Back in the early '90s, Bone became the little book
that could. Written, drawn and independently published by Jeff
Smith over the course of 12 years, Bone told an epic
fantasy with wit and humor and not a small amount of suspense. Some
thought it couldn't be done. The comics market wasn't healthy for
such small ventures, and publishing and distributing a comic out of
a garage --- as Smith did --- was risky at best. But it worked. In
fact, it became a phenomenon.

It begins with three cousins --- Fone Bone, Phoney Bone and Smiley
Bone --- being unceremoniously thrown out of Boneville because of
the scheming ways of Phoney, the richest (and most deceptive) man
in town. Almost immediately, the three become separated, and Fone,
the hero of the tale, sets out to find them. He first meets the
charming and beautiful Thorn, who brings him back to stay with her
Gran'ma Ben, a rough-and-tumble fighter who races cows and doesn't
take backtalk from anyone. Good-hearted Fone befriends a dragon,
bugs, other assorted creatures, falls head over heels for Thorn,
and becomes the target of deadly rat creatures, who want to capture
him and bring him to their evil master. And so begins an epic
journey wherein our hero is unsuspecting of the dangers that face
him as he reaches levels of greatness he had no idea were in store
for him.

Bone's long tale unfolded in glorious black-and-white in
its original form, but Scholastic has begun reprinting the series
in color. Bone purists may have a hard time accepting
this, but they needn't fear. These reprinted collections use color
splendidly, actually giving Bone a new feel. And it may
help this wonderful series reach a new audience. (One other side
effect of the added color: The rat creatures look twice as
terrifying as before, with beady red eyes filled with evil
intentions.)

Something these reprinted collections would benefit immensely from,
however, is a foreword or brief primer to fill new readers in on
what has gone before. Bone is not easy to jump into this
far into the series --- the eighth installment is the penultimate
book in the tale --- and someone attempting to start here may be a
bit thrown.

Even new readers would be hard-pressed to avoid being drawn into
this charming world, though. Bone has a way of combining
sweeping action with hilarious dialogue without ever descending
into camp. Even better, Smith takes his work seriously, even when
he's being seriously funny --- or when he's being downright
frightening, as TREASURE HUNTERS often is. This far into his story,
Smith has upped the stakes, and the action is fast and furious. As
Fone, Thorn, Gran'ma Ben and the other characters get nearer to
reaching their goal, answers begin to unfold with satisfying
results, and the danger they're in escalates.

Bone is a special kind of graphic novel, a work that is as
enjoyable for adults as it is for kids (and manages to tell its
story without insulting the sensibilities of either group). It's in
the grand tradition of Walt Kelley's Pogo and J.R.R.
Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings, but it's distinctive and
stands on its own. Five years after the series ended, it's
reassuring to know that Bone is still managing to reach
new readers in new collections.