COMIC DETAILS
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Comic Description:
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Bone 36
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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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0216070006
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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
*The Hooded One’s identity revealed*
Synopsis
Thorn, Fone Bone, and Smiley ultimately decide to go to Old Man’s Cave to help Gran’ma Ben and the rest of the villagers. On the Cave’s outskirts, Lucius and some of the Barrelhaven boys are supposed to warn everyone when the rat creatures make their move but Lucius is distracted by Briar—who doesn’t appear to have aged a day and is wearing The Hooded One’s robe. This lets a horde of rat creatures surprise the forces of good as Jonathan is injured during the skirmish. Meanwhile, Roque Ja has picked up the scent at Gran’Ma’s farm.
The Slab
Highest grade Signature Series book! My raw copy signed by Jeff at the 2014 Emerald City Comic-Con. Thanks to dscott for facilitating! Officially graded by CGC on March 29, 2014.
Inside The Comic
Twenty pages of story, three pages of letters, five pages of ads, a two page mini-story with Phoney & Smiley and a two page literary notice from Harper’s Magazine for Moby Dick. The inside front cover has a drawing of Lucius fighting off rat creatures from page 14 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, Lopa Mukherjee for Marketing and Public Relations, Kathleen Glosan as Administrative Assistant and Josh Bowers for Shipping and Archiving. The back cover had a panel from page 3 showing Fone Bone, Smiley, and Thorn discussing a possible trip to Old Man’s Cave.
Bone-a-Fides
Lopa opens the Bone-a-Fides with a plug for the toys and said they had become extremely popular. More were being produced as she spoke and ReSaurus said that the Thorns would be in stores soon. She also took the time to thank everyone for their letters. She noted an uptick in the amount they’ve received recently and wants everyone to know how much Cartoon Books appreciates them.
The nursemaid revelation was the primary topic of discussion and one fan thought that maybe Fone Bone was actually “the one who bears the star” (because of the pendant he possesses). His explanation wasn’t without merit but ultimately incorrect.
Another wrote in to tell Lopa that his Smiley action figure was missing his cigar. He looked at all the Smileys in the store but none had it. The box didn’t say that he came with a cigar but all of the pictures on the cardbacks showed Smiley with a big, fat stogie. He thought that this was “some evil politically correct issue” and that there was a stockpile of cigars somewhere to be had! Lopa said that ReSaurus originally designed Smiley with the cigar but some toy sellers didn’t like to promote tobacco products. She hinted that maybe some repaints in the future will finally have Smiley’s favorite appendage.
Diamond Comic Distributor’s Dialogue magazine had a best Bone Store Window Display contest and the winner was ZB Comics in South Africa. They received signed editions of all the statues as a reward. They wrote in to say that they will put them in a display case “for all our customers to admire and for our rivals to envy”.
Future Brazilian comic writer Fabio Moon wrote in again with his overarching theories about Act 3. He also wondered if there would be anymore backup stories like Riblet in the future and how Jeff got to do the cover for Avengers Forever. Lopa said that there weren’t any present plans for backup tales but wondered what he thought (perhaps he sent some ideas). Comic writer Kurt Busiek, a previous contributor to the Bone-a-Fides, asked Jeff for a cover to his Avengers Forever series and Jeff couldn’t resist drawing the old bulky & yellow Iron Man suit.
Many people mentioned the movie and one fan asked about a possible release date. Lopa said that animated movies generally take a couple years to complete so they were looking at a 2001 release date.
Ads
The first ad is a three page mini-comic for THB by Paul Pope which also mentioned his website, PaulPope.com. The next is for a Life-Sized inflatable head of The Great Red Dragon (just $34.95 at your local comic shop or call 1-800-SMILEY-2). The Words & Pictures Museum is the final ad which, unfortunately, closed its doors not long after this book was published (July 1999). The inside back cover had Bone action figures including the Previews exclusive Thorn with Miz’ Possum, Fone Bone with hat and shawl and repaints of Smiley Bone, and “natural” Fone Bone.
Phoney & Smiley Mini-Story
The mini-story with Phoney and Smiley occurs while the two are washing dishes in Lucius’ Barrel Haven Tavern to work off their first debt (around Bone #6). It’s a clear satire of how some on the Left view the Republican Party with Phoney plotting to make greed both a religion AND a political party. In my opinion, it’s funny and harmless, so it shouldn’t offend anyone. It’s signed by Jeff with the date 6.1.98. It was originally published in the 1998 Trilogy Tour II graphic novel (description of which you can find in my Bone #31 listing).
Moby Dick Literary Notice
The literary notice was first published in Harper’s Magazine Vol. IV, December 1851. It’s a multi-paragraph review of Moby Dick which had just been released to the public. It gives Bone readers a good summary of the tale if they hadn’t had a chance to read it in full. Interspersed between the words are various drawings from Bone #13 which included Smiley as Moby Dick, Phoney as Ahab, and Fone Bone as Ishmael. The last panel shows Phoney throwing his final spear into Moby/Smiley as the ship gets ready for the ride of its life.
Estimated Copies Sold thru Diamond: 20459
Back Cover Collectible
Bone Action Figures Series 2: Smiley Bone w/ Blue Vest & Cigar
Lopa hinted and delivered! The original red-vested Smiley just had the mandolin, hat, and Possum Kids while the blue-vested repaint had everything PLUS the cigar! Another letter in issue 39 would address the missing accessory where Jeff officially announced the release of the repaint. Not only did the letters have an effect on the story, but also the products. The CB crew was listening!
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