World Famous Comics: Bone Volume 1: Out From Boneville SC
Bone Volume 1: Out From Boneville SC
By: Jeff Smith Publisher: Cartoon Books Average Rating: Binding: Paperback Label: Cartoon Books Number of Items: 1 Number of Pages: 142 Publication Date: June 12, 1996 Reading Level: Ages 9-12
Amazon.com: After being run out of Boneville, the three Bone cousins, Fone Bone, Phoney Bone and Smiley Bone, are separated and lost in a vast uncharted desert. One by one, they find their way into a deep, forested valley filled with wonderful and terrifying creatures." So begins Smith's charming masterpiece. Like the best Disney and Warner Brothers cartoons combined, Bone had me laughing out loud. I firmly believe that once you read Bone you're hooked for life. The beautiful hardcover packaging is well worth the extra money.
Book Description: Humor mystery and adventure are spun together in this action-packed side-splitting saga. Everyone who has ever left home for the first time only to find that the world outside is strange and overwhelming will love Bone. Written and drawn by Jeff Smith, Bone will touch your heart and make you laugh out loud. Smith's charming and award-winning story will win over you and your customers.
A charming and witty fantasy adventure When Jeff Smith created his "Bone" saga, he was doing something right. What is there not to like about the three charming Bone cousins - the resourceful Fone Bone, the greedy Phoney Bone, and the inscrutable Smiley Bone? And how can you not get caught up in their dramatic adventures? But Smith's Bone is more than just a cute comic strip. It shows the evolution of the graphic novel as a viable literary format, with all the hallmarks that we've come to expect from traditional fiction:
1. Characterization - the three Bone characters have endearing and memorable qualities with immediate appeal, and the other characters in their world are equally, outstanding, charming, and unique. 2. Setting - Jeff's Smith world is peopled by a variety of other fantastic creatures and characters (Thorn, Rose Gran'ma Ben, Ted the insect, the Great Red Dragon, the Possum Kids, Stupid Rat Creatures, and others). The Bone-iverse has Tolkiensque overtones, and will be an instant hit with fans of the fantasy genre. 3. Plot - after leaving Boneville and entering a fantasy world of monsters and magic, the Bone cousins quickly get caught up in a compelling and suspenseful adventure story. 4. Style - Smith is a great story-teller, and his narrative has a great deal of wit, humour and charm, although the story becomes more serious and less comic as the story progresses. But once you're hooked, you're in for the ride until the protagonists complete their adventures.
If there are complaints, I would offer two: 1. As a Christian, I was disappointed by several instances where God's Name was misused; 2. While the comic of this particular edition is charming even in black and white, it would spring even more to life in a colour format. Fortunately, this latter point is a work currently in progress, since the Bone adventures are in the process of being re-released by Scholastic in full colour, and the sample copy I saw was truly fantastic! Those of us who enjoy Smith's unique blend of light-hearted comic and epic fantasy will welcome the re-released colour version only too readily!
Be warned however that the complete tale isn't told in this particular edition, which is the first volume in the series and contains only the first six episodes. It ends on a suspenseful note with further action imminent. Eight volumes were to follow, although all 55 episodes are now available in a one-volume edition of nearly 1300 pages. If you make it to the last page of the first volume, you'll likely want to read them all, although be aware that in the later volumes the story becomes more serious, much like Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings advanced beyond the initial charm of The Hobbit. While the later volumes deepen the literary qualities of this work, some readers will find that they lack some of the accessibility and appeal of the entry story.
A comparison with the usually incomparable Lord of the Rings might seem ridiculous, but I can appreciate why many have even dared suggest it. Smith himself credits his interest in mythology and his sense of mystery to Tolkien's Lord of the Rings and George Lucas' Star Wars trilogy. Unlike these, the Bone saga is naturally much more light-hearted, at least in its inception, and won't quite attain the impact or depth of more serious graphic novels, although it shares with LOTR and Star Wars an epic scope. As a blend of light hearted comedy, slapstick humor, adventure, and epic fantasy, Bone is a comic for all ages, and for the ages. GODLY GADFLY (2007)
Graphic SF Reader Ok, whimsical sort of comic, at times. I can see where this would be quite popular with kids, with its cross between Disney comics and the look of casper the ghost, wendy the little witch, hot stuff, and all those sort of gohst line of characters. This is what it reminded me of, anyway. Not enough to want to read any more though.
Stupid, Stupid Rat Creatures! Color. It is amazing what a little color can do to a story. Now, I know I am going to anger those that are hardcore black and white Bone readers, but this critic found more enjoyment reading the fully-colored second chapter to this series and less enjoyment reading the first book which I found in rather drab ink. Is that superficial of me to say? Is it like saying I prefer a non-smoker to a smoker without taking into account his/her personality? Perhaps, but for me it was very clear with this opening book. Without the bold colors, the imagination seemed to be less, the humor seemed more cardboard, and the characters felt less original. While I still enjoyed learning the history of Fone Bone and his entrance into Thorn's life, I just couldn't get into this opening book like I did the original. Call me crazy, but I didn't put this book down with a great excitement to read anything but a full color version of the third collection.
Again, you won't find me giving this book a bad mark, but there was something lacking from this first collection to the second collection. The second collection seemed adventurous, infamous, and quite boiled, but this first book seemed choppy, secluded, and rather unplanned. From the opening segments with the locusts, to the sudden downfall of snow randomly, to the unclothed bath with Thorn, I just felt unmoved. On the counterpoint, there were scenes that I just loved. Oddly, with this first collection it was more of a hodgepodge of themes than a focused story. Smith has done a fabulous job of creating a enormous world with mystery and excitement, but without the color and at times cheaply drawn panels (i.e. the introduction of the rat king and the hooded mystery man) it just feels rushed. Again, I could sound superficial, but this opener without the color drawings just didn't feel the emotion behind this story. Ug - call me old-timer - but I like color, bold strokes, and deep mahogany emotion.
Enough about the grudging, what did I like about this story? I continued to fall in love with the mystery of Bone and the connection with the dragons. Where does Thorn fall into this picture? Who is the masked man? I love the fact that Gran'ma can fight better than anyone else in the story! I love the fact that the hooded man is on the search for someone outside of our main Bone character. I love the darkness that Smith has chosen to head in this epic story. That is the only plus that I can give this black and white story, the ability to expose the darkness stronger and the classic pure characters. One element that I didn't see (or perhaps ignored) in the second book but was extremely relevant in this opening story is the sexual undertones. Surprising as this sounds, but there is something eerie between Thorn and Fone that Smith is not afraid to bring to the picture. I didn't see this coming, and was rather shocked/intrigued by the rather adult situation in what is promoted as a child's book (while we all know it is not ...) All of these moments in "Out of Boneville" started a strong chapter to a very original series.
Overall, I was impressed again, but at the same time rather unimpressed. I definitely need to finish this series with color, but others will probably be angry with my words. I love the characters. I love how they do not fit within the parameters of other graphic novels, and that the image that is presented on the cover (one of a cute cuddly character) is different than that which is inside the covers. This is a surprising story. I cannot wait to finish the series. I suggest this to anyone wanting to start the epic, but I strongly recommend the colored version!
Grade: **** out of *****
The Start Of A Great Adventure "Out From Boneville" is the first of nine volumes in a graphical fantasy adventure written and drawn by Jeff Smith. It is a wonderful blend of humor, fantasy, and mystery which creates an engaging adventure that leaves the reader wanting more.
The story opens with the three Bone cousins (Fone, Smiley, and Phoney), who have just managed to lose the angry townspeople who have chased them out of their home town because of the dealings of Phoney. Unfortunately, they have chased them right of their map of the known world, and they don't know how to get back. A swarm of locusts then causes them to become separated leaving Fone searching for the other two. He finds himself stuck in a valley trying to last the winter, after which he hopes to find his cousins and then they can try to find their way back home.
There are many twists to the story as well. There is a dragon that occasionally appears, but Fone can't seem to convince anyone else that dragons exist. There are the Rat People, who are the main villains, who try to capture and eat Fone, but are often foiled by the dragon or their own stupidity. There is Thorn, a beautiful young woman whom Fone meets near the end of winter, and her Grandmother who likes to race cows. There is Kingdok, the leader of the Rat People, and the mysterious Hooded One, who is clearly looking for Phoney, but we don't know why.
This is a highly entertaining series, and well worth reading. The series is available in nine volumes, or as a one volume edition (1300 pages). The volumes don't stand on their own, which is about the only negative I can think of, so you may want to go with the one volume edition.
A beautiful start to a top-notch graphic novel series 'Bone: Out From Boneville,' collects issues #1-6 of Jeff Smith's seminal Fantasy-Humor comic series that first kicked off in 1991. Anyone with an appreciation for top-notch comic book storytelling will quickly appreciate Smith's keen sense of compelling, exciting narrative blended in with keen-humor and characterization in every panel. For those not sure what this series is actually about, in a nutshell it can be described as a fantasy epic with strong overtones of humor and adventure populated with compelling characters of human, animal and mythic-being variety. Whether or not you're a fan of the fantasy genre you will nonetheless find yourself compelled with the story from the get-go thanks to Smith's wonderful storytelling ability. Give it a try, you won't be disappointed.
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