Bone: One Volume Edition

Bone: The Complete Edition by Jeff Smith
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

After being run out of Boneville because of one of Phoney Bone's schemes, the Bone cousins wind up in a valley in the mountains. It's a case of out of the frying pan and into the fire when war erupts around the valley and the cousins and their new friends are caught in the middle...

Back in the 1990s, this book was the talk of the town but I was too cool for a comic book about cute characters. Now that I'm much older and also uncool, I decided to finally give it a shot.

The art shares some similarities with Calvin and Hobbes, probably due to the Walt Kelly influence on both. It also has a Disney feel. I likened it to the Black Cauldron while I was describing the series to my wife. Much love for the design of the Rat Creatures, BTW.

At first, I wasn't super impressed with the story. Yadda yadda quest, yadda yadda dark one vs. chose one, etc. However, I quickly got attached to the antics of the Bone cousins and loved Gran'ma Ben. Both of my grandmas were tough ladies so she quickly became my favorite character. Thorn was a strong character, not content to buy all the bullshit people were spewing in her direction after being lied to all of her life.

The story was epic in scope. The Barrelhaven, the valley, and reality itself were at stake before all was said and done. I think the mythology of the world did a lot to elevate it above a lot of epic fantasy. You know, plus the Bone cousins. Bone has pretty much everything you could want in a tale: humor, action, unrequited love, poignant moments. I really can't think of anything bad to say about it.

Bone deserves all the awards it has won over the years, an epic tale for all ages. Five out of five stars.

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