Acclaimed painter Thomas Woodruff''s first graphic novel is a a tour de force of words and images in harmony. Francis Rothbart follows a fastidious feral child who is raised by magpies and other creatures and is repeatedly struck by lightning. As a consequence of the phenomena, the child develops eccentric talents, which he then abuses - leading to his ultimate destruction by the same natural world that once nurtured him. In a muted palette, Woodruff''s carbon and white charcoal pencil drawings bring us ever closer to this mythical ecology.