COMIC DETAILS
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Comic Description:
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Bone 39 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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0938005002
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Owner:
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DocGo
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SET DETAILS
Owner's Description
Label Notes
Jeff Smith story, cover, and art.
Synopsis
Still dressed as characters from Moby Dick, the Bone cousins along with Grand'ma Ben & Thorn trudge their way through the deadly ghost circles. After making camp, Fone Bone has an odd dream starring the Great Red Dragon who suddenly swallows him whole while submerged in the ocean.
The Slab
Tied with one other for the highest graded Signature Series book. Even though it has black front & back covers and more pages than usual, I’ve never had an issue with finding a NM/MT example. This was my raw copy signed & sketched by Jeff (Great Red Dragon & Ted) at the 2009 Heroes Con. Facilitated and witnessed by the great GOTHAMCENTRAL! The sketch itself sorta fits the story within the book (with the exception of Ted, of course). Definitely one of the more impactful sketches I’ve received from Jeff and it’s much appreciated. Graded by CGC on November 16, 2009.
Inside The Comic
Twenty two pages of story, two pages of letters, five pages of ads and a four page preview for Rose. The inside front cover has a drawing of Fone Bone speaking to Phoney as Captain Ahab from page 6 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 9 with Phoney, Fone Bone, Smiley, and Gran’ma Ben wondering what Thorn could see in the Ghost Circle.
Bone-a-Fides
Some fairly major news opened the Bone-a-Fides when a fan asked about the upcoming movie and whether or not that was the reason for the yearlong wait for #38. Jeff revealed that he decided NOT to renew the movie option with the studio. He said that he “didn’t think the story is over yet, so that is all I’d like to say for now.” Everyone was left to wonder…
Another fan was mildly upset about paying an extra $2 for #38 ($2.95 normal cover price vs $4.95) since it yielded only 8-pages of reprints but he did admit that the pin-ups and Frank Miller cover were super cool (let’s ignore his factual errors for time being). He also asked a previously answered question about the lack of a cigar with the Smiley figure and wanted his web address printed if his letter was published, since he was an “independent movie maker”. Jeff replied that the repaints have the cigar and indeed published his URL. As you can imagine, it no longer exists.
To double-down on the negativity, a gentleman named Phil Bloom wrote in to ask why he’s had to wait nearly a year for a new issue and wonders if it’s because of low sales. He added that he was an executive assistant on The Matrix and Lethal Weapon 4 among others but still had time to work on scripts for The Sopranos, Seinfeld, and a movie to be released in February 2001 called The Guardian. He also mentioned that he tours the US working with kids: “So please give me a valid excuse!” Jeff calmly explained that he made the announcement about his hiatus in the Comics Journal, Comics Buyers Guide, forums like Amazon.com and The Onion, as well as in the pages of Bone itself. He said that he needed the time to flesh out the final act of what had become an enormous and complex tale, and wouldn’t have the proper time to reflect while punching out five issues a year. He knows the readers will think it was worth it and, 10 years from now, no one will care how it was created…just that it’s good. In a PS, he added that he managed to draw all three issues of Stupid, Stupid Rat Tails, wrote 120 pages of Rose, helped launch Castle Waiting on his label, delivered keynotes at the Harveys and San Diego, spent time with CBLDF and the Small Press Expo, launched a new line of Bone toys, “and managed to screw up a movie deal. And don’t forget — I was on vacation!”
Ads
The first ad is for Rose #1: “48 pages, Written by Jeff Smith, Fully Painted by Charles Vess. Coming This Fall.” The second shows the Phoney Bone statue for the first time, which was sculpted by Tony Cipriano and has him in his pose from the #27 cover (also the cover for the first Dragonslayer TPBs back in the day): “Coming this November [2000].” The third ad reveals the “Glowing” Hooded One action figure which was a Previews exclusive. It describes the skin glowing-in-the-dark and playfully shows an obscured head shot of the person under the hood (cloak is removable). The 12” tall Kingdok figure is featured in the fourth ad with removable arm and tongue. The final ad shows the rest of the Series 2 figures which includes Phoney Bone, Gran’ma Ben, and the non-glow-in-the-dark Hooded One. At comic stores in November!
Rose Preview
The final four pages display the artistic process for a page from Rose. The first is an “original script layout” drawn by Jeff, the second is finished pencils by Charles, and the third is the finished paints by Charles in black & white. Because the final page is the inside back cover, it is in full color and shows all of the added dialogue which is missing from the finished paints. You can see examples of various painted pages on Comic Art Fans and none of them have word balloons (added in postproduction).
Estimated Copies Sold thru Diamond: 18200
Back Cover Collectible
Phoney Bone Limited Edition Cold Cast Statue
The first ad for the statue was begging for its appearance! This is certainly one of my most treasured Bone items and you can see why in the pic above. From the statue itself to the panels depicted on the back of the box, it was like Jeff read my mind and said what the hell. The sculptor, Tony Cipriano, doesn’t get as much fanfare as Randy Bowen but there’s nothing about this work of art that I don’t like. As I mentioned, the panels of Phoney reappearing in the third issue are a great touch and the cover of #27 is one of the best. To Jeff, Tony, and the entire Cartoon Books crew…I salute you!
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