Before BONE. A brand new limited edition book
The Cartoon Research Library located on the campus of OSU in Columbus, has put together a great new exhibit featuring the best of Jeff’s college strips called THORN, as well as a very nice paperback book called Jeff Smith: Before Bone. Jeff Smith: Before Bone, is a signed and numbered catalogue limited to just 500 copies. It reprints all of the Thorn comic strips in the exhibit and has an introduction by Jeff, a foreword by his colleague Jim Kammerud and an essay by Lucy Shelton Caswell. This volume is only available exclusively from the library for just $25 a copy. All proceeds from the sale of this catalogue will benefit the Cartoon Research Library. You can get yours by visiting their site here. And for a great look at the interior pages of both Jeff Smith: Bone and Beyond and Jeff Smith: Before Bone, check out this link that Brandon posted in the comment section below.
Thats pretty cool. Great for real big fans of your work.
Comment by Marcus — June 9, 2008 @ 6:07 pm
Just curious how many Thorn stripes are collected here. And actually I’m really interested in what proportion are represented here. Any estimates? Thanks!
Comment by Jonathan — June 9, 2008 @ 8:14 pm
Good timing! I received the 2 copies I ordered today! The book contains 64 Thorn strips… since Thorn was a daily strip that ran for 3 years if I’m correct, this is only a very small portion of the strips, but still the largest collection released since the actual, extremely limited and no longer available collected Thorn book. I’m definitely still holding my breath for a complete (and oversized) reprint of the Thorn strips, but this is a great item for the Jeff Smith fanatics like myself – trust me, it’s too good to pass up. The strips are reprinted 2 to a page, nice and large – at approximately 8.5 inches wide – which is quite important because they are full of wonderful detail – some panels have some of the most detailed and even non-cartoonish renditions of characters from the world of Bone. Also in the book is a too-small (and not level-corrected for print) reproduction of a very cool-looking page from Jeff’s Thorn sketchbook, a few panel reproductions of the actual original art that are very large, 2 to a page, a Lantern newspaper page with Thorn on it, and intros from Jeff, Jim Kammerud and Lucy Shelton Caswell (who gets no descriptive blurb about who she is at the end of her intro). This paperback book, all told, runs 54 pages, and the insides of the covers have art on them as well which is great. When you sum all this up with the fact that the book is numbered out of 500 and signed by Jeff (note that the limited edition specifically states for the first printing, which I think is a detail not generally mentioned), you have a collector’s item definitely worth purchasing.
Comment by Brandon Klassen — June 9, 2008 @ 9:22 pm
Great description.
I was actually checking out the shop and planning on buying Rasl 1 and 2 once it comes out, but I don’t know what payment methods are accepted since I don’t typically do online shopping.
Any tip will be of help.
Comment by Marcus Martinez — June 9, 2008 @ 9:39 pm
I’m not sure, Jeff, or someone’s who has purchased from the store, will have to answer that – typically, credit cards are accepted. It would be really great if PayPal was accepted… But it’s sure awesome that Boneville has a shop now! I love the simple and color-coded design. By the way, some of the coded line breaks in the shop are off, resulting in image boxes being broken apart where the seperation between the product pictures and the add to cart buttons are. Also, whatever happened to Bone Magnet Set #1? Is it all gone? It’s the only one I don’t have!
Comment by Brandon Klassen — June 9, 2008 @ 10:54 pm
Brandon and Marcus, Thanks so much for the awesome comments. I couldn’t have answered Jonathan’s question better myself. As for your question, the store only accepts Visa and Mastercard. Paypal is a good idea and I’ll have to look into that as an option in the future. As for the Bone magnet set #1, it is completely sold out. Thanks again!
Comment by Tom — June 10, 2008 @ 10:21 am
I’ll second everything Brandon said. It’s a very nice book, with gorgeous reproductions and a nice sampling of the three year run at the Lantern. And, hey, it’s signed to boot! How can you lose?
Really, the only complaint is that the book leaves you wanting more. The first two years receive the bulk of the reprinting, with the final year (which, as far as I can tell, featured a storyline not retold in the Bone comic) only gets a few pages of reprints.
I’d love to see a complete collection of the strip’s run, but until that sees print (he says with fingers crossed) this is the best overview of Jeff’s college work to date.
Comment by Jeremy — June 10, 2008 @ 11:16 am
Brandon –
Thanks! That was a great description, and I truly appreciate it. By any chance have you (or anyone else here) bought the Bone and Beyond catalog book from the Wexner Center? Any detailed descriptions of that from someone that’s got a copy in their hand? Thanks so much!
Comment by Jonathan — June 10, 2008 @ 2:30 pm
LOL… I did (of course!) indeed purchase the Bone & Beyond book as well. This is a much slicker publication, hardcover with glossy pages. The treat here is seeing Jeff’s original Bone art, a large portion of which is the entire reproduction of Bone Issue 16, in glorious detail, some panels blown up to fill an entire page with a panel size of 8″ x 8″ – which is simply gorgeous. You also get 6 pages of original RASL art (the same 6 pages shown in the RASL preview), the original artwork for the amazing spread from Shazam issue 4 with giant Marvel punching through the 2 giant robots, and some other assorted original Bone art, such as the cover to the final issue of Bone and selections that illustrate points from the essays included. These commentaries on Jeff’s work feature thoughts from “Neal” Gaiman (oops! I cringed when someone spelt his name wrong in the table of contents), David Filipi and Scott McCloud, as well as an interview with Jeff. As with Before Bone, this volume features the work that is shown in the exhibit, and in this case, besides Jeff’s work, it also includes strips from Peanuts, Pogo, Doonesbury, The Spirit, Krazy Kat, Thimble Theatre and the work of Carl Banks – works influencial to Jeff. 88 pages in total. The endsheets feature enlarged reproductions of progressive art from the Lucius/Smiley Bone rooftop mini-story – and they’re different on the two endsheets as well – which is quite cool. My only gripe with the volume is that it does not include the original Bone mural art that Jeff created for the exhibit. This art, however, is available as a poster, which I would definitely also recommend purchasing. It’s a breathtaking work with masterful composition and mood. Sadly, the poster I ordered was damaged… I’m waiting for a replacement! However, let me say the poster I ordered did not appear to be damaged in transit, but instead it could have gone unnoticed in the warehouse. The Wexner Store packed the poster and the books I ordered EXTREMELY well, which is quite important to me since I live in Canada and it’s a further distance for merchandise to travel, so I have nothing but good things to say about them. The books were each placed in a protective bubble envelope, then surrounded with bubble wrap, then placed in a box – superb packing! On the other hand, the BEFORE BONE books from the Cartoon Research Library were just mailed in a slightly padded envelope – not quite what I would expect for the international postage cost AND for what is supposed to be a collector’s item – luckily, they arrived without problem.
Comment by Brandon Klassen — June 11, 2008 @ 1:49 am
LOL, after pointing out the “Neal” Gaiman error, I made my own typo, referring to Carl “Banks” above when, of course, I meant Carl “Barks”.
I’ve posted just a few quick images of both books which I trust will be helpful to readers of this blog and that you won’t mind Jeff, including a panel from Before Bone that is probably my favourite thing in the book, because of the detailed/realistic rendition of Thorn.
http://www.brandonklassen.com/upload/bone.html
Comment by Brandon Klassen — June 11, 2008 @ 2:22 am
Before Bone is a really nice book, and important to Bone-o-philes like me, but I think a lot of the kids going crazy for the color Bone volumes would like it too. Its a book that families can read together, and how many of those are there?
Comment by Steve Weiner — June 11, 2008 @ 10:27 am
While at the OSU CRL site, peruse some of the other titles they offer!
Great stuff!
Comment by Torsten Adair — June 11, 2008 @ 7:15 pm
[...] For some more info onthe book, click here. [...]
Pingback by Whoring it up a bit… Plus Some More Art Blogs » Nightgig — June 12, 2008 @ 1:25 am
FYI, I stumbled across these two auctions this morning…
http://cgi.ebay.com/Jeff-Smith-Before-Bone-Limited-Ed-Signed-48-of-500_W0QQitemZ370058740423QQihZ024QQcategoryZ3954QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem
and
http://cgi.ebay.com/Before-Bone-JEFF-SMITH-Signed-and-Numbered-VERY-RARE_W0QQitemZ180251520013QQihZ008QQcategoryZ3954QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem
I mailed in my order (apparently the only option) to OSU on Monday, so I hope I don’t have to resort to ebay.
Comment by Jonathan — June 12, 2008 @ 10:08 am
Bought both books and the poster as well. Great work all around. And I’ll add my voice as yet another that hopes the entire Thorn strip run will be reprinted into an easier to find collection (hardcover?)
Comment by Derek — June 14, 2008 @ 12:17 am
Living outside US sometimes is tough… =(
Comment by Igor Bone — June 15, 2008 @ 8:02 pm
I tried to buy a copy of “Before Bone” for myself and one for a friend. Unfortunately it was already too late. Now there are several listings on Ebay selling for hundreds of dollars. Herge, the creator of Tintin, had the same problem. For more than 30 years he resisted re-releasing his early work because he felt it didn’t fit with the rest of the collection. He finally decided to publish a collection of 4 books that he named “Herge Archives”. Jeff should have his “Jeff Smith Archives” too. I am sure everybody who admires his work would like to see how it all started. There is no escape, it is part of history now.
Comment by Manoel — June 20, 2008 @ 7:20 am
It’s a shame to see so many copies popping up on eBay – if only they could have gone to the real fans in the first place, without those fans now having to pay super high prices for them. Still, I suppose it will make it easier for some people to get a hold of them who couldn’t send in a money order to the Cartoon Research Library. On eBay, some are priced at around $200 for Buy-It-Now, while others are taking on bidders fast, ranging currently from around $30 up to $100.
Comment by Brandon Klassen — June 20, 2008 @ 8:49 pm
Shame indeed. There is nothing good about fans paying $100 plus to eBay sharks instead of giving it to the Cartoon Research Library. As it is the book was way underpriced. If it were $50 or 60, it would limit the purchase of multiple copies, increase fan access and give more money to the Library. I bet there are guys with 5 to 10 copies in their closets.
Comment by Manoel — June 21, 2008 @ 2:55 pm
i love the book so much!!!
Comment by Olivia — December 3, 2008 @ 9:25 am
I LOVE Bone books!!!!!!!!!
Comment by Natahlia — December 3, 2009 @ 10:04 pm
If possible, can you get Thorn: Tales From The Lantern republished in 2012 as a 30th Anniversary Edition?
Comment by Sandy — October 31, 2011 @ 10:40 pm
22.If possible, can you get Thorn: Tales From The Lantern republished in 2012 as a 30th Anniversary Edition?
Comment by Sandy — October 31, 2011 @ 10:41 pm