Old Man's Cave (Bone, Book 6) [Paperback]

Jeff Smith (Author, Artist)

Book Description

Series: Bone Reissue Graphic Novels

As war spreads through the Valley and the rat creatures mount a vicious offense, Gran'ma, Lucius, Phoney Bone and the villagers join the Veni Yan warriors and set up base camp at Old Man's Cave to make a final stand against the Rat Creature army. Will Fone Bone be able to hold the alliance together? Will the rat creatures finally take over the valley and unleash the power of the Lord of the Locusts? Find out and discover much much more in this pivotal book.

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Jeff Smith was born and raised in the American Midwest and learned about cartooning from comic strips, comic books, and TV animation. He launched the comic book Bone in 1991. --This text refers to the Library Binding edition.

Product Details

• Paperback: 128 pages
• Publisher: Cartoon Books (August 23, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1888963050
• ISBN-13: 978-1888963052
• Product Dimensions: 10.3 x 6.7 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (18 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #599,570 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

After four years of drawing comic strips for Ohio State University's student newspaper, Jeff Smith launched the comic book Bone in 1991. Between Bone and his other comic book projects, he now spends much of his time on the international guest circuit, promoting comics and the art of graphic novels.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Tense, dark and epic - yet still for all ages, May 10, 2004

By 

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

This review is from: Old Man's Cave (Bone, Book 6) (Paperback)

Jeff Smith's wonderful "Bone" series continues with this, the sixth of nine volumes (completing the second of three trilogies). "Old Man's Cave" continues the trend of previous installments, which have slowly grown less humorous and more grim.

Yet through the increasingly dark tone of the "Bone" saga, Smith manages to keep things friendly for all ages, a truly commendable task in this era of R rated comics.

"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, revealed slowly over the course of nine volumes. The series starts off lighthearted, but grows less so as the story unravels itself.

"Old Man's Cave" is a good example of that. The tale is compelling and dark, letting unfold the tale of Thorn, grandma and the bones, showing us the rising tide of evil in the valley, and ultimately leaving us with a thrilling conclusion filled with despair and hopelessness. It is a great climax to the second of three interwoven trilogies, and without question a perfect end to the second act of this series. When finishing this, you'll reach for the next volume right away.

It all works because Smith combines the kind of classic storytelling perfected by the likes of the legendary Carl Barks (Donald Duck, Uncle Scrooge) and Bill Watterson (Calvin & Hobbes) - gleeful 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.

Comic readers able to look past the lack of men in tights (superheroes) and color artwork will delight in this series. So, too, will those generally not accustomed to comics. 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 surely outlast 90 percent of other comic works on the shelf.

Jeff Smith's "Bone" series is a critically acclaimed but criminally overlooked epic. And that's too bad, because this deserves to be read.

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Great Leap Forward in the Saga, June 21, 2000

By 

Peter A. Greene (Franklin, PA United States) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Old Man's Cave (Bone, Book 6) (Paperback)

If you've gotten this far, you know what a kick the Bone series is. Strong, stylish and effective graphics (think Alex Toth) merges with writing that mixes grand epic fantasy with strong character work and riotous slapstick humor. What you need to know is that volume six carries more than its weight in the saga-- a whole raft of mysteries are cleared up here including yet more info about the royal family, the hooded bad guy, and the search for the one who bears the star. It's a masterpiece of plotting-- nothing is expected and yet Smith doesn't pull any of his solutions out of left field. Buy this (and any of the others you're missing), plunk down in a comfy chair, and read straight through all six!

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Does anyone else agree . . . . ?, July 11, 2006

By 

Sumer Suri - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Old Man's Cave (Bone, Book 6) (Paperback)

When I read ROCK JAW and DRAGONSLAYER, I thought nothing could compare.
I was wrong.
This book seems to be the most severely underrated of the whole series. I found it thrilling and heart-wrenching (the whole part about Thorn hating and not trusting Gran'ma Ben)even though the comedy was not truly up to Jeff Smith's usual. I also found myself satisfied at the amount of information (the identity of the hooded one, what makes the baddies think that Phoney will get them, and why Phoney was so stingy and moneystruck.) I loved this book and I can't see why others didn't.