COMIC DETAILS
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Comic Description:
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Bone 52 Signature
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Grade:
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9.6
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Page Quality:
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WHITE
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Certification #:
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2769460005
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Owner:
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DocGo
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SET DETAILS
Owner's Description
Label Notes
Jeff Smith story, cover, and art
Synopsis
Thorn, Fone Bone, and Bartleby race to Tanen Gard to find the Crown of Horns while Gran’ma Ben, Phoney, and Smiley stay back to help defend Atheia.
The Slab
Second highest grade for Signature Series! Like my #50, this is a raw comic I bought from paperheart that only needs a true professional pressing in a few spots. CGC still only allows their own pressers to press SS books and keep their yellow label. I’m praying they eventually go back to their old policy of letting certain pressers retain the Signature Series designation. The book was signed by Jeff at the 2023 Heroes Con. Big thanks to Rich Henn for facilitating! Graded by CGC on September 21, 2023.
Inside The Comic
Thirty-two pages of story, zero page of letters, and zero pages of ads. The inside front cover has a drawing of dragons battling Queen Mim from page 4 with the black & white “coloring” reversed. The brief prologue is on the top left and the credits are as follows: Written and Drawn by Jeff Smith, Cover Color by Steve Hamaker. For Cartoon Books: Vijaya Iyer as Publisher and Kathleen Glosan as Production Manager. The issue number appears on the back cover along with the date and cover price. It also features a panel from page 5 illustrating Queen Mim turning to stone.
No Bone-a-Fides and just One Ad
As I alluded to in the previous issue, the Bone-a-Fides do not appear. Yes, I know Jeff assured us that this wouldn’t happen but it looks like he had to use every page possible for the story. Thirty-two pages of narrative ties #49 for the most in the series so far so I think everyone will forgive him. The inside back cover has a color ad for the final three issues which shows each of their finished covers (without the Bone title).
Estimated Copies Sold thru Diamond: 14037
Back Cover Collectible
Bone: The Complete Cartoon Epic in One Volume, 29th Printing
You heard correctly: 29th printing! It is a monumental achievement for not only Jeff & Vijaya but also Kathleen Glosan, Steve Hamaker, Tom Gaadt, and the rest of the Cartoon Books crew over the last two decades. To top it off, this is probably my favorite cover to ever grace the One Volume Edition. It combines the memorable splash page from Bone #7 with the background of a concept painting from Nickelodeon’s cancelled Bone movie in the late ‘90s (painted by Neil Ross). Excellently designed and colored by Mr. Gaadt!
For the 2023 San Diego Comic-Con, Boneville.com ran a sale on Bone merch, which had become something of an annual tradition. On the final day, they had “Special Con Pricing” which would include a “FREE autograph and personalization!” I put in an order for the book above with a special request: after just finishing my collection of Bone Holiday cards (which I hope you’ve seen among my other Back Cover Collectibles), I wanted the entire Cartoon Books staff to autograph it like the cards of old. As you can see above, they certainly came through!
I had been in contact with Tom since the Tuki Kickstarter and told him there was no rush. It was shipped to me about two & a half weeks later and I couldn't have been more pleased. Autographs from Jeff, Vijaya, Kathleen (production manager), Tom (administrator/designer/colorist), and Steve (former designer/colorist) with a Fone Bone & Ted sketch by Jeff (coloring by Tom) and a rat creature sketch by Steve. Big thanks to Tom for facilitating this and the rest of the Cartoon Books crew for decades of entertainment!
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