Bone: Complete Cartoon Epic Volume

Full disclosure, I’m incredibly biased when it comes to this series.
I can think of only one IP I’ve loved prior to Bone, which is Jurassic Park.
Which is only because it came out first, but Bone is truly something special.
I first encountered Fone-Bone back when it made its run through Disney adventures weekly, a kid-centered magazine that was mostly a hype guide for the house of mouse.
However, it had comics, a variety-type that wasn’t often seen in the US, much akin to a shonen jump variety manga. Tucked between random homebrew and “The adventures of Bartman” was Bone.

This comic always felt special when reading it.
It enthralled me, made laugh so hard I cried and introduced me to new concepts in such a fun way that even heavy topics that most people gloss over or use as flavor text actually matter to character development and story arcs.
I knew this as a kid.
As a kid, I didn’t know how to describe any of this.
I didn’t know how to identify what I was trying to describe.
So, years passed, Disney adventures was shut down and Bone disappeared from my life. 15+ years later and I discovered the fully completed series.
I wondered if it was as good at 25 as I remembered it from 7-12 years old.
Turns out, yeah.
I’m 34. I just re-read it(for the umpteenth time). I can honestly say there isn’t anything within this story that isn’t wonderful.
The art, characters, setting, world building and the plot. They’re all excellent.
Nothing within this series gets in the way of itself. Characters are complex and never feel shallow or cheap. Exposition is minimalist and interwoven into the story.
The story itself meanders but in a natural way that allows the world to come alive and fully engage your imagination, and this is a comic were talking about. It already does that for you with the spectacular art.
Buy this book.
Go on an adventure.
Discover a wonder full story.

I first read the Bone series as a kid, picking them up from Scholastic book fair events and inhaling them with enthusiasm. I was drawn to the trades by their fun and colorful covers. As a kid, I really liked how Jeff Smith combined silly, cartoonish characters with grit, danger, and smarts. In turn, it made me feel smart and empowered. And that encouraged me to continue on my path as a young illustrator and writer. I owe a lot to Mr. Jeff Smith. But enough about me– let’s talk about BONE!

BONE is what happens when worlds collide. More specifically (and maybe a little less dramatically), BONE is what happens when some folks escape angry mobs in their town, wander through the desert endlessly, and stumble upon another, more magical land. The first thing readers will notice about BONE is that it feels like a strange mash-up of two different concepts. The silly, bald Bone characters from the modern town of Boneville are completely different from the high-fantasy humans they meet on their adventures. There is a feeling of cross-over, a blending of setting and time, a comical and bizarre mish-mash of total opposites– and it feels like a match made in heaven. Strangers in a strange land have never been, well, stranger.

BONE is an epic fantasy. Don’t let the big-nosed, doofy protagonist throw you off. There are loads of light-hearted laughs and feel-good comical moments, but there are also waves of intense dialogue, dramatic sequences, and good ol’ baddie butt-kicking. The story is surprisingly dense, with many layers that lift and reveal the next great arch. There are some serious surprises. A sense of mystery and magic lingers around some characters and events, reminding the reader that this is a dark and different world. Tense moments are interrupted by hilarious antics, silly exchanges between characters, and great visual gags by the talented hand of Jeff Smith.

The characters (all of them, every one) are dynamic and lovable. Even the bad guys. Seriously. Bone has a pretty big cast of reoccurring minor and major characters, but Smith manages to breath a sense of consistency and personality into each and every one. They are all individuals that densely populate a sometimes beautiful, sometimes scary, but nonetheless interesting world.

The world feels classic and timeless at first glance, but it is filled with its own set of unique twists and turns. The innocent beauty of idyllic forests and quaint villages masks the dark and strange happenings beneath the surface.

The story? Well… I’ll let you handle that one on your own. I wouldn’t want to give anything away. But trust me, it’s weird and wonderful.

Although I first read BONE as a child, I definitely still enjoyed it as an adult– and not just for the nostalgia factor either! If you are a fan of graphic novels and comics, or you just want to try something new, grab a copy of BONE and settle in for an adventure!

Für diesen legendären Comic mit gut 1300 Seiten im Kindle-Format nur etwas über 16 Euro zu bezahlen fühlt sich irgendwie wie stehlen an.

El envío llego antes de la fecha prevista, envío desde Francia.
En blanco y negro la edición,algunas escenas de noche no se ven.

I’m upset it took me so long to read this book. I’m a professional cartoonist, and I go through comics like nobody’s business… yet for some reason I never got around to reading ‘Bone’ until last month. I’ve thumbed through ‘Bone’ many times in the book stores, and even owned a few of the Schoolastic colored books, but I had never managed to read the entire story until just now. Despite the daunting 1300+ pages, I finished the book in less than a week. It was hard to put down.

The story is told in both lighthearted and mature tones, weaving several elements of folklore and mythology into a fleshy story and with a setting that feels real, despite the seemingly cartoony artwork. Smith’s artwork is fantastic, it conjures the ‘funny animal’ aesthetics of Walt Kelley and Carl Barks while also featuring wonderfully designed human characters in a style reminiscent of Will Eisner’s. The inking is also top-notch, and this book is best read in the original black-and-white as it helps fuel the composition and maintains clarity between characters and the environments they’re drawn into.

The only complaint I have has nothing to do with the artwork or writing, but rather the quality of the print and paper. The paper is very thin and makes many of the rich black and white pages feel a bit muddy because you can see the artwork on the next page bleeding in. It’s a concession I imagine had to be done to get the entire 1300 pages into a single volume, but it does distract from the experience a bit.

I’ve already gone back and revisited my favorite parts of this book several times, if you like quality cartooning and comics, this is an absolute essential.