Bone Volume 1 Out From Boneville
Bone Volume 1 Out From Boneville
User Ratings and Reviews
5 Stars Parent and Child Review
A second-grade boy says, “Bone is the best book ever! It might have scary things, but it is fun too. It has a lot of adventures in it which makes it exciting. If you are a comic book lover, then you’ll love these books.”
His mother says, “This series absolutely captivated my son and was single-handedly responsible for helping him catch the reading bug. The ‘to be continued’ format meant that he couldn’t wait to read on.
The one challenge to the fact that your child won’t want to put these down is that you must have the next volume on hand, and sooner than expected.
Libraries have a very hard time keeping this series on the shelf. Learn from our experience that the suspense of waiting for the following book to be returned is simply too frustrating.
You might as well purchase the series. It will be worth it. Many friends have wanted to borrow them.
And I well imagine that my boy will want to read them all over again in the very near future, especially since the characters are fascinating on both simple and direct levels and with very complex depths.
ALERT: Parents should know that there are indeed dark plot lines and images, so the series may not be age appropriate for other 7 year olds. But, for kids such as mine, this is most appealing.
As should be clear from his critique, these do offer all the appeal of comic books. However, parents and teachers will be much happier about the literary merits in “Bone” than with the vast majority of graphic formats. ”
4 Stars An excellent graphic novel from Jeff Smith
“Out from Boneville” is the first volume of Jeff Smith’s self-published comic book, “Bone.” It tells the story of the Bone family, who are small white creatures that are never really explained, but interact with humans and animals. In volume 1, the protagonist of the story, Fone Bone, and his two cousins, Smiley and Phoney, find themselves run out of the town of Boneville, where they become lost in a strange valley. They soon discover the valley is filled with strange creatures (even stranger than themselves), many of which are hunting them for an unknown reason.
When I saw this in the library, it always looked like a kids’ book, so I never gave it much thought until I saw it listed on one of those “Greatest Graphic Novels” lists. Smith has a very intriguing artistic style that can be simple (in the case of the bones and much of the background art), or more complex (as in the case with the character of Thorn and many of the humans). The art may be simple, but the story isn’t. It can certainly be enjoyed by those of all ages. Although it contains some humor, the comic centers more on the story, which works well since it involves a fairly complex and rich story that is not overshadowed by the simplicity of the art. Volume 1 doesn’t do much more than introduce the main characters and set up some of the future storylines, but it is very well conveyed and the reader gets the sense that this is much more than the traditional comic.
Although originally published in black and white, this version is in color, which I highly recommend over the black and white strip. The coloring by Steve Hamaker really adds a lot to these editions and I would strongly advise people to get these editions over the black and whites. Also, it is advised to read this comic in order, since you won’t know what is going on if you start with a later volume. The volumes read very quickly however, and it only takes about an hour to read an entire volume. The rest of the series is as follows:
Bone Volume 2: The Great Cow Race
Bone Volume 3: Eyes of the Storm
Bone Volume 4: The Dragonslayer
Bone Volume 5: Rock Jaw: Master of the Eastern Border
Bone Volume 6: Old Man’s Cave
Bone Volume 7: Ghost Circles
Bone Volume 8: Treasure Hunters
Bone Volume 9 Crown of Horns (Bone Series)
Bone: One Volume Edition - If you plan on reading the whole series, get this, which has every volume listed above.
5 Stars Very Surprised!
I read a lot of graphic novels, more adult than anything else. I read the reviews and decided to give the Bone series a try. At first I was worried that I might have wasted my money. Boy, was I wrong! After reading a few chapters, I was very surprised to find that I couldn’t put it down. I have since bought the rest of the books in the series and love every one of them! They are very well written and the art work is top notch. I highly reccomend this series for everyone.
5 Stars An impressive start to an epic journey!
There is not much that can’t be said about Jeff Smith’s “Bone”. The first volume serves as a great introduction to a remarkable cast of characters and lays the foundation for a story which combines sword and sorcery with classic literature references to such novels as “Moby Dick”. This story is truly one of a kind and contains detailed fleshed out characters who bring levity to the dangerous parts of the story and who bring wit and warmth to the light parts. Jeff Smith created something special when he set about writing “Bone” and this epic should be enjoyed by anyone who fancies his or herself a lover of graphic novels or the written word.
5 Stars Bone is a Really Bizarre Trip Through a Forest!
Bone is a dog? (I think) He and his cousins are trapped traveling through a desert and a forest to escape trouble his cousin got into. Now they are lost and trying to survive in the forest. A freak snowstorm (snow that plops out of the sky in a huge layer) causes havoc and meeting a beautiful girl named Thorn and her grandma save the day. Watch out for the giant rats! Funny, strange story.
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