Posted in: Comics | Tagged: Comics, dark horse, francavilla, francesco, hannah nears shannon, hellboy

Francesco Francavilla Wishes Hellboy A Very Happy Birthday

Published Sun, 28 Jul 2013 08:20:55 -0500

Last updated Sun, 28 Jul 2013 08:23:35 -0500

By Hannah Means-Shannon

Pulp noir master Francesco Francavilla regularly bestows copious fresh off the desk artwork on Twitter via his Tumblr account, often producing Doctor Who posters the same night as an episode airs and that generates a certain frisson, a sense that anything could happen in his artwork, and yet when he's done, something iconic has been created. Tracking that process keeps fans aware of Francavilla's own unabashed fandom and the multi-media sources he draws on for his inspiration. He's a proponent of the tribute week, and has done a "Hellboy week" before on his Tumblr, but this week was extra special for him since it coincided with Hellboy's own 20^th birthday. Hellboy's birthday is a little understated in the media, since his official celebration will be marked by Dark Horse in Spring of 2014, but for accuracy's sake, some fans, and even Mike Mignola himself at San Diego Comic Con, are reminding us all that it was 20 years ago this week that "Big Red" as Francavilla calls him, first appeared in a story in Dark Horse's San Diego Comic Con Comics #2 (dated August 1993).

So Francavilla added some more spirited flavor to this week's celebration of Hellboy, firstly by including extra artwork and a little behind the scenes explanation of some of his more well known Hellboy art, several pieces of which were inked over Mike Mignola's own pencils. He concluded his tribute week with a piece from the artistic heart, an original image in which he graced the demon with a heart of gold with the logo of his most beloved current project, The Black Beetle, also a Dark Horse series. The full-color poster places Hellboy in a heroic pose, viewed from below, with his signature cigar lit with a kind of mini-halo's intensity. An inscrutable expression, braced for the oncoming storm no doubt, suggests portraiture art for great leaders or even statuary commemorating their service. The fact that he wears the Black Beetle logo in red makes for an interesting contrast.

We could go too far by reading in the fact that Dark Horse Comics has been substantially supported by Hellboy's example and popularity over the past two decades, and that splendid work like Francavilla's Black Beetle might not have a home if it were not for the powerful mythology and universe that have grown up around Mignola's Hellboy character. He's a leader both within the comics themselves and in the field of genre comics. Francavilla admits his fandom here, and the ascension of an icon to a historic figure, too. When professionals celebrate the birthday of a hero, it's bound to be quite a show.

Other artwork Francavilla posted this week included his variant cover for Hellboy: The Fury #1 with extra art on July 22nd, one of his earliest Hellboy works, "The Eye Monster" with extra art on July 23^rd, "Hellboy and the Dead Man's Curse" on the 24^th of July, "Crap" pinup art on July 25^th, and "Gotham 1832" with extra art on July 26^th. It makes a fine retrospective, as substantial as any that you might find in a physical, rather than virtual gallery, so take a tour if you want to light up a cigar in commemoration of "Big Red".

Hannah Means-Shannon writes and blogs about comics for TRIP CITY and Sequart.org and is currently working on books about Neil Gaiman and Alan Moore for Sequart. She is @hannahmenzies on Twitter and hannahmenziesblog on WordPress. Find her bio here.

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