1. Cynthia M. Morgan
LIS670 Mini Session
Graphic Novels, Comics, Manga, & Anime
Dr. Stacy Creel

2. Bone: Out from Boneville
By Jeff Smith

3. Jeff Smith
Image © Jeff Smith 2013
• Author and illustrator of the Bone
Series. Born February 27, 1960.
• Smith self-published Bone in July 1991 when he started
Cartoon Books in Columbus, Ohio.
• The Bone series became well-known over the Internet before
being considered for publication.
• Was self-published for over twelve years (McDonald, 2004).

4. Illustration drawn by Jeff Smith © 2004
• Smith’s inspiration was drawn from comic books, comic strips, and
animation movies (Cartoon Books, 2013).
• The Bone series were first published in black and white in comic
book form (Kan, 2005, p. 12).
• In 2005, Bone: Out from Boneville was re-issued in color
(McDonald, 2004).

5. •Received numerous awards.
•Not originally written for children (Kan, 2005, p. 12).
•Word of mouth mostly used to get the Bone series off the
ground.
Image © Jeff Smith obtained from http://www.karrey.com/365-bone/.

6. Summary
The first book in-a-series story is about three
Bone cousins (Fone Bone, Phoney Bone, and
Smiley Bone). The Bone cousins are run out of
Boneville because of Phoney’s latest scheme. Lost
in the desert, they become separated and
encounter both humans and creatures that are
good and bad. Strange creatures, unique weather,
protective dragon, and strange friends along with
lots of humor make this story unique and exciting
to read.

7. References
Blasingame, J. (2006). Bone: out from Boneville; the great cow race. Journal of
Adolescent & Adult Literacy, 49(5), 442-446.
Kan, K. (2005). Bone and Scholastic Graphix, an interview with Jeff Smith and Jean
Feiwel (with John Mason). Young Adult Library Services, 3(4), 12-13.
McDonald, H. (2004). Jeff Smith on ‘Bone’. Publishers Weekly, 251(42), 34.
Murphy, D. (2007). Bone: out from Boneville. Reading Time, 51(2), 31-33.
Rindevall, K. (2010). Karey’s blog. Image of cartoon characters retrieved from
http://www.karrey.com/365-bone/.

8. Questions
1. What did you as students think of the Bone:
Out from Boneville?
2. What drew you to or against Bone: Out from
Boneville?
3. How might you as librarians embrace Bone:
Out from Boneville in your collections?
4. Do you think Bone: Out from Boneville might
be considered controversial?
5. Did you think Bone: Out from Boneville was
a little wordy and too busy?