Skeleton Cases & Detective Comics

~ Above: The making of #874 cover - Click on the images for a closer look ~

Hello Friends,

this week has seen the release of Detective Comics #873 with part 3 (and conclusion) of the Black Mirror story, Scott Snyder's and Jock's first critically acclaimed arc on Detective. If you haven't picked up your copy yet, you better do it soon cause they are selling out (once again!)

With the book out, I have read about lots of people wondering what happened to the co-feature, "SKELETON CASES", I was illustrating. Part 3 was supposed to be in 873 but it wasn't, fans noted. Some wondered if the co-feature has been killed because of the new format and reduced price tag of $2.99.
To help to clear some of this confusion, I thought to dedicate this post to SKELETON CASES and what's coming up in Detective.


~ Above: An intense moment between Jim Gordon and his estranged son James Jr. ~

With the new format there was no room for the initially planned co-feature in 873. For that reason we all decided to move pt 3 of Skeleton Cases to #874. So, next issue (out in February), will see the conclusion of SKELETON CASES in the first half of the book, and the second half will have a little Batman tale - featuring guest star Red Robin - that is a bridge between the first and second Snyder-Jock arc.
The whole issue is written by Scott and entirely illustrated by me.


~ Above: Batman and special guest Red Robin study the adversary... ~

And in March we will have Detective #875, (see below) a full issue dedicated to a Jim Gordon story, a "hardcore cold case mystery" that has been haunting him since Jr was a little kid. And speaking of Jr., we will find out more about him in this issue.
This will be written by Scott and - again - illustrated entirely by me.
I read the script and it's a chilling story, so you guys don't want to miss it, trust me :)

Detective #876 in April will see the first part of a 3 issue arc with Jock and David Baron back to art duties: hints of this new arc are in the short story that will be in Detective 874 next month.

I (and Gordon and Jr.) will be back on the pages of Detective after this arc.

And that's it for now: hope you guys have a clearer idea of what's ahead and hope to see you on board for the whole run: Scott is a talented writer and it's making this a hell of a run: Jock, David, and I are all happy to be on board with this and you can tell :)

Hope you enjoy the making of the cover for 874 above and below are the solicits for #874 and #875.

Have a wonderful Sunday, everyone :)

Cheers,
Francesco

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

Gordon faces James Jr. in the conclusion of the 3-part SKELETON CASES arc. Meanwhile Batman - and guest star Red Robin - gets a little taste of a new menace for Gotham City while still dealing with the after effects of the Black Mirror arc!

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

DETECTIVE COMICS #875
Written by SCOTT SNYDER
Art and cover by FRANCESCO FRANCAVILLA

~~ Click on the image for biggie ~~

“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 March 30 • 32 pg, FC, $2.99 US

Artwork © 2011 Francesco Francavilla

E.T.

(click on the above image for the poster view)

They were playing the E.T. Soundtrack on PANDORA so I HAD to draw a quick sketch of the little guy.
All done from memory (haven't seen the movie in more than 10 ys, if not 20) so please forgive me if it's not on model.
Hope you dig it :)

Cheers,
Francesco

Artwork © 2010 Francesco Francavilla.

Black Panther TMWF #514 Preview

~~ Click on the above and below images for the preview ~~

Hello guys,

Black Panther TMWF #514 is coming out tomorrow! The first issue of my and David's run has been so well received by fans and critics so I can't wait to hear from you all on this second issue.
Click on the above image for a 9 pages preview plus cover. Hope you like what you see here and hope you pick up the book this coming Wed :)

Here's MARVEL solicts for it:

Luke Cage guest stars as T'Challa's new adventure in NYC continues!

The former King of Wakanda has sworn to protect the mean streets of Hell's Kitchen, and while battling the mob is one thing, how does he stop a killer targeting innocent people?

It's a deadly game of cat-and-mouse, as T'Challa hunts ruthless new crime lord Vlad the Impaler, while Vlad concocts a desperate and bloody scheme to entrap the mysterious new vigilante that's ruining his plans.

T'Challa learns what it really means to be a man without fear.

Story by David Liss
Art by Francesco Francavilla
Cover by Simone Bianchi, Simone Peruzzi

Price: $2.99


Cheers,
Francesco

Artwork © 2011 Francesco Francavilla.
All Characters ™ and © 2010 Marvel Characters, Inc. All rights reserved.

Happy New Year! (with sneak peeks!)

~~ Click on the image for biggie ~~

Hello Friends,

I wanted to wish you all a Happy New Year! Hope it will be a helathy a good one for you all and your families :)

2011 looks like is gonna be another busy year for me (which is always a good thing, yes? ;)) so here's a little peek at what's coming in the first half of it. Hope you guys tune in all along and will enjoy most of it :)

Cheers,
Francesco

Artwork © 2010 Francesco Francavilla

Bat-Flamethrower!

(click on the above image for the poster view)

This "lunch break quickie" was inspired by a brief exchange I had with (American Vampire and Detective Comics writer) Scott Snyder and Bat editor Mike Marts on Twitter - and clearly inspired by the current situtaion in the North East of the US (heck, we even had snow here in Atlanta and it's still kinda white landscape around here).

So,I give you Batman about to free the Batmobile from the snow with his flamethrower ;)
And pls don't forget to pickup Detective #872 tomorrow out in stores (it also includes the second part of SKELETON CASES, the Commissioner Gordon co-feature written by Scott and drawn by me):)

Cheers,
Francesco

Artwork © 2010 Francesco Francavilla.

Black Panther TMWF #513 Preview

~~ Click on the above and below images for the preview ~~

Hello guys,

hope y'all will allow me one more post about this book: I know I have been pimping it quite a bit, but this and Detective have been such wonderful books to work on (and am still working on them) that I really want them to be read by as many people as possible.
Click on the above image to give an overall look at 10 pages plus the 2 covers. Hope you like what you see here and hope you pick up the book this coming Wed :)

Cheers,
Francesco

Artwork © 2010 Francesco Francavilla.
All Characters ™ and © 2010 Marvel Characters, Inc. All rights reserved.

THE MAN WITHOUT FEAR

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

Hello guys,

We are only 7 days away from the release of the first issue of Black Panther as the New Man Without Fear, also known as the issue where I and Award winning writer David Liss will take over the title for quite some time.
And what better time to finally reveal the missing piece of that puzzle of teaser images I did months ago for Who Is The Next Man Without Fear. Of course the missing piece was DareDevil, who will be missing from his own book while Black Panther takes over after the dramatic events of Shadowland.
Below you can see how all the pieces fit together.

Hope you guys dig it and I really hope you guys pick up Black Panther MWF #513 next week: we have put quite some love in this book - you will see :)

Cheers,
Francesco

Artwork © 2010 Francesco Francavilla.
All Characters ™ and © 2010 Marvel Characters, Inc. All rights reserved.


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

Black Panther Book of the Month (Wizard)

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

"FROGS"

(click on the above image for the poster view)

This is my contribution to the "Monsters & Dames" Charity Artbook 2011 the fine folks put out every year for ECCC.
This year show (2010 edition) was too fun and I loved Seattle and all it's people so I am very happy that I will be attending the EMERALD CITY COMIC CON as a guest again in 2011 - really looking forward to it :)

In other news, Detective Comics #871 (the issue where I started the Commissioner Gordon co-feature) has officially sold out and it's going back to print! YAY!
Thank you everyone for the support and for the love you have shown for this book, I really appreciate it :)

Cheers,
Francesco

CyGirl & Artwork © 2010 Francesco Francavilla.

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

IT

(click on the above image for the cinemascope view)

Been talking about Stephen King on Twitter today, and IT was one of the topic. I read the book (gosh) like 20 years ago, but I felt inspired to do a little quick tribute ;)

Cheers,
Francesco

28 Days Later

(click on the above image for the cinemascope view)

"28 Days Later" soundtrack (by the excellent John Murphy) is playing in a loop the whole day, so... ;)

Cheers,
Francesco

Masks of Fear: "Terror Train" (1980)

(click on the above image for the larger view)

"TERROR TRAIN" was on TV, so... ;)

Cheers,
Francesco

The pencil sketch done while watching the movie.


(click on the above image for the larger view)

Multitasking

(click on the above image for the larger view)

A litle sketch to visualize how my day went and inspired by a comment on Twitter (thanks, Chris ;))
I gotta say i did more cleaning than arting :P

Cheers,
Francesco

GARRISON - The Conclusion! (plus Concept Art)

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

Hello guys,

issue 6 of GARRISON is out today and it's the explosive conclusion of this rollercoaster thrilling fun :)
To celebrate I thought to share some concept art I did for the F83 Whisperfighter (airplanes featured in this issue and invented by mastermind Jeff Mariotte) , as you can see above :)
And below is an unused cover art which still is enough cool looking to share I think ;)

A big THANKS to all of you who supported this book by buying it and a huge thanks to the WildStorm folks who have been fantastic to work with on this mini: I am gonna miss them greatly.
I raise my glass in a toast to all of you.

CHeers,
Francesco



Here's WildStorm solicitation for the issue:
GARRISON #6 (of 6)
Written by JEFF MARIOTTE • Art and cover by FRANCESCO FRANCAVILLA
This is it! The slam-bang conclusion to the action epic of the year! Garrison and Jillian are trapped in a small town, and after they're finished with it, it will never be the same! Neither will the hundreds of soldiers out to get Garrison. And neither will Garrison himself – if he can even survive!
DOWNLOAD 5 PAGES PREVIEW HERE!

* Wildstorm Universe
* 32pg.
* Color
* $2.99 US

Artwork © 2010 Francesco Francavilla. GARRISON © 2010 Jeff Mariotte & Francesco Francavilla

M'Baku!

(click on the above image for the larger poster view)

A litle sketch of M'Baku (which has nothing to do with my upcoming run on Black Panther) I did for fun some time ago and I can finally post now that the news is out :)

Hope you guys dig it :)

Cheers,
Francesco

DR WHO

(click on the above image for the larger poster view)

A Dr Who illo I did whie in Italy for last week's Twart.
Check here for the colored version and stay tuned for some great news coming tomorrow :)

Cheers,
Francesco

The Way Out...

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

More sneak peek at issue 5 of GARRISON - out tomorrow - and one more sample of Jeff Mariotte's magic skills: the whole exchange between Lester and Jillian in this sequence (on these 2 pages and on the next ones) is one of my favorite things of this whole run :)

Cheers,
Francesco

Artwork © 2010 Francesco Francavilla. GARRISON © 2010 Jeff Mariotte & Francesco Francavilla

"...This Isn't Personal"

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

Well, it actually is, despite Agent Bracewell's line ;)

issue 5 of GARRISON will be out this week and is the penultimate issue of this co-creator mini of mine: hence the "personal" thing above :)
I hope you guys have been reading this becuase the last 2 issues are gonna be even more fun to enjoy. In this specific issue there are a couple of the best sequences I have drawn for the whole mini, and some of the favorite moments of the story. Tune in tomorrow for more :)

Cheers,
Francesco

Artwork © 2010 Francesco Francavilla. GARRISON © 2010 Jeff Mariotte & Francesco Francavilla

Detective Work Pt.1

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

Hi guys,

Here's some more samples I did for Detective.
Some good old detective surveillance :)
Hope you guys dig it.

Cheers,
Francesco

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