'Deadpool' artist gives back to his Pa. schools

YORK, Pa. — Deadpool has grossed more than $760 million at the box office since its release in February, winning a new legion of fans for its bad-boy superhero.

Fans of the Marvel comic book series on which the movie is based had eagerly awaited the premiere for months.

But Mike Hawthorne, the York man who draws the popular comic book, admits he practically had to be dragged to see the movie by his friend Bill Wahl, one of the owners of Comix Connection.

"He made me go because I'm notorious for not leaving the studio," said Hawthorne, whose workspace is a room on the second floor of the home he shares with his wife, Despina, and their children — daughters Sophia, 15, and Maria, 12, and son Michael, 10.

Watch Ryan Reynolds get a 'Deadpool' makeover in exclusive clip

The movie stars Ryan Reynolds as the wise-cracking Wade Wilson, a not-so-nice guy seeking to exact revenge on the man who disfigured him. It's among the latest in a series of movies that are bringing new attention to comic books, once the province of teenagers and geeky adults.

Hawthorne, who has drawn Deadpool since 2013, enjoyed the movie, but says it's not something he'd let his 15-year-old watch because of the off-color language and violence.

"It was very close to the comic," he said. "The director had definitely read the series."

The movie has exposed a much larger audience to the Deadpool comic book series, but it hasn't changed life for Hawthorne, a 1993 graduate of William Penn Senior High School.

"It's not like we're rich or anything," he said.

Still, there's no doubt Hawthorne has come a long way from his William Penn days when he self-published a comic book with a couple of his friends. He sold it out of his backpack to other kids in school, said Joan Inman, Hawthorne's ninth-grade art teacher.

Hawthorne was bright, a good student, and driven to succeed, Inman recalled. He was also a talented artist who rarely stopped working on his art.

"He always had a sketchbook," Inman said. "He filled them up constantly."

Hawthorne and his wife met as juniors at William Penn. She remembers that he drew constantly. When Hawthorne would visit her at the restaurant where she worked, he'd use up all the business cards, filling the backs with art for her.

Exclusive: 'Deadpool' parody commercial gets an extended edition

"He was always drawing, always," Despina said.

Hawthorne, now 40, was raised in a single-parent household with little money for luxuries like sketchbooks.

That's one reason Hawthorne teamed up with Story Supply Co. to draw the first covers for a line of artists' sketchbooks. The company will donate one sketchbook to students at William Penn and other York city schools for each two-pack of sketchbooks sold.

It's a cause that's close to Hawthorne's heart. Being handed a fresh sketchbook by one of his teachers at William Penn "was a huge thing for me," he remembered.

The front and back cover of one book features Hawthorne's drawing of a fictional war between the Giants and the Shield Maidens. The cover of the second sketchbook depicts the peace between the two groups.

Story Supply Co. printed 5,000 sketchbooks. The company has already received orders for more than 100 since the books went on pre-sale on May 20, said Vito Grippi, one of Story Supply Co.'s two founders.

"The reception's been insane," he said.

A talented kid

Nelson Dodson, one of Hawthorne's art teachers at Wiliam Penn, remembers Hawthorne as a kid who had the drive and talent to make it as a professional artist.

The problem was a lack of money.

Hawthorne earned a scholarship to the prestigious Governor's School for the Arts but planned to turn it down because he had no way of getting to Mercyhurst College in Erie, where the program would be held that summer.

Dodson, who kept Hawthorne stocked with sketchpads, drove Hawthorne there.

Ryan Reynolds beautifully honors late 'Deadpool' fan who battled cancer

"My wife and I said, 'This is crazy,'" said Dodson, the father of movie producer Neal Dodson. "He's so talented. He needs to go."

Dodson later helped Hawthorne get into Tyler School of Art at Temple University, from which Hawthorne graduated in 1998.

A year after graduating from Tyler, Hawthorne self-published a comic book called Hysteria.  A "cyber-punk story" set in a fictional Puerto Rico, it didn't find an audience.

"It was a huge failure," Hawthorne said. "I lost every dime."

A style all his own

Hawthorne kept at it.

He honed his craft, working on different comic book series. He designed ads for the Philadelphia 76ers basketball team. He designed placemats for Wendy's and illustrated a children's comic book for Chick-fil-A.

These days, Hawthorne is a big deal in the comic book world.

"He has his own style," said Wahl, an owner of Comix Connection and Hawthorne's friend. "It's very dynamic. His stuff is very kinetic, very action-oriented."

CinemaCon: Ryan Reynolds to roll with 'Deadpool 2'

"He's incredibly talented," Wahl said. "It's cool that the rest of the world is seeing that."

Still, Hawthorne won't let his kids read Deadpool because of the violence and salty language.

"He's a terrible, terrible person," Hawthorne said. "He's a mercenary. He doesn't mind killing people. He doesn't mind maiming people. He doesn't mind killing and maiming people."

How to get the sketchbooks

Cost: $14 for a two-pack of sketchbooks. $50 for a two-pack with a random sketch by Hawthorne on the first page of one book. $100 for a two-pack with a personalized sketch by Hawthorne on the first page of one book. For each two-pack ordered, Story Supply will order one sketchbook to a York city public school.

Order: Online from Story Supply Co. at www.storysupplyco.com

Estimated shipping: July

Follow Gary Haber on Twitter: @GaryMHaber