Set Description:
This set has two purposes: (1) To showcase my collection of high grade Bone issues and other examples of Bone Stuff (2) To highlight the publications themselves and their place in bringing the Bone saga to the masses. This has been a labor of love and I sincerely hope every visitor will enjoy both aspects of this journey!
THE COLLECTION
I first noticed Bone when perusing the old Top Ten Comics in Wizard Magazine somewhere in the early to mid 90s. Eventually, I made the effort to track down this title at a local comic store around 1994, which happened to have #13 with the great Phoney/Captain Ahab cover. And the rest is history…
Finding this series in high grade is extremely difficult. The first eleven issues were manufactured with a lower quality paper (#1-11 are also a few millimeters wider than the rest) and the back covers for nearly the entire series are black which are typically a nightmare for even the most carefully handled comics.
Initially, I just wanted a set of the first ten issues and a few of my favorite covers but when I started buying these things raw, the search itself became much more fun than I had anticipated. My current goal is to have #1-8 in blue labels and the rest in yellow…all in 9.8 or better. The single digit issues that went into multiple printings are too hard to find in high grade and I'd rather not have them signed. I also have a few Signature Series books with mini-sketches/remarques as well. So far I have multiple Teds as well as Fone Bone, Phoney, Smiley, Big Johnson Bone, and Great Red Dragon. Would really like a Thorn at some point.
Board members and others who have helped me with the set (alphabetical order): Annihilus, anonymous collector, DorkBuzz, dscott, GOTHAMCENTRAL, Grails, Joel Elad, joeypost, Matt Nelson, Menace, mschmidt, paperheart, PhiGam (Colin), Rich Henn, and Unknownworlds.
# of 9.8 Universal books remaining from #1-8 (as of 3/2023): 1
# of 9.8 Signature Series books remaining from the rest of the set (as of 4/2026): 9
***Flip Book taken out of the set. Thanks Matt G!
***13 1/2 Gold Foil Edition deleted. Thanks Gemma!
THE ARCHIVE
While attempting to remember a letter I had read in one of the dozens of Bone issues, I thought to myself that there should be an archive of some sort that chronicles everything in the Bone comics that didn’t make it into the One Volume. Not only the letters but also the ads and other additional material that people may have forgotten about or never knew existed. The letter section, referred to as the Bone-a-Fides, actually helped shape the story itself which Jeff has admitted to on several occasions regarding the Cow Race. They also helped name the rat creature cub Bartleby, pointed out continuity errors that were later revised, and encouraged story elements that Jeff was antsy about.
I invite all of you to take a ride from July 1991 to June 2004 as the 1300+ page epic unfolds…22 pages at a time!
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