Bone Volume 1: Out From Boneville HC [Hardcover]

Jeff Smith (Author, Artist)

Book Description

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.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

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.

From Booklist

One of the most acclaimed new comics of recent years, Bone is a Tolkien-meets-Pogo fantasy about the Bone cousins, who leave their home, Boneville, for adventures in the outside world. There they confront monsters and dragons and are befriended by the winsome Thorn and her cantankerous Gran'ma. Smith, with his clean draftsmanship and flawless comic timing, has been compared to comics masters Walt Kelly (Pogo) and Carl Barks (creator of Uncle Scrooge McDuck). Like Pogo, Bone has a whimsy best appreciated by adults, yet kids can enjoy it, too; and like Barks' Disney duck stories, Bone moves from brash humor to gripping adventure in a single panel. Smith demonstrates impressive mastery of the comic strip, yet his comic timing comes straight from classic animated cartoons. Such gentle, all-ages humor as Bone's has all but disappeared; consequently, Smith's neo-traditionalism seems fresher than anything else the comics medium offers today. Obviously, there's still life in old comics genres, and a major talent as skilled as the old masters can come virtually out of nowhere. Gordon Flagg

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 142 pages
• Publisher: Cartoon Books; Graphic Novel black & white edition (September 12, 1995)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0963660993
• ISBN-13: 978-0963660992
• Product Dimensions: 10.5 x 7 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (31 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,231,803 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Timeless storytelling and essential reading, May 10, 2004

By 

Eric San Juan (Brick, NJ USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Bone Volume 1: Out From Boneville SC (Paperback)

Jeff Smith's "Bone" series is a critically acclaimed but criminally overlooked epic for a reason. Critics recognize Smith's masterful storytelling abilities and are drawn to his mix of all-ages humor and decidedly adult darkness, but the black and white art and lack of superheroes is anathema to most comic book readers, making it a hit only in the "underground" sense.

Thank goodness for trade paperbacks, which have allowed new readers unaccustomed to weekly stops at the comic store to follow this marvelous, epic, enchanting series.

Those new to "Bone" should know this: Throw away the term "comic book." It's a term that for many has become defined by superheroes, but Smith's "Bone" is much more than that.

Timeless is every way, "Bone" is an expansive story about three "bone creatures" (you'd have to see them to understand) that find themselves in a valley peopled with an assortment of crazy and interesting characters. Looming over it all is the menace of a great evil, first glimpsed by the ferocious (and funny) rat creatures, but later revealed to be something much more disturbing.

Smith combines the kind of classic storytelling perfected by the likes of the legendary Carl Barks and Bill Watterson - gleefully funny cartooning with outrageously expressive faces and gestures - with the epic and engaging plotting of a sweeping fairy tale. "Bone" walks a tightrope and walks it well, managing to be something fans of both Donald Duck and Bilbo Baggins can enjoy.

"Out From Boneville," the first volume of nine, is in the grand scheme of things little more than an introduction to the people and places that make up the "Bone" epic. We meet Thorn, the sweet girl who our protagonist Fone Bone pines over, the unnaturally tough grandma, the grumpy bar tender, and, of course, the bones themselves. It's a light-hearted introduction to what becomes a more serious tale, and it's good fun to read.

As a first chapter "Out From Boneville" is hardly representative of what "Bone" becomes, but then neither is "A Long Expected Party" in "The Lord of the Rings." Both ease the reader into what becomes an increasingly compelling, tense tale. It's a nice way to introduce us to these characters.

"Bone" is essential reading that no lover of the comic artform should skip. Little doubt people will still be reading "Bone" 50 years from now. Broad in scope yet personal and quaint, this is a charming story in every way that will long outlast 90 percent of other comic works on the shelf.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Simply Charming, September 28, 2003

By 

T. Hooper "thdizzy" (Osaka, Japan) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Bone Volume 1: Out From Boneville HC (Hardcover)

This is my favorite comic. This story is about three brothers (Fone Bone, Phoney Bone, and Smiley Bone) who have been chased from their hometown because of Phoney's overpowering greed and quest for political power. These brothers are little while creatures call Bones. These Bone brothers get lost and separated as they flee their hometown. Individually they stuble into a fantasy world populated by humans. After the brothers get separated, the story focuses on Fone Bone. Fone adapts to living in this new world. During his long winter stay, he runs into Thorn, a human girl. He instantly falls in love and becomes friends with Thorn, but he finds it impossible to express his love. Fone eventually moves in with Thorn and her grandmother. While staying at their house, there is a terrible crisis. They are attacked by the mysterious and terrifying rat creatures. Can they survive? Read it and find out.

The art in this book is simply a pleasure to look at. The story had a simple sweet touch, but really livens up when the action starts. I was especially moved by the love between Fone and Thorn. I'm hoping that Fone will build up his courage and confess his love. If you read only one comic, this is the one you have to read. Don't miss it.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Well Developed Fantasy/Adventure, April 9, 2003

By 

Michael Laughead - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Bone Volume 1: Out From Boneville SC (Paperback)

I love this series. It is fun enough for a young audience(the ages 9-12 that it is attributed to by Amazon), but contains serious enough themes for young adults and adults. The characters fit any fantasy description and the story fits the best definitions for a romance(the Roman kind as well as the kind we are most familiar with). As a fantasy, the situations are exaggerated to be, in a way, more interesting than real life. As a romance, the series is full of hope and optimism; adventure and trials. Fone Bone and the other characters are forced to change their goals as they experience doubts about themselves and their world. The conclusion will be one, very large accomplishment affecting the story's entire valley.
Bone is definitely a page turner. It is humorous. Throughout the adventure the reader is invited to laugh with and at the antics of its characters. They are likeable(even Phoney) and the reader has instant, additional sympathy for them because of their youth. With the drive of concern for the characters, the artwork catches and keeps the interest of the reader. The style is unique(black and white), fun, consistent while improving, and communicates the tone and the shifts of the tone. Jeff Smith's artistic timing inspires the reader's respect.
Finally, Bone is appropriate for all. The tale is tightly woven and carefully mastered. Nothing in it, distracts or detracts from the story. I would loan or recommend it to my eight year old niece, who loves Harry Potter; my brother in high school; or my mother who just, plain likes a good adventure. It is a rich story with a fun and interesting potential.