Showing posts with label Jeff Smith. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Jeff Smith. Show all posts

Thursday, September 07, 2023

Old Man’s Cave (Bone #33-37) 3Stars

 

This review is written with a GPL 4.0 license and the rights contained therein shall supersede all TOS by any and all websites in regards to copying and sharing without proper authorization and permissions. Crossposted at WordPress & Blogspot by Bookstooge’s Exalted Permission

Title: Old Man’s Cave
Series: Bone #33-37
Author: Jeff Smith
Rating: 3 of 5 Stars
Genre: Comics
Pages: 128
Words: 5K




I don’t know what to say about this. I semi-enjoyed it and yet I found myself seriously not caring about the overall story. I also was not being very entertained. Not a very good combination.

I only have 3 more omnibus volumes left but I don’t know if I’ll hang in there or not. My patience with the visual art side of books has dramatically dropped. I want the pure words. Art has a way of making artist/authors think they can get away with poor story telling by covering it up with pretty pictures.

Ahhhhhhhhhh, sigh…..

★★★☆☆




From Boneville.fandom.com

Fone Bone and Smiley Bone are seeking for something.
Wow, good job Bone fans, you outdid yourselves this time! You bunch of putzes.



Thursday, August 03, 2023

Rock Jaw: Master of the Eastern Border (Bone #28-32) 3Stars

 

This review is written with a GPL 4.0 license and the rights contained therein shall supersede all TOS by any and all websites in regards to copying and sharing without proper authorization and permissions. Crossposted at WordPress & Blogspot by Bookstooge’s Exalted Permission

Title: Rock Jaw: Master of the Eastern Border
Series: Bone #28-32
Author: Jeff Smith
Rating: 3 of 5 Stars
Genre: Comics
Pages: 128
Words: 5K


My goodness, what a lot of back and forth. Between Roque Ja, locusts, Dream Kingdok, REAL Kingdok and various rat creatures, Fone and Smiley are on the run the entire time. If I had had to read this in five individual comic issues, I would have quit for sure. As it was, lumping these together gave me “just enough” of a story to feel like I hadn’t wasted my time.

But barely.

I have to admit, I really preferred the beginning of the series when it was just the Bone cousins having little mini-adventures in a new place and meeting new people. This whole “ancient battle between mega-powerful forces” is not what I want. At this point though, I simply don’t remember enough of the story to stop and I DO want to see how things end. Now that I’m not hobbling myself with an issue a month, I can bypass Smith’s stupidity and total jackassery at pacing and read at a clip that suits me better.

I do wonder if I’m going to see Roque Ja again or if Smith just used him as a one off character to write a side story. A gigantic mountain lion is pretty cool so I do hope we see him again, even if he isn’t necessarily one of the good guys.

On the funny side, there was another “stupid, stupid rat creatures” moment involving Roque Ja and the two rogue rat creatures. I just laughed my head off at Roque Ja’s expression here :-)


★★★☆☆




From Bookstooge.blog (because the Boneville.fandom.com people are a bunch of pissant losers)

Fone and Smiley and Bartleby (the baby rat creature) escape the two rat creatures who want to turn them into quiches. In the process they run into a giant mountain lion named Roque Ja. He is against the dragons and the rat creatures but hates the dragons more. Fone, Smiley and Bartleby are rescued from him by the possum kids who get the two rat creatures into Roque Ja’s sight. All three go over a cliff. An enraged Roque Ja chases the Bones and various small orphan creatures into a cave.

The cave leads to an abandoned temple. Everybody starts to head down the mountain away from Roque Ja. Only to be discovered by the two rat creatures. Who are then in turn discovered by Kingdok the lord of the rat creatures. Everybody ends up on a ledge trying not to get eaten by Kingdok. A bunch of locusts show up and try to kidnap Fone. A medallion falls out of his backpack and banishes them. It also banished Kingdok, who was only a dream manifestation from the old temple they passed though.

Roque Ja finds them all and delivers them to the real Kingdok, who betrays Roque Ja by trying to kill him. In the scuffle the group of Bones and orphans escape to the treeline. Bartleby ends up with the rat creatures and the Bones begin the journey back to the village to figure out what is going on.



Thursday, July 13, 2023

The Dragon Slayer (Bone #20-27) 3Stars

 

This review is written with a GPL 4.0 license and the rights contained therein shall supersede all TOS by any and all websites in regards to copying and sharing without proper authorization and permissions. Crossposted at WordPress & Blogspot by Bookstooge’s Exalted Permission

Title: The Dragon Slayer
Series: Bone #20-27
Author: Jeff Smith
Rating: 3 of 5 Stars
Genre: Graphic Novel
Pages: 176
Words: 8K



What a world of difference. I read this omnibus and instead of feeling angry and pissed off at Smith for being a jerk whose face I wanted to punch in, I actually enjoyed this.

Unfortunately, Smith’s proclivity for stretching things out is still quite prominent, but reading a much bigger chunk of the story all at once helps negate the feeling that he’s shafting you as a customer.

I’m definitely going to stick to reading the omnibus versions instead of the standalones. But it still makes me wonder just how readers stood it back in the day. I was ready to commit murder and I know that there were times the issues were delayed, so people would have had to wait 2 months instead of just 1 month for a measly little no-nothing don’t advance storyline.

I really thought about upping this to 3.5stars, but wasn’t sure if my enjoyment was because I actually enjoyed the story itself or just the pure blessed relief of actually getting some forward momentum for the story because of the omnibus format. I decided to play it safe and we’ll see how things go next month.

I’m also going to be tagging these with the graphic novel tag instead of the comic tag. For me, the labels are more about the format than the actual content. Sure, this was still a comic. But anything over 75pages just seems more like a novel to me while a comic denotes anything from 20-70 pages, like the Asterix books for example.

★★★☆☆




From Boneville.fandom.com

Stick Eater

Ever since Phoney Bone claimed he was a dragon slayer, he was the town's people's favorite and he was on his way for winning the bet. A hooded figure rests in the Barrelhaven tavern who the villagers call a Stick-Eater. When Smiley comes to get receive payment from the stranger, Lucius advises him not to and gives the pilgrim his share on his behalf. Wendell didn't believe it was wise to provide the stick-eater a meal claiming they were in cahoots with the dragons, when Lucius asked if he had any problem with it, Wendell answered no, but he would receive his beers from Smiley from now on.


Business

Fone Bone, Thorn, and Gran'ma Ben continue their trek to Barrelhaven. Upon reaching an overlook of the village, Fone Bone remarks that the Barrelhaven looks peaceful, to which Gran'ma Ben warns that "looks can be decieving."


At the tavern, dragons are on the villagers' minds. When approached by Lucius with an offer of another round, Wendell and Euclid refuse, but immediately accept an offer from Smiley, as do other patrons. Lucius becomes infuriated at the town's obsession, and Phoney and Smiley muse over their plans, with Phoney admitting he has no plans to slay a dragon, as they aren't really dangerous. When Jonathan Oaks orders from their end of the bar, Lucius confronts Phoney in the pantry. To Phoney's protests, he plans to call off the bet, as he doesn't find it worth riling up a mob, and because Phoney is disrespecting the Dragons' wishes to remain hidden. Phoney challenges Lucius to tell the villagers the truth, but leaves him fuming when he makes no action to do so.


In the woods, Gran'ma suffers an attack of the Gitchy Feeling. The trio is ambushed by one of the Two Stupid Rat creatures.


Earth and Sky

The Two Stupid Rat Creatures bicker over whether to bake Fone Bone, Thorn, and Gran'ma Ben in a quiche, or make stew from their bones. They are interrupted by Gran'ma Ben, attacking them with her sword. They retreat, and Gran'ma gives Thorn her sword, which agitates the rat creatures. Gran'ma suggests that Thorn may be close to The Turning. She interrogates one of the Two Stupid Rat Creatures, who confesses that they have been ordered to evacuate the valley, but is interrupted by Kingdok, who knocks out Thorn and Fone Bone, and attacks Gran'ma Ben. Fone Bone comes to, and calls for the Dragon's help.


Smiley hears Fone Bone's faint calling, but Phoney has another problem - the customers are nursing their beers. The pair suggest various possibilities, and Smiley mentions the Midsummer's Day Picnic, which Lucius kept secret from Phoney. Smiley and Wendell both hear Fone Bone calling, and a search party goes out to find them in the woods. Wendell and Euclid find blood all over the ground and trees.


Kingdok continues to throw Gran'ma Ben through the woods, hitting her against a tree and discussing how much he hates the Flat-Landers. As he is about to kill her, Thorn ambushes Kingdok and slices off his arm with Gran'ma's sword. He suffers an attack of the Gitchy Feeling, and hallucinates Gran'ma and thorn as queen and princess respectively. He cries out, and the Two Stupid Rat Creatures escort him off into the night. Fone Bone finds Gran'ma Ben and Thorn, and dress Gran'ma's wounds as she warns Thorn that the Lord of the Locusts is seeking her.


Council in the Dark

In the woods, Kingdok has collapsed and the Two Stupid Rat Creatures are in a panic. they try to stop the bleeding and one blames the other for attacking the trio. They realize what the Hooded One will do to them if Kingdok dies, but soon realize that he is the only one who knows they disobeyed the evacuation order, and if he dies the Hooded One will blame Thorn and Gran'ma Ben. They agree to flee and go into hiding, and they abandon Kingdok in the forest.


Thorn bandages Gran'ma Ben, who explains that Thorn is a Veni-Yan-Cari who can walk between the Realms of the Awaken and Dreaming. Fone Bone volunteers to defend Thorn, and Gran'ma Ben suggests that the Hooded One may be a rogue Disciple of Venu - an ancient religion that studies the dreams. She is afraid that the Hooded One will sacrifice either Thorn or Phoney to free the Lord of the Locusts, and decides to take Thorn to Atheia. Thorn refuses and lashes out at Gran'ma. Despite Gran'ma's protests, Thorn storms off into the woods. Gran'ma gives Fone Bone her sword, and an amulet, and tells him to find Thorn and warn Lucius about the Lord of the Locusts. Fone Bone races after Thorn, and Gran'ma Ben runs into the forest.


Fone Bone gives Thorn the sword, and they reach Barrelhaven - which has been walled off. Jonathan Oaks explains that Lucius never came back from his search. Jon refuses to let Fone Bone and Thorn in, under orders from the new boss - Phoney Bone.


The Straggler

Once again, The Hooded One comes before the Locust. She reports that the men of Pawa have allied themselves with the Locust and the Rat creatures, that Thorn, the Red Dragon, the Bones, and Gran'ma Ben are all in Barrelhaven, and that Kingdok was badly wounded, which may mean Thorn is turning. The Hooded One questions the Locust's plans, but the Locust assures her that it is her above all else who the Locust loves. If she frees him, she will never lose him again.


Fone Bone, Smiley Bone, and Thorn's search party find no trace of Gran'ma Ben or Lucius, and Phoney invites Fone Bone to dinner. Thorn goes to sleep in the tower room, watched by the Hooded One. Fone Bone finds the big room of the bar converted to an extravagant dining hall. Phoney and Smiley admit their scheme to get out of their debt and back to Boneville in style, which Fone Bone refuses. He tries to explain to Phoney the issue with Thorn, but all his attempts are dismissed. He storms out, leaving Phoney and Smiley to revise their plan. Fone Bone encounters a baby rat creature, who leans on him, pinnign him against a tree.


Thorn dreams she is on a cliff with her grandmother, who enters a sinister cave. A hooded figure in the image of a young Gran'ma Ben beckons to her, and attempts to take her hand. She is interrupted by Fone Bone, who wakes Thorn up. He presents the cub to Thorn, who threatens to kill it if he doesn't kick it out.


Deliver us these Laws

Jon sees Lucius approach the gate, and rouses Phoney and Smiley. The villagers clear the logs, and ask for word on Gran'ma Ben. Lucius admits he couldn't find her. Fone Bone pulls Smiley away from the crowd, and takes him to the stables. Phoney greets Lucius, who is enraged at the new "security measures." He realizes, however, that the village supports Phoney, and decides to sleep in the barn instead of Phoney's offer of the kitchen.


Fone Bone shows Smiley the cub, whom he takes to immediately, feeding it a sandwich. Lucius enters the barn and Fone Bone gives him the amulet. Lucius realizes it's the Nights of Lightning all over again, and Fone Bone explains why he was yelling the other night. Smiley wonders if Thorn will allow him to wear the crown.


Wendell notes that there never was a dragon in Barrelhaven, and that they shouldn't be the ones trapped behind walls. The villagers agree that it's time for Phoney to earn his keep.


Lucius, Fone Bone, and Smiley visit thorn, who breaks down in Lucius's arms.


The Lord of the Locusts speaks through The Hooded one to the Rat Creatures and Pawans, and rallies them to take up arms against the Flat-Landers.


The Midsummer's Day Plan

Phoney accuses Wendell of holding out on him, and travels the town taking taxes from the villagers.


Fone Bone argues that rat cub must go to the mountains, to be with the other rat creatures. Smiley suggest that they do it themselves. Thorn comes in to apologize for her behavior, and announces that she is returning to the farmhouse. Despite Fone Bone's protests, she leaves the sword behind and leaves the barn. Fone Bone and Smiley follow her, but Smiley is distracted by Phoney making a speech about the morals of the village, and orders the townspeople to bring their valuables to him. Lucius admits that dragons exist, and Phoney accuses him of allying himself with them. Phoney announces that all the valuables will be used as bait to catch and kill a dragon. Lucius explains to Smiley that the only way to discover dragons for oneself is to be taught that they are make-believe. Fone Bone returns from the tavern without Thorn, and wonders to the whereabouts of Gran'ma Ben.


The Lord of the Locusts sends the Pawans and rat creatures to destroy their respective enemies, and sends Kingdok to capture Thorn and the Bones.


The Turning

Thorn leaves a letter for Fone Bone on her dresser and wanders off in search of the farmhouse. Fone Bone and Smiley jump the wall, and Smiley runs off with the cub, pursued by Fone Bone. Phoney orders Jon to get the wagons ready to go to the Dragon's Stair and to search for Fone Bone and Smiley. He is confronted by Ted, who he tells about his plan to scam the village. Ted warns Phoney that his thieving days will catch up to him. He finds the barn empty, with nothing but Gran'ma's sword. When he leaves, a mysterious hand takes the sword.


Thorn falls asleep in the forest, and four hooded figures place the sword in front of her and trigger a dream in which she is approached by the Great Red Dragon. She looks into a light and sees rat creatures. Then her grandmother, and then Fone Bone, but will not say if they are alright. Fed up, Thorn decides to go to her friends, to which the Dragon notes that she is already awake. She wakes up, and races back to the village.


Phoney prepares the cows to move out all the treasure, to the cheers of the villagers.


On the Dragon's Stair

The group reaches the Dragon's Stair, and Phoney orders the terrified villagers to set up a crude snare while he makes a trail with the treasure. He is confronted by Ted once more, who admits he wants Phone out of the valley as much as anybody. The snare triggers, and Phoney approaches the Great Red Dragon, caught in the trap. The Dragon admits to seeing the trap, thinking Phoney needed a dragon to fool the townspeople. The villagers tie the Dragon's head down, and force a knife into Phoney's hand, threatening to kill him if he doesn't kill the Dragon. He is interrupted by Thorn, who demands to know what is happening. She orders Wendell to free the dragon and get the villagers ready to face the rat creatures. As they are arguing, one spots fire coming from their town, and mistakes it for the dragons. A group of rat creatures approach the crowd and Thorn faces them, accompanied by the four hooded figures who returned her sword. They push the rat creatures back, and Phoney frees the dragon who chases them off. Thorn orders the villagers to get their supplies, and takes off with Phoney to find Lucius back in the burning village. The shocked villagers prepare for war.


Friday, June 02, 2023

Earth and Sky (Bone #21) ★★✬☆☆

 

This review is written with a GPL 4.0 license and the rights contained therein shall supersede all TOS by any and all websites in regards to copying and sharing without proper authorization and permissions. Crossposted at WordPress & Blogspot by Bookstooge’s Exalted Permission

Title: Earth and Sky
Series: Bone #21
Author: Jeff Smith
Rating: 2.5 of 5 Stars
Genre: Comics
Pages: 24
Words: 1K




From Boneville.fandom.com

The Two Stupid Rat Creatures bicker over whether to bake Fone Bone, Thorn, and Gran'ma Ben in a quiche, or make stew from their bones. They are interrupted by Gran'ma Ben, attacking them with her sword. They retreat, and Gran'ma gives Thorn her sword, which agitates the rat creatures. Gran'ma suggests that Thorn may be close to The Turning. She interrogates one of the Two Stupid Rat Creatures, who confesses that they have been ordered to evacuate the valley, but is interrupted by Kingdok, who knocks out Thorn and Fone Bone, and attacks Gran'ma Ben. Fone Bone comes to, and calls for the Dragon's help.

Smiley hears Fone Bone's faint calling, but Phoney has another problem - the customers are nursing their beers. The pair suggest various possibilities, and Smiley mentions the Midsummer's Day Picnic, which Lucius kept secret from Phoney. Smiley and Wendell both hear Fone Bone calling, and a search party goes out to find them in the woods. Wendell and Euclid find blood all over the ground and trees.

Kingdok continues to throw Gran'ma Ben through the woods, hitting her against a tree and discussing how much he hates the Flat-Landers. As he is about to kill her, Thorn ambushes Kingdok and slices off his arm with Gran'ma's sword. He suffers an attack of the Gitchy Feeling, and hallucinates Gran'ma and thorn as queen and princess respectively. He cries out, and the Two Stupid Rat Creatures escort him off into the night. Fone Bone finds Gran'ma Ben and Thorn, and dress Gran'ma's wounds as she warns Thorn that the Lord of the Locusts is seeking her.




Smith is an absolute MASTER at dragging things out, not telling the readers anything substantive and recycling whole pages of art.

With that being said, I am done with reading Bone issue by issue. I thought I could tough it out until issue #27, but this issue has shown me that I have reached my limit. Starting next month, I am going to be reading the omnibus versions which collect 7-10 issues in each one. I’ll be reading The Dragonslayer in July, which collects issues 20-27. I don’t mind re-reading 2 issues, as it won’t matter.

I am just stunned that Smith has defeated me this way. What boggles my mind even more is how he got through the whole series without the fans simply giving up on him. What kind of person does it take to hold on to a series like this and make it succeed? What kind of, waaaaaaaait for it, BONE HEAD puts up with deliberate shenanigans like this?

★★✬☆☆


Friday, May 05, 2023

Business (Bone #20) ★★★☆☆

 

This review is written with a GPL 4.0 license and the rights contained therein shall supersede all TOS by any and all websites in regards to copying and sharing without proper authorization and permissions. Crossposted at WordPress & Blogspot by Bookstooge’s Exalted Permission

Title: Business
Series: Bone #20
Author: Jeff Smith
Rating: 3 of 5 Stars
Genre: Comics
Pages: 21
Words: 1K


From Boneville.fandom.com/wiki/

Fone Bone, Thorn, and Gran'ma Ben continue their trek to Barrelhaven. Upon reaching an overlook of the village, Fone Bone remarks that the Barrelhaven looks peaceful, to which Gran'ma Ben warns that "looks can be decieving."

At the tavern, dragons are on the villagers' minds. When approached by Lucius with an offer of another round, Wendell and Euclid refuse, but immediately accept an offer from Smiley, as do other patrons. Lucius becomes infuriated at the town's obsession, and Phoney and Smiley muse over their plans, with Phoney admitting he has no plans to slay a dragon, as they aren't really dangerous. When Jonathan Oaks orders from their end of the bar, Lucius confronts Phoney in the pantry. To Phoney's protests, he plans to call off the bet, as he doesn't find it worth riling up a mob, and because Phoney is disrespecting the Dragons' wishes to remain hidden. Phoney challenges Lucius to tell the villagers the truth, but leaves him fuming when he makes no action to do so.

In the woods, Gran'ma suffers an attack of the Gitchy Feeling. The trio is ambushed by one of the Two Stupid Rat creatures.




Phoney is scum of the earth. I mean, he’d make a perfect villain here. It is really tough trying to figure how to deal with him here. Yes, he’s Fone’s cousin and doesn’t seem to want to bring harm to Fone but on the other hand, he’s willing to do almost anything to anyone to get what he wants. His little talk with Lucius about “honesty” was the real kicker for me. He twists the meanings of words to make them do what he wants and he manipulates them so as to manipulate Lucius too. He’s exactly the kind of person that should be throttled, because he’s pure poison. We do find out from Lucius that the dragon wants to remain hidden. Why? We still don’t know.

The ending with Fone, Thorn and Gran’ma Ben getting ambushed by 2 rat creatures is supposed to be tension filled and create that “oh no, what is going to happen” feeling, thus leading you on to buy the next issue when it comes out. The rat creatures are so incredibly stupid though, so I’m expecting something very clownish to happen that’ll rescue Our Crew.

I’ve also decided that I’ll read up through issue 27 and then make the switch to the omnibus versions. Those contain 7-10 issues in each volume and thus you get a lot more story in a volume. But that won’t be until the end of this year at the earliest. I hope I can hold on until then :-)

★★★☆☆



Friday, April 07, 2023

Things That Go Bump In The Night (Bone #19) ★★✬☆☆

 

This review is written with a GPL 4.0 license and the rights contained therein shall supersede all TOS by any and all websites in regards to copying and sharing without proper authorization and permissions. Crossposted at WordPress & Blogspot by Bookstooge’s Exalted Permission

Title: Things That Go Bump In The Night
Series: Bone #19
Author: Jeff Smith
Rating: 2.5 of 5 Stars
Genre: Comics
Pages: 25
Words: 1K




From Bookstooge.blog

Phoney reveals that Fone Bone knows the dragon and everyone at the tavern starts telling tales and believing that the dragons are now an infestation and going to take over. Phoney uses this interest to upstage Lucius and to outsell him. The idiots at the tavern follow Phoney’s lead.

Ted the bug delivers a message to Gran’ma Ben that a huge rat army is on its way and that the kingdom that is supposed to keep them away isn’t doing anything about. She gathers up Fone and Thorn and they prepare to set out that night.


INSERT SEPARATOR


This was a big step up from the previous issue but almost anything had to be. It still wasn’t great or exciting and I don’t know how much more of Smith’s “change the direction of a single item and pretend it’s a new panel” I can take.

Then you have Phoney running his next scam, ie, riling up everyone about the dragons to sell more than Lucius. I realize that Smith is trying to make a point here, but my goodness, are the villagers dumb as rocks! They’ve known Lucius their whole lives and they’ve been cheated by Phoney on multiple occasions but who do they listen to? Phoney of course.

But I do wonder, why is Lucius so vociferous in denying that dragons even exist? He was stoking the flames of the villagers by denying what they said so hard. He was acting like a liberal democrat politician, ie, telling everyone else what they should believe, what they should be doing and only he, Lucius, could dispense such wisdom. There is obviously some reason Lucius is denying the existence of the dragons, but it would be nice as a reader to at least have a hint of that reason.

But by the end of this issue, I still felt that I’ll take Web of Spiderman ANY day over this.

★★✬☆☆

Thursday, March 02, 2023

Dreams (Bone #18) ★✬☆☆☆

 

This review is written with a GPL 4.0 license and the rights contained therein shall supersede all TOS by any and all websites in regards to copying and sharing without proper authorization and permissions. Crossposted at WordPress & Blogspot by Bookstooge’s Exalted Permission

Title: Dreams
Series: Bone #18
Author: Jeff Smith
Rating: 1.5 of 5 Stars
Genre: Comics
Pages: 22
Words: 1K



From Bookstooge.blog

Thorn realizes that all of her dreams have been memories and gets all butt hurt at Gran’ma Ben for not telling her all these years. Gran’ma goes stubborn and won’t talk, Thorn goes all stubborn and won’t talk and Fone is stuck in the middle. Meanwhile, at the bar Lucius reveals the bet between him and Phoney and when things start going bad for Phoney, he wishes that Fone’s Dragon was there. This leads everyone to start questioning him, rather threateningly.


Finally, the various Bone characters start getting on track into one plot. With Phoney’s reveal to the town folk that he knows about a dragon, and Gran’ma Ben revealing Thorn’s history, everybody is about to be on the same page.

But you know what? Not. Quite. Yet. Because Smith is a bonehead and spends 3 pages showing us what should take a mere panel. There are several pages where he re-uses the same art but changes how an arm is resting or where a character is looking and we get about 10 words of text. It is beyond blatantly obvious that he is either puffing things up or is floundering and trying to give himself some operating space.

It is amazing to me seeing how a story, spaced out in monthly installments, shows such a markedly different set of weaknesses from the collected story. This is why I am not a fan of serial fiction either. Even if the author knows exactly where they are going, it is still a big pain in the butt to read on THEIR schedule and not mine. Maybe that had as much to do with me not reading a lot of comics as much any economic reasons.

Like I have stated before, I’m going to read this comic, issue by issue, even if it kills me. It just might too, hahahahahaa :-D

★✬☆☆☆



Thursday, February 02, 2023

Mending Fences (Bone #17) ★★✬☆☆

 

This review is written with a GPL 4.0 license and the rights contained therein shall supersede all TOS by any and all websites in regards to copying and sharing without proper authorization and permissions. Crossposted at WordPress & Blogspot by Bookstooge’s Exalted Permission


Title: Mending Fences
Series: Bone #17
Author: Jeff Smith
Rating: 2.5 of 5 Stars
Genre: Comics
Pages: 22
Words: 1K




Gran’ma Ben reveals that Thorne is a lost princess, that the Lord of the Locusts is her deadly enemy and that war is now inevitable. We also learn that the Lord of the Locusts is just an underling to some invisible spirits who live in a deserted cave. Yeah, that is EXACTLY what I want to find out when I read a comic.


When I read the One Volume way back when, the turn into an epic fantasy storyline took me by surprise. Here, with the change in direction taking so long, I’m almost ready to close my eyes and take a nap while Smith drives us around that curve.


★★✬☆☆


Thursday, January 05, 2023

Eye of the Storm (Bone #16) ★★☆☆☆

 

This review is written with a GPL 4.0 license and the rights contained therein shall supersede all TOS by any and all websites in regards to copying and sharing without proper authorization and permissions. Crossposted at WordPress & Blogspot by Bookstooge’s Exalted Permission
Title: Eye of the Storm
Series: Bone #16
Author: Jeff Smith
Rating: 2 of 5 Stars
Genre: Comics
Pages: 22
Words: 1K





We get 22 pages of Gran’ma Ben, Thorn and Fone Bone running in the dark and rain away from a huge swarm of rat creatures and Gran’ma Ben being all angry about the red dragon. Fone hollers out for the dragon’s help, it comes and chases the rat creatures away, disappears and Gran’ma reveals that the dragon doesn’t always come and that’s why she is so angry at it. The issue ends with a big text “Next: Gran’ma’s Story”.


Gotta admit, if I had paid the cover price of $3 and this was all I had gotten, I’d have screamed bloody murder, called Smith some foul and uncomplimentary names and quit Bone and begin an Anti-Jeff Smith crusade to destroy him for taking my hard earned money and giving me nothing but this. I do not know how this comic survived, I really don’t! Smith is milking this like it’s a pregnant holstein cow (the black and white ones you always see in movies or cartoons giving milk) and he’s doing it shamelessly. I was actually tempted to just stop myself right now in a show of solidarity with my imaginary self. But of course I didn’t pay $3 for this and I am going to keep reading. But knowing that the next couple of issues will be prequel stuff about Gran’ma Ben means that not only has the forward motion of the plot (which we really haven’t had any of for quite a few issues it seems) stopped, but now we’re going backwards. Sigh.


That being said, while I really do try to keep the author out of the story in how I rate or review things, my opinion of Smith is about at its lowest so far. What he gave me could have been done in about 5 pages and the story line advanced a bit more. When I started reading this individual issue by individual issue I was wondering why there were so many (I believe there are 55 issues) and now I know.


I realize you might be wondering why I don’t just dnf this or read them all at once and call it a day. The truth is that I couldn’t afford comics until my later teen years and thus never had the experience of reading something on a monthly basis. That experience is what I am trying to capture by reading this series this way. While it is voluntary on my part, back in the day it wasn’t voluntary and I want to know what that was like, frustrations and all. So that is why. Whether it makes sense to you or not :-)


★★☆☆☆



Thursday, December 08, 2022

Double or Nothing (Bone #15) ★★★☆☆

 

This review is written with a GPL 4.0 license and the rights contained therein shall supersede all TOS by any and all websites in regards to copying and sharing without proper authorization and permissions. Crossposted at WordPress & Blogspot by Bookstooge’s Exalted Permission

Title: Double or Nothing
Series: Bone #15
Author: Jeff Smith
Rating: 3 of 5 Stars
Genre: Comics
Pages: 26
Words: 1K



Gran’ma Ben overhears Thorn and Fone talking about their dreams and after scaring the crap out of them, runs off into the woods without explaining anything. They track her down and just as Fone is about to get something from Gran’ma, they realize they’re surrounded by rat creatures. And instead of following through, we immediately switch over to Group Two, which consists of Phoney, Smiley and Lucius the bar owner.


Phoney and Lucius make another bet about how to run the tavern and Lucius gives Phoney a month to prove his claims. I have to admit, it made zero sense to me. Lucius OWNS Phoney and Smiley for several months already due to the cow race fiasco, so what does he gain by gambling again? I suspect Lucius is a prime candidate for Gamblers Anonymous and is the exact kind of person Phoney preys upon with his totally messed up plans.


Reading this story one issue at a time instead of all at once via the One Volume Bone edition is a completely different experience. I know I keep saying this, but forcing myself to just read one issue a month, like how it was released (in some cases, the issues were delayed, so it was even longer between releases) makes me wonder how this survived long enough to get the story told. I am champing at the bit to read more and I can see myself losing interest if Smith just keeps dolling out the info in such small amounts. It is rather frustrating, even knowing the story is already complete and I don’t have to worry about him just stopping the story.


★★★☆☆




Thursday, November 03, 2022

Road Trip (Bone #14) ★★★☆☆

 

This review is written with a GPL 4.0 license and the rights contained therein shall supersede all TOS by any and all websites in regards to copying and sharing without proper authorization and permissions. Crossposted at WordPress & Blogspot by Bookstooge’s Exalted Permission

Title: Road Trip
Series: Bone #14
Author: Jeff Smith
Rating: 3 of 5 Stars
Genre: Comics
Pages: 25
Words: 1K



This had just enough comedy to keep things from getting too dark, but between the massive storm, the rat creatures attacking Lucius, Smiley and Phoney and Fone and Thorn comparing their dreams, this was probably the darkest part of the story so far. It has fully leaned into its “epic fantasy” storyline and I think the standalone community stories are done.


It's tough to tell if I thought this was so much better or if I'm just over-correcting for the previous 13.5 non-story comic. Either way, I was happy to have read this issue and I think Smith is doing a good job of juggling everything without letting things smash into the ground.


★★★☆☆



Thursday, October 06, 2022

Up on the Roof (Bone #13.5) ★★✬☆☆

 This review is written with a GPL 4.0 license and the rights contained therein shall supersede all TOS by any and all websites in regards to copying and sharing without proper authorization and permissions. Crossposted at WordPress & Blogspot by Bookstooge’s Exalted Permission

Title: Up on the Roof
Series: Bone #13.5
Author: Jeff Smith
Rating: 2.5 of 5 Stars
Genre: Comics
Pages: 22
Words: 1K

★★✬☆☆


Thursday, September 08, 2022

Moby Bone (Bone #13) ★★★✬☆

 


This review is written with a GPL 4.0 license and the rights contained therein shall supersede all TOS by any and all websites in regards to copying and sharing without proper authorization and permissions. Crossposted at WordPress, Blogspot, & Librarything by Bookstooge’s Exalted Permission
Title: Moby Bone
Series: Bone #13
Author: Jeff Smith
Rating: 3.5 of 5 Stars
Genre: Comics
Pages: 22
Words: 1K



Synopsis:


From Boneville.fandom.com


Fone Bone is dreaming that he is in the position of Ishmael in Moby Dick. Phoney is turned into Captain Ahab, and a confused Fone Bone soon finds out that only he knows his identity in this dream. Ahab-Phoney soon spots Moby Dick (Smiley). In the chase to catch him, Fone Bone is thrown overboard and into the sea. Managing to grab onto a coffin, he calls for Phoney, a call that is not answered. Suddedly, a tidal wave appears, and Fone Bone sees the Great Red Dragon's head in the wave.

Fone Bone wakes up and finds himself in an empty house. When he goes outside, he realizes that he overslept. Walking around, he meets up with Ted. Ted tells him it's already the afternoon and asks him how his love poetry is doing. After panning his choice on a previous poem, Ted jumps off, and an irritated Fone Bone walks off to work on another. THIS poem almost gets spotted by Thorn as Fone Bone is writing (he quickly hides it before she can really see what it is) She asks him if he remembered his dream (the one that she saw him in while she was on watch duty). He recollected the dream in short fashion, then asked her if she had any dreams. She retold him her dream, also meantioned that him, or at least his face, was in the dream as well, and then left to continue with her work. Bashful Bone, however, didn't notice this, and pulled out some flowers for her...only to find out that the DRAGON had taken her place. When asked about the dream Fone Bone had (that included his head), the Dragon merely meantioned that both Bone and Thorn's dreams were intruded (the Dragon reveals that he purposely invaded Fone Bone's dream by saying "Welcome aboard, Ishmael."). At that, the Dragon walks off, leaving Bone to angrily stammer and finally tell/yell at the Dragon to stay out of his dreams, all the while wondering how the Dragon knew.

Two distractions aside, he continues on his poems...only to be spotted writing them by Smiley and Phoney, who, almost imediately, takes the poems and starts reading them. Phoney, at this time, thinks that Fone Bone is starting to look like "a drooling idiot" to Thorn...until Fone Bone reveals he hasn't shown them to her. Then Phoney claims that Fone Bone is getting a little too obedient to them; Fone Bone says that Gran'ma Ben has been giving them a home and food; the LEAST they could do would be to help out with the chores. Phoney points out that Fone Bone hasn't seen Smiley and Phoney drop what they're doing everytime Thorn and Gran'ma Ben snap their fingers...right when a bell rings-the dinner bell, as Smiley and Phoney deem it as-and the two cousins run toward the noise, with Fone Bone trailing behind.

However, they found Gran'ma waitng behind the house for them; they weren't going to be eating dinner yet, because the Bones were going to be making it. She sends Smiley with a pot to get some hot water and brings Fone Bone and Phoney to the chickens, where their job is to kill four chickens and dip them in the water that Smiley would bring back. At the mere mention of how they were going to kill them, they fainted, leaving Gran'ma to kill them herself, which she does, muttering to her self angrily, "City boys!"



My Thoughts:

This was actually a little scary as you realize that even dreams are now going to be a battleground.

The last page just made me laugh. Phoney and Fone are supposed to kill 4 chickens for dinner and Gran'ma Ben tells them they can wring their necks before cutting their heads off if they don't want the chickens running around afterwards. So they faint. Gran'ma Ben's reaction is literally picture perfect. I can imagine myself having this reaction too in the right circumstances.



★★★✬☆



Thursday, August 04, 2022

Watch Duty (Bone #12) ★★★☆☆

 


This review is written with a GPL 4.0 license and the rights contained therein shall supersede all TOS by any and all websites in regards to copying and sharing without proper authorization and permissions. Crossposted at WordPress, Blogspot, & Librarything by Bookstooge’s Exalted Permission
Title: Watch Duty
Series: Bone #12
Author: Jeff Smith
Rating: 3 of 5 Stars
Genre: Comics
Pages: 30
Words: 1K





Synopsis:


From Boneville.fandom.com


Fone Bone is reading Moby Dick for Thorn when Miz Possum comes by. She talks with them a bit, and then gives Fone Bone some roof putty for fixing the roof(which he eats), and goes to check on her children. Thorn and Fone Bone walk back to the farm in order to get home before dark. Thorn dicusses some of her dreams with Fone Bone, stating that she's almost afraid to go to sleep at night. They see Phoney and Smiley along the way, trying to create a romantic dinner for chickens so he can get eggs to pay off his debts.


Meanwhile, the Two Rat Creatures have been in hiding for four days, and the quiche loving one is getting twitchy. Soon after, the two are discovered by Kingdok. However, due to Kingdok's dislike of the villagers, Gran'ma Ben, and (ESPECIALLY) the cow races, he lets them live and rewards them with preskinned rabbits, and they faint in relief (or shock). Thorn falls asleep during night duty. She dreams that she is in Deren Gard as a little girl. She goes outside into a garden with a flute, and The Hooded One appears. Suddenly turning into a grown, queenlike woman, Thorn looks around for The Hooded One, and sees him in the forest. When The Hooded One takes off the hood, it shows a face belonging to Fone Bone, and tells Thorn to come to him. Right before they make contact, Thorn wakes up. A confused Thorn watches as Fone Bone dreams violently.



My Thoughts:


While not every issue has been filled with deep meaning and complex content, this was really the first issue where it “felt” like a filler issue. There was a couple of pages dealing with the two rat creatures who were hiding from King Dok (the rat creature king) and it was as much a puff piece as anything.


I was amused by Phoney's newest scheme. Just goes to show how out of his depth he is. Giving 2 chickens a romantic dinner so one will lay more eggs. Only Phoney Bone would think of something so stupid :-D




★★★☆☆




Thursday, July 07, 2022

Lonely Road (Bone #11) ★★★✬☆

 


This review is written with a GPL 4.0 license and the rights contained therein shall supersede all TOS by any and all websites in regards to copying and sharing without proper authorization and permissions. Crossposted at WordPress, Blogspot, & Librarything by Bookstooge’s Exalted Permission
Title: Lonely Road
Series: Bone #11
Author: Jeff Smith
Rating: 3.5 of 5 Stars
Genre: Comics
Pages: 29
Words: 1K





Synopsis:


From Boneville.fandom.com


Phoney Bone and Smiley Bone are now forced to work off their debt by repairing Gran'ma Ben's Farm and working for Lucius at the Barrelhaven Tavern. While in the woods Smiley sees something move in the bushes but Lucius couldn't find anything so Gran'ma Ben tells them to be quiet until they get to the farm. Fone Bone looks around and sees the dragon watching them meaning they're safe. Fone Bone falls asleep. Morning has come and The Two Rat Creatures are now hiding, fearing what their punishment might be for starting a ruckuss. Lucius and Gran'ma Ben discuss the situation. After their talk, everybody goes to sleep.




My Thoughts:


Phoney Bone was almost killed by the villagers but Gran'ma Ben and Lucius rescued him, and the other Bones. Gran'ma and Lucius both know the dragon and also seem to know something about Thorne. They aren't sure if what is going on with the rat creatures and the Bones are connected to Thorne or not, so they decide to hold off telling anybody anything. That gets my goat. I realize they think they're protecting Thorne from something, but they seem to ignore the fact that she's old enough to know whatever the secret is. Very little good ever comes of hiding something from somebody.


Phoney Bone. Again. He totally deserves to be eaten by rat creatures, turned into a quiche if you will. I guess people like him show us just what mercy actually means. Mercy is for those who don't deserve it and my goodness, if anyone ever deserved judgment, it's Phoney. So I've taken to looking at him as an exercise for me to show mercy in a fictitious world so when I run across the real Phoney's in the world I'm ready to be merciful to them too (instead of putting one right between their eyes and sending them on to their final judgment)


And on that cheery note I'll close things out and wish you a wonderful day :-)


★★★✬☆




Thursday, June 02, 2022

The Great Cow Race ★★★★☆

 


This review is written with a GPL 4.0 license and the rights contained therein shall supersede all TOS by any and all websites in regards to copying and sharing without proper authorization and permissions. Crossposted at WordPress, Blogspot, & Librarything by Bookstooge’s Exalted Permission
Title: The Great Cow Race
Series: Bone #10
Author: Jeff Smith
Rating: 4 of 5 Stars
Genre: Comics
Pages: 29
Words: 1K





Synopsis:


From Boneville.fandom.com


Phoney's plan suddenly goes wrong when Lucius bets the Barrelhaven Tavern on Gran'ma Ben to win. Knowing it will take ages to pay off that debt, Phoney lets Smiley know that he has to win but ends up in the cow suit with him. When Gran'ma Ben tries to get a good look at the Mystery Cow, they fall off the ridge they had been running on while trying to avoid her and land in a pack of sleeping Rat Creatures, who awake and begin to chase them. Fone Bone, who has now caught up, runs side by side with a startlingly cheerful Smiley, while Phoney wishes for his death. While they run the cows and Rat Creatures cross each other causing the race to fall into disaster, and Gran'ma Ben wins in the confusion.




My Thoughts:


Another “Stupid, stupid rat creatures!” moment. Loved it!


★★★★☆