the adventure continues

Rating:

In this volume, the story gets more and more serious and scary. I really liked it. The characters are so likeable and the plot so fun and engaging you can't help but enjoy the Bone books, and this one rates very highly.

the pivotal volume

Rating:

BONE volume seven is one of the greatest stories of BONE. Even though the first five are less grim, this graphic novel is an addition to the BONE series that the other books could not do without.

I tried reading volume eight: Treasure Hunters before this, mainly because my hold on Ghost Circles arrived after volume eight. I couldn't wait for volume seven, so I dove right into Treasure Hunters. To make a long story short, it was awful. After my hold arrived, I decided to reread them in order. Sure enough, volume eight made much more sense after having read volume seven, and now both have been added to my favorites list, along with The Great Cow Race and The Dragonslayer.

Very Grim . . .

Rating:

I loved this book just as well as the others, and the grimness just made it better. It starts off with the death of a supporting character, and has the characters eking out an existence in a valley where they believe everyone is dead, leaving you hoping at the end that a glimmer of hope may appear. However, it does have some sweet moments, like Fone and Smiley's little talk by the fireside and Phoney and Fone turning into Ishmael and Captain Ahab. All in all, you'll love this and all the other BONE books, whether you love Mickey Mouse or The Lord of the Rings (BONE is quite Tolkienesque.)

Great series takes a turn into the grim

Rating:

With "Ghost Circles," the seventh of nine volumes, the "Bone" saga gets very, very serious. While still appropriate for all ages (there is nothing here you wouldn't let your eight-year-old read), this is hardly kiddy fare. It's dark, grim and rarely funny.

"Bone" is an epic story about three "bone creatures" and their adventures in a valley peopled with an assortment of crazy and interesting characters. Looming over it all is the menace of a great evil, revealed slowly over the course of nine volumes, intent on unleashing itself over the world. The series starts off lighthearted, but grows less so as the story unravels itself, as is evident with "Ghost Circles."

In "Ghost Circles," despair rules over all. It begins with the death of a supporting character, leads into suffering for all, and sees the main characters trudge through hopelessness before leaving the reader lingering with the hope that maybe, just maybe, a good end will come for the good guys.

Here, several story threads move ahead independent of each other, the characters separated by a great calamity in the valley. Throughout the volume, the threads appear to be drawing together - even as evil grows. When finishing this, you'll reach for the next volume right away.

Smith combines the kind of classic storytelling perfected by the likes of the legendary Carl Barks (Donald Duck, Uncle Scrooge) and Bill Watterson (Calvin & Hobbes) - pure cartooning with outrageous and expressive faces and gestures - with the epic and engaging plotting of a sweeping fairy tale. "Bone" manages to balance the two well enough to be something fans of both Donald Duck and Frodo Baggins can enjoy.

Jeff Smith's "Bone" series may be critically acclaimed, but it is also criminally overlooked. And that's too bad, because this deserves to be read.

And in the long run, it will be.

There is no doubt people will still be reading "Bone" 50 years from now. Broad and epic in scope yet personal and quaint, this is a charming story in every way that will surely outlast most other comic works on the shelf.

Pogo characters and a Disney heroine lost on another planet.

Rating:

Sure, sure, the art and the storytelling are great as usual (even spellbounding at times), but I'm still not comfortable with the fact those Bone creatures were superimposed over well-known characters from an ancient comic strip, so that's why I still hate the series so much I no longer buy the books anymore and instead check them out at a local library.

And the plot itself is nothing new, either; a pubescent young princess-disguised-as-a-human-mortal discovers her own magical powers to go on a perilous quest and save the world. It's been done a billion times before in countless Disney movies and many manga books for the girlie audience. So why the eternal fascination with budding females of the royal status? No wonder Di never got a moment's peace.