Bone is an American fantasy comic book limited series written and illustrated by Jeff Smith, originally serialized in 55 irregularly released issues from 1991 to 2004. The series is primarily self-published by Smith's company, Cartoon Books; it was also briefly published by Image Comics. The issues were collected into nine volumes, as well as a single omnibus volume. From 2005 to 2009, color editions of the original volumes were published by Scholastic's Graphix imprint. The series intertwines comedy and dark fantasy.
Bone has received critical acclaim from critics and audiences and numerous awards, among them ten Eisner Awards and eleven Harvey Awards.
Plot Bone follows the eponymous Bone cousins, who appear as white-skinned bone shaped cartoon humanoids: everyman Fone Bone, wealthy and self-serving Phoncible P. "Phoney" Bone, and simpleminded Smiley Bone. When Phoney mounts an ill-fated campaign for mayor, he is forced out of their hometown of Boneville, with Smiley and a reluctant Fone Bone following him. After the cousins find themselves in a desert, Smiley finds a hand-drawn map that they use to navigate their way across the fantasy landscape. The cousins are separated by a swarm of locusts and individually end up in a large valley, a journey made more difficult by the pursuing Rat Creatures.
Eventually, they reunite at the Barrelhaven tavern, where they are taken in by a girl named Thorn and her grandmother, "Gran'ma Ben". Fone Bone instantly develops a crush on Thorn and repeatedly attempts to express his love through poetry. As they stay longer in the Valley, they learn that it is under threat from the Rat Creatures, led by Kingdok, and the mysterious ”Hooded One" who serves an ancient evil known as the Lord of the Locusts. As Thorn learns that she and Gran'ma Ben are the only survivors of the Valley's royal family, the Bones are gradually drawn into the events around them, compelling them on a hero's journey to help free the Valley.
Analysis Bone has been described as genre-defying. Smith claims that the series was not originally written for an adolescent audience, though adolescents comprise its largest readership. Throughout its run, Bone shifts from a largely comical series to a more serious tone as the characters and setting develop. It is additionally said to have a "darker subtext about power and evil".
Smith made the decision to illustrate Bone in black-and-white, which critics speculate is so that he could maintain the clear lines that allow for exaggerated characters that contrast their subtle, detailed backgrounds.
The series is mainly set in the Valley, though Boneville is mentioned throughout. Boneville is never actually shown, but is implied to be technologically contemporary, while the Valley is depicted as medieval, inasmuch as its citizens employ a barter system, weapons, and modes of transportation similar to those of the Middle Ages, and Phoney persistently refers to the people of the Valley as "yokels".
Publication history
Smith originated Bone as a sketch he drew as a child, resembling a telephone handset receiver. This original drawing, a frowning character with its mouth wide open, resembled characteristics of who would become the Bone cousins. When Smith was ten, he began creating comics featuring the characters.Jeff Smith, The Art of Bone (Milwaukie, Oregon: Dark Horse Books, 2007), , p.19.
The comics had many major influences throughout their creation. Smith mostly modeled Bone structurally around Mark Twain's Huckleberry Finn. He enjoyed how it "start(s) off very simple, almost like children's stories ... but as it goes on, it gets a little darker, and the themes become a little more sophisticated and more complex". Smith was also inspired by Carl Barks' character Scrooge McDuck. Smith said that he "always wanted Uncle Scrooge to go on a longer adventure. I thought, 'Man, if you could just get a comic book of that quality, the length of say, War and Peace, or The Odyssey or something, that would be something I would love to read, and even as a kid I looked everywhere for that book, that Uncle Scrooge story that was 1,100 pages long".
Other influences in this regard include the original Star Wars trilogy, J.R.R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings and the classic fairy tales and mythologies that inspired those works. Moby Dick, Smith's favorite book, is cited for its multi-layered narrative and symbolism, and numerous references to it are placed throughout Bone. Bone was also influenced by other comics, including Charles Schulz's Peanuts and Walt Kelly's Pogo."Jeff Smith's 'Bone' Goes From Comic Book to Gallery Wall". The NewsHour with Jim Lehrer. July 21, 2008. Retrieved January 27, 2009.Lucy Shelton Caswell and David Filipi, Jeff Smith: Bone and Beyond (Columbus, O.: The Ohio State University, Wexner Center for the Arts, 2008), , pp. 7, 17.
While Smith attended the Ohio State University, he created a comic strip titled Thorn for the student newspaper, The Lantern, which included some of the characters who later featured in Bone.French, Kristin M. (October 2, 2001). "Comic man returns to roots" . The Lantern. Retrieved January 27, 2009.Eichenberger, Bill (May 4, 2008). "Bone and beyond...Award-winning cartoonist Jeff Smith given his due with talks, exhibits at OSU" . Columbus Dispatch.
After college, Smith and his friends produced animation work on commission in their studio, Character Builders Inc., but Smith eventually decided against an animation career. Seeking instead to develop a comic book series, and convinced by the successes of Frank Miller's The Dark Knight Returns and Art Spiegelman's Maus that a serious comic book with a beginning, middle and end structure was both artistically and commercially viable, Smith decided to produce Bone.
In 1991, Smith launched his company, Cartoon Books, to publish the series."About Jeff Smith" . Boneville. Retrieved July 23, 2013. Initially, Smith self-published the series, doing all of the work to produce and distribute the series through his business himself; this made it difficult for Smith to focus on writing and drawing the book, and as a result, he fell behind in his production. To solve this, he asked his wife, Vijaya Iyer, to resign from her job at a Silicon Valley startup company and serve as president of Cartoon Books, managing the business related to the series. Smith was able to refocus on his work on Bone, and sales improved. In 1995, Smith began briefly publishing Bone through Image Comics. Smith believed this would be a temporary arrangement, and to maintain the book's place in catalogs, the collected volumes remained under the Cartoon Books label."Image Comics, The Trilogy Tour, Rose, and the One Volume Edition" . Boneville. Retrieved July 28, 2013. Bone ended with its 55th issue, dated June 2004. The back cover has, in place of the usual comic panel, a black-and-white photo of Smith in his studio drawing the last page on May 10 of that year.
Individual volumes +Collected volumes of Bone Volume Title Original ed. Colored ed. Issues adapted1Out from Boneville199520051–62The Great Cow Race199520057–11 (+13.5)3Eyes of the Storm1996200612–194The Dragonslayer1997200620–275Rock Jaw: Master of the Eastern Border1998200728–326Old Man's Cave1999200733–377Ghost Circles2001200838–438Treasure Hunters2002200844–499Crown of Horns2004200950–55
The series was initially collected, six issues at a time, in three volumes of The Collected Bone Adventures (1993-1995). These went out of print when Smith decided to collect the story arc acts instead. The Bone Reader (1996) was released concurrent with the switch to Image Comics to bring new readers up to speed and to collect issues #13 1/2 and 19 for early adopters.
Other books published in the color series but not part of the main storyline are the prequel Rose, illustrated by Charles Vess; the Bone Handbook; and the anthology books Tall Tales and More Tall Tales.
Selected excerpts from Bone were reprinted in Disney Adventures, first in 1994 and later in 1997 through 1998.Jeff Smith at Inducks The issues usually consisted of 7–9 pages a month and were colored. The pages were also censored to remove smoking and drinking references and any innuendo involving Thorn and Fone Bone. There was also an exclusive story for Disney Adventures by Smith, featuring Fone and Phoney following a "treasure map"; it was reprinted in The Bone Reader and Tall Tales.
The series was split into three-story arcs, each having two names, one being the original arc name, the other being the name used in the one volume edition, respectively as follows. The first arc lasted from issues #1–19 (volumes #1–3, June 1991 – August 1995) being named "Vernal Equinox", or "The Valley". It was the longest running arc (in terms of time) running for four years and one month. The main story in issue #13.5, "Up on the Roof", was reprinted as chapter six in The Great Cow Race collected edition, therefore making it part of "Vernal Equinox". The second arc was named "Solstice", or "Phoney Strikes Back". The arc lasted from issues #20–37 (volumes #4–6, October 1995 – August 1999). It is tied as the longest running arc in issues with the third arc (lasting 19 issues). The third arc, "Harvest" or "Friends & Enemies'", lasted from issues #38–55 (volumes #7–9, August 2000 – June 2004).
Color editions In 2005, Scholastic, under its newly established Graphix imprint, began reissuing the nine individual volumes in full color by Steve Hamaker. In 2006, HarperCollins began publishing the full color editions for the UK market.Search results for "Jeff Smith" showing release date of Bone volumes at harpercollins.co.uk
Omnibus edition
An omnibus edition, compiling all 55 issues in one volume (), was released originally by Cartoon Books imprint in a paperback volume. This release was intended to celebrate both the end of the series and the release of the full-color editions. First released in 2004 and promoted as only a limited print run being available, this edition has been reprinted several times since.
In addition to the paperback release, a signed limited edition hardcover release was issued. The deluxe hardcover featured gold embossed lettering on the cover, gilded edges, and a cloth ribbon bookmark. The end pages are printed with a map of The Valley and it comes with a full-color signed and numbered bookplate. This release originally sold for around $125 (USD) and was initially limited to 2,000 copies. The series has been reprinted 13 times, also featuring a signed limited edition of the 13th pressing version sold during November 2009.
The collection won the 2005 Eisner Award for Best Graphic Album-Reprint, and was listed at No. 3 in Time magazine's "Best Comix of 2004". Reviewer Andrew Arnold said of the collection, which was published at the conclusion of the monthly series: "As sweeping as the Lord of the Rings cycle, but much funnier ... Smith imbues even simple dialogue panels with animation. Now that it's finished Bone should join the ranks of Lord of the Rings and Harry Potter in the young adult pantheon".
Full-color omnibus edition In November 2011, for its 20th anniversary, a full-color, omnibus edition was released. It includes a special section in consisting of a cover gallery of the original comics, an illustrated timeline of Bone's 20-year history, and an essay by author Smith. A special edition was also released that included the book, a signed print by Jeff Smith, a Phoney Bone gold coin, three pewter bone figures of Fone Bone, Phoney Bone and Smiley Bone, a copy of The Cartoonist documentary DVD, and a miniature facsimile of the first issue, all held in a box decorated with an illustration of Fone Bone.
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