73 pages • 2 hours read
Jeff SmithBone
Fiction | Graphic Novel/Book | YA | Published in 1991A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Volume 1, Part 1Chapter Summaries & Analyses
Volume 1: “The Valley or Vernal Equinox”, Part 1: “Out from Boneville”
Chapter 1 Summary: “The Map”
Three cousins are traveling through a desert. They are visually simple: All three have white bodies with rounded edges, bulbous noses, and black dot eyes. They resemble cartoon bones.
Phoncible “Phoney” P. Bone has been run out of Boneville because “a couple of [his] shady business deals went sour” (18). Previously, he was the richest Bone in Boneville. He wears a shirt with a star on it. Phoney’s cousins are helping him skip town. Smiley, the middle cousin, has a broad grin and chain-smokes cigars. Fone is the youngest. They are lost and have run out of water. Smiley finds a map of a nearby mountain range, but it is crudely drawn and impossible to read. They are swarmed by locusts and separated.
A large creature in a cave watches Fone. In a later chapter, we will learn that this is the Great Red Dragon. Fone follows a trail of Smiley’s cigar butts. Unwittingly, he is followed by the Red Dragon.
While Fone is sleeping, two monsters approach him. This pair will reoccur and will be unofficially designated as “Stupid Rat Creatures.” They check to see if Fone is “the one […] [with] the star on its chest” (27). He has no star, so they resolve to eat him. The Red Dragon scares them away.
Fone reaches a wooded area. He meets an insect named Ted the Bug, who warns him of the perilous local winters. Ted the Bug offers to take Fone to “Thorn” to help find his cousins. Fone and Ted are separated by the rat creatures. The chapter ends with a snowstorm.
Chapter 2 Summary: “Thorn”
Fone spends the winter in the Valley. He runs into his neighbors Miz Possum and her three sons. Miz Possum gives Fone some blankets and a pie. Fone still hasn’t found his cousins. Ted has been absent all winter, and Miz Possum is unfamiliar with Thorn, leaving Fone no choice but to wait.
Fone babysits Miz Possum’s sons. He takes them to his house, which he’s just finished building. They play together. The kids run outside, where Fone loses track of them. The Stupid Rat Creatures capture them. Fone rescues them.
The creatures give chase. The children escape, but Fone is cornered. A running gag is established wherein this pair of rat creatures are referred to as “stupid, stupid rat creatures” (47). The Red Dragon protects Fone; the dragon and the rats disappear into the woods.
Miz Possum and her children come running. Fone tells them about the dragon, and they assume he’s making up stories to entertain them. Fone leaves and finds a woman bathing in the nearby hot springs. He is immediately smitten with her. She invites him to join her and introduces herself as Thorn. Fone is delighted and assumes his troubles are over, but Ted was overstating Thorn’s ability to help. Fone explains that he recently saw rat creatures, and Thorn says they should leave.
Chapter 3 Summary: “Phoney Bone”
Thorn wakes Fone for breakfast. They’re at her grandmother’s house. Thorn informs him that Grandma Ben is soon returning home from the neighboring town of Barrelhaven, where she races cows each spring.
Thorn and Fone discuss the Red Dragon. Thorn insists dragons don’t exist. Fone compares the dragon to the rat creatures. Everyone in the forest sees the rat creatures regularly, but in Boneville, no one believes in either dragons or rat creatures. When Thorn steps out of the frame, the Red Dragon appears to tease him.
Thorn finds Smiley’s map in Fone’s backpack. It looks like something she often encounters in her dreams.
Phoney wanders the forest. He meets the Red Dragon and asks if he knows Fone Bone. The Dragon doesn’t respond, but Ted appears and offers to take Phoney to Grandma Ben’s house.
Ted and Phoney meet Grandma Ben along the path, leading her cattle home. She is friendly, but when Phoney insults her cows, she says: “Ted dear, I think you’d better leave. I’m gonna tear this little fella apart from inside out” (76), still smiling sweetly. Thorn and Fone observe as Grandma and Phoney approach the house and describe what Grandma is doing off-panel, highlighting her physical strength.
Chapter 4 Summary: “Kingdok”
Fone and Phoney stay in Grandma Ben’s barn in exchange for labor. Phoney finds the barn drafty and the work unpleasant. Grandma experiences a “gitchy” feeling, which she takes as a bad omen regarding their trip to Barrelhaven the next day.
Fone and Phoney discuss the annual Barrelhaven footrace. Phoney’s interest is piqued because of how much money is typically bet on Grandma Ben. Phoney secretly leaves for Barrelhaven a day early.
The Stupid Rat Creatures are sleeping in the forest when they are roused by their leader, Kingdok. Kingdok is larger and more imposing than they are. He carries a studded club. He berates them for failing to capture Phoney.
Thorn, Grandma, and Fone search for Phoney. Grandma Ben takes his absence as an omen and invites Fone to sleep inside.
The Stupid Rat Creatures meet with the Hooded One, a foreboding cloaked figure whose face is obscured. The Stupid Rat Creatures are reprimanded because Phoney was last seen in their territory, and he hasn’t been captured. The Stupid Rat Creatures report that they have only seen Fone, who is under the protection of the Red Dragon. In response, the Hooded One orders Kingdok to prepare two war parties to search for Phoney, destroy the farmhouse, and kill Fone that night.
Thorn dreams about rat creatures storming the Valley. Among the villagers fleeing the scene is Thorn as a child.
Chapter 5 Summary: “Barrelhaven”
Thorn wakes up, and Fone tells her that rat creatures are attacking the farmhouse. Grandma tells Thorn and Fone to run and assures them that she’ll be fine alone: “I fought th’ rats back in th’ BIG war!” (109). Fone and Thorn run through the forest, where they’re cornered by rats on all sides.
Phoney enters the Barrel Haven Pub. He demands a beer and is served by Smiley. Phoney buys Smiley a drink. Smiley asks for another round, and Phoney agrees. He tells Smiley he has a money-making scheme in mind for the cow races.
The pub’s owner—an imposing man named Lucius Down—yells at Phoney to pay “two eggs” for his tab. Phoney hands him two bills, which Lucius tears up. He orders Phoney to work off his tab in the kitchen, and they brawl. Smiley informs his cousin that Barrelhaven operates on a barter system and Lucius wants real eggs.
Ted and the Red Dragon come to Fone and Thorn’s rescue.
Chapter 6 Summary: “Phoney’s Inferno”
The Red Dragon takes Thorn and Fone back to rescue Grandma Ben. Her house is on fire when they arrive, but she drove the rats away without being harmed. Grandma and the dragon regard each other tersely; they obviously know each other.
Grandma, Thorn, and Fone leave for Barrelhaven because they’ll be safer in town. It’s also the most likely place to locate Fone’s cousins. While they travel, Fone explains how Phoney was ejected from Boneville. Phoney held a town-wide picnic to announce his mayoral candidacy, but due to his cheapness and arrogance, a giant, poorly secured, Phoney-shaped campaign balloon got loose, destroyed a town monument, and floated away.
In the dish room, Smiley and Phoney discuss Phoney’s plan to throw the cow race. He instructs Smiley to spread rumors that Grandma Ben is too old to race. Smiley will enter the race as a “mystery cow” and intentionally lose. Phoney will bet on Grandma and expects to receive a huge payout.
Smiley leaves to tend bar. When Phoney is alone, he is confronted by the Hooded One, bent on stealing his soul. Smiley returns, and the Hooded One disappears.
At Barrelhaven, Grandma is greeted by Lucius Down and a young man named Jonathan Oaks. Fone is reunited with his cousins. The Hooded One monitors them from afar.
Volume 1, Part 1 Analysis
Although Bone’s premise is a fairly boiler-plate fantasy story, Smith’s use of humor and absurdity helps to differentiate it from other entries in the genre. The style of humor in particular is unique for a high fantasy; according to Smith, it has its roots in Monty Python, Popeye, and Carl Barks’s Disney comics, to name a few (Polo, Susanna. “Bone is still a miracle and a mystery to creator Jeff Smith.” Polygon, 29 Nov. 2021). In “Out from Boneville,” the seriousness of the story is intentionally undercut with a consistently lighthearted tone. Obstacles that might otherwise come off as harrowing—extreme weather, dehydration, kidnapping, exile, and flesh-eating monsters—are presented with little gravity. This approach helps to establish Bone’s identity, and it also sets a precedent for the coming installments. As the story progresses, the reader is confronted with an increasingly serious tone; later moments that are lent serious portent will stand out as more impactful because the trials of Part 1 are largely framed as low stakes.
Smith makes frequent use of slapstick and cartoon physics. The snowstorm that punctuates Chapter 1 is represented by a pile of snow landing on the Valley in a perfectly flat disc, emphasized by an onomatopoetic “WHUMP!” The rat creature chase sequence in Chapter 2, “Thorn,” is exaggerated for comedic effect and involves stunts that would realistically cause death or serious injury. This style stands in stark contrast to later altercations with the rat creatures, such as those in the chapters “Eyes of the Storm” and “Earth & Sky,” which are presented with few jokes, if any.
Character-driven humor is a staple of Smith’s work in Bone. These jokes are an effective way to introduce characters; they establish their core traits and interpersonal dynamics quickly and effectively. Grandma’s introduction is a good example. Grandma Ben is alluded to prior to her first scene, although only in vague terms. We have no expectations for her outside of her being Thorn’s grandmother, and her initial appearance is that of a sweet old lady. This initial impression is presented in contrast with her superhuman strength and fierce temper, emphasized by the pleasant smile that remains on her face, even as she threatens to tear Phoney “inside out.” This sequence defines Grandma Ben straight away: She appears to be an unassuming old woman, but she is assertive, proud, and physically powerful. These traits are central to her character. This sequence is not merely humorous; it is a succinct introduction.
