Probably the most successful comic from the mid 1990s independent boom was Jeff Smith’s Bone. What starts out as a deceptively simple farce, turns into an epic adventure with 10 volumes and at least 2 spin offs. Smith comes out with little to no previous professional experience and self publishes this amazing work which earned him dozens of awards. But who (or what) is Bone?

Fone Bone, Phoney Bone and Smiley Bone are the three Bone cousins. They are out wandering in the desert (running away from Boneville after Phoney Bone’s latest scheme blew up in his face) when they get separated. . Fone Bone (the nominal hero of the book) is found by Thorn. Fone Bone falls in love with Thorn and follows her back to her home. In the village he is reunited with his cousins. He also meets Gran’ma Ben(Thorn’s grandmother), Lucius the bar owner, the red dragon (in an enigmatic appearance), Ted the bug and, of course, the stupid, stupid rat creatures.

Thorn and Fone are rescued from the stupid, stupid rat creatures by the red dragon (who seems to have a previous relationship with Gran’ma Ben) and the rat creatures report into a mysterious man in a hood who also is looking at the Bones. The story is part JRR Tolkien and part Carl Barks. The drawings are deceptively siimple with the Bones looking like a cross between a bone and a ghost. Volume 1 (Out of Boneville) is an amazing start for a inexperienced author. Jeff Smith obviously had this story in his head for a long time. Pieces were placed her in the opening stories that would reverberate later in the series. The art and story are wonderful. This is truly a book that can be enjoyed by people of all ages. Highly Recommended