Bound To Stay Bound

Booklist - 03/01/2009 The colorization effort of Smith’s epic comic Bone reaches its culmination with this final volume in the nine-book series. There really aren’t any superlatives left to lay at Smith’s feet for his timeless achievement, but now that the entire work is available in gorgeously rendered color, it is an even more attractive offering. The story concludes Fone Bone’s saga in the Valley with a full-scale battle and a touching farewell to his friends Thorn and Gran’ma Ben. There may be a few purists who will liken this to Ted Turner colorizing classic films or George Lucas’ digital fiddling with the Star Wars franchise, but they’ll be a tiny minority. Even though the black-and-white artwork of the originals was spectacular in its own right, the color versions offer so much more to look at in every panel, bringing many of the details that might have gone unnoticed to the forefront without losing any of the subtlety of Smith’s impeccable line work and juxtapositions of humor and drama. A masterful rendering now fully ready for a whole new generation of readers. - Copyright 2009 Booklist.