Bone: The Complete Cartoon Epic in One Volume

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!

I wrote to friends while in the process of reading this that it is `better than _Sandman_.' To many of my contemporaries, Gaiman's stories are the gold standard for graphic novelization. Others may disagree on what hold the top spot but for me the quest of _Bone_ is the bee's knees. I wish I had kids so that I could read it to them. First off, a warning. This volume is thick - over 1300 pages. Reading the text will not be something you can do on your commute or even laying down on your back. Find a nice comfortable place to sit and lay the book in front of you. Make sure there's fresh coffee in the pot and you have plenty of time to kill, because you're not going anywhere. The story of _Bone _ is that of a generic quest narrative: our heroes meet some friends, battle a common enemy, face uncertain allegiances and overcome several smaller obstacles to conquer in the end the larger goal. The story overcomes the possibility of boring rote fantasy and is actually well done. What saves the story is the characters. All of them on some level challenge the archetypes that could easily be found for them. Their change and growth (for the most part) creates interest for the reader and it is fun to watch how they interact and come into their own. I think every reader will be able to find a character to identify with and track throughout the quest. I for one have a particular affinity for the `Rat Creatures'. A final note is on the artwork. It is internally consistent for the whole of the run. This volume is in black and white, so it sometimes looks like a coloring book. However, the story and the art work hand-in-hand, and there was only one panoramic vista that I wished would have been in color. At around thirty dollars, this printing is a bargain compared to what the colorized version would cost, so there is little need to lament the black-and-white nature of the book. The world of _Bone_ is a realistic one, drawn largely true to life. The three main `Bone' characters are from another place, and their physical structure shows their otherness. They are not outcasts though, but forever belonging to another place. You as a reader belong to another place too, but once you read the first page, you will live in the world Jeff Smith created for your enjoyment.

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.

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.

Read through the entire omnibus, It was a long ride but worth it. One of these days will see Throne and Fone Bone get married.

Bone (2004) collects all 55 issues of Jeff Smith's comic book Bone, which was independently published from 1991 to 2004. Three Bones - pantsless hybrids of Walt Kelly's Pogo, Casper the Friendly Ghost and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles - are run out of their town. They cross the desert and arrive at a Valley, where the series takes place, just in time for an epic conflict to erupt there. Bone is often humorous and at times very funny. Smith constructs his situation comedy with the best of them, but he has also created a couple of characters who are innately funny, which is rare: the rogue pair of quiche-loving rat creatures is always funny, no matter what they're doing. Toward the beginning of its arc, Bone has something of a leisurely pace, which allows for more humor and frequent appearances of these "stupid, stupid" rat creatures. Some of Smith's gags are pretty thin (as is Fone Bone's crush on Thorn), but on the whole this is a fun book. Smith's humor works a lot better than his drama. Broadly, Bone features a fairly generic, been-there-done-that "epic" plot centered on a peasant girl who, unbeknownst to her, is both the long-lost heir to the throne and the hero of destiny. In fact, all the trusty, worn-out fantasy tropes are here: quests, a dark lord, the unwitting royal hero, magic, the pseudo-medieval setting. And the Bones are noticeably like Tolkien's hobbits in that they are outsiders caught up in a grand struggle they don't fully understand. Smith handles the story adequately, although as the story progresses, a great deal of the humor is lost, replaced by unpleasant amounts of bickering and expositional monologues. Bone has two main climaxes - one two-thirds of the way through and one at the end. The first feels sufficiently weighty, the second, less so. There's plenty of build-up, but the book's ultimate resolution is underwhelming, and a bit rushed. It also suffers because some of the book's most interesting characters have limited or no presence - Lucius is an obvious example, as is Kingdok, the best villain in the book by far. Smith's artwork is excellent. He does a great job of blending the cartoony style of the Bones with the more realistic style of the Valley and its inhabitants. Bone was originally published in black and white (as it appears here), and Smith's style suits it. His use of varying line thicknesses, his simpler (but no less immersive) backgrounds, his use of black and white to create ambience - Smith uses the medium to full advantage. This one-volume edition is monstrous, and horribly unwieldy. Over thirteen hundred pages long, it's two-and-a-half inches thick and weighs about four hundred pounds. One feels like it should be read at a lectern. Smith's many spelling errors remain. Despite its flaws, Bone is certainly worth reading. After all, any book that makes fun of Moby-Dick as regularly as this one does can't be all bad.

Grew up reading this series, still love it as an adult I got the black and white version but I wish I had spent the extra to get the color one, its so nice! The black and white is still great though! Helps you focus more on the story then the images. Would recomend to anyone with kids that love reading, everytime i read this series i read the entire thing in one sitting.

Daughter absolutely loved this book. She loves animation and graphic novels, and art— and says she loves this book because it’s beautiful and brilliant. She’s read it three times cover to cover in the first month.

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

"Bone" is a wonderful epic comic book rivalling the likes of "Asterix" and "Calvin & Hobbes" for its pure innovative quality. It has humour in the style of Frank Cho's "Liberty Meadows", storytelling quality the likes of which I haven't seen since reading "The lord of the rings", and a drawing technique I can only describe as deliciously simple. The story is one of fantasy, resembling "The lord of the rings" in its general setting: small, relatively innocent creatures away from the safety of their peaceful home, cast into a scene of great turmoil, war and death far from what they're used to. The bone creatures will face great challenges, as their destinies become intertwined with the survival of the very world. Written like that, it doesn't sound like anything you haven't read before, but God - as they say - is in the details. The sub-plots are magnificent, the dialogues tremendously witty, and the drawing ... oh! the drawing! It's all in black/white, and it's supposed to be that way (so sayeth the author himself). Trust me, colour takes away the magnificent contrast, and such editions should be avoided. This particular edition contains all the albums (which were released separately) in one very large package. One drawback is that Amazon will ship this item as it is, book inside cardboard casing. To keep the precious pages safe from rain or other wet exposure, it should have been wrapped in plastic film.

Nice artwork, compelling story and fun characters. I think I will reread this many times. Not quite the Lord of the Rings of graphic novels as some claim but is an epic little tale of its own. Strong recommend from this guy.

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

I love graphic novels. In particular, I like post-apocalyptic zombies and crime-noir. As such, I hesitated on this book for a long time, I saw all the praise on the web and thought, "yeah, but it's not for me" and I will honestly admit that for the first 150 pages, I thought I had my fears realized and this was a book, truly, not for me. This was silly pages for kids. Boy, was I ever wrong. I'll tell you though, even by 350 pages? I still wasn't sure, the story has numerous peaks and valleys in the initial few chapters, and there is an inordinate amount of time spent on a cow-race! By page 500? I couldn't put it down. Looking back, I now realize it was done on purpose, the peaks and valleys. It was completely necessary to introduce the characters and build them in that manner. It was masterful, an artist playing with his readers. This book, it's as though some divine-creative-spirit took over and crafted an important piece of story-telling-magic via Jeff Smith. It's marvellous. This book transcends. It doesn't care how old you are. Are you alive? Do you have a pulse? Then you will enjoy this book and story. It's important to have this one on your shelf, this is one of those books that transcends demographics and captivates. Don't hesitate, read it your kids, read it yourself, it doesn't matter, you'll love it all the same. Beautiful, poignant, funny, engaging, awe-inspiring. Firmly in my top 10, right next to Alan Moore's "From Hell", Robert Kirkman's "Walking Dead" and Frank MIller's "Sin City", and I will gladly engage with anyone who says it doesn't belong there!