Told for the first time in graphic novel form, the story of Francis Bacon\'s life is as complex, colorful, and highly charged as his paintings. Drawn in shades of mauve, red, yellow, and blue that distinguished his palette, these illustrations weave together a troubling but compassionate narrative, one that draws on the tragic events of Bacon\'s childhood and youth, as well as reflecting the profoundly passionate yearnings of the artist he became. Separated into thematic and chronological sections the novel highlights the prevailing influences of Bacon\'s life and times: his early autodidacticism and estrangement from his family; his struggles to make his way as a surrealist painter and his destruction of his early work. It traces his gradual success in postwar Europe, his powerful and often violent romantic relationships, his foray into portraiture, and his never-ending search for subject matter and meaning in his work. (W/A) Cristina Portolano