Can it really be 20 YEARS since Fone, Phoney and Smiley found themselves exiled from Boneville and off on the adventures of their lives?
Yep.
At the Book Expo in May we were asking an indie book store owner if she sold many graphic novels and she said “Only the classics, like BONE.”
To celebrate, the BONE crew is hitting the road with the spectacular deluxe 20th Anniversary edition, the first full color one volume edition of BONE. Details here.
At the Mid-Ohio con, Cartoon Books will debut a new slipcased one volume edition of BONE:
Want.
20 freakin’ years? Wow, I remember working in a comic book store and we got in issue #4. I also saw some ad that quoted Neil Gaiman as liking the book. So I got our store to order some and it really quickly became a bestseller.
I know, I know, nobody is forced to buy anything, and I wish Jeff Smith well, and he deserves his success. But I bought most of the individual issues, then I bought the trades because I liked them better, then I bought the big gold-edged one volume HC because it was too beautiful to pass up.
Now a one volume color book?
I don’t know, I just don’t know if I’ll do it again. I’d like it, but I’ve already spent a LOT on this story….
20 years is a very long time. Is Bone the most successful of the self published books? I’d guess so. I’m amazed at how Smith keeps finding new ways to present the book. Its “against my better judgement”, but I’ll probably buy it.