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90 of 94 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Did you know that Dragons can cause droughts?, October 12, 2004
This review is from: Bone: The Complete Cartoon Epic in One Volume (Paperback)
If Lord of the Rings were much funnier and pervaded with humor, it would be very much like Bone. Not that Bone isn't a serious work, because it is in every way - It's probably one of the comic book masterpieces of our time. Only that the story sometimes twists and turns on laugh out loud plot devices. Many of the characters are funny (Phoney Bone, the stupid stupid rat creatures, Smiley Bone, Bartelby, Gran'ma) but also have a downright serious side (Gran'ma has one VERY serious side; don't mess with her and definitely don't mess with her cows). The story itself is even funny in ways, but it amazingly maintains tension with some horror and shock mixed in. It's adventure, comedy, horror, and fantasy wrapped in a shell of great comic artwork.
Hidden beneath the adventures, jokes, and great artwork also lies some social commentary. When Phoney Bone convinces the townsfolk that dragons are an immediate threat to their safety and, since he's a dragonslayer, they should give him absolute control over the town, this hits almost a little too close to home. Phoney represents greed on steroids. Other innocents get pulled into his plans for money and power (he doesn't seem too concerned with glory or the well being of society in general). Nonetheless, the entire story turns on Phoney's schemes, and they play a vital role in the plot.
Other highlights include: the Great Cow Races; Fone Bone's infatuation with Thorn; Ted the Bug (what an amazing character); the two stupid rat creature's travails with Kingdok (one of them loves quiche); the slow uncovering of Gran'ma and Thorn's true identities; Smiley Bone's pet rat creature; Fone Bone's run ins with The Great Red Dragon; the Giant Bees ("Gimmee dat Cigar!"); Phoney Bone's first very creepy run in with The Hooded One. There's plenty more. These some 1300 pages are crammed with highlights.
Bone was originally released in numerous comic books (from 1991 to 2004) which were then collected into 9 larger books, and now all nine books are compiled into this one chunky volume. This book is slightly smaller in physical size than the other books, so some of the extreme detail of the art is lost (but most people won't care). Nonetheless, here's the entire story in one big volume for one much smaller price. It's a quick and tumultuous read, and represents ten years very well spent.
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54 of 57 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
my only complaint is with the book, not content., December 1, 2004
This review is from: Bone: The Complete Cartoon Epic in One Volume (Paperback)
i have already bought the bones series volume by volume and love its take on mixing fantasy, humor and pogo-like characters. i would wholeheartedly recommend getting the series.
my only problem is with the ONE VOLUME EDITION, and that is only if you are INTERESTED IN THE ART. the volume is smaller in size but even that isn't a real issue. the problem is with the THINNESS OF THE PAGES, the artwork from the other side shows through (kind of like the wording shows through on many bibles). this hurts smith's beautiful black and white inked drawings (to me at least), and since graphics are what makes it a graphic novel, it might be an issue for someone that doesn't get to flip through the pages before buying it.
but it is a GREAT DEAL FOR THE PRICE. and i would still prefer the cheap volume over not having it at all. (BTW, i had to have the last 2 volumes ordered through a bookstore and they came in hardback instead of softcover and they are beautiful with a map on the interior binding, a gold-inked illustration on the front cover, a wrap-around book cover with the softcover art over that, and is worth the $5 or so extra if you are going to buy volume by volume).
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48 of 53 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
Don't buy! Do yourself a favor and buy the color graphic novels!, November 14, 2009
This review is from: Bone: The Complete Cartoon Epic in One Volume (Paperback)
This is buy no means a review of the series itself, my review here is regarding the quality of the pages that this is printed on.
You will be very disappointed by how THIN the pages are. You can see the artwork on the next page! It is extremely distracting to try to read this book when you can see what is happening on the next page. It's cool to have this in it's original black and white incarnation, but do yourself a favor and buy the colored versions from Scholastic. The paper quality on the scholastic versions is now graphic novel thick almost semi gloss paper. The colors pop off the pages, they look amazing. The color adds even more depth to the story.
So please don't order this...order the more expensive but totally worth it color versions.
TIP: If your kids bring home those Scholastic book flyers from their school, they are selling the complete 9 books for $50!
Hope this helps anyone on the fence...
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