BONE Tapa dura - 2004

Columbus, Ohio: Cartoon Books, 2004. One volume edition. Signed and numbered limited hardcover, no. 1763 of 2000. Hardcover. Fine. 1332, [9] p. 24 cm. Maps on endpapers and at rear. Black leatherette with pressed-on colour illustration and gold print. All edges gilt. Signed bookplate on half title. Bone is an American comic book series, written and illustrated by Jeff Smith, originally serialized in 55 irregularly-released issues from 1991 to 2004. Smith's black-and-white drawings, inspired by animated cartoons and comic strips, are singularly characterized by a mixture of both light-hearted comedy and dark fantasy. Three cartoon characters become lost in a fairy-tale valley for a year, where they spend a year, make friends and enemies, and become caught up in the trials and tribulations of the valley. As a simple comic tale becomes a sprawling epic, readers may find Bone rather "Tolkienesque."