What CO77X Means on GENERAL HOSPITAL

The unveiling of Ava’s portrait on GENERAL HOSPITAL had fans wondering who defaced the painting, but many were also asking what does “CO77X” mean? Well, to explain that, we have to go back to 2009 when the character of Franco Baldwin was just the serial killer Franco played by guest star James Franco…

In November 2009, the graffiti tag “CO77X” began appearing around Port Charles painted by a homeless vagrant who was actually the disturbed artist Franco in disguise. As the tag continued popping up, officer Dante Falconeri found it familiar from his time working with the NYPD and eventually connected it to Franco and discovered that “CO77X” was his booking number when Dante had arrested him years ago for tagging. As Franco terrorized Port Charles, he used the tag as a calling card for his various crimes, apparently seeing it as a tag for his own life. CO=Franco, 77=twins (Jason and Franco), and X=death.

Of course, in 2013, the role of Franco was recast with actor Roger Howarth and he was revealed to be the son of Scotty Baldwin and Heather Webber. His criminal history was then blamed on a brain tumor that was removed from his head and Franco began trying to redeem himself and fit into Port Charles society. However, the “CO77X” tag has continued to show up periodically as Franco is haunted by his murderous past.

Naturally, Franco insisted that he did not deface Ava’s portrait after putting so much work into it. But whoever did trash the painting knew exactly what they were doing, pointing the finger at Franco by using his old tag. Those letters and numbers will haunt Franco to his grave. Stay tuned to see what happens next!