COMIC DETAILS
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Comic Description:
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Bone 42 Signature
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Grade:
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9.8
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Page Quality:
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WHITE
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Certification #:
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2769461005
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Owner:
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DocGo
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SET DETAILS
Owner's Description
Label Notes
Jeff Smith cover, story, and art
Synopsis
When Smiley Bone collapses from hunger (after giving Bartleby his rations), Fone Bone and Thorn step inside a ghost circle to fetch some much needed refreshment. Wendel digs deeper into the Lucius/Briar affair and it seems Lucius has decided that all of the villagers will head to Atheia.
This is the first book where the cover art is a little confusing. The scene it depicts actually occurs in the next issue.
The Slab
Highest grade! Originally bought from the great rolo40 collection off eBay as a 9.8, it became a Signature Series 9.8 after Jeff signed it at the 2023 SDCC. Big thanks to Rich Henn for facilitating! Was officially graded by CGC on September 21, 2023.
Inside The Comic
Eighteen pages of story, two pages of letters, two pages of ads, and a page for the 10th Anniversary List of Events. The inside front cover has a drawing of Lucius from page 13 with the black & white “coloring” reversed. The brief prologue is on the top left and the credits are as follows: Written and Drawn by Jeff Smith, Cover Color by Elizabeth Lewis. For Cartoon Books: Vijaya Iyer as President, Kathleen Glosan as Production Manager, Steve Hamaker as Product Designer and Kevin Spain for Shipping and Archiving. The back cover has a panel from page 6 with Thorn explaining to Fone Bone that the ghost circle had changed the family they were hearing.
Bone-a-Fides
For the first time in a while, the letters began with a note from an artist in the industry: Donovan Cater. He created mini-comics such as Null & Void and met Jeff at SPACE in Columbus (Small Press and Alternative Comics Expo). He merely wanted to thank Jeff for all the work he’s done to help fellow cartoonists and give a special thanks for buying his TPB. Olav Beemer, with his 7th published letter, continued to say nothing is happening plot-wise but was still intrigued to know where the story was going. Jeff replied “…for the life of me, I don’t know why you keep saying nothing happened. You just said you were “intrigued by all the developments.” “Developments” is the plot thickening, no?” ;-)
Another fan asked about some possible continuity errors: Briar thinking that Rose had died the same night she did when they met in #37 but Briar asks Lucius if he has “taken care of Rose” in #36. And, in #38, Rose makes it sound like that only Thorn can talk to animals but Rose easily talks to animals in Rose #1. Jeff explains that Briar is unaware that the old cow woman is Rose and that neither knew if the other had survived on that night of treason 15 years earlier. However, the fan was right about that second question regarding the talking with animals. An earlier letter complained about having to buy the story over and over with no changes but Jeff highlighted that these lines in #38 “will be changed for the collected version!”
The final letter was actually a review of Rose #1 from Tony Isabella (now known as Jenny Blake Isabella). She loved the art and especially liked the production values of the book. The publication itself was released in the square-bound format and featured transparent word balloons when it covered the artwork. She said “It took some getting used to, but, ultimately, it added to my enjoyment.” She gave it her highest recommendation.
Ads & Additional Material
The first ad is for the 12” Kingdok figure and didn’t feature anything new from the previous versions. The second ad is the first for the Ghost Circles TPB/hardcover coming in the summer of 2001. The third is for Rose #2 which is in comic stores now (has an image of the cover). The final page has a list of various events that would occur for the 10th Anniversary celebration. It includes the release dates for Ghost Circles, the 10th Anniversary Edition #1, and the statued bookends. It also lists several cons that Cartoon Books would attend including SDCC, Big Apple-Con, and a couple stops in Europe.
Like the last two issues, the 10th Anniversary #1 is the feature of the inside back cover. This time it had the colored cover art and a sample of three colored pages. The free collectible PVC figure of Fone Bone is finally pictured as well.
Estimated Copies Sold thru Diamond: 17500
Back Cover Collectible
CBLDF Liberty Artist Sketch Cards: Jeff Smith & Bill Morrison
This was a fascinating set of cards created to benefit the CBLDF (Comic Book Legal Defense Fund). Jeff has always been a big supporter of the group and lent his characters to other artists to sketch: both for the primary set and the pack-inserted original sketch cards. Jeff did a few of the original sketches himself. The ones I’ve seen are Fone Bone, Smiley, Phoney, RASL, and the Red Dragon above.
I’ve had the Smiley sketch card for years and first posted it on my Comic Art Fans account in 2013. A big sketch card collector contacted me in late 2025 with his desire to acquire it. I told him that I wasn’t interested in selling but I would trade it for a Phoney or Red Dragon. He proceeded to show me his own collection…which included both! He decided that he wanted a set of the cousins so I happily traded the Smiley for the Red Dragon. It matches well with the Bill Morrison (The Simpsons) version from the same set, which I found on eBay back in 2017. The artist sig on the Jeff Smith version is a nice bonus.
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