Jeff Smith & Life After BONE

By Jim Beard

WARNING: Lightning May Strike Twice

One of the most acclaimed comic book stories of recent times, BONE, is finished. Begun in 1991 and brought to a conclusion in 2003, writer/artist Jeff Smith has much to be proud of (and a few awards to show for it). His dragons have flown, his princesses walked away, and his stupid, stupid rat creatures all fallen down. But is he taking it easy now? Resting on his laurels? Spilled his creative seed unto the soil and turned his back on the industry that for twelve years he practically held in the palm of his hand?

Hell, no. The guy’s almost as busy as ever.

We caught up to the Ohio native and begged him to answer a few questions about BONE, life after BONE, and a certain young urchin with a secret magic word...

Jim Beard: In your opinion, how have has the comics industry changed since you first started BONE?

Jeff Smith: I was part of a small wave of artists who started pushing the graphic novel envelope in the early nineties. When I started, a lot of people in the US comics business didn’t want graphic novels in comics shops at all. Too much of the market was built around the quick turnover of monthly products. Collectors will pay extra for back issues missing from their collections. Keeping a comic in a format that was meant to be continuously restocked went against the grain of a lot of the industry old guard. The BONE graphic novels were the first to keep the entire run of a comic in print and be commercially successful. The business of comics has changed in recent years, and not only does every comic book store carry graphic novels, nearly all mainstream bookstores and libraries do as well.

JB: How have you changed, if at all, as an artist/writer since you first started BONE?

JS: I’m always experimenting, trying to improve my line, or create more depth. I have to change. Drawing is what I do, and standing still would kill me. That being said, since BONE is a single story that is meant to be read as a novel, I had to work very hard to make sure the main characters didn’t change over the course of the twelve years it took to make it!

JB: BONE took up a helluva lot of time in your life, more than most creators would’ve spent on one project. How did you feel when you completely finished the whole thing?

JS: Twelve years is a long time to spend on a single story, but it’s not unheard of. Spiegleman took that long to write and draw MAUS. And Schultz spent fifty years single handedly creating PEANUTS. At least with BONE I had an end in sight.
JB: And did you accomplish everything you wanted to with it?
JS: The BONE: One Volume Edition was everything I hoped it would be. I wanted to present the completed BONE comic as a single story, because I believed that it would read better that way. I believe that comics as an art form can hold up to a long form story. And in 1300 pages, you can cover a lot of territory. I was able to touch on love, fear, companionship, loyalty - - anything I could think of really. And the reaction was quite overwhelming as well. Just recently, Time Magazine, citing the One Volume Edition, named BONE one of the 10 greatest graphic novels of all time.

JB: This may be a tough one to answer but what would you most want BONE remembered for?

JS: Oh, I don’t know. I certainly didn’t invent graphic novels, and there are better cartoonists, but I think BONE is readable, even to people outside of the insular world of comic shops. The fact that BONE is being read by mothers and daughters, librarians, school teachers, college students and soldiers, makes me hopeful that the lowly comic book is finally being recognized for the astonishing art form that it truly is.

JB: And in all seriousness, it deserves to be. So, what's next for the property?

JS: Since Scholastic started publishing BONE, the story has a whole new lease on life. Not only am I now spending lots of time promoting BONE, and graphic novels in general, I’m re-editing and coloring the series. This fall, we plan a simultaneous launch of the new color version across Europe. If all goes well, I will visit Italy next fall and help launch the color books, spending the next month touring around different countries. There is also a very innovative and family friendly online video game series being based on the BONE books. Telltale Games, inc. out of California has done a remarkable job of translating the stories into a three dimensional game. The first of the series, Out From Boneville, was released last fall.

JB: What's next for you, as a writer/artist, either in the comic field or otherwise?

JS: I’m currently working on a four issue mini-series for DC Comics called SHAZAM: Monster Society of Evil. Shazam is the magic word that transforms little Billy Batson into superhero Captain Marvel, one of the most popular characters from the Golden Age of comic books, and one of my personal favorites.

JB: Yes!!! When are we gonna finally see that Shazam story????

JS: SHAZAM: Monster Society of Evil is coming along. The first issue is in the can and the second one is well under way. I know people think Shazam is taking a long time, because we announced it so long ago, but it’s only been 18 months since I finished BONE. It takes a couple of years to make one of these big mini-series. But I’m enjoying the freedom of working on a well established character, and it will be out soon enough. I’m also starting to keep a notebook on my next independent project. It’s too soon to say much more about it now, but it will different from both BONE and SHAZAM.

Many, many thanks to Jeff for taking the time to chat with me and for giving us a bit of hope for that long-awaited Shazam miniseries.

Visit BONE online at Boneville.com

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