Bone is an American comic book series, written and illustrated by Jeff Smith, originally serialized in 55 irregularly-released issues from 1991 to 2004. Smith's black-and-white drawings, inspired by animated cartoons and comic strips, are singularly characterized by a mixture of both light-hearted comedy and dark fantasy. Three cartoon characters become lost in a fairy-tale valley for a year, where they make friends and enemies and become caught up in the trials and tribulations of the valley. As a simple comic tale becomes a sprawling epic, readers watch Bone become "Tolkienesque."
