Steve Hamaker

I was recently surprised to find Bone mentioned among a list of indispensable comics works in Neil Gaiman's introduction to The Best of the Spirit. Remarking this fact to my Other Reader in a local comics shop, along with the circumstance that I had never read Bone and hadn't ever had it personally recommended to me, multiple store personnel, overhearing, piped up that they followed the title themselves and recommended it strongly. So, now I've finished the collection of the first six issues show more from the early 1990s, and I did enjoy it. It was somewhat different from my expectations.

Given its origins as a black-and-white underground comic, along with the art style and presentation of the covers, I was expecting something like the early issues of Dave Sim's Cerebus (at that point a Conan parody featuring an aardvark), and in fact protagonist Fone Bone bears more than a passing resemblance to the young Cerebus as drawn in Sim's later work. But as I read the Bone comics, I was most reminded of the work of Charles M. Schulz. It was as if the writer/artist of Peanuts at the height of his powers had decided to undertake a fantasy epic. The pacing of the dialogue, the facial expressiveness of the characters, the telescoping of major events into the gutter between two panels, all showed the sort of technique that I associate with Schulz's best work.

This first volume introduces a robust set of characters, and sets a dramatic tableau, but it does not complete a plot arc. I'm sure I'll read at least one more collection. show less

The story progresses, and things are getting a bit darker. After spending time rebuilding Granma Ben's farm, the unusual band of adventurers are settling into more normal routines. At night, however, the ominous warnings continue. Thorn dreams that she is a princess, and is lured over by a shadowy man in a cloak, who looks and sounds like the mysterious villain introduced earlier in the series. However, when she gets to him, the cloak is thrown back to reveal Fone Bone. Fone, meanwhile, has show more his own strange dream. Borrowing from his favorite book, Fone dreams he is on a ship hunting the great white whale. When they finally spot him, however, he turns out not to be a whale at all, but a red dragon.

The next morning, Smiley and Phoney Bone are rounded up by Lucius, to head back to Barrelhaven and work off their debt to him. Meanwhile, Thorn and Fone talk about confronting Granma Ben over the secrets she is holding. A storm moves, and as it breaks, two conflicts also crash around them: Thorn angrily confronts her grandmother, and Lucius and the boys are chased by rat creatures. The boys get away when Smiley goads the horses to pull their cart over a cliff. Fortunately, they crash into a river and survive. Meanwhile, Granma Ben storms out into the rain to avoid Thorn's questions. Thorn and Fone chase her, and they are surrounded by rat creatures. In desperation, Fone calls out to the red dragon for help. Although Granma Ben tries to muffle him, the dragon does come, and they are saved.

Granma is finally ready to give some answers. She explains the history of the area: in this valley there once was a great kingdom ruled by people, called Atheia. The dragons ruled the mountains on one side, and the rats on the other. The rats wanted the valley, so they went to war with the humans. Eventually the war ended with the people still in control of the valley. Then the rats began attacking again, but this time they were smarter and crueler. The ruling family had to flee, and hide with the dragons, but in the process, the king and queen were killed, leaving their daughter behind. Thorn was that daughter.

In Barrelhaven, Phoney and Smiley have returned to their old antics. Phoney bet Lucius that he could do more business in the bar, forgetting that the whole town hates him. When he is losing the bet, he further alienates the town with insults, and unthinkingly wishes the dragon were there to protect him when the crowd gets unruly. The men are instantly arrested by the word, and demand more details about this dragon. In the hubbub, a mysterious figure takes Lucius aside and gives him a signal. The story then cuts to the bad guy, who is creepier every time we see him. This time, the crowd of locus comes swarming around his head for a little chat, before flying off on some unknown errand. He then walks up a rickety rope bridge to a cave, where he reports to a voice. So, creepy cloak guy is not the head boss. This volume ends with Granma Ben informing Thorn and Fone that she has received word that things have changed, and they need to go. They pack their belongings - including a sword and shield - and leave their house.

A lot of background is divulged in this book (making my review rather long). Some secrets are answered, but many more remain to be explored. The villain is increasingly fascinating and scary. The plot deepens, but the humor remains. Each volume adds more layers to its characters, and builds my attachment to them. The world is building out, too, as we learn more about its history and domains. I am quite intrigued by this story, and eager to read the next installment. However, I will start screening them before I read them to my girls. Affairs are getting darker, which works to make the story interesting to me, but might be too much for my little ones. This series may need to be one they read when they are older. I'll have the books ready to go for them, though, because I am on board and look forward to reading the next volume. show less

When cousins Fone Bone, Smiley Bone, and Phoney Bone are driven out of Boneville by an irate populace (Phoney's been up to his usual tricks again), they find themselves lost in an unmapped desert. Separated by a storm, the three eventually find themselves in a strange new land, replete with its own dangers and rewards. But will the three cousins ever be reunited?

I've been reading a fair number of graphic novels lately, but I don't think I will ever love them the way I do traditional books. I show more can see the distinguished points in this book -- it has humor, good characters, strong plot, nice artwork -- but it didn't grip me the way it has obviously gripped so many others. Obviously, this is a reader problem, not a book problem, so if you like graphic novels and have not yet explored this series, you probably ought to look in to that. show less

This is one of those things where I feel like I've definitely seen imagery from it in a lot of places in my life but I never knew anything about it and never had any interest in reading it. Then a youtube video of all things made it seem really interesting so I gave it a try and I was hooked. Bone is a very engaging fantasy epic with interesting characters and a very fun world. Like, it's a medieval fantasy with dragons that is actually inventive instead of stale. The rat creatures are my show more fave and the talking bugs are pretty cute (I wish we saw more of Ted's older brother tho).

The only qualm I have is that it's a bit dated in its depiction of women. The female lead, Thorn, frequently has torn clothing that just looks like it might fall off at any moment. And the one-sided "romance" between Fone Bone and Thorn is a little creepy. I mean, it's a bone creature of indeterminate age and a human woman. Weird. Luckily it's resolved well without ever getting toooo creepy and the sexualisation of her is minimal. So still a solid recommend from me. show less