FRANCO’S FREE-FOR-ALL FRIDAYS!
By FRANCO
OK! Back to some fun stuff!
So, Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey is out. I haven’t seen it yet, but I’ve read/heard the story before and I do plan to see it at some point. Anyway, this epic that is bringing people to the theaters is a tale as old as time… well, not ALL time but as far as literature goes, it’s pretty far back there.
It got me thinking about what the comics equivalent would be to The Odyssey. I’m not talking about adaptations, or even that Matt Fraction book ODY-C (which I am now going to have to read because Matt is an amazing writer!). I mean, what would be analogous to that epic, sprawling story?
I thought of a few but the one that keeps crawling back into my head is Jeff Smith’s Bone: an epic journey about trying to find a home (or get back to it). I read this some years ago and then again when my son was of the age where he needed an epic story for bedtimes.
A new piece I did, just for this column
I spoke to Marc Hammond — my partner at Aw Yeah Comics in Harrison, N.Y. — about this as well, and he said that Bone has much more of a cartoony Lord of the Rings feel to it. But I made my argument about it being much closer related to The Odyssey. He eventually agreed saying, “I like that the story progresses, and as the child reading it ages. It becomes a more serious and challenging read without losing any of the humor or heart.”
So what are your thoughts on what would be the best comic equivalent to The Odyssey? Let me know your thoughts.
Either way, this was a good excuse to draw Bone again… and one of those stupid, stupid Rat Creatures!
The piece below I did a few years ago for a Baltimore con sketchbook, along with Zombie Cat and FrankenBug. But for the new piece, I wanted something with a more epic feel and sense of danger. And the colors were fun too!
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Want more FRANCO’S FREE-FOR-ALL FRIDAYS? Come back next week!
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MORE
— The Meaning of the MAN OF TOMORROW — and Giving Thanks During the Hard Times. Click here.
— FRANCO’S BACK — With Some Personal News, and an Inspiring Spirit. Click here.
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Franco and his forehead have traveled the world and he writes and draws stuff. Franco is the creator, artist and writer of Patrick the Wolf Boy and Aw Yeah Comics! Franco has worked on books/comics, including Tiny Titans and Superman Family Adventures. Franco was also a high-school teacher and is one of the principal owners of Aw Yeah Comics retail stores. Dan made Franco add that he has won three Eisners.
His new books, Action Cat & Adventure Bug: Let’s Do This!, with Art Baltazar, and Ninja Kaiju: Unleashed, with Scoot McMahon, both from Papercutz, are out now.
July 24, 2026
If we’re talking about a sprawling yet self-contained story with literary aspirations that has a clearly defined narrative arc and which was built upon an existing mythological structure, my comics equivalent to The Odyssey would be DC: The New Frontier by Darwyn Cooke.