Bone (comics)
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Bone was originally serialized in an independently, irregularly published comic book series for 55 issues, from 1991 to 2004, notable as one of the longest-running self-published comic book series by a single writer/artist.
Bone was drawn and written by Jeff Smith. Smith's black-and-white drawings are inspired by animated cartoons and comic strips, a notable influence being Walt Kelly's Pogo. However, the story contains both light-hearted comedy and dark, epic fantasy, drawing inspiration from J. R. R. Tolkien and others. Different characters are drawn in widely different styles, reflecting Bone's diversity of tone.
Bone has received numerous awards, among them ten Eisner Awards and eleven Harvey Awards.
The comic 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.
Contents |
[edit] Story
The three Bone cousins - the avaricious Phoncible P. "Phoney" Bone, the goofy, cigar-smoking Smiley Bone, and the everyman character Fone Bone - are run out of their hometown of Boneville after Phoney decides to run for mayor with disastrous results. An example of his resulting unpopularity was given by Smiley, saying that the mayor declared a school holiday just so all the schoolchildren could come and throw rocks at Phoney. After crossing a desert and ending up in a mysterious valley, the cousins are separated, and must individually make their way across a fantasy landscape pursued by locusts and rat creatures before meeting up again. At this time, they are taken in by a mysterious girl named Thorn and her even more enigmatic grandmother. As they stay longer in the valley they encounter humans and other creatures who are threatened by a dark lord, the Lord of the Locusts. Fone Bone is drawn into the events around him and finds himself on a hero's journey to help save the world.
[edit] Collections
Originally 55 comics, Bone has been collected into the following volumes.
[edit] Individual volumes
- Out from Boneville (originally released as The Complete Bone Adventures volume 1)
- The Great Cow Race
- Eyes of the Storm
- The Dragonslayer
- Rock Jaw: Master of the Eastern Border
- Old Man's Cave
- Ghost Circles
- Treasure Hunters
- Crown of Horns
- Bone: One Volume Edition (ISBN 1-888963-14-X) - contains all of the above; 1300 pages. Listed in Time Magazine's "Best Comix of 2004".
[edit] Spin-offs
Both prequels to the main storyline, but can be read without spoiling too much about the main story.
- Rose (with Charles Vess)
- Stupid, Stupid Rat Tails: The Adventures of Big Johnson Bone, Frontier Hero (with Tom Sniegoski and Stan Sakai)
- Thorn:Tails From the Lantern: a compilation of Jeff Smiths comic panels from his college years. This book is extremely rare and most copies cost over $500 dollars.
[edit] Colorized editions
In 2004 Scholastic Press began reissuing the individual volumes in full color (with coloring by Steve Hamaker). Both hardcover and softcover editions of each volume are being released simultaneously (at the time of writing not all volumes have been colorized and re-released).
[edit] One Volume Edition
The special 1300 page, one volume edition was released originally for $40 (USD) through Jeff Smith's Cartoon Books imprint in a paperback volume. This special print of the entire adventure was to celebrate the recent end of the series and the commencement of every collection in the series being reprinted in color through Scholastic Press. This edition has recently returned to print.
In addition to the one volume paperback, a limited edition hardcover print of the one volume book was issued. The hardcover copy featured gilded edges, a cloth bookmark, and a signature and print number by Jeff Smith. This limited edition pressing of the book originally sold for around $150 (USD).
[edit] Cast of characters
- Fone Bone - The hero of the series. He helped his cousin Phoney Bone escape from Boneville after he upset the villagers, and got stuck in the valley. He is passionate about his favourite book, Moby Dick, and is the most level-headed of the three Bone cousins. He has an unspoken crush on Thorn Harvestar. His name is inspired by the Mad Magazine character Fonebone drawn by Don Martin.
- Phoncible P. "Phoney" Bone - Manipulative and greedy, Phoney Bone will do anything to get rich. Run out of Boneville by an angry mob of villagers after a few shady business deals, his greediness and selfishness makes an enemy of anyone who crosses him in the valley. Referred to as "The One Who Bears The Star" (due to the star t-shirt he wears) by the Hooded One, Phoney is sought after by the Rat Creature army though he does not know why.
- Smiley Bone - The tallest of the Bones and arguably the least intelligent, he plays a one-string banjo, and often ends up driving people mad due to his stupidity and simplicity. Allegedly, Fone Bone brought him along purely to torture Phoney. He takes a shining to a rat creature cub whom he names Bartleby, and through his nuturing of Bartleby we see a maturing in his character.
- Thorn Harvestar - Fone's crush. Seemingly a simple farm girl, it is soon revealed that she is heir to the throne of Atheia.
- Rose "Gran'ma" Ben (originally Rose Harvestar) - Thorn's grandmother, a tough-as-nails farmer who races against cows on foot as a hobby, and always wins. It is revealed that she is the former Queen of Atheia and escaped to Barrelhaven with Lucius Down and Thorn to protect her.
- Lucius Down - The foil for almost all of Phoney Bone's schemes. He runs the Barrelhaven Tavern and had formerly hinted of a history with Gran'ma Ben - only to reveal later that he had 'picked the wrong girl', instead falling in love with her sister, Briar, whose motive in the affair was to hurt Rose. Though Briar in her form as the Hooded One still held a little affection for him (indicated in a tiny heart appearing in her speech bubble when she called his name), he was still in love with Rose Harvestar. When the Hooded One prepared to kill Rose, Lucius grabbed onto her just as she was struck by a huge bolt of electricity, incinerating her and burning him to death.
- Ted - A helpful insect that pops up from time to time. Ted is the first creature Fone Bone encounters when he enters the valley, and harbors a strange link to the Red Dragon. Has an older brother who is several hundred times his size.
- The Great Red Dragon - Often Fone's last-minute savior, the Red Dragon appears when he is most needed. Gran'ma Ben does not trust him, regardless of how many times he has saved her or her friends from harm. This grudge was later revealed to be mutual, as in her youth Rose had been ordered by the Great Red Dragon to kill the first thing she saw after destroying a different dragon - only for that thing to be revealed as her sister. Pleading for mercy, Briar claimed that Rose had seen one of her hunting dogs at the same time and so therefore should kill that. Rose held a grudge against the Dragon for not being direct in his instruction, and he equally held one against her for setting the path for the Lord of the Locusts' return.
- The Lord of the Locusts - The unseen dark lord who orchestrates much of the saga's villainy. He is an evil, formless "nightmare" trapped inside a mountain, and appears in the form of a locust swarm to his chief henchman who is simply known as "The Hooded One".
- The Hooded One - Servant of the Lord of the Locusts and Kingdok's superior. It is implied that The Hooded One is a former Veni Yan warrior, as he wears a similar robe and hood. It is later revealed that the Hooded One is Briar Harvestar, the sister of Gran'ma Ben. Briar was made to feel inferior to her sister when she was younger, and when the Rat Creatures invaded in the great war, she betrayed the Royal family by leading them to the Rat Creatures. When the King, Thorn's father, learnt of this betrayal, he cut her in half with an abandoned harvesting scythe, which the Hooded One now carries as a weapon. Briar was possessed and resurrected by a swarm of locusts.
- Kingdok - A giant rat creature, ruler of the horde of rat creatures and lackey of the Lord of the Locusts. Although he is egomaniacal and cruel, he is prone to superstition and easily manipulated by The Hooded One. He carries a golden spiked club around with him, until Thorn cuts off his right arm.
- Mim - The original queen of the dragons, was possessed by the Lord of the Locusts, and turned to stone by the other dragons. Her awakening was said to be the end of the world, but instead the Lord of the Locusts disappeared, and an aged Mim returned to her function followed by all of the other Dragons save the Great Red Dragon.
- The Possum Kids - Three young possums with a thirst for adventure. They have a knack for getting into trouble, but they are resourceful and cunning.
- Miz Possum - A caring, motherly figure to everyone in the valley. Mother to the three possum kids.
- Roque Ja - A huge mountain lion who views himself as neutral in the conflict between the humans and the Lord of the Locusts. He works for the Lord of the Locusts in exchange for land when the valley becomes their's, and loathes the Dragons. His name is mispronounced as 'Rock Jaw' by the Bone cousins.
- Stupid, Stupid Rat Creatures - Two among the rat creature hordes who have a particular interest in devouring the Bone cousins, and Fone Bone in particular. Fone Bone is the one who dubs the two "Stupid, Stupid Rat Creatures"; Fone Bone is also usually credited with coining the term "Rat Creatures" itself; however, he actually got the name from the possum kids. As it stands, the proper name of Rat Creatures appears to be Hairy Men. Named after some incidents where one, or both, clearly emphasise their title, they in turn call Fone Bone "Small Mammal." Primarily comic relief, the two are constantly arguing over what to do with the Bones should they capture them; one wants to use the Bones in a quiche, while the other insists that 'dainty pastry foods' are 'unfit for monsters,'and that they should eat them in a stew - though he did once in a fit of anger declare an intention of eating Fone Bone raw. Later, Fone Bone himself delivered to the two some 'piping hot quiche' when he found them shivering in a bush after the Hooded One's defeat.
- Bartleby - A baby rat creature found by Fone Bone and adopted as a pet by Smiley Bone. He became a good friend to Smiley and when they left for home, he went with them. Named by Shaenon K. Garrity [1] , for the title character in the short story "Bartleby the Scrivener" by Herman Melville.
- The Veni Yan - A mysterious clan of hooded warriors. Distrusted by the townsfolk (who came up with the derogatory term "stick eater") but trusted by Lucius.
- Jonathan Oaks - A small, often outspoken, villager who works for Lucius at the Barrelhaven. Though he was saved from an ambush from the rat creatures in Old Man's Cave, it is implied that he dies in the Veni Yan infirmary.
- Wendell- One of the Lucius' tough "bar room boys." Outspoken in the early issues (he and Euclid have more than once threatened to trounce Phoney Bone) he became more introverted once the reality of the war presented itself.
- Euclid - Along with Jonathan and Wendell, one of the "bar-room boys". In personality, one way to describe him is that he is even more violent than Wendell.
- Rory - A third barroom boy. Is almost always present near Wendell, Euclid, and Jonathan, but rarely speaks. None of his comments give much of a hint to a personality.
[edit] Notes
Although essentially a high fantasy, Bone often displays comic humor, particularly the Great Cow Race in issue #10, and Phoney's ongoing efforts to become rich off the credulous valley residents. The series tended to become more serious and adventurous as it went on, and the humor became a lesser element in the story.
The Bone characters have been compared to those of Walt Kelly's Pogo, both in appearance and in characterization. However, their respective personalities also have other precedents. Phoney Bone's personality resembles Carl Barks' Scrooge McDuck, Fone Bone's personality bears some similarities to J.R.R. Tolkien's Bilbo Baggins, and Smiley Bone's personality is akin to Ed Norton from The Honeymooners. Gran'ma Ben bears an unmistakable similarity to Popeye, and Thorn shares a 'hidden king' history with characters like Tolkien's Aragorn. The Stupid Rat Creatures also seem to have origins in Tolkien with their constant quarreling over how to cook any of their prey like the trolls from The Hobbit.
Most of the series was self-published by Smith under his Cartoon Books imprint, but for a short time was published by Image Comics. During this time, the first 20 issues were reprinted by Image with new covers. These reprints are identifiable by having reproductions of the original covers on the back. The Cartoon Books printings have black back covers, inset with a single panel reprinted from inside. First printings can be distinguished from later printings by changes in the color of the logo on the front cover.
The story has been collected into a set of nine black-and-white trade paperbacks; some of the artwork, especially in critical exposition scenes, was revised and expanded for these editions. The 1300-page story has also been published in a single paperback volume, from Cartoon Books.
Issues from the Out From Boneville collection were also reprinted in the digest-sized children's magazine Disney Adventures, first in 1994 and later in 1997 through 1998. The issues usually consisted of 7-9 pages a month and were coloured and censored to remove smoking and drinking references.
As of 2004, Cartoon Books' Steve Hamaker is coloring the entire series for new color editions of the nine trade paperbacks, to be published by the Graphix imprint of Scholastic Press.
In addition to the regular series, there have been a pair of spin-off limited series: Stupid, Stupid Rat Tails, about an earlier visitor from Boneville to the valley, and Rose, about Thorn's grandmother in her youth.
One very unusual thing about the series is Boneville itself. Even though the three Bone cousins are from Boneville, and it is frequently referred to as the place where they wish to return, the village itself is never shown or depicted in the Bone comics.
In an interview on Attack of the Show, Jeff Smith revealed that he drew the last page very early on.
[edit] Other media
[edit] Animated film
In the 1990s, an attempt to produce a film of Bone through Nickelodeon Films was unsuccessful. According to Smith, Nickelodeon saw the story strictly as children's entertainment, and insisted that the Bone characters be voiced by child actors and that the film had to include pop songs by the likes of Britney Spears [2]and N'Sync. Smith's argument was that no one would even briefly consider putting pop songs in film adaptations of The Lord of the Rings, and therefore should not be placed in Bone either.
[edit] Video games
On February 22, 2005, video game company Telltale Games announced that they will be developing adventure games based on the comic using episodic format. The first episode, Bone: Out from Boneville, was released on September 15, 2005, and the second, The Great Cow Race, on April 12, 2006. Both are available in downloaded or boxed form on Telltale's website.
On October 13, 2006, video game company Vanbrio Entertainment announced the release of a Macintosh version of Bone Act 1: Out of Boneville.
[edit] Cultural References
In the Fox sitcom "The War at Home", a picture of Phoney Bone hangs in Larry's room.
In one of Telltale Games' Sam & Max adventure games, when the heroes walk into a tv station, there is a set labled "Barelhaven Set", a reference to the fictional town from Bone.
[edit] See also
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Bone series
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| Comics: | Out from Boneville | The Great Cow Race | Eyes of the Storm | The Dragonslayer | Rock Jaw | Old Man's Cave | Ghost Circles | Treasure Hunters | Crown of Horns |
| Spin-offs: | Stupid, Stupid Rat Tails | Rose |
| Games: | Out from Boneville | The Great Cow Race |
