Bone (graphic novel)

AUTHOR: Smith, Jeff

ARTIST: Jeff Smith

PUBLISHER: Cartoon Books; Image Comics

FIRST SERIAL PUBLICATION: 1991-2004

FIRST BOOK PUBLICATION: 1993

Publication History

Published beginning in 1991 as a bimonthly, black-and-white, twenty-four-page comic book by Jeff Smith’s own imprint, Cartoon Books, Bone ran for fifty-five issues, finishing in 2004. Issues 21-27 (December, 1995, to April, 1997) were published by Image Comics. Cartoon Books resumed publishing Bone with issue 28. Bone was also published as a complete nine-volume graphic novel series beginning as The Complete Bone Adventures, Volume 1, in 1993. The nine volumes were collected in one book called Bone: One Volume in 2004. The nine Bone graphic novels were republished in color on a biannual schedule by Scholastic Press under the Graphix imprint beginning in 2005 and finishing in 2009.

The Complete Bone Adventures, Volume 1 (later renamed Out from Boneville), was serialized in Disney Adventures during 1997-1998. Disney Adventures published an original eight-page Bone story, “The Powers That Be,” in August, 1994.

Plot

The plot centers on the three Bone cousins, Fone Bone, Phoney Bone, and Smiley Bone, who have been banished from Boneville and into an unknown valley. The cousins find a map, which Fone Bone hopes will lead them back to Boneville. While escaping a swarm of locusts, they become separated, and Fone Bone falls off a cliff. Stumbling around, he chances upon the cave inhabited by Red Dragon, the only member of the dragon race who has not gone underground. Fone Bone is immediately chased by two rat creatures and is saved by Red Dragon.

Fone Bone continues his quest to find the others, but he cannot get out of the forest before winter begins. He spends the winter with a friendly possum family and has several scrapes with rat creatures. As winter begins to thaw, he meets Thorn, a teenage girl with whom he is smitten. Thorn befriends Fone Bone, and he moves into her house with her grandmother, Gran’ma Ben.

Thorn and Gran’ma Ben attend a town festival; Phoney Bone goes before them, hoping to exploit the townspeople. Before Fone Bone, Thorn, and Gran’ma Ben leave, rat creatures attack their farmhouse. While Gran’ma holds off the rat creatures, Thorn and Fone Bone escape. They are trapped by more rat creatures and then rescued by Red Dragon.

Phoney Bone makes it to the town, Barrelhaven. In a bar owned by Lucius Downs, he finds his cousin Smiley. Phoney convinces Smiley to masquerade as a cow so they can enter the annual cow race. During the cow race, the rat creatures invade Barrelhaven. A fight ensues, and the villagers hold off the rat creatures. As the story closes, readers learn that the rat creatures follow a being named the Hooded One, who is looking for Phoney Bone.

Next, Phoney, still hatching plots to make money, convinces the townspeople that he can protect them from dragons, and he temporarily catches Red Dragon. This leaves the townspeople unprepared when the rat creatures attack again. As this is happening, Thorn experiences “the turning,” something that happens to members of the royal family as they come into their power. This is the climactic moment in the Bone story; the war for control of the valley has begun, and everyone must be ready to join the battle, even a teenage princess.

Next, Fone Bone and Smiley embark on an adventure of their own while escaping some dangerous rat creatures. The rats want the Bones, and a giant lion, Rock Jaw, master of the same mountain range that the Bones travel, intends to deliver them to the leader of the rat creatures, Kingdok. As he is about to turn over Smiley and Fone Bone, Kingdok and Rock Jaw fight, allowing the Bone cousins to escape.

The war escalates. The Hooded One, who is also Briar Harvestar (Gran’ma Ben’s sister), visits Lucius Downs as the townspeople intend to make a stand at Old Man’s Cave and Thorn rescues Smiley and Fone Bone from a troop of rat creatures. Meanwhile, Phoney Bone has run away. Gran’ma finds Phoney; at the same time, Rock Jaw finds them and leaves, intending to deliver Phoney and Thorn to the Hooded One. In an attempt to save Thorn and Phoney, Gran’ma, Smiley, and Fone Bone follow Rock Jaw to temple ruins where the Hooded One intends to sacrifice Phoney Bone. There is an earthquake, and Gran’ma, Thorn, and the Bone cousins escape once again.

The Hooded One has released deadly “ghost circles” across the valley, and only Thorn is safe. She attempts to lead Gran’ma and the Bone cousins through the circles as the rat creatures attack, including Bartleby, a cub raised by Smiley Bone. Bartleby changes sides and helps the Bones, Thorn, and Gran’ma evade the rat creatures. Meanwhile, more rat creature troops attack Old Man’s Cave, and the Veni Yan (an association of hooded warrior monks) leave the cave headed to Atheia, the ancient city.

Thorn has been instructed by a voice to seek out the “Crown of Horns.” The companions reach Atheia, where Thorn falls under the spell of the Hooded One. A wise man brings Thorn out of her trance, and she reveals that she is looking for the Crown of Horns. The wise man knows that if Thorn touches it, all life will be erased. Thorn and Fone Bone are arrested while the city is attacked by rat creatures and their allies.

As Thorn and the Bones are imprisoned, the rat creatures, led by the Hooded One, attack Atheia. Meanwhile, Phoney and Smiley have found the treasure of Atheia, and Phoney intends to bring it back with him to Boneville. Thorn realizes only by touching the magical Crown of Horns will order be restored, and that she must do it. Followed by Fone Bone, Thorn leaves the city, believing that the Crown of Horns must be in the dragon burial ground. After several scrapes with the rat creatures, Thorn finds the Crown of Horns, which is guarded by Kingdok. Thorn kills him but cannot reach the crown because the dead Kingdok holds onto her leg. Fone Bone arrives, and together they are able to touch the Crown of Horns. This wakes all the dragons, who have been sleeping underground. Red Dragon rescues Thorn and Fone Bone and an energy bolt emitted from the crown kills the Hooded One. The war is over, and now Thorn is queen. The Bone cousins, with Bartleby in tow, return empty-handed to Boneville.

Volumes

•Out from Boneville (1996). Collects issues 1-6. Describes how the Bone cousins come to the valley.

•The Great Cow Race (1996). Collects issues 7-12. Introduces the villagers, as Thorn begins to awaken to her destiny.

•The Eyes of the Storm (1996). Collects issues 3-19. The war with the rat creatures intensifies.

•The Dragonslayer (1997). Collects issues 20-27. Phoney manipulates the villagers to hire him to protect them from dragons.

•Rock Jaw: Master of the Eastern Border (1998). Collects issues 28-32. Fone Bone and Smiley go on an adventure and run into Rock Jaw, a giant mountain lion.

•Old Man’s Cave (1999). Collects issues 33-37. As the war intensifies, Thorn and the Bone cousins seek shelter in Old Man’s Cave.

•Ghost Circles (2001). Collects issues 38-43. While trying to get to the old city, Thorn must lead her party through deadly “ghost circles.”

•Treasure Hunters (2002). Collects issues 44-49. As the war rages, Phoney Bone finds the hidden treasure beneath the old city.

•Crown of Horns (2004). Collects issues 50-55. Thorn and Fone Bone reach the Crown of Horns, defeating the enemy.

Characters

•Fone Bone is the hero of the Bone series. He is good-natured and helpful. He left Boneville because he was concerned about his cousin Phoney Bone. He has a fondness for Moby Dick: Or, The Whale (1851) and is often found reading the novel. When he meets Thorn, he is completely smitten with her. As the adventure progresses, he helps Thorn win back the kingdom of Atheia for the Harvestar family.

•Smiley Bone is the tallest of the cousins and is a happy-go-lucky character who moves from one experience to another without reflection or insight. Smiley wants to help people, but his simplemindedness usually ends up irritating them. Smiley is willing to go along with any of Phoney Bone’s schemes, but he is also capable of strength of character when it is completely necessary.

•Phonciple “Phoney” Bone is a greedy, self-centered character. He was run out of Boneville after campaigning for mayor. He is always scheming ways to cheat people out of money and he makes enemies easily. At times, he is deeply concerned for the welfare of his cousins. This was evident when they were children when he plotted ways to steal food.

•Thorn appears to be a farm girl but is soon revealed to be heir to the valley, something she does not know as the story unfolds. She is also the “awakened one” or the “Veni-Yan Cari,” and a member of the royal Harvestar family. As she learns of her destiny, she becomes very powerful; she is able to fly on occasion, possesses great strength, and has tremendous courage. Her only real confidant is Fone Bone.

•Rose Harvestar, a.k.a. Gran’ma Ben, is the dethroned queen of Atheia. She is living in the country to keep her granddaughter Thorn hidden until Thorn is ready to assume a leadership position. She is incredibly strong and strong-willed.

•Lucius Downs was Captain of the Guards before the war. Even though he is old, he is still strong and athletic. He is an innkeeper, living in the country, doing his best to protect Thorn until it is time for her to assume power.

•The Red Dragon is centuries old and is the son of Mim, the queen of dragons. While all the other dragons have gone underground, only Red Dragon is left to help the Harvestar family. Red Dragon often arrives just in time to rescue Fone Bone.

•Bartleby, a baby rat creature whom Smiley adopts, chooses to stay with the Bone cousins after Thorn has been made queen rather than returning to the rat creatures.

•Briar Harvestar, a.k.a. The Hooded One, is Rose’s sister. As a beautiful young girl, Briar fell under the spell of the Lord of the Locusts. Now, as an adult, her devotion to the Locusts has made her deformed and hideous. She intends to deliver the valley to the Lord of the Locusts.

•The rat creatures, originally afraid of humans, now run freely through the valley and pose a threat to humans. They are especially fascinated by the Bone cousins.

Artistic Style

The artistic style of Bone is one of its greatest contributions to the comics world. Using deceptively simple line drawings, Smith conveyed a number of contrasts. The Bone cousins are small, while the rat creatures are large; therefore, pitting the two groups against each other is visually humorous, particularly during rapid scene changes in which the hero suddenly experiences a life-and-death situation. It is also accomplished because the Bone cousins are odd-looking and vaguely resemble small animals. Smith put great effort toward facial expressions and body language, and many responses one character gives to another are humorous. The realistic representation of human characters and landscapes further reveal the comedic aspect of Bone. The sparse narration made readers focus on the drawings, leading them to read entire pages quickly, giving the full page more impact than a single panel. It is worth noting that there are few full-page illustrations in the entire Bone series.

Although the style Smith employed was consistent throughout the series, one occasion on which he used specific techniques in order to more deeply involve the reader was the chapter “Double or Nothing” in the book Eyes of the Storm. In this story, the characters are caught in a heavy rainstorm. Smith physically moves the characters through the storm in about ten minutes, the same time it takes the reader to read the issue of Bone. The result is that the reader is not detached from the story but, because of the frantic pacing, feels like a participant.

The original Bone series was produced in black and white. The color contrasts further developed the humorous and dramatic aspects of Bone, as the book became in part a series of visual contrasts: The Bone cousins were small, the rat creatures large, and the Hooded One always dark surrounded by light. When the series was reproduced in color, the contrasts were more subtle, particularly the backgrounds, which mirrored the emotional state of the protagonists. By introducing color, not only was the reading experience deepened visually, but also the colored version presented a more complicated story.

Themes

There are several themes that run throughout Bone. One is control, specifically of the valley where Fone, Phoney, and Smiley have found each other. The royal family is in hiding after a war with the rat creatures fifteen years earlier. The Bone cousins are taken in by the royal family and help them win back control of the valley after Thorn Harvestar (the princess) discovers her power when she becomes sixteen. Once Thorn realizes her power, she is able to win back the kingdom for her family.

Other themes of Bone are self-discovery and change. Fone Bone begins the story as a reluctant hero. Although he is loyal to his cousins, he has yet to give himself to another person. After Fone grows to love Thorn, he takes on her mission to regain control of the valley and stands up to his cousins when they ask him to return to Boneville. The other main character who experiences change is Smiley Bone, Fone Bone’s happy-go-lucky cousin. As Smiley cares for Bartelby, the orphaned rat creature, he discovers mature qualities within himself.

Impact

Bone became one of the most influential of the alternative comic books of the 1990’s. It set a new standard for self-published comic books because Smith held himself to professional standards in terms of quality printing and distribution as well as issue delivery dates. Bone was one of the early adopters of the graphic novel format. The Complete Bone Adventures, Volume 1, sold more than fifty thousand copies in 1993, and the Cartoon Books motto, “always in print, always available,” helped comic book publishers see the viability of the graphic novel format. As graphic novels blossomed out of the traditional comic book marketplace, Bone was one of the first to be collected by public librarians. Bone also broke new ground for the graphic novel format in 2005 when Scholastic Books colorized it and made it the cornerstone of its own graphic novel publishing imprint, Graphix.

Further Reading

Smith, Jeff. Shazam! The Monster Society of Evil (2007).

Smith, Jeff, with Tom Sniegoski. Bone: Tall Tales (2010).

Smith, Jeff, and Charles Vess. Rose (2009).

Bibliography

Smith, Jeff. The Art of Bone. Milwaukie, Ore.: Dark Horse Comics, 2007.

‗‗‗‗‗‗‗. Bone Handbook. New York: Graphix, 2010.

Weiner, Stephen. Faster Than a Speeding Bullet: The Rise of the Graphic Novel. New York: NBM, 2003.