Posted By Dan Greenfield on Jul 10, 2026 | 7 comments

FRANCO’S FREE-FOR-ALL FRIDAYS returns from hiatus…

By FRANCO

Hi there! I’m excited for you to be here and so glad that you came back. Welcome back. For you and me. Me? Yeah. I’ve been gone for a little bit. You may have noticed.

I’m a bit tired. I’ve had to scale back on a few things. Hoping to pick things back up as I’m able to. Had to leave this column for a bit. I had to put some other work things off as well. Mostly travel stuff. I’ll be missing San Diego Comic-Con for the first time in many, many years. (I’m going to say conservatively 18 years — though it could be more. I’m bad at the math and spatial distance thing). It’s sad. Mainly because of all the friends and fans I can connect with, but also because it’s a source of work. I’ve had many projects over the years come from that place.

Why am I not going? Mostly family stuff. My mother has dementia. Horrible disease. She’s been battling that for a few years but really became an issue we all had to deal with over the last year. She is a shell of the former person she used to be. There are glimpses of her occasionally but not the person she once was. This has taken up a huge swath of my time. I owe a lot of the love I have for comics because of my parents. Even though they couldn’t read, they always encouraged me to do so. Comics was one of those ways and it sparked a love for them that still holds sway over me today.

I spend a lot of time sitting by my mother’s side drawing. It’s easiest with my iPad. I can leave it and pick it up easily. So the creativeness still burns within. And it’s always been a sort of therapy for me.

The other thing is cancer. Cancer sucks. Full disclosure, I’m not sure I have prostate cancer. I need a biopsy that comes around the time (shortly after) San Diego would happen to let me know for sure. I’m hoping I don’t have it. The tests and appointments leading up to finding out also suck. Big time. The waiting is difficult. But through it all I make art. Or I write (which proves a bit more difficult) and those are things I love, and again, a form of therapy.

Coming soon!

I have wonderful family and friends that surround me. I feel like one of the luckiest guys on the planet. As I get to the new normal in my life, I’m learning that as I get older I adapt to the new things that pop up but try to hold onto the things I’ve always loved. Comics are definitely one of those things. I love making them, reading them, heck I even own a couple comic stores — Aw Yeah Comics. Comics is something that drives me every day. I live to get lost in the stories on paper. I love diving into new comics to see what others have done or what some of my favorite artists are up to.

Making comics has been a steady stream of evenness for me. I hope to show you some of what I’ve been working on soon. I currently have a Kickstarter running right now with Jason May called Extra Terrestrials (go check it out) and have been planning more (watch for Skelly & Ghost soon) in what I’ve been calling my “Kickstarter laboratory phase,” where I’ve been experimenting with different ideas. Really excited to bring these to you at some point.

In all, I’m a lucky guy to get to do what I do and I hope to keep doing it for a long time. I hope you’ll keep coming to check out some of it out. And I hope to see you here next week, and the weeks that follow so we can discuss more things about writing, artwork, and the comics we all love.

You’re awesome!

Peace,

Franco

I chose this image by Franco to accompany this column because if there’s a character that exemplifies the can-do spirit, it’s Mister Miracle. — Dan

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Want more FRANCO’S FREE-FOR-ALL FRIDAYS? Come back next week!

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MORE

— SUPERGIRL and the CRISIS ON TINY INFINITE EARTHS. Click here.

— BATMAN AND ROBIN ON THE ROOFTOP — Inspired by PICASSO and WARHOL. 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.