The Cave ★★★✬☆

 

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Title: The Cave
Series: Bone #8
Author: Jeff Smith
Rating: 3.5 of 5 Stars
Genre: Comics
Pages: 28
Words: 1K

Synopsis:

From Boneville.fandom.com

At the betting booth (which Phoney made himself), Phoney Bone convinces Euclid to bet one goat on the Mystery Cow (which is actually Smiley in a costume) instead of three shovels. Fone Bone arrives and questions Phoney about the rat creatures attacking Gran'ma Ben's Farm. Phoney claims he has no idea why they did so but Fone Bone refuses to believe him. Smiley Bone has also arrived and has a unconvincing cow suit. Later at night, Thorn has a dream about her as a young child in the dragon's cave. Right after she wakes up Fone Bone and tells him not to wake the others. She tells Fone Bone that she used to have this dream as a little girl, but it eventually stopped. After Fone Bone showed her the map she started having the dreams again, and she also claims that she drew the map. They decide to tell Gran'ma Ben about all this after this after the race, so she isn't stressed out before the race.

My Thoughts:

The mystery thickens! Much like a gravy sauce in fact. We find out Thorn has been having dreams about the map that led the Bones into the forest and she thinks she is the one who drew it. We get hints that not only does Gran'ma Ben know the red dragon but that there is a whole slew of dragons that Thorn met as a little girl. Whom she was dropped off into by a mysterious robed stranger. I'm getting serious lost princess vibes here.

Phoney starts up a betting booth and is pushing everyone he can towards the Mystery Cow, which is just going to be Smiley in a homemade cow costume. Why Phoney thinks he is going to get away with this is beyond me. Considering how his antics got the Bones run out of Boneville, it's very evident he hasn't learned his lesson, not even one bit. The problem is that Fone and Smiley keep enabling him. What they need to do is leave him alone and let some villagers kill Phoney when he tries one of his scams on them. They won't do that though so the scams keep on happening.

The issue ends with Fone advising Thorn to wake up Gran'ma Ben and talk about the map and her dreams. Thorn wants to defer it until after the cow race tomorrow. So you know something BAAAAD is going to happen because of that delay. It's just like those horror movies where the kids hide in a shed filled with farm implements. Worst idea ever that never turns out well.

Reading this so slowly feels like I am getting a drip feed. At the same time, it is helping me to slow down and not gulp the whole story. While I might not remember a lot of details in 10 years, I am paying attention now, which wouldn't happen if I was reading the Complete One Volume Bone like I did before. I'd liken it to sitting in a garden and watching Bob Ross paint his little broccoli trees.

★★★✬☆

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