The Art of Bone (Hardback) - Common

by Jeff Smith

Bone is an international publishing sensation with hundreds of thousands of loyal readers and no end in sight to its growing popularity. Now, for the first time anywhere, see the homemade comics, sketches and grand plans that set this masterpiece of literary fantasy in motion. From there, take a tour through piles of promotional art, holiday cards and pivotal storytelling moments from the revolutionary self-published years, where Bone went from "the little comic that could" to an industry leader that changed the face of comics. Finally, revel in the wonder of Bone as a complete 1300-page graphic novel, a work for the ages, filled with comedy and tragedy and adventure for generations to come.

Genres: Art, Comics, Graphic Novels, Fantasy, Collections, Graphic Novels Comics

200 pages, Unknown Binding

First published July 25, 2007

About the author

Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name. See other authors with similar names.

Born and raised in the American mid-west, Jeff Smith learned about cartooning from comic strips, comic books, and watching animation on TV. In 1991, he launched a company called Cartoon Books to publish his comic book BONE, a comedy/adventure about three lost cousins from Boneville. Against all odds, the small company flourished, building a reputation for quality stories and artwork. Word of mouth, critical acclaim, and a string of major awards helped propel Cartoon Books and BONE to the forefront of the comic book industry.
In 1992, Jeff’s wife Vijaya Iyer joined the company as partner to handle publishing and distribution, licensing, and foreign language publications. In the Spring of 2005, Harry Potter’s U.S. publisher Scholastic Inc. entered the graphic novel market by launching a new imprint, Graphix with a full color version of BONE: Out from Boneville, bringing the underground comic to a new audience and a new generation.
In 2007, DC Comics released Smith’s first non-creator owned work, SHAZAM! Monster Society of Evil, a four-part mini-series recreating a classic serial from comic’s Golden Age. Between projects, Smith spends much of his time on the international guest circuit promoting comics and the art of graphic novels.

Reviews

[Ian · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some good insight into Smith's process, a bunch of great art, and reams of fawning over the series' disastrously shaggy tonal shift.

[Michael · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pretty thin but showcases beautiful drawings.

[Parka · Rating 5 out of 5]

(More pictures at parkablogs.com)

The art book for Bone is as entertaining as the comics itself. After reading this, or the comics, it's easy to understand why fans love it so much. There's good humour, adventure and storytelling.

This is a huge 200-page hardcover collecting the artworks that went behind creating Bone. You can even see comics strips - the origin of Bone - drawn by Jeff Smith when he was 9 years old. There are also sketches, rough layouts, inking boards with all the corrections pasted over corrections, photo reference used for the backgrounds, selected black and white as well as coloured panels and covers. All are captioned and most come with a short commentary.

Although it's just snippets from the whole story, the sense of fun and adventure is never lacking. I found myself captivated, reading from cover to cover in one sitting. I love the style which in a way is similar to newspaper cartoons, but used for a bigger story. The reproduction of the art is great. The panels and colour art are beautiful, and recently added colour really adds to what's already a great comic.

The only downside, if any, is biography which is pretty short.

It's a wonderful book for the fans.

[Chip'sBookBinge · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Art Of Bone is a solid coffee table book. It's definitely geared toward fans of Bone and Jeff Smith. I'm coming straight at this book as a huge fan of both, so I was expecting a lot from this book. It's a great book as I said, but it does feel somewhat light though. I was expecting more than what we get in the book. Not a whole lot of text other than stating what page is from what book, etc...Also, it felt kind of scatter shot. There wasn't a flow to it like that of The Art Of Todd McFarlane or Jim Lee's Icon books. This is definitely a book that you should check out from the Library. I say this, already owning my own copy.

You can find more of my Book, DVD, TV and Movie reviews at my Forum (Penny Can) at...

http://pennycan.createaforum.com

Feel free to stop by and contribute your 2 cents.

[Godka · Rating 4 out of 5]

Well, I thought this book was going to be full of information and interesting insights etc but after foreword there wasn't really that much of text containing information like that (ok, there was quite a lot of information, but I was expecting much more).

I love Bone, Bone is perfect, so I like just flicking through this book, looking at the comics itself, but I though there would be more information both about Jeff Smith and Bone. Anyway, I don't regret buying it and I love the large format. I think it's a must-read/must-have for a fan of Jeff Smith/Bone.

[Keith · Rating 5 out of 5]

Bone is one of the greatest graphic novels ever (Time magazine even said so!)

Here's some background... early strips... sketches... a couple of really boring essay/introductions in the beginning... but otherwise a fun adjunct. Read Bone first though so you won't get those nasty spoilers.

[Kyle · Rating 3 out of 5]

I love the art of Bone itself, so this was an obvious choice to read. It was very visually appealing and also very informative. Only thing I wanted by the end was more information about the artist/writer himself.

[Tak · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a..... let's see how do i put this.?....????? AN GREAT AWSOME GRAPHIC NOVEL!!!!!!!