Manga fans will relish Baobab , a series set, a least initially, in Japan at the turn of the last century (during the Meji era), when a small, sickly, orphaned boy on the outskirts of Tokyo grows up hearing the stories his grandmother tells of her youth as the daughter of a Navy officer. This ambitious project, which will expand to cover 40 years and three continents (including South America, where the first Creole cartoonist dreams of meeting Winsor McCay), is elegantly told and drawn by Igort, who rose to prominence with Drawn and Quarterly's 5 Is the Perfect Number as well as appearing in the last Comics Journal Special . Part of the Ignatz Series.