Booklist Review

One of the most acclaimed new comics of recent years, Bone is a Tolkien-meets-Pogo fantasy about the Bone cousins, who leave their home, Boneville, for adventures in the outside world. There they confront monsters and dragons and are befriended by the winsome Thorn and her cantankerous Gran'ma. Smith, with his clean draftsmanship and flawless comic timing, has been compared to comics masters Walt Kelly (Pogo) and Carl Barks (creator of Uncle Scrooge McDuck). Like Pogo, Bone has a whimsy best appreciated by adults, yet kids can enjoy it, too; and like Barks' Disney duck stories, Bone moves from brash humor to gripping adventure in a single panel. Smith demonstrates impressive mastery of the comic strip, yet his comic timing comes straight from classic animated cartoons. Such gentle, all-ages humor as Bone's has all but disappeared; consequently, Smith's neo-traditionalism seems fresher than anything else the comics medium offers today. Obviously, there's still life in old comics genres, and a major talent as skilled as the old masters can come virtually out of nowhere. --Gordon Flagg