Ghost Circles: A Graphic Novel (Bone #7): Volume 7

I haven't enjoyed comics so much in over 60 years. The whole Bone series is a great fun read. Actually, I didn't, but someone thinking of starting this series might find that reading the prequel first, Rose, can add to your understanding of the Bone Series 1-9. Rose was drawn by Vess instead of Smith, but Vess is top notch as well. I thought I was through with "comics" 50 years ago, then Smith drops "Bone" on me and my second childhood has commenced. Highly recomended.

My grandaughter LOVES the Bone series. I have purchased all volumes for her. She is not a fan of reading, but she reads these.

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.

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.)

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.