“Comic Book”

I'm guessing for a lot of you out there the first thing that came to mind was 'Super Hero'. Whether you grew up reading about Superman and Batman, the X-Men, or even characters like Spawn and the Savage Dragon, for many people comic books begin and end with the spandex-beclad adventures of those wacky men in tights (or women falling out of them, as the case may be). But there is another world out there. A world of horror, romance, fantasy, science fiction, comedy, drama, and everything in between. The World of Alternative Comics!

On the back-shelves of your local comics store there dwells a terrible land of plot development, stories with conclusions, and reasonably proportioned character designs. Now I know how you must feel, and I'm scared too. But it's okay, dear readers, because I have braved the wilds of the small press expos. I have combed the lowest bottom shelves and scaled the highest stacks of unsorted trade paperbacks, and I have brought back only the finest tales to ease the mind and excite the imagination, and in the coming weeks I will present to you the finest titles from across the literary spectrum for your reading pleasure.

For our first adventure, we're going to take a look at one of the most celebrated alternative comics ever written: Bone. The brain child of creator Jeff Smith, since its first issue in 1991 Bone has won dozens of awards, including 10 Eisners and 11 Harveys. The comic ended its run in 2004 after 55 regular issues, plus a number of one-shots and limited-issue spinoffs.

The story of Bone begins with three cousins: Fone Bone, Phoney Bone, and Smiley Bone, who are lost in the desert after being run out of Bonetown, following a particularly disastrous mayoral bid on the part of Phoney. The Bone cousins draw obvious inspiration both in character and design from both Carl Bark's Uncle Scrooge and Donald Duck stories and Walt Kelly's classic Pogo strips.

Things quickly move from bad to worse for the Bones, as a swarm of locusts materializes seemingly from nowhere. The cousins are separated, and Fone Bone finds himself pushed inexorably towards a distant line of mountains, beyond which he finds a lush valley. Hoping to find his missing cousins, Fone Bone enters the valley and finds a world of magic, dragons, wars, prophesies, ancient spirits, lost princesses, mysterious monks, and cows. Lots of cows.

In Bone, Jeff Smith manages to weave a mixture of irreverent humor and amazing fantasy. The story often straddles the line between serious action and light-hearted humor, and manages to combine to two beautifully. The effect is reinforced by Smith's art style, which is clean and effective, working well for both the more cartoony characters in the story and the more realistic. Whether your a fan of comedy, fantasy, or just cigar smoking dragons, Bone has something in it for you.

The only complaint that can be leveled at this work is that it ends too soon. After more than ten years at work, it feels like Smith was eager to wrap things up and the ending seems a little rushed. The final issue could easily have been padded out to two or three without slowing the story down, and would have given more time for closure. As is, this is but the smallest flaw on what could otherwise be called a masterwork of the comics medium.

Following the completion of the series in 2004, Smith released The Complete Bone, compiling the entirety of Bone's 55-issue run—over 1300 pages—and with the sweet cover price of 40 dollary-dos. This bad boy is a must-have for any self-respecting comics fan. Do yourself a flavor and pick it up today (and if you've read Bone and liked it, but sure to check out the limited series prequels, Rose and Stupid, Stupid Rat Creatures).

All Images used are Copyright of Jeff Smith/Cartoon Books