Everything's Better with Bone

[angelophile]

Because, you know, there can never be enough love for Jeff Smith's Bone and, shockingly, despite all those Eisners and Harvey Awards, apparently none's been posted since S_D 1.0 got TOSed. Something I now intend to correct.

This selection's from the colored version of "Out From Boneville" from Scholastic Inc.








Real rat creatures eat quiche.

Then some time later, when Fone Bone's babysitting the Possum kids...











With inevitable results.

And just because I love this page:



If you've never read Bone there's no excuse - the complete 1,332 page, one volume edition which collects all 13 years of the story is available and you can get it for as little as 25 bucks. Time Magazine listed it as one of the top ten graphic novels of all time and it brilliantly walks the line between cuteness, broad humor and Tolkien-esque high fantasy. It's a genuine masterpiece. [/sales pitch]

Comments

[espanolbot]

Yay, Thorn. ^^

[terrykun]

Ah... "STUPID, STUPID RAT CREATURES!"

It's like you never left me.

[xammax]

One of the rat creatures was purple.... huh.

With the two rat creatures...

[roguefankc]

Is it just me or do those two rat creatures act more like...lovers, rather than friends? I mean, look at how they argue:


"No, you called me fat. And it's not the first time you've done it either."
"This isn't the time...!"
"Why didn't you stop me? -- Why should I? You're so smart!"


Seriously, it's almost as if they're a married couple. Best friends don't care if you call each other fat or get snippy over how food is prepared.

Re: With the two rat creatures...

[hradzka]

Their interplay here is similar to that of Goscinny and Underzo's Asterix and Obelix. The arms-folded, nose-in-the-air posture and the "No. You called me fat." is especially reminiscent of Obelix, and that scene always felt a bit like Smith showing G&U some love to me.

Re: With the two rat creatures...

[angelophile]

It was pretty much left open to interpretation what relationship those two have. Siblings, lovers, just friends, it's all there for the reader to interpret it whatever way they chose.

Re: With the two rat creatures...

[aaron_bourque]

We never learn if there are tertiary sexual characteristics, and we know that there are "young rat creatures," so . . . they could be.

Although, I've always identified the "quiche-eater" as having the deeper voice, funnily enough.

[kiev4am]

Aww, I've never even seen this before *shame* - though I did always wonder where the oft quoted 'stupid, stupid rat creatures!' quote came from. What I am mostly loving is the clear Walt Kelly influence in the art. Bone is like Pogo's distant cousin. Adorable.

[dejadrew]

Bone is like if Walt Kelly and Carl Barks got together and drew The Lord of the Rings. So awesome.

[cainofdreaming]

If you've never read Bone there's no excuse - the complete 1,332 page, one volume edition which collects all 13 years of the story is available and you can get it for as little as 25 bucks.

And if you are short on cash most public libraries probably have at least some of the books. Even if you have to brave the children's section to find them like I did.

[angelophile]

True. When you win that many awards even libraries sit up and take notice.

[skalja]

Oy, ease off on libraries. Most of them have to cover as much as they can of the entire body of published literature without much funding, and it's not that easy to put together a comics section that'll satisfy a comics geek if you're not one yourself.

The best way to improve the quality of findings at one's local library is to tell the librarians what you'd like them to carry. That gives them a good idea of how they should spread out their book money, and I've never known a library that won't try to accomodate specific requests where possible.

[cainofdreaming]

Our local comics' bookshelf in our library is pretty good to begin with, actually. We've got stuff from Akira to Tex Willer, from Batman - Black and White to Spirou, from Sandman to Praedor (local stuff... I'll really have to see about scanning some of Petri Hiltunen's work one of these days).

Guess I'm just lucky.

[rhythmbandit]

Indeed, that's how I read it.

[jelly_ace]

I love the monsters' argument. And culminating with QUICHE! Heh.

Now I'm hungry.

[psychopathicus_rex]

This is interesting - I've only read the black and white version, which is gorgeous, but it works pretty well in color, too. In any version, Bone is one of my favorite comics ever.

[angelophile]

I only own the first volume in color. I picked it up before knowing about the complete collection and as soon as I'd read it I couldn't wait for the color versions to come out and had to rush and get the complete story. Eventually I'll try and pick up the color version. Going by the first volume, at least, the colors are sympathetic.

[psychopathicus_rex]

Which is not all that surprising, given that Jeff Smith is doing the colors, but still. Gratifying to know that he makes for a good colorist.

[kingrockwell]

Color's by Steve Hamaker.

[psychopathicus_rex]

Oh? Well, I'm fairly certain that Smith is overseeing the process, anyway.

[skalja]

Question -- what's the binding like on the massive one-volume version? That is, is it difficult to read near the spine because the spine itself is so big, or does it lay flat nicely?

[kingrockwell]

Hey, no one answered this! i guess you're lucky i decided to read this tab finally

Pulling out my copy, I wouldn't necessarily say it lays flat, but their's no trouble reading close to the binding, there's about a half-inch between the borders and it. It's prolly easier to read than other large paperbacks I have, actually.