ESSENTIAL:
BONE VOL 1: OUT FROM BONEVILLE
BY DAVE POTTER

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BONE Vol 1: Out From Boneville
Jeff Smith
$12.95
Cartoon Books

Doing a review of Bone ought to be simple. A few words sum it up: Just read it. Go buy it, and read it. You'll thank me later.

I'm guessing, however, that if you aren't reading this masterwork yet, you fall into one of two categories-you are somehow unaware of this modern classic unfolding before our eyes, or else you don't think its worthy of your attention. Neither category will be swayed by that first sentence. You need more.

Thus, an expanded review. Short, but to the point.

Bone is the story of Fone Bone, who becomes separated from his cousins (Phoney Bone and Smiley Bone) and wanders into a strange valley filled with wonderful creatures and characters. Fone Bone 's journey through this strange and unfamiliar land to reunite with his cousins is the driving force behind this first book, and it is a completely told tale, but you are also aware that a larger story is being set in motion. Who and what are the rat creatures? Why are they seeking the Bone cousins? And what strange secrets are hidden in the past of this strange valley? While the full and complete answers to these questions are not forthcoming in this first volume, you won't mind; in fact, when you're done you'll immediately want to know what happens in the next volume.

Bone is not a typical "funny book". Once you start this saga, you'll realize that Jeff Smith has envisioned and graced us with one of the most fully formed, well though out fantasy landscapes since Sandman or Lord of the Rings. The pieces that are introduced in this volume won't necessarily all immediately fit together-they'll seem very white hat/black hat to you, but I promise you two things: its really not as simple as it seems, and that you'll want to read more volumes after this first one to see what I mean.

You'll enter this world through the eyes of Fone Bone as he encounters Thorn and Grandma Ben, the Red Dragon, Lucius the Bartender, Ted the Bug and the menace of Kingdok and the Rat Creatures. The characters make it sound a bit like a children's tale, and on a lot of levels it is. Like Rocky and Bullwinkle, Bone operates on one level that is perfectly accessible and satisfying to children, and on another level as well that is accessible and satisfying to adults.

Bone works on these levels because it is a perfect confluence of innocence, exploration, fantasy, humor, and strong characterization. If all comics could be this clever and well thought out, the medium wouldn't be the ghetto industry that it is-we'd be the dominant art form in America.

But what makes Bone such a precious treasure is that it makes me laugh. Often. And so hard I have to put the book down. Bone is probably the damn funniest comic being produced today. You can learn a lot about the craft of storytelling through studying masters and honing your skills, but at the end of the day you can't teach someone humor. You either have it or you don't, and Jeff Smith is one of the masters at humor in comics today. His sense of timing and use of that magic we call sequential art to create a humorous situation is quite probably unmatched in the industry today, and is easily accessible to anyone who enjoyed Calvin & Hobbes or Pogo.

It's also probably the closest thing to pure crack that the comics industry is producing right now. Bone is addictive. You don't want to put it down, and you immediately want to know what happens next. Don't confuse the fact that it is a quick and easy read (another reason its ideal for young readers) with the idea that this is Light Material. The story and world it inhabits are familiar and new at the same time, and hauntingly real and believable, an amazing accomplishment for the cartoonish art style of Smith.

I might as well be reviewing the whole series of Bone volumes here, but since the story is so addictive, all I need to do is get you to read this first one. If you've never been exposed to the artform before, your mind will be opened as it never has before to considering that the term sequential art might not be a self aggrandizing term to justify for the medium's existence.

Given that the holidays are upon us, Bone is really the ultimate Christmas gift for a discerning reader. It has something for almost anyone within its pages. Humor. Strong characterization. Fantastic settings. A love story. Action. Comedy. Bar Scenes. Fantasy. Racing Cows. Comic books. Literary allusions. A beautiful girl. A hopeless romance. I can't imagine any reasonable Lover of Stories won't appreciate finding this tale under their tree or in their stocking this year, or any year, for that matter. In 20 years, this will be a timeless tale that is held up with other successful serial stories like Sandman and Cerebus.

But you don't just have to take my word for it. Big gun comic industry luminaries like Will Eisner and Neil Gaiman all read Bone. In fact, if you think of a favorite creator in a genre, odds are that they read and recommend Bone. Diametrically opposed industry publications like The Comics Journal and Wizard recommend Bone, as well as mainstream media commentary like Publisher's Weekly.

There's one other category of non-Bone readers that I forgot to mention, because it's so small that it barely warrants mentioning-the group that might actually pick the book up simply because I say its good.

If you're in that group, you've probably already realized you need to be reading it, but just in case you skipped straight to the end, this last line is for you: Of all the series and comics I read this past year for the first time, Bone is unquestionably the best one I encountered.

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Bone Volume 1 is published by Cartoon Books, and is priced at a reasonable $12.95. It is currently in print and if your comic store doesn't carry it, we highly suggest you find a better store. Better stores may be found at www.the-master-list.com

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