The Art of Bone
Category: Books,Literature & Fiction,History & Criticism
The Art of Bone Details
From Booklist Although the comic book Bone ended in 2004, its popularity remains unabated, justifying several different graphic-novel repackagings of it. The saga's legion of fans should be elated by this lavish coffee-table collection of behind-the-scenes Bone artwork that encompasses everything from pencil roughs and character designs to original pages and lushly colored covers. The genesis and development of the story are traced from a handmade comic drawn in ballpoint by a 10-year-old Smith to an early version that appeared in Smith's college campus newspaper to sample strips intended for syndication to Smith's pivotal decision to self-publish Bone as a comic book. Other rare material includes promotional artwork (including a strip drawn for the 2002 ALA Annual Conference), Christmas cards, action figures, and illustrations for a Bone lunch box and playing cards. The book's large format and beautiful reproduction show off the art as never before and demonstrate how seamlessly Smith integrated the broadly cartoony Bone cousins and the more realistic human characters and backgrounds. A genuine Bone-anza for Smith's steadfast fans. Flagg, Gordon Read more About the Author Jeff Smith is a comic book artist known for the massively popular comic book series Bone, which is considered to be one of the most influential comic book titles of all time and netted Smith both Harvey and Eisner awards. He is also known for his work on Shazam!: The Monster Society of Evil, RASL, and Tüki Save the Humans. Read more
Reviews
Before we even get to the content, let me say that this is a gorgeous book - well bound, heavyweight paper, glossy.Open it and it just gets better. I always read the foreword of the books I read. And the dedications when present. Heck, I even check the copyright. I tend to wait until I'm done before reading mini-biographies of the authors because I prefer to read books without having first coloured my perceptions (too much). It is not a rule I always stick to however. Good thing.This book is a mini-tour of Jeff's mind. (I *can* call him Jeff you know. Like Stephen [King], he's slept next to me and been the first page I see in the morning). And what a lovely tour it is. Full of fertile hills and verdant valleys.And the scenery (the art people - trying to keep up the metaphor here) - stunning. There might very well be art that is repetitive of the books. I did not notice. My nephew surely will. But given the frequency at which he re-reads the Bone books, I don't think he will care.I bought this book for him (my nephew) who on Thanksgiving Day 2008 told the family he was thankful for "Jeff Smith writer of the Bone books". How does it better than that for any author?I'm thankful to Jeff Smith myself, for fostering a young boy's imagination. I am also thankful for what on December 25th is likely to be Smith's most recent achievement - making this aunt the hit of Christmas gift unwrapping.
