, all under the great supervision of editors Mike Marts and Janelle Siegel) come out last week and since then reviews are poring in and the verdict seems to be the same: Detective is the Bat book you must buy :D
Check these reviews out :) (click on links to read the reviews)

iFanboy: 5 out of 5!

TECHLAND: I like the new look of Detective a lot--two schools of European cartooning in just one book!

CBR

Crave OnLine: t’s hard to read Detective Comics #871 and not feel like a new era is upon us. With only one issue, Snyder and the team of artists have established a very new take on Dick Grayson, Jim Gordon, and their relationship with Gotham City. If you don’t love absolutely everything the new Detective Comics, there’s something fundamentally wrong with the way you view art.

Newsarama Best Shots Extra

Multiversity Comics: I can't say enough about this book. From top to bottom, from the writing to the art to the editing to everything else, this book is simply one of the best big two superhero books of the year. 9.8

The Outhousers

Read/Rant: A-

Comics And... : Overall Grade A + - If you aren’t reading this book you are missing what could become a classic.

Paradox Comics Group: the Vertigo sophistication and sensibility being applied to the DC Universe [..] 8/10

Comic Attack!: I highly recommend it!

The Weekly Crisis: Must Read. You are going to want to be in on the ground floor for what’s going to be a great year for Batman. this reads like Dashiell Hammett’s take on the character and the city.

Weekly Comic Book Review: Snyder “get’s it” and is writing a uniquely Dick Grayson detective story. Jock and Francavilla are delivering awesome art. Must read! A-

Gotham Knights Online: Jock and Francesco’s artwork matches Snyders writing perfectly and [..] puts Detective Comics at the top of the pile for Batman titles currently out there. 5/5

Heroes Online: Atmospheric and intelligent, an excellent start for this title’s new direction.

There is plenty more reviews posted in the last days and more coming out this week, but you get the idea... :)
Thanks everyone for the support: I, Scott, Jock, David, Mike, Janelle, and all the DC COmics gang really appreciate all the bat-love you guys are throwing our way :)

Cheers,
Francesco

All images © 2010 Francesco Francavilla.
Detective Comics ™ and © 2010 DC Comics

The Making of Detective Comics #874 Cover

~~ Click on the image for biggie ~~

Hello Pulp Friends,

As promised, here is the "making of DC #874 Cover" with a little commentary to go with I prepared for the official DC Universe blog (thanks to Alex Segura for always doing such a great job in updating all the DC fans about current and upcoming books :))

"This is the cover of the first full feature dedicated to Commissioner Gordon you will see during 2011 on Detective Comics. That’s right, the back-up features will disappear after #873 to become full feature every 3-4 issue of Jock’s Batman feature. In Scott’s master plan, the Commissioner Gordon story is strictly correlated to what happens in the Batman story, so we thought this was the best way to get the two storylines run to parallel while still adapting to the new 20 pages format.

As always I try to do, I wanted this cover to reflect a bit the story inside issue 874, so I asked Scott for a brief synopsis and for what he would like to see on the cover. Once acquired that info, I produced the 2 layouts you see here. Everyone at DC loved the first concept (which was my favorite too) but we wanted to make sure there was some of the elements of the second concept too (the search in the woods). So I added some foliage to the insert image with the doll and voila’, you got the cover you saw yesterday.

Little trivia: the eye missing from the doll and ending up as something the kid is toying with was something I came up while working on the final inks (concept and pencils had the doll with both eyes - as you can see from the image below - and the kid just playing with a stick)

Hope you guys enjoy it and don’t forget to pick up Detective #871 at the end of November"


~~ Click on the image for biggie ~~

Hope you all had a wonderful Pulp Sunday and pls don't forget to pickup Detective #871 on the 24th of this month :)

CHeers,
Francesco

Artwork © 2010 Francesco Francavilla

Detective Comics #874 Cover

~~ Click on the image for biggie ~~

Hello Pulp Friends,

Cover Week continues with DETECTIVE COMICS #874 cover.
Tune in tomorrow for a "making of DC #874 Cover" look and some extra content about my work on Detective :)
Meanwhile here's the solicits for 874 (as they will appear in December Previews for Feb release) and don't miss the first issue of the new Detective arc (#871) by Scott Snyder, Jock & David Baron on the feature, and me on the Commissioner Gordon co-feature, on sale on Nov 24th, only 2 weeks from now :)

DETECTIVE COMICS #874
Written by SCOTT SNYDER
Art and cover by FRANCESCO FRANCAVILLA

“There are some cases that come screaming back at you…like phone calls in the night…”
For years, Jim Gordon has been haunted by the unsolved case of Gotham’s notorious
“Peter Pan Killer.” Now, armed with new evidence, Gordon is determined to put the case to rest.
But as he digs deeper, he’ll unearth a shocking discovery about his own past – a revelation that will shake him to the core. Skeletons will be exposed and secrets revealed in this special issue featuring art by Francesco Francavilla!

On sale FEBRUARY 23 • 32 pg, FC, $2.99 US

Cheers,
Francesco

Artwork © 2010 Francesco Francavilla

Skeleton Cases

~~ Click on the above and below images for a bigger view ~~

Hello Pulp Friends,

with great excitement I can finally reveal that I will be part of the new Detective Comics creative team, along with talented writer Scott "American Vampire" Snyder, talented artist Jock (of Losers fame and phenomenal cover artist of one of my fave book, SCALPED), talented colorist David Baron, and super editor Mike Marts and assistant editor Janelle Siegel.
I will be drawing the co-feature focusing on Commissioner Gordon and a mysterious but dangerous figure from his past. It's gonna be a thrilling arc!

Couldn't be more excited about this.

Here's a link tot he DC annoucement and below is a shot Gordon story I did for the occasion :)

Book is slated for November relase: will make sure to give more details as we get closer :)

Cheers,
Francesco

Artwork © 2010 Francesco Francavilla.
Detective Comics ™ and © 2010 DC Comics. All rights reserved.

GARRISON is here!!!

(click on the above image for larger view)

Hello Pulp friends :)

the first issue of my new co-creator owned Wildstorm mini is finally out: the adventure begins!
Hope you guys give this book a chance and I hope you will like what you'll see so to come back for issue 2 and the next issue (total of 6 issues, not that many ;))
To celebrate the release, here's page 1 of issue 2 (no spoilers included ;)) in its ink stage before it got to colors and letters. (below)

Cheers,
Francesco

All images © 2010 Francesco Francavilla.
GARRISON created by, ™ and © 2010 Jeff Mariotte & Francesco Francavilla & DC Comics


(click on the above image for larger view)

Sarge Steel!

(click on the above image for larger view)

In loving memory of the late Dick Giordano, who passed away last week: I like to think he is keeping drawing in company of Kirby and Toth and all the other great masters up there.
Thanks for everything you have given to us, Dick.

Cheers to you,
Francesco

Artwork © 2010 Francesco Francavilla

GARRISON is Coming!

(click on the above image for larger view)

Hello Pulp friends :)

with issue 3 being solicited in April Previews (you can see cover & solicitation also on the Wildstorm website), I thought to put together another little teaser (using actual panels from issue 3) of my new creator owned mini GARRISON coming out next month.
Even if fully packed with action (Jeff Mariotte had me drawing more action in these 6 issues than I have drawn in all my other books ;)) and set in a slightly near future (a few years from now), the story has all the pulpy noirish qualities we love so much: a hero with a mysterious past, femme fatales and femmes with guns, spies, and murders!
Hope you guys check the mini out and help me spread the word: this is gonna be a fun ride, I promise you.
And it's all done (I finished the mini in 2009) so you know you will get your fix monthly without interruptions :) You can't beat that! ;)

Cheers,
Francesco

All images © 2010 Francesco Francavilla.
GARRISON created by, ™ and © 2010 Jeff Mariotte & Francesco Francavilla & DC Comics

(click on the below image for larger view)

Enemy Ace

Click on the above and below illo for LARGER views.

Hello Pulp Friends,

To keep it in the WWII theme, here's a pinup I just finished for a retrospective dedicated to Garth Ennis (in this case: Enemy Ace War in Heaven) during the upcoming Napoli Comicon, Naples, Italy.

Geez how much love drawing this kinda stuff :D

Below the B/W inks, which turned out almost with a Toppi vibe to them, and a sepia/greyscale old-looking version.
Hope you guys enjoy :)

Cheers and stay warm,
Francesco




Artwork © 2010 Francesco Francavilla

J.A.K.E. II Reporting for Duty

Click on the above and below illo for LARGER views.

Hello Pulp Friends,

Some more Pulp fun done for the Comic Twart jam.
Of course, being the Pulp afecionado I am, I couldn't be more happy with such choices. And I am hoping such joy breathes through this week's illo.
I am posting her eon Pulp Sunday also the intial rough sketch, the inks, and a detail of the final rendition.

Now if only I could work on a full mini showcasing GI Robot and set in a (of course Weird) World War II action, I would be (can you believe it?) even happier :D

Cheers,
Francesco





Artwork © 2010 Francesco Francavilla

Good, Bad, & Ugly Hex

Hello, Pulp Friends,

After the galactic advetures of yesterday, we time travel in the old west with a well known ugly mug: Jonah Hex.
I did this sketch while sitting at my table at Dragon*Con and I ended up trading it with another Hex sketch with Hex writer himslef, Mr Jimmy Palmiotti: thanks, Jimmy :)
Stay tuned for more old west in the next days ;)

Cheers,
Francesco

Artwork © 2009 Francesco Francavilla.

Let the action begin!

Hello Pulp friends :)

I know this is not "PULP" in the traditional way but it's definitely gonna be PULP in its themes (babes, bullets, and lots of bad guys). Plus this is what I have been working on in the last few months (the mini is almost completed - working on the last issue), so I hope you all will forgive me if I pimp it a little in here.

The big news is that there is finally (and officially) a preview of the GARRISON covers and artwork over at the Wildstorm Blog.
The great news is that I will be doing some signings at the WS booth during SDCC in a couple of weeks, and we will be giving away big size postcards with the above teaser poster I just did for teasing about the upcoming mini.
So, if you plan to attend SD, make sure to stop by and say hi (and for those who can't, I am going to save a few postcards ;))

Now head to the WS blog and lemme know what you think of GARRISON :)

Have a great 4th July everyone :)

Cheers,
Francesco

All images © 2009 Francesco Francavilla.
GARRISON created by, ™ and © 2009 Jeff Mariotte & Francesco Francavilla - © 2009 Wildstorm - DC Comics

GARRISON

So, the news is finally out, even if was half hidden in a small blurb (about the recent Phoenix Con) on the Newsarama blog.
I can finally reveal what I have been working on since beginning of the new year (and still working on it as I type this): it's GARRISON, a creator-owned 6 issue mini from Jeff Mariotte and me that will published by Wildstorm pretty soon (I hope ;)).
The pitch? In Jeff's words: "It's a near-future action epic about the most dangerous man in the world, Lester Garrison, who happens to look like someone you'd find at the tractor pull on Friday night."

Jeff is not kidding when talking about action: I think it's the most action packed book I have drawn to date (and my past books had lots of action in them anyway), plus other cool, noirish, and hi-tech elements related to a colossal manhunt.
This book is anything but boring, I can promise you that :)

I can't show any of the artowrk yet, not until we get the ok to show by DC Comics, but you can trust me when I say this is gonna be a really fun ride :)

Cheers,
Francesco

Click on the teaser image above for the colored, bigger version.

Scalped Blues

Hello Pulp friends,

As you guessed, I am working on SCALPED and decided to do another promo image which contains a few elements of this issue, but without spoiling anything, I hope ;)
And that's exactly the reason why I am not adding anything more to this post and I leave you with the image :)

Click on the above sepia image for the color version.

Cheers,
Francesco

100 Pulps!

Hello Pulp friends,

I hope everyone had a great holiday season and wish you all a wonderful and successful 2009 :)
I wanted to celebrate my 100th post with a strip but work got in the way (even if I haven't abandoned the strip) so I thought what better than the Shadow to celebrate a blog that was inspired by those radio shows?
The above is a commission I recently did for our own friend Ilia: he asked for some action and I gave him a big chase in Little China :) Hope it was worth the wait, Ilia.
I wanted also to beef up this post with a great news: I was lucky enough to be invited to illustrate an issue of Scalped (#27), the critically acclaimed series created by Jason Aaron and R.M.Guera and published by DC Vertigo. I have been fan of this series since day one so you can imagine how excited I am to draw one of the stories written by Jason. For those of you who are not familiar with this title, it's one of the top noir, gritty book out there (the other being Criminal by Brubaker and Phillips). I greatly suggest to hunt down the trades if you guys haven't got on this book already.
I'll make sure to post some preview pages when I can, but right now I hope you enjoy the promo art below.

Cheers to you all and cheers to more Pulp in 2009!
Francesco

Click on the sepia image for the color version with pre-order info.

Pulp Spotlight: The Sandman

Hello Pulp Friends,

Here's another character I wouldn't mind to draw an arc or two ;)

Attired in a green business suit, fedora, and gas mask, the Sandman used a gun emitting a sleeping gas to sedate criminals. He was originally one of the mystery men to appear in comic books and other types of adventure fiction in the 1930s but later developed into a more proper superhero, acquiring sidekick Sandy, and joining the Justice Society of America.

Cheers,
Francesco

Once again, click on the image for a bigger and colored version.