COMIC DETAILS
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Comic Description:
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Bone 10th Anniversary Edition 1 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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0956192001
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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, Reprints Bone #1 in color, "Phoney Bone Gazillion Dollar Bill" included
Synopsis
Although this is not the first time the first issue has been colorized (Disney Adventures magazine in the mid-90s), it was the first time yours truly read it in color. Steve Hamaker performed the duties as he would for the rest of the saga in the Scholastic editions (2005).
The Slab
Highest graded SS! Originally bought from Grails as a 9.8 slab. Sent to Joel Elad for the Flying Colors Comics signing (Concord, CA) on December 6, 2008. Jeff signed it with his artist’s signature which is definitely a bonus. Graded by CGC on February 4, 2009.
Inside The Comic
Twenty-four pages of story and eight pages of essay by R.C. Harvey. The inside front cover has a colored drawing of the Great Red Dragon’s eyes above a silhouetted Fone Bone entering a door shaped like a “1”. The caption next to it says “Bone Number One Tenth Anniversary Special Edition”. The credits are as follows: Written and Drawn by Jeff Smith, Lead Colorist Steve Hamaker, Coloring and Lettering Assists Kathleen Goslan, “A Look Back” by Comics Historian R.C. Harvey. For Cartoon Books: Vijaya Iyer as Publisher, Kathleen Glosan as Production Manager, Steve Hamaker as Product Designer and Kevin Spain for Shipping and Archiving. A picture on the bottom left shows the mini Fone Bone figure and box with a note saying “This book comes with a FREE Fone Bone figure! Ask for your free figure when you buy this book.”
The inside back cover and the back cover itself are filled with quotes from various industry heavy weights reminiscing over the last ten years of Bone. The inside includes Charles Vess, Craig Thompson, Terry Moore, and a memorable message from Tom Sniegoski: “What more can be said about ten years of Bone? All I know is that it makes me want to rub my butt on the lawn—and that’s a good thing!”. The back cover features Evan Dorkin, P. Craig Russell, and Jim Valentino along with two of the more notable quotes: “Bone’d for ten years! And I’ve loved every minute of it!” from Diana Schutz, editor at Dark Horse Comics (letter writer in #9 as well). And this from Harlan Ellison: “Ten years. Ten bleeding years!! What joys, what entertainment, what paroxysmal stretching to make a one-joke idea stretch for a whole decade!! And all I had to do to bask in these delights was to turn over my firstborn to Jeff Smith for his Sunday brunch. Which was a helluva trick, seeing as how I had my vasectomy in April of 1975. Ah, but, what the hell, congrats kiddo: you done good.”
Right before the first essay page is the One Gazillion Dollar bill stapled into the book. It’s green with a head and torso shot of Phoney in the middle. The fine print says the following: “This will become legal tender once I’m mayor!”. It is signed Phoncible P. Bone and declares “Phoney Bone will get your vote” at the top. The backside is blank.
Bone - A Look Back by R.C. Harvey
The essay itself is pretty interesting and explains the exquisite work done on the very first page of Bone #1 with four drafts of sketches on notepad paper and an unused inked page (with a far less dramatic mountain range in the background). It goes on to explain Jeff’s journey from the comic strip pages of The Lantern to the Character Builders animation studio and, finally, to the comic book universe. Interspersed with the words are several images of the Bone cousins, the Great Red Dragon and Fone Bone/Rat Creature book end statues, Steve Hamaker working on the coloring via a Mac monitor & stylus, and silhouettes of the Bone cousins’ action figures (Series 1 & 2).
Mr. Harvey breaks down a few other sequences including Fone Bone walking along the mountain with the Red Dragon’s eyes peering from behind, the introduction of Thorn in issue #2, and the classic use of light and dark in issue #16 (rat creatures pursuing the heroes under a lightning storm).
Estimated Copies Sold thru Diamond: 9200
Back Cover Collectible
Fone Bone PVC Figure
These are the figures that came with the book. Some shop owners had to be reminded to include the figure after purchase but I don’t think this was common. It looks solid and I think it’ll stay upright on its own (stand was not included).
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