Writer and Artist: Jeff Smith
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| via Examiner.com |
The story is gradually getting darker. Fone Bone, Thorn and Gran'ma have all abandoned the farm for the safety of the inn at Barrelhaven. Meanwhile, at the inn, Phoney Bone is playing on the townspeople's fear of dragons as part of a broader scheme to get out of debt, then out of town with riches aplenty. More is revealed about Thorn and her special powers, though it is apparent that she still has much to learn about them.
As I wrote in my previous post, the strength of the story lies in its balance between lighter and darker elements. The most endearing light element in Volume 4 is the appearance of an adorable rat creature cub in town. The cub takes a shine to Fone who hides it in the barn. When Fone reveals it to Thorn, though, she threatens to kill it - there's that balance. Rat creatures killed her family so she wants revenge. Fone, however, manages to protect the cub.
Looking forward to Volume 5: Rock Jaw: Master of the Eastern Border.
That is right at the point where I dropped out of comics. I remember the bit with Fone hiding the rat creature, but I think that may have been the last issue I read.
ReplyDeleteI forget, have you gone back to reading them since? If so, what brought you back?
DeleteNo, I haven't, but I'd really like to. And I would if I knew where my copies of the issues are, but they're in my comic storage, and I don't have the time to rearrange the garage to try to find them.
DeleteAh, the black hole of storage...
DeleteYeah... so sad...
ReplyDeleteWell, when you do, I look forward to the detailed commentary.
DeleteIt gets darrrrker.
ReplyDeleteI read an article today about a woman in Minnesota who wants to have these books banned from schools - too much drinking, smoking and violence. Good grief...
DeleteI really liked the Bone series, very good all the way to the end. I recommend you read the rest asap.
ReplyDeletemood
Moody Writing
I shall endeavor to try!
DeleteLol. I love the title. Thank you for sharing.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Lady L! What do you think? Dragonslayer or dragon slayer? One word or two?
DeleteI haven't read any of these!
ReplyDeleteHappy New Year to you! :)
I hope you will, Trisha.
DeleteHappy New Year!
Oh my gosh, dark!!!
ReplyDeleteWe were at my brother's last night and the kids were watching some movie called The Croods and at some point my sister-in-law said, I can't believe this is so sad, this is a kid's movie!
So then we started pointing out the trauma of Bambi, The Lion King, Finding Nemo, The Land Before Time, The Rise of the Guardians and every other kid-related book and movie in existence. Every time we thought we were done, we remembered another one.
I think the best stories - for anyone - manage to balance the two.
DeleteMy son loves Bones. He gets a healthy reading dose from the school library. I have skimmed a few, but since he reads them so fast he takes them back before I get a chance to really get into them.
ReplyDeleteOne can buy the entire series in a single volume. I'd have done that if I'd known how much I'd like it. Then again, the smaller books are more manageable for a kid.
DeletePlease forgive the copy editor in me (and please feel free to torch this comment after you've read it) but there is a typo in your title.
ReplyDeleteGood catch! I thought at first you were just giving my a hard time about the one word/two words issue but I didn't even see the extra A. I'll fix that.
DeleteI'm betting my youngest would like this one. I'm a little hesitant about him reading comics, but hey, as long as they read, right?
ReplyDeleteDon't sell comic books short, Crystal. There's a lot more literary merit than one might expect if you know where to look. Plenty of worthless "chapter books," too.
DeleteI've never read this series, but I've heard about it. The artwork is a perfect counterpoint for the subject matter.
ReplyDeleteThe artwork is excellent, and reflects that same balance of light and dark, both literally and figuratively.
Delete