Bookish Tuesday: Bone

I think American Gospel is just going to have to wait a little bit before it gets its due (and even then it might be in a Religion Friday rather than Bookish Tuesday), I'm just having a hard time pushing through it, and rather than force it and not enjoy, I decided to give it time. So instead we'll do one more comic, and I promise to do a novel-type book next week so this isn't overrun by comics... although that wouldn't exactly be a bad thing, now would it?

Jeff Smith's Bone is a wonderful work. For those who might not believe me, just click on that link and scroll down to the awards section of the Wiki. Bone is the story of Fone Bone and his two cousins Smiley and Phoney, who have been run out of their hometown, find themselves in a weird forest, and wind up getting caught in a war between the residents and the invading rat creatures and the Lord of the Locusts. It's a really well put together fantasy yarn that moves really seamlessly between issues and storylines. There really isn't any filler and that helps keep the pace up as different pieces are added in and you learn more and more of the story.

Like Doug TenNapel, Jeff Smith does all of his own art along with the words of the story, which (like TenNapel) makes each panel fit in perfectly between the words and pictures. The writing is sharp and often very humorous, giving me one of my favorite phrases of all time - "stupid, stupid rat creatures." Bone vies for the #1 favorite graphic novel spot against Watchmen constantly, and I can never decide which one I really like more.