Page 45 Review by Stephen
It can be a bit of a worry when a series which needs no colour is taken out its creators hands and had colour foisted upon it anyway. I mean, Dave and Gerhard's colour covers to CEREBUS were designed to be just that, and glorious they are too, but you wouldn't want anyone desecrating the contents, would you? Thankfully that's not what's happened here in this umpteenth reprint of the early issues of Jeff Smith's all-ages fantasy epic (here with added comedy). The size of the pages has been reduced, but they positively glow, and will make youngsters' eyes glow too. Most exemplary of all are the snow scenes, where the frozen drops of wet fluff dapple the landscape, turning into an almost three-dimensional experience like those old viewfinder cells.
For those who aren't familiar with the series which Mark, praise his soul, discovered and promoted from the very first printing of the very first issue, here's one last, brief introduction to this extraordinary, eminently enjoyable accomplishment:
The three Bones - open-hearted Fone Bone, scheming and grumpy Phoney Bone, and goofy Smiley Bone - arrive in a land of deep forests and vast mountains. There they are greeted by the beautiful young Thorn with her rough and tough Gran'ma Ben, tiny Ted the Bug and his leaf-like older brother, an enigmatic, poker-faced big Red Dragon, and hunted as the contents for quiche by the Stupid Stupid Rat Creatures. As the series unfolds an ancient battle is reignited between even stranger, darker forces, and a secret royal lineage is revealed.
The art displays all the quality and timing of the very finest animation and is recommended to practically everyone. Sorry, did I type "practically"? It is recommended to absolutely everyone without exception. This is emphatically not a children's book, just accessible to all ages.
If you'd prefer your BONE in its original black and white, there is an insanely affordable, single-volume COMPLETE BONE available instead, containing all nine books.
