So damn delightful... while also being epic and intense at the same time? ( )

jeff Smith sets up this series in a similar manner to the Lord of the Rings trilogy: a dark past, a smoldering evil, a little hero and a WHOLE LOT OF HUMOR. It's a fun and enjoyable read. ( )

It's been like... half a decade... since I last read this but I remember really liking it! ( )

This is one of those things where I feel like I've definitely seen imagery from it in a lot of places in my life but I never knew anything about it and never had any interest in reading it. Then a youtube video of all things made it seem really interesting so I gave it a try and I was hooked. Bone is a very engaging fantasy epic with interesting characters and a very fun world. Like, it's a medieval fantasy with dragons that is actually inventive instead of stale. The rat creatures are my fave and the talking bugs are pretty cute (I wish we saw more of Ted's older brother tho).

The only qualm I have is that it's a bit dated in its depiction of women. The female lead, Thorn, frequently has torn clothing that just looks like it might fall off at any moment. And the one-sided "romance" between Fone Bone and Thorn is a little creepy. I mean, it's a bone creature of indeterminate age and a human woman. Weird. Luckily it's resolved well without ever getting toooo creepy and the sexualisation of her is minimal. So still a solid recommend from me. ( )

Though “Bone” follows many of the standard fantasy-adventure tropes, it is a wonderful rush of storytelling thanks to likable characters and an interesting world.

If you’re looking for someone to reinvent the fantasy wheel you won’t find it here. Everything from mysterious pasts to sacred swords is present in “Bone.” What saves it is how these different elements are brought together over time and how the characters react to them. The stories start off small and balloon slowly into an epic world-saving adventure. Along the way the historied world blooms before you and becomes rich and interesting. The wording-build here is great and the magic system that is used is a novel twist on things we have seen before. The good writing also helps to make the clichés feels appropriate to the story and bring the characters to life.

The characters are simple and sometimes one note. However all of them are interesting or likable and even the villains are fun to follow. Some of the characters grow and change tremendously throughout the series while others stay fairly shallow. Usually these plainer characters would annoy me but they manage to balance things out. Still, the growth we see in some of the characters is staggering. Tonally these simpler characters are used often for comedic purposes. While this is a story about saving the world the shift between serious, life-threatening, and cow-racing is expertly handled. The story and art work together to make you laugh when needed, cheer the characters on when the peril is high, and cry when the somber events transpire.

The art in this story is fantastic as well. The art is aimed at a wide audience with its inviting and cartoony nature. Though it is simple and can even be slapstick. Deception is the key to the masterful artwork on display. What the artist manages to express with a few lines is immense. Almost all of the panels are interesting and engaging. The art alone is a good study in how simple and cartoony does not mean poor quality or uninteresting. The designs for many of the creatures are worth studying and how expressive the art is with minimal line work should be studied by any young graphic novelist. The action is passable but not much else. It lands on the side of cartoony. Even though there are epic battles very little is ever shown of these supposedly titanic clashes. Most likely it dials back the intensity as this graphic novel is accessible to small children and grown-ups alike.

This graphic novels does fault a bit in pacing. It is very slow to start and is slow to build up momentum. If you do not have the complete edition you will spend a lot of time wondering where the plot comes in. I recommend getting the collected edition if you’re going to read it to aid in your understanding.

“Bone” is for anyone interested in fantasy. It takes the usual and blends it so well with its own themes and ideas that it is a good study on how to safely construct a fun adventure fantasy. This graphic novel is also a joy to read as the comedy and characters will keep many wanting more when there are no more pages to flip. ( )