Francis Rothbart! is a clearly ambitious, long-in-the-works "graphic opera" that takes the form of a massive, 300 page, 11" x 14" hardcover volume filled with page after page of esquisitely detailed artwork.  We just got it in.  The book is "full color," but just FYI, much of the artwork so reproduced is in monochrome pen & ink, along with some subtle tinting.

Here's Fanta's hype-up:

"Written mostly in rhymed verse, Francis’s picaresque saga unfolds in an allegorical environment, much like the topographical constructions behind renaissance religious paintings. Referencing both the Venetian landscapes of Bellini, Pierro di Cosimo and Carpaccio, mixed with the unlikely animated backdrops of Jay Ward and Chuck Jones, Woodruff’s images recall the fictive gardens of a paradise lost that lingers somewhere deep in all our souls, moist and dark like the caves of the pious saints."

Here are a couple of head-turning plugs:

"Thomas Woodruff's Francis Rothbart! is a baroque masterpiece in comic novel form and a voyage into a deep, rich, and patient imagination. Bernini would have been stunned." — Gary Panter

"Thomas Woodruff has created his own world. A world never seen before. An allegory of all our dreams. AMAZING." — Robert Wilson, theater director and visual artist (Einstein on the Beach, The Black Rider)

Need more convincing?  Take a look at a few sample pages HERE, and see what you think!