Bone

Jeff Smith’s Bone is a dark fantasy graphic novel with elements of humor, adventure, and generic pastiche. Fifty-five issues were released over the course of 13 years, from 1991 to 2004. These issues were later compiled into a single volume, which was published in 2004 in its original black-and-white format. Bone has received a total of 10 Eisner Awards and 11 Harvey Awards. Bone follows the adventures of three cousins drawn in the style of early Fleischer Brothers cartoons. Over the course of a year, they become involved in a Tolkienesque war waged by dragons and monsters as they aid the lost princess Thorn Harvestar in her quest to defeat the Lord of the Locusts. The tone and intensity of the story fluctuate between lighthearted and grimly serious. This study guide corresponds to the black-and-white one-volume edition of Bone published in 2004.

Plot Summary

After a botched mayoral campaign, Phoney is run out of Boneville. His cousins Fone and Smiley smuggle him out of town, but the trio gets lost in the desert. Smiley finds a crudely drawn map and gives it to Fone. The cousins are separated by a swarm of locusts, and Fone travels to a nearby valley, followed by the Great Red Dragon. A harsh winter forces Fone to remain in the Valley until the spring thaw. While there, Fone befriends a small insect named Ted, a family of possums, and a young woman named Thorn. He is also occasionally chased by large, hungry monsters called rat creatures, who are ruled over by Kingdok. The Red Dragon always appears to protect Fone from the rats in the nick of time.

Fone tries to tell Thorn about the Red Dragon, but she doesn’t believe that dragons exist because her grandmother told her they were make-believe. When she sees the map Smiley found, she finds it strangely familiar. Thorn’s grandmother returns to her farmhouse with Phoney in tow. Every year, Grandma participates in a cow race that’s hosted in the neighboring town of Barrelhaven. Phoney secretly leaves for Barrelhaven a day early.

Kingdok and his rat creatures attend a meeting with their leader, the Hooded One, who orders an attack on the Valley. The Hooded One is taking orders from the Lord of the Locusts, a dangerous entity who has been imprisoned underground. At the end of Part 6, it will be revealed that the Hooded One is Briar, the undead sister of Grandma Ben. Until then, most of the other characters believe that the Hooded One is male.

When the rats attack, Fone and Thorn flee the farmhouse. They’re rescued by the Red Dragon. When they return, Thorn and Fone learn that Grandma knew that dragons were real all along. Grandma, Thorn, and Fone leave for Barrelhaven. Phoney is stalked by the Hooded One.

Phoney finds Smiley tending bar at the Barrel Haven Pub, which is owned by a man named Lucius Down. The two get stuck working for Lucius when they buy more beer than they can afford. The cow race takes place during Barrelhaven’s annual spring fair. Phoney and Smiley hatch a scheme to fix the race, but it is uncovered. In recompense, Phoney and Smiley agree to work off their gambling debts on Grandma’s farm and at Lucius’s inn. Phoney and Lucius start a bet to see who’s better at running the bar. They decide to split the pub down the middle; whoever sells the most beer in a month wins.

Thorn has prophetic dreams about dragons, hooded figures, and rat creature sieges. She tells Fone that she thinks she drew the map Smiley found when she was a little girl. They discuss the dreams and debate whether Grandma is keeping secrets from them. She overhears their conversation and runs into the woods. They follow her. When they get back to the farmhouse, Thorn and Fone show Grandma the map. She tells them that she is the former queen of the fallen city of Atheia. Thorn is the princess and heir to the throne; her parents were killed by rat creatures when she was young. She is also a Ven-Yan-Cari, which means “awakened one.” The dreams she had about living among dragons were memories.

Phoney wins over customers by telling the villagers that he is a dragon slayer who will protect them. A hooded man enters the bar and gives Lucius a message. Lucius tells Ted the Bug to pass the message to Grandma. In turn, Grandma tells Fone and Thorn that they have to leave the farm.

While they are traveling through the woods, Grandma, Fone, and Thorn are attacked by Kingdok and the rat creatures. Thorn and Fone leave Grandma and head for Barrelhaven. They find that Phoney has taken over the town by promising to slay dragons for them. He plans to swindle their valuables and escape to Boneville. Fone finds a baby rat creature outside. Fone and Smiley sneak the cub out of town.

Phoney convinces a mob of the townsfolk to follow him to a rock formation called the Dragons’ Stair, promising to capture and slay a dragon. The Red Dragon allows himself to be captured by the townsfolk. While the dragon is tied down, a group of rat creatures ambush them, and Thorn drives them off with a sword. Meanwhile, another battalion of rat creatures sacks Barrelhaven.

While traveling to the mountains, Fone, Smiley, and the rat cub (whom Smiley has named Bartleby) are attacked by rat creatures. Bartleby protects Smiley and Fone and drives the attackers away, but the trio is captured by a giant mountain lion named Roque Ja. Fone, Smiley, and Bartleby escape from Roque Ja and into an underground passage that leads to an abandoned temple. The group is attacked by a hallucination of Kingdok, which was caused by the Dreaming. They are recaptured by Roque Ja, who delivers them to the real Kingdok. Instead of rewarding Roque Ja, Kingdok attacks him. Fone and Smiley escape into the forest. Bartleby stays behind to integrate with the rat creatures.

Thorn leads a party of villagers back to the ruins of Barrelhaven. While there, she receives a message from a group of hooded monks that her grandmother is staying in Old Man’s Cave and wants Thorn to meet her there. Thorn sneaks off into the woods to search for Fone. The remaining members of her party—Phoney and three villagers—head for Old Man’s Cave, where Grandma and Lucius are waiting. Phoney learns that long ago, Mim, queen of the dragons, was possessed by the Lord of the Locusts and went mad. Her insanity threw the Dreaming out of balance and nearly destroyed the earth. In order to curtail the destruction, the other dragons turned Mim to stone and trapped the Locust inside her.

The Hooded One tells the Lord of the Locusts that Phoney is a powerful magician. The Hooded One intends to use him in the ritual that will free the Locust. The Hooded One visits Roque Ja and asks him to capture Phoney alive and kill Thorn in exchange for treasure and land. Roque Ja injures Thorn and takes them both to the Hooded One, who is waiting on top of a mountain. Smiley, Fone, and Grandma leave to rescue them.

While guarding the entrance to Old Man’s Cave, Lucius sees a vision of Briar—Grandma Ben’s supposedly dead sister. He was once in love with her, and he is so stunned that an army of rat creatures are able to launch a sneak attack.

The Hooded One believes Phoney is a Ven-Yan-Cari because she found a giant campaign balloon in his image, which she mistook for an omen. Her ritual fails, and Thorn steals a piece of the Locust’s Dreaming powers. Grandma, Thorn, and the Bone Cousins escape into the secret tunnel, and the mountaintop explodes. The Valley appears to be completely destroyed. Thorn says that most of the destruction is only an illusion: the Valley is full of ghost circles, which are extradimensional portals to the spirit world. The group heads for Atheia. Thorn uses her power to travel through ghost circles. Inside of one, a voice delivers a message from her dead mother telling her to look for the Crown of Horns. The Crown of Horns is a very mysterious object. Little is known about it. Thorn is a Ven-Yan-Cari with a piece of the Locust inside of her, so if she touches it, she might be able to restore balance between the Dreaming and the earth.

Bartleby joins them on their journey to the city. To get there, they must travel through Tanen Gard, the sacred burial ground of dragons. It is surrounded by a bottomless gorge, and trespassing there is punishable by death. The group passes through and reaches Atheia. Lucius leads the surviving villagers and monks to Atheia, but their progress is slowed by ghost circles.

Grandma, Thorn, the Bones, and Bartleby sneak into the city wearing disguises because the current government is hostile to the royal family. Grandma has contacts in the city: a faction of loyalists who want the royal family reinstated. They inform her that Lord Tarsil the Usurper has taken control of Atheia. He is a fanatic who has outlawed dragon worship, and he knows Thorn and Grandma are in the city. He wants them captured and executed for heresy.

Briar leads her armies towards Atheia with intentions to assassinate Thorn. Grandma pulls an emergency army together. When Tarsil meets Briar at the gates of the city, Briar kills him on the spot. A fierce battle breaks out. The Lord of the Locusts breaks through the earth’s crust in the body of Queen Mim.

Phoney suspects the Crown of Horns is hidden in the gorge surrounding Tanen Gard. Thorn leaves to find it. Fone and Bartleby run after her. Thorn finds the Crown, but she must battle Kingdok to reach it. She dispatches him, but she is pinned down by his body just out of reach of the crown. Fone catches up with her and links her to it by touching the crown while holding her hand. The gorge begins to flood. The Red Dragon flies them to safety. Dragons burst out of the ground and pull Queen Mim back under. Lucius and Briar both die in battle. After the war is won, Thorn is crowned Queen of Atheia. The Bone Cousins return to Boneville and bring Bartleby with them.