Title: Bone: One Volume Edition Volume(s): 1 Creator(s): Jeff Smith Format: Unflipped; Left-to-Right Publisher: Cartoon Books MSRP: $39.99 Genre(s): Humor/Drama/Fantasy Rated: All Ages Buy From Amazon.com

CONSUMER ADVICE

Parents, while this title is pretty much suitable for all audiences, there are a couple of things to keep in mind. First off is that the characters in this series occasionally drink and smoke, even the cartoony characters. Second, the rat creatures, as stupid as they are, do tend to look very scary sometimes. Third, the series becomes a little darker in tone in later volmes (kind of like the "Harry Potter" books). Aside from those minor things, though, parents shoudn't find a whole lot of things wrong with this series. Action, drama, and comedy fans will all find something to love about this series; it has a little something for everyone!

When I was at the San Diego Comic Con 2007 this year I was waiting first in line, with a sweaty book in my hands, to meet one of my all-time comic book heros. And no, it wasn’t the great Stan Lee. I was waiting to meet Jeff Smith, creator of “Bone.” When he got to the autograph signing table I walked up to him, put the book down in front of him, and stupidly said “I’ve been reading Bone since 1996.” Jeff looked at me with an expression that said “Gee kid, you’ve just made me feel REAL old just now!” He was gracious about the comment though, correctly guessing that I must have first read “Bone” in Disney Adventures, while signing my book complete with a sketch of Fone Bone and Ted on the inside. It was a golden moment. A few days later I picked up my copy of “Bone: The One Volume Edition.” Yeah, it’s true that through the years I've collected “Bone” in various different forms. Single issue comic books. Disney Adventure magazines. Those compiled collection books (all hardcover). Why buy a one volume edition, and a softcover copy to boot?

Well, I didn’t buy it for any extras, as there are none. Instead, “Bone: The One Volume Edition” is a welcome edition because if you are to truly experience Bone, reading the One Volume Edition is the way to do it. Truth be told, another reason I bought “Bone: The One Volume Edition” was because it had been a few years since I read the final chapter in the epic saga, and I don’t think I ever once sat down and read the whole thing cover-to-cover. Heck, I read the ending of Bone after buying the final ten issues through a back issue sale at my local comic shop. So I did. I sat down with this book and spent the next two to three hours reading “Bone: The One Volume Edition,” cover-to-cover. It not only brought back a flood of memories from my childhood, but it was also a reminder as to how good this series is. The world and characters of “Bone” looks like a sophisticated Disney film, with comical sidekicks and lushishly drawn adults.

“Bone” also feels like a comic version of Harry Potter, starting out fun and whimsical, with fantastic worlds to discover and joy to be found, before growing more mature, dark, and serious in nature. As one of the few self published comics to produce merchandise and a video game series, “Bone” is also a great study in how a self published comic grew to be more profitable then most comics that were produced by well financed comic book companies. It took about twelve years for all fifty-five issues to be released, which is certainly a testament to the quality of the series, as you'd buy the latest issue of the book not knowing whether you's have one month or four months before you could read the next issue, and most issue's were less then twenty pages (though they were free of ads). Read on an issue-by-issue basis, the series is a lot of fun and at times thought provoking. Taken in as a whole though, “Bone” is a classic. One of the great reads you’ll have in your lifetime. And yes, I’m throwing it in there with Harry Potter and Lord of the Rings.

The basic story is commonly known now, in the telling of three bone creatures named Fone Bone, Phoney Bone, and Smiley Bone being chased out of their hometown Boneville and into a strange land of mystical creatures. Getting separated by a swarm of locusts, Fone Bone finds himself snowed in for the winter, and ends up meeting Grandma Ben and her granddaughter Thorn, who he immediately takes a strong liking too. This all starts out almost like a sitcom, and indeed much of the first trilogy is very funny, with storylines involved love triangles, cow races, and schemes that just don’t go right. Ah, but there are two antagonists who are in the series to make Thorn and Fone Bones lives miserable: The Hooded One and the Lord of the Locusts. Searching for “The One That Bears The Star,” these two antagonists are not only complex characters, but are actually threatening then Freddy Krueger and Jason combined. Just for added measure, the histories behind these two characters make Lord Voldemorts history look a little silly by comparison.

Yes, these villains actually put up a good fight, and it’s difficult to imagine Fone Bone and his friends being able to survive them. Where this can all lead up to I cannot say as I don't wan't to spoil the series for anyone who has not gotten a chance to read it yet, But I will say that this series has many story twists you will never see coming, several you will, but regardless what you see coming and what you don’t, all of them work. The magic of “Bone” has always been the ability to entertain people of all ages without ever talking down to them. Yes, it looks like a Disney movie. But the classic Disney movies have always worked on two levels: One for kids and one for adults. It’s this balance that has made “Bone” such an endearing classic, the kind that makes you want to stop people on the street and ask them why they aren’t reading it. As mentioned before, this one volume edition is not an uber-special collection that includes many easter eggs and bonus materials. And yes, you will still have to buy the new re-releases of the books from Scholastic if you want to read the series in color.

This book just contains the comics, in all their black & white glory. Like mentioned before though, reading this series as one book is certainly the way to read it. After you’ve read it as one book, you’ll be amazed at how coherent and excellent it is, despite taking twelve years to complete. You’ll read it and wonder not just why other comics aren’t as good as this, but why other stories from books, movies, and video games aren’t as good as this. The ending is likely to be up for more debate, now that re-reading it will make everyone wonder why the ending is so similar to another famous fantasy series that just came to an end recently (I won’t name names, but the series will be obvious after you read this book). The book was first released as a hardcover, limited edition copy that was signed by Jeff Smith and limited to 2,000 copies. This edition is almost impossible to find so don’t try (believe me on this). The other edition is the soft-cover edition that retails for about $40 and is much easier to find. Considering there is no word on whether Scholastic will print a color version of “Bone: The One Volume Edition,” this seems like your best bet. Either way you look at it, “Bone” is a classic that deserves to be read. Whether you like comics or not.