Why You Should Be Excited Netflix Is Turning Jeff Smith’s Bone into an Animated Series
I figured it wasn’t going to be my thing.
Bone, the Jeff Smith comedy/drama/fantasy comic book epic, was already considered a modern classic by the time I heard about it, but I didn’t quite get why it was something adults were taking seriously.
Bone: The Complete Cartoon Epic in One Volume
Paperback
$35.95
$44.95
Bone: The Complete Cartoon Epic in One Volume
Illustrator Jeff Smith
In Stock Online
Paperback
$35.95
$44.95
The covers all prominently feature the book’s lead character, Fone Bone, a cartoony marshmallow blob who couldn’t possibly be the star of a story for grown-ups, could he? No matter how accomplished a work, I reasoned, there was little to be gained from reading something so clearly not for me (which is fine! Not every story is for all audiences, nor should they be). And so, without necessarily disbelieving any of the enthusiastic recommendations I’d encountered, I wrote it off as purely kid stuff.
The covers all prominently feature the book’s lead character, Fone Bone, a cartoony marshmallow blob who couldn’t possibly be the star of a story for grown-ups, could he? No matter how accomplished a work, I reasoned, there was little to be gained from reading something so clearly not for me (which is fine! Not every story is for all audiences, nor should they be). And so, without necessarily disbelieving any of the enthusiastic recommendations I’d encountered, I wrote it off as purely kid stuff.
Eventually, however, sustained peer pressure, curiosity, and a really good coupon got the better of me, and I decided to give it a chance, making the budget-conscious decision to purchase the 1,300-page omnibus edition collecting the complete series (then only available in the original black and white). By a dozen pages in, I understood what everyone had been raving about—and began kicking myself for waiting so long to listen to those rave reviews. It seems almost impossible, the way in which all of its disparate elements come together, elevating the whole into something much greater than the sum of its delightful parts, from goofy jokes to heart-stopping moments of drama.
It’s why I’m now as much a member of the cult of Bone as anyone—and why I’m very excited about the announcement that Netflix is developing an animated series based on Smith’s graphic novels.
Bone #1: Out from Boneville
Paperback $12.99
Bone #1: Out from Boneville
By
Jeff Smith
Illustrator
Jeff Smith
In Stock Online
Paperback $12.99
The first volume, Out from Boneville, finds the three Bone cousins—well-meaning Fone Bone, greedy Phoncible P. (Phoney) Bone, and charming, self-centered Smiley Bone—run out of their hometown in the wake of one of Phoney’s schemes. Lost and eventually separated in a vast desert, they each make their way to a forested valley and ultimately to a farm belonging to a young woman named Thorn and her Gran’ma Ben. The opening pages are darkly comic, with the broad personalities of the Bone cousins dominating the story and the deceptively simple art—the Bones themselves are are marshmallowy blobs, and the desert backgrounds, when they feature at all, are relatively plain.
The first volume, Out from Boneville, finds the three Bone cousins—well-meaning Fone Bone, greedy Phoncible P. (Phoney) Bone, and charming, self-centered Smiley Bone—run out of their hometown in the wake of one of Phoney’s schemes. Lost and eventually separated in a vast desert, they each make their way to a forested valley and ultimately to a farm belonging to a young woman named Thorn and her Gran’ma Ben. The opening pages are darkly comic, with the broad personalities of the Bone cousins dominating the story and the deceptively simple art—the Bones themselves are are marshmallowy blobs, and the desert backgrounds, when they feature at all, are relatively plain.
As the trio moves from the desert to the Valley, the story and their world grows more intricate—and so does the art. Smith plays with light and dark, bringing more and more shading and complexity to the world and its characters alongside the deepening narrative, such that the simplicity of the Bones is increasingly contrasted with the confounding and dangerous world they’ve entered. By the end of the first book, we’ve learned of a prophecy involving the arrival of the cousins, encountered a genuinely scary (but slightly stupid) army of rat creatures and their king, and caught a glimpse of the mysterious hooded figure who commands them. Thorn and Ben’s farm is overrun. A dragon who’s been hiding out for generations makes himself known. And that’s all very much just the beginning—there are new dangers, family secrets, and dark cults still to come. (Also, racing cows.)
Bone #2: The Great Cow Race
Paperback
$11.99
$12.99
Bone #2: The Great Cow Race
By
Jeff Smith
Illustrator
Jeff Smith
In Stock Online
Paperback
$11.99
$12.99
Throughout the series, Smith makes it his mission to turn familiar tropes on their heads. Fone’s attempts to impress Thorn are immediately and frequently undercut by his size and comparative weakness. Though inspired by the bravado of the heroes he adores in his favorite comic books and the novel Moby Dick, he’s unable even to lift an axe to chop wood. Gran’ma Ben is all sweetness and light until Phoney insults her prize-winning racing cows; with the angelic smile never leaving her face, she proceeds to roll up her sleeves while one hand forms a fist. (Mercifully, Smith cuts away so we’re not forced to witness Phoney getting his well-deserved comeuppance.) Perfectly calibrated comedic moments like these point to the biggest strengths of Bone: Gran’ma Ben is a far more significant character than we initially realize, and her introduction makes clear that there’s much more to her than appearances would suggest. Discovering true that is—both for her and for the entire roster of surprisingly complex characters—is one of the series’ great joys.
Throughout the series, Smith makes it his mission to turn familiar tropes on their heads. Fone’s attempts to impress Thorn are immediately and frequently undercut by his size and comparative weakness. Though inspired by the bravado of the heroes he adores in his favorite comic books and the novel Moby Dick, he’s unable even to lift an axe to chop wood. Gran’ma Ben is all sweetness and light until Phoney insults her prize-winning racing cows; with the angelic smile never leaving her face, she proceeds to roll up her sleeves while one hand forms a fist. (Mercifully, Smith cuts away so we’re not forced to witness Phoney getting his well-deserved comeuppance.) Perfectly calibrated comedic moments like these point to the biggest strengths of Bone: Gran’ma Ben is a far more significant character than we initially realize, and her introduction makes clear that there’s much more to her than appearances would suggest. Discovering true that is—both for her and for the entire roster of surprisingly complex characters—is one of the series’ great joys.
Revealing too much more of the plot would be to spoil the fun, but suffice it to say that Smith manages to balance comedic elements with grand scale epic fantasy storytelling—imagine The Lord of the Rings with a sense of humor. Certainly the stodgy self-seriousness of capital-e Epic Fantasy lends itself to gentle ribbing, but it’s important to note that Smith has not written a parody. Much of the humor results from the culture clash between the Bone cousins and the people of the Valley, and the constant puncturing of their sense of superiority. We’re left with the sense that Boneville—which we never visit on the page—is a place not unlike our modern world, filled with with cash and pizza and corndogs, while the Valley is a Medieval-type world with a barter economy and, of course, cow races. If you travelled to such a world, you, too, might mock the rubes before realizing that you have no practical skills whatsoever.
Bone: Coda
Paperback $14.95
Bone: Coda
By
Jeff Smith
Contribution by
Stephen Weiner
Paperback $14.95
What’s doubly fascinating and fun is the way that Bone seems to exist in multiple worlds all at once, and without ever feeling at odds with itself. The cheeky, slightly silly all-ages humor sits comfortably next to the epic hero’s quest narrative, and both feel quite natural within the richly built setting of an increasingly dangerous world. There are hints of all of this in Smith’s avowed inspirations, from Walt Kelley’s Pogo to Carl Banks’ Scrooge McDuck, but neither push the form quite as far as Bone. Neil Gaiman’s Sandman and Bill Willingham’s Fables approach it in scale, but neither is remotely as funny, and neither aims for a genuinely all-ages approach (though Smith’s epic’s occasional intensity has landed it on the American Library Association’s lists of challenged books more than once).
What’s doubly fascinating and fun is the way that Bone seems to exist in multiple worlds all at once, and without ever feeling at odds with itself. The cheeky, slightly silly all-ages humor sits comfortably next to the epic hero’s quest narrative, and both feel quite natural within the richly built setting of an increasingly dangerous world. There are hints of all of this in Smith’s avowed inspirations, from Walt Kelley’s Pogo to Carl Banks’ Scrooge McDuck, but neither push the form quite as far as Bone. Neil Gaiman’s Sandman and Bill Willingham’s Fables approach it in scale, but neither is remotely as funny, and neither aims for a genuinely all-ages approach (though Smith’s epic’s occasional intensity has landed it on the American Library Association’s lists of challenged books more than once).
Smith, who originally self-published the series, came up with some of the characters before he was 10 years old, and he developed his ideas decades before setting pen to paper and sending the Bone cousins out into the world, so perhaps it’s no wonder that he was able to construct a goofy, thrilling, romantic adventure that spans audiences.
Where to start
BONE: Full Color One Volume Edition
Hardcover $150.00
BONE: Full Color One Volume Edition
By Jeff Smith
In Stock Online
Hardcover $150.00
If you’d like to check out Bone before the Netflix series premieres, you have a few options, but whatever you do, you’ll want to start at the beginning. The first of the nine-volume series is Out from Boneville, available in full color. The series evolves over the course of its run, but the first book will give you a pretty good feel for the story. Though suitable for any age, this is probably the best way for younger readers to experience the story—the individual chapters are of a manageable size.
If you’d like to check out Bone before the Netflix series premieres, you have a few options, but whatever you do, you’ll want to start at the beginning. The first of the nine-volume series is Out from Boneville, available in full color. The series evolves over the course of its run, but the first book will give you a pretty good feel for the story. Though suitable for any age, this is probably the best way for younger readers to experience the story—the individual chapters are of a manageable size.
The original, black-and-white version of the story is available as a single-volume doorstopper. The more recent, colored versions are gorgeous, but many fans prefer the original black & white, so it’s purely a matter of taste. Certainly this chunky paperback is the most economical way to experience the series.
An even bigger, fancier doorstopper is the full-color slipcased hardcover. It’s the complete story in a snazzy, if rather heavy, edition. If you’ve got arms like Gran’ma Ben, this is the version you’ll want.
Rose: A Graphic Novel (BONE Prequel)
Paperback
$11.99
$12.99
Rose: A Graphic Novel (BONE Prequel)
By
Jeff Smith
Illustrator
Charles Vess
In Stock Online
Paperback
$11.99
$12.99
The series is complete in and of itself, but there are some extras to check out once you’ve finished. The prequel Rose dives into the backstory of one of Bone‘s main characters, but is packed with spoilers for those who haven’t read the series. Tall Tales features a few bonus adventures starring the Bone cousins, and there’s also a trilogy of illustrated novels written by Tom Sniegoski and involving a new generation of Bones in the Valley.
The series is complete in and of itself, but there are some extras to check out once you’ve finished. The prequel Rose dives into the backstory of one of Bone‘s main characters, but is packed with spoilers for those who haven’t read the series. Tall Tales features a few bonus adventures starring the Bone cousins, and there’s also a trilogy of illustrated novels written by Tom Sniegoski and involving a new generation of Bones in the Valley.
Make your way through all of it, and you’ll be just as much a Bone acolyte as the rest of us—and just as excited to see what Netflix is cooking up.
Are you excited for the adaptation of Bone?