From Russia... with THE SHADOW!

Hello, Pulp Friends,

here’s a look at the latest SHADOW cover. Really enjoyed the Russian theme - it allowed me to play a bit  more on the graphic design/side of making a cover.

Have a wonderful Pulp Sunday, everyone!
Cheers,
FF

THE ROARING SHADOW!!!!

Hello, my Pulp Friends!

Today's offering is the cover for THE SHADOW #17, which should be in stores this month.
We don't get to see much of THE SHADOW on cars or behind the wheel, so needless to say this was ton of fun to draw :)

Hope everyone is having a great PULP SUNDAY!

Cheers,
FF

The Black Beetle Volume 1: No Way Out HC

~~ Click on the cover for a large preview of NO WAY OUT HC Vol.1 ~~

Hello Pulp Friends,

     I am so happy to announce that he first collected edition of the adventures of THE BLACK BEETLE, titled NO WAY OUT, is at the presses as I type. This beautiful HC includes the One-Shot "NIGHT SHIFT" (published as #0) and the 4 issues of NO WAY OUT, plus a rich section of extra material, some never printed/published before. Layouts, sketches, pinup, tons of good stuff. Click on the image above for a sneak peek.

Here's the solicits for the HC. Pre-order now at your local comicshop or at your online shop, AMazon, B&N or any other fine place that has this HC for pre-sale.
Tell your friends, tell your family, pre-order multiple copies: this is really good comic and good fun for cheap money! :D

The Black Beetle Volume 1: No Way Out HC

After witnessing an explosion that decimates the city’s organized crime community, killing dozens, the Black Beetle—Colt City’s sleuthing sentinel—is on the hunt for answers and justice!
Follow Francesco Francavilla’s critically acclaimed pulp hero as he searches island prisons, dank sewers, and swanky nightclubs for the mysterious man known as Labyrinto.
“The Black Beetle #1 is one of the most exhilarating, stunning superhero comics on the stands . . . This miniseries presents a high-stakes mystery realized through Francavilla’s intensely graphic style, full of innovative layouts and spectacular splash pages.”—The Onion’s A.V. Club

“I , FOR ONE, CANNOT WAIT TO GET MORE!” —Comic Book Resources

“The hard-boiled mystery hits the ground running and doesn’t pause to catch its breath.”—Nerdist
TFAW Logo Pre-Order Black Beetle Volume 1: No Way Out HC Now @ TFAW.com
Creators

Writer:    Francesco Francavilla
Artist:    Francesco Francavilla
Cover Artist:    Francesco Francavilla

Genre: Superhero, Crime, Action/Adventure

Publication Date:    October 16, 2013
Format:    FC, 152 Pages; HC, 7" x 10"
Price:    $19.99

Have a wonderful Pulp Sunday, everyone :)

Cheers,
Francesco

THE BLACK BEETLE IN “NECROLOGUE" Coming this October (#1 of 5)

Finally announced!!!
The Black Beetle is coming back this October with a brand new mini that promises to scare! The 5-issue arc is titled NECROLOGUE and will introduce new villains.
Here’s the solicitation text from Dark Horse.

THE BLACK BEETLE ~ NECROLOGUE, #1 of 5
Written and drawn by Francesco Francavilla
Lettering by Nate Piekos of BLAMBOT®
On sale: 10/23/13

Someone’s murdering the citizens of Colt City, and there’s only one man who can stop this killing spree: the Black Beetle!
But as Black Beetle investigates these grisly murders, questions arise about the masked detective: Is he a daring hero or a reckless vigilante? With a past veiled in the shadow of mystery, Black Beetle takes on a dark mission that will keep you screaming in the thrilling new miniseries Necrologue!
-Necrologue will keep you screaming!
-Horror comes to Colt City!
-From the mind of Eisner Award–winning and New York Times best-selling creator Francesco Francavilla!

If you want to know more about NECROLOGUE, here is an interview I did with CBR last week announcing the new mini.
 
At the conclusion of “The Black Beetle: No Way Out" #4, creator Francesco Francavilla included a teaser for the next chapter in the noir-tinged superhero’s adventures: “Necrologue." Now, with the first issue of the next installment due to sweep into comic shops this October from Francavilla and Dark Horse Comics, Comic Book Resources spoke with the Eisner Award winner about the forthcoming miniseries.

The story picks up shortly after the conclusion of the widely acclaimed “No Way Out." The Black Beetle has, it seems, vanquished the villainous Labyrinto — but there’s no rest for the weary. There’s a new menace in store for Colt City, and the supernatural forces hinted at in the pages of “No Way Out" are beginning to reveal themselves. As we spoke, Francavilla touched on his love of the classic Universal Horror films, the importance of expanding The Black Beetle’s world at a slow, sustainable pace and the prospect of some familiar faces returning for his second go-round with the pulp-inspired hero.

Francesco Francavilla: I always knew the Black Beetle had a special chemistry with his audience: I mean, the guy knows how to captivate the readers and keep them hooked for the ride. It happened since the ashcan and the first web mini episodes came out. What I didn’t know was that word of mouth would have spread so quickly and the Beetle’s following would grow so big. I’m definitely feeling really, really good about the awesome response, and a bit more pressured as I work on the next installment — there are many more eyes on this now!

What’s the premise of the upcoming mini? I’m inferring that it is somehow related to the “Intermezzo" sections of the “No Way Out" books, as well as the character Stephano Corallo.

Even [though] we decided — for a number of reasons — to go with the series-of-minis route (successfully experimented with the many Hellboy titles), “Necrologue" will pick up right after “No Way Out." We will definitely see what all those “Intermezzos" were about and what Stephano Corallo’s special skills might be. But that will not be the only thing to make Black Beetle’s life more troublesome. We’ll see also the introduction of a new menace to not just the Beetle himself, but to all of Colt City.

What does "Necrologue" refer to?

"Necrologue" refers to the series of deaths that will mark this second mini. Even though there was quite a series of deaths in the first mini as well, now that I think about it.

We saw, at the conclusion of "No Way Out," Labyrinto stuck inside a burning building. Will we be seeing his return, or the return of any other supporting cast?

Let's just say that will not be the last we hear -- or see -- from Labyrinto and leave it at that for the moment.


Professor Antonia Howard -- seen in "Night Shift" and in the Intermezzos -- will definitely return in a more active role. And probably we will see Coco Club's biggest attraction, Jazz singer Ava, making an appearance as well.

I like to build the Colt City world a bit at a time and get everyone accustomed with its inhabitants. I realized that dropping a whole new "universe" in front of the readers might not be the best way to have them appreciate it and get to know it. With this slow reveal, I believe the readers will get used to Colt City a bit at a time, and will start to get familiar with it. And once you get familiar with it, you care about it. It's a bit like when you move into a new city -- you start from your neighborhood and branch out from there.

"Necrologue" is billed as a "Horror Tale." In crafting a horror-tinged story, what do you look to for inspiration? Is there a singular horror film or story that sparked your love of the genre?

All those classic Universal Horror films had -- and still have -- a huge influence on me, and they definitely inspired the way I set the mood with the chiaroscuro. The Hammer films helped me with the use of the red and blood. Both were gothic, which is the way I like my horror.

One of the goals when I first started working on "The Black Beetle" was to try to tackle all the classic genres that are so dear to my heart. After the more noir-centric action of the first mini, I'm planning to push a little more on the horror pedal for the second one. As usual, my horror is more about setting a mood rather than showing severed limbs.


If everything goes as planned, it's gonna be a scary arc.

"The Black Beetle: Necrologue" debuts in October from Francavilla and Dark Horse

More on ComicBookResources.

Hope you guys put this on your October pull list: it’s gonna be another FUN ride.

Cheers,
FF

THE LONE RANGER ~ Double Feature

Hello Pulp Friends,

With the newest LONE RANGER movie playing in the theaters this weekend (at the moment I type this I haven't seen it yet), I thought it would be good time to share the latest 2 covers for the great series Dynamite is publishing, written by Ande Parks and drawn by Esteve Polls.

Have a wonderful PULP SUNDAY, everyone!

Cheers,
FF

The Black Beetle in "NO WAY OUT" ~ MONDO Edition

~~ Click on the cover for a large preview of NO WAY OUT MONDO Variant Edition ~~

Hello Pulp Friends,

     I am so happy to announce that soon I will have regular, variant and Artist Proof editions of the very first BLACK BEETLE MONDO poster for sale on my webstore (keep an eye on my blogs and on my twitter @f_francavilla for forthcoming updates and more details).

   This huge poster (24"x36") - a nod to the classic serials posters from the '40s - debuted at HeroesCon a couple of weeks ago and it has been the first time MONDO has released a comicbook related poster that is not tied in in a movie (even though we all looking forward to see a Black Beetle movie one day, right? :))

Here's Mondo's Press Release and some detailed close-up shot of the poster courtesy of the Mondo blog.

TITLE: The Black Beetle
ARITST: Francesco Francavilla
SIZE: 24" x 36"
EDITION: 225 (regular), 110 (variant)
PRICE: $55 (regular), $75 (variant)

The Black Beetle is centered on a pulp-noir character and takes place in a fictional universe that's based in Colt City. The character debuted on the pages of Pulp Sunday, Francesco Francavilla's blog devoted to all things pulp, and had a brief life as webcomic before stepping in the print world with an ashcan first, and on the pages of Dark Horse Presents anthology later. Francesco quickly realized that many fans were interested in exploring this world with him, so soon after the short run in DHP, a new 4-issue mini - titled "NO WAY OUT" - was released. The first 2 issues have sold out and have required DH to go back to press for a second printing.

With issue 4 coming out next week and with the first hardcover volume - also titled "NO WAY OUT" - available for pre-orders right now, there is no better time to jump on board of the fantastic adventures of The Black Beetle.

The Black Beetle is a Detective/Vigilante SuperHero – His mission is to fight crime in Colt City. We don't know who he is, not yet anyway. We do know that he has access to some advantaged technology and that he is patrolling the city streets and protecting the citizens the best he can. He is –after all- one man. Colt City is a fictional city set in the late '40s America on the East Coast and has a very "pulp" vibe to the city's depiction and inhabitants.

Commenting on his collaboration with Mondo, Francavilla said, "I've been a huge fan of Mondo for a while, and I've recently become one of their poster artists (which brings me joy all the time), so you can only imagine how happy I was when I heard that they were a big fan of my creation, The Black Beetle. From there it didn't take too long to get to the poster you see here. Hopefully it's just the first of many. Hope you guys enjoy the poster and consider jumping on the books as well: they are what comics should be: 100% entertainment and FUN! Thanks again, Mondo, for making this happen."

Framed Poster - Photo courtesy of Z-ATL

Have a wonderful Pulp Sunday, everyone :)

Cheers,
Francesco

"AFTER-LIFE WITH ARCHIE"

Hello, Pulp Friends,

I can finally let this dead cat out of the coffin! :)
This Fall I will be teaming up with talented powerhouse writer Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa and Archie Comics to bring the HORROR to Riverdale with the new book AFTER LIFE WITH ARCHIE.
Above you can see my cover for the first issue and the variant cover I did last year that inspired this all.
And on L.A. TIMES’ HERO COMPLEX you can learn a bit more about the book and on how it came to be thanks to an interview with Roberto and me.
If you love the classic EC and Creepy stile horror books, you guys are gonna love this, I promise!


Here’s the solicits for #1 and - below - my variant cover for #1.

AFTER LIFE WITH ARCHIE #1
WRITTEN BY: Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa
ART BY: Francesco Francavilla, Jack Morelli
COVER: Francesco Francavilla
PRICE: $2.99
RELEASE: 10/9

NEW ONGOING SERIES! “Escape From Riverdale”—This is how the end of the world begins… Harvey Award-winning writer Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa (Stephen King’s Carrie, Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark) and Eisner-winning artist Francesco Francavilla (Batman, Black Beetle) take Archie and the gang where they’ve never been before—to the grave and back! A horrific accident sets off a series of grim events and Sabrina the Teenage Witch must try to repair the unspeakable evil her spell has unleashed. Gasp in horror as Riverdale faces an impending zombie Arch-pocalypse in this brand-new, spine-tingling ongoing series—but be warned, kiddies, this one’s not for the faint of heart! For TEEN+ readers.

Have a wonderful PULP SUNDAY, everyone!

Cheers,
Francesco