He took a keen interest in comics during his adolescent years while enjoying the works of Russ Manning, Gene Colan, Neal Adams, and Dick Giordano.

At the end of 1975, Francis discovered advertising illustration and photography during his time at Pace University and soon gained employment in the newsroom of a local Brooklyn newspaper.

In 1984, another fateful encounter during a speech given at a Graphic Artists Guild seminar led to an offer to work with the Late Night with David Letterman show on NBC.

He was soon tapped to work with Joe Giella and Bob Lappan on a series of activity books in the under-served children's market as well as the Superman Sunday comic strips.

1986 was another influential year when a chance meeting with Steve Shanes, the publisher of Blackthorne comics led to an offer he couldn't refuse.

During the height of the black-and-white comic book explosion, Francis collaborated with writer Mark Wayne Harris on the critically acclaimed limited series Street Wolf.

The other project, Major Lancer and the Starlight Squadron, was a holdover from a proposed comic strip he created during high school.

From the end of 1988 to the middle of 1989 a series of unfortunate events brought his association to a close with Blackthorne Publishing as the comic book market finally burst its ever-growing bubble.

The Blackthorne color line retreated back into the imagination of its creators but comic book legend Neal Adams once again made him an offer he couldn't refuse.