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Bone
Bone, Vol. 6: Old Man's Cave
Jeff Smith's New York Times and USA Today bestselling, award-winning BONE books are one of the most popular graphic novel series of all time!The Bone cousins are in the thick of it as the showdown between the Hooded One and the people of the Valley begins. Thorn and Phoney Bone seem to be at the center of the maelstrom. Will they survive the Hooded One’s sacrificial ceremony by the light of the moon?
118 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1997
196 people are currently reading
4267 people want to read
About the author
Jeff Smith
631 books1,434 followersLibrarian Note: There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name. See other authors with similar names.
Born and raised in the American mid-west, Jeff Smith learned about cartooning from comic strips, comic books, and watching animation on TV. In 1991, he launched a company called Cartoon Books to publish his comic book BONE, a comedy/adventure about three lost cousins from Boneville. Against all odds, the small company flourished, building a reputation for quality stories and artwork. Word of mouth, critical acclaim, and a string of major awards helped propel Cartoon Books and BONE to the forefront of the comic book industry.
In 1992, Jeff’s wife Vijaya Iyer joined the company as partner to handle publishing and distribution, licensing, and foreign language publications. In the Spring of 2005, Harry Potter’s U.S. publisher Scholastic Inc. entered the graphic novel market by launching a new imprint, Graphix with a full color version of BONE: Out from Boneville, bringing the underground comic to a new audience and a new generation.
In 2007, DC Comics released Smith’s first non-creator owned work, SHAZAM! Monster Society of Evil, a four-part mini-series recreating a classic serial from comic’s Golden Age. Between projects, Smith spends much of his time on the international guest circuit promoting comics and the art of graphic novels.
Born and raised in the American mid-west, Jeff Smith learned about cartooning from comic strips, comic books, and watching animation on TV. In 1991, he launched a company called Cartoon Books to publish his comic book BONE, a comedy/adventure about three lost cousins from Boneville. Against all odds, the small company flourished, building a reputation for quality stories and artwork. Word of mouth, critical acclaim, and a string of major awards helped propel Cartoon Books and BONE to the forefront of the comic book industry.
In 1992, Jeff’s wife Vijaya Iyer joined the company as partner to handle publishing and distribution, licensing, and foreign language publications. In the Spring of 2005, Harry Potter’s U.S. publisher Scholastic Inc. entered the graphic novel market by launching a new imprint, Graphix with a full color version of BONE: Out from Boneville, bringing the underground comic to a new audience and a new generation.
In 2007, DC Comics released Smith’s first non-creator owned work, SHAZAM! Monster Society of Evil, a four-part mini-series recreating a classic serial from comic’s Golden Age. Between projects, Smith spends much of his time on the international guest circuit promoting comics and the art of graphic novels.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 531 reviews
March 24, 2015
THAT ENDING! Holy cliffhanger!
June 28, 2022
En este volumen se resuelven muchas intrigas, sigue habiendo momentos dramáticos que aun así tienen su toque de humor y los personajes maduran.
August 3, 2021
Things are looking really bad now for the townspeople of Barrelhaven. The rat creatures have invaded the valley and destroyed the town with everyone holed up in Old Man's Cave as a last redoubt. The Lord of the Locusts is also revealed and it's awesome.
I really like how Smith widens the scope of the book with each arc, ratcheting up the danger and drama. Even though Smith has an animated cartoon style, he's fantastic at delivering tension in his art.
I really like how Smith widens the scope of the book with each arc, ratcheting up the danger and drama. Even though Smith has an animated cartoon style, he's fantastic at delivering tension in his art.
March 5, 2018
Asıl hikaye bu ciltte ortaya çıktı. 😍
Keşke animasyonu yapılsa süper olur
Keşke animasyonu yapılsa süper olur
September 4, 2015
Zrtvovanja, mitovi, gluposti i veliki baloni... sta da se ne voli :)
March 7, 2018
The epic story of the Valley is gradating and (almost) finishing here. I exactly didn't like that the story actually did not ended here, just some sort of "erupted", calmed and somehow continue. I just missed the grand finale, but I got cliffhanger and more question. I did not enjoyed this book as much as previous ones...
June 7, 2019
This gripping fantasy continues to develop and refine the magical conflict.
“The dreaming is a great river of power that flows around us in all directions...
“When we dream, we peer through a foggy glass into the river and see a world connected to all other living things.
“That dreaming world exists even when we are awake.”
“The dreaming is a great river of power that flows around us in all directions...
“When we dream, we peer through a foggy glass into the river and see a world connected to all other living things.
“That dreaming world exists even when we are awake.”
February 6, 2008
This series just makes me extremely happy; I love the mix of high fantasy and humor, and Jeff Smith's artwork is just excellent as always.
December 26, 2023
That cliffhanger 😨😨
January 9, 2026
I’ll be reviewing the set soon
May 26, 2019
Not the best in the story line so far. I really don't care about the stupidity of the gullible villagers or long discourses on the metaphysics of the world (especially since both topics have been covered in detail the entire series to this point). I really just want more adventures of Fone Bone and Thorn and maybe Smiley. Even the two outcast Rat Creatures are more interesting characters. Heck bring back the Possum kids the other orphan gang.
Next
Next
September 27, 2018
War. War never changes.
May 8, 2022
☆ 4.5/5
January 13, 2019
So, Bone continues to get stranger, and stranger.
Gran'ma Ben has been found once more, setting up a stronghold with Lucius in Old Man's Cave. Here, the people of the Valley are preparing for what appears to be a last stand against the rat creatures. Phoney Bone learns just why everyone and their mother seems to be after him. Thorn reveals why she is avoiding, rather than joining everyone else. And the dragons? Nowhere to be seen, not really...
Who is the Lord of Locusts? We learn this for certain in the volume. Or so it seems. And who the Hooded One is as well. Roque Ja returns, as does Kingdok in some fashion. And away we go...
The ending is a cliff-hanger that has left me clamoring for more. The pacing of this volume is fast, rapid-fire hits of information and action with barely enough breathing room between the flips of the page. I stayed up far too late reading, at the edge of my sleep, only setting the volume down when I was dizzy with exhaustion. Soon as I awoke? Had to see how it ended. It's just that sort of book.
Glad I'm reading it, as I know what a few people might need to get for Christmas this year.
Gran'ma Ben has been found once more, setting up a stronghold with Lucius in Old Man's Cave. Here, the people of the Valley are preparing for what appears to be a last stand against the rat creatures. Phoney Bone learns just why everyone and their mother seems to be after him. Thorn reveals why she is avoiding, rather than joining everyone else. And the dragons? Nowhere to be seen, not really...
Who is the Lord of Locusts? We learn this for certain in the volume. Or so it seems. And who the Hooded One is as well. Roque Ja returns, as does Kingdok in some fashion. And away we go...
The ending is a cliff-hanger that has left me clamoring for more. The pacing of this volume is fast, rapid-fire hits of information and action with barely enough breathing room between the flips of the page. I stayed up far too late reading, at the edge of my sleep, only setting the volume down when I was dizzy with exhaustion. Soon as I awoke? Had to see how it ended. It's just that sort of book.
Glad I'm reading it, as I know what a few people might need to get for Christmas this year.
May 13, 2022
Daniel: The hooded one is finally revealed and meets Thorn and gran’ma Ben and the Bones.
October 11, 2025
"Of what use is a dead body at a sacrifice?"
April 2, 2021
It's all serious business now.
July 27, 2022
I know it’s a stretch, but Bone reminds me of Lord of The Rings. I watched a video discussing this and though his points were stretched and didn’t have great evidence (only used books 1 & 2) I can start to piece together the parallels. Book 1-3 are the fellowship, in which, an uncanny hero in chosen to take on an adventure with a princess and queen of an old kingdom (which nobody knows they are apart of the royal family) to defeat an old evil ruler. Man sounds familiar.
Now in books 4-6 we have the splitting of the group both tackling their own problems. The towns people are fighting the rat creatures and Fone Bone and Smiley Bone dealing with being lost in the woods fending from Rock Jaw and the Lord of the Locusts. Man also sounds familiar. However, excited for the final three books.
Now in books 4-6 we have the splitting of the group both tackling their own problems. The towns people are fighting the rat creatures and Fone Bone and Smiley Bone dealing with being lost in the woods fending from Rock Jaw and the Lord of the Locusts. Man also sounds familiar. However, excited for the final three books.
September 5, 2015
Originally reviewed here.
Why I Read It: Next in a series.
In this volume, we finally, FINALLY, figure out why the Hooded One wants to find Phoney Bone. I rejoiced because question has been bugging me for the ENTIRE series thus far. Seriously, what could he want with that stupid guy? But the answer I was given kind of... confused me. At first I thought: "Wait, wut?" Then I thought it was all kind of funny. Then it felt sort of anti-climatic, but still mostly funny. Then I got over it and thought it was just funny.
But I'm getting a little ahead of myself here. Overall, this volume kept up with the darker tone picked up in the third volume and we get a closer look at the war that's been going on between the Valley people and the Rat Creatures. Thorn is still mad at Gran'ma Ben and thinks she can't be trusted because she lied about something kind of important. Her distrust of Gran'ma Ben frustrated me, even though I felt like she had good reason to be wary. But I love Gran'ma Ben! She's awesome!
Oh, and the inclusion of the "stick-eaters", who are basically a group of warriors/monks/priests people? Super mysterious and BADASS. I hope they play a bigger role later on.
Final Verdict: This series still impresses me with its ever-widening scope of a story and I like that it's maintained a darker tone while still being kid-friendly. There were some awesome revelations in this volume (actually, it feels like there have been awesome revelations in pretty much EVERY volume since the third one). The ending perplexed me a bit, but I still liked it; it was just an odd mix of funny during a very serious moment.
November 20, 2013
Lots of twist and turns in Bone Volume 6. One twisty revelation made me laugh out loud and one was gruesome. I enjoyed the drawings in the first dozen pages of this addition. There were several close-ups of human faces, which I don't remember seeing before in this series. The artist said so much in the worried expressions and tired, care-worn faces. I also liked the two page spread that was part landscape and part action with the dialogue happening across the bottom of the page as the rat creatures swarmed across the landscape. A couple of things I don't understand: how does Thorn all of a sudden know the Lord of the Locust's motivation and plans so thoroughly? And I wonder what Smith is saying, overall, with this series: the war, the dreaming, the ancient beliefs, the foreign Bones. I am looking forward to understanding Fone Bone's role in the dreaming, but on a friend's tip, I'll be reading "Rose" next.
April 2, 2016
This is a big improvement on volume 5. The story gets back on track and the most interesting characters return to the story. I would say it's not as good as the first four volumes though. The story has shifted into epic mode, so a lot of the small character driven moments that made the earlier volumes endearing are missing here.
October 11, 2016
awesome
April 20, 2022
Bone gets a little darker, still just as good.
November 5, 2019
The cast aren't in their happy place as the book starts. Thorn is worried she can't trust Grandma Ben. The village has been attacked and rat creatures are swarming everywhere. The villagers hate Phoney Bone, but the rat creatures want to kidnap him for some sinister sacrifice. Thorn's dreams are haunted.
But at the same time we have the usual goofy interactions between the cast that keep this from being just an epic fantasy graphic novel. And we have the big reveal of why Phoney is marked by destiny and damn, that was brilliant.
But at the same time we have the usual goofy interactions between the cast that keep this from being just an epic fantasy graphic novel. And we have the big reveal of why Phoney is marked by destiny and damn, that was brilliant.
March 17, 2021
Pretty high action in this volume!
The war is on! And our heroes are kind of strewn about the valley. I like that the characters keep getting split up and then meeting again always under dire circumstances. The cutesy-ness of the last volume lasted about as long as I expected and now I'm looking forward to more changes to the status quo.
The villains plan was stopped right at the last second and do to pretty funny means. However, getting rid of our first antagonist (who was pretty bad) means that we're going to finally meet the big bad soon!
The war is on! And our heroes are kind of strewn about the valley. I like that the characters keep getting split up and then meeting again always under dire circumstances. The cutesy-ness of the last volume lasted about as long as I expected and now I'm looking forward to more changes to the status quo.
The villains plan was stopped right at the last second and do to pretty funny means. However, getting rid of our first antagonist (who was pretty bad) means that we're going to finally meet the big bad soon!
December 7, 2022
I was going to leave a review after I finished the whole series but I don't have the last 3 books yet so I'm just gonna do it now lol
This series has such a good plot with fantastic characters and funny dialogue. It seriously made me laugh out loud at times. So much fun. I remember reading this series when I was a kid and I loved it then so I knew I would love it now! I can't wait to see how it ends.
This series has such a good plot with fantastic characters and funny dialogue. It seriously made me laugh out loud at times. So much fun. I remember reading this series when I was a kid and I loved it then so I knew I would love it now! I can't wait to see how it ends.
February 19, 2025
7/10. Still enjoying. Still expecting more.
February 2, 2018
Una maravilla. Todo empieza a desencadenarse. Las subtramas y los personajes destapan, ya sin pudor, su razón de ser, al servicio de un arco principal cuyo desenlace se empieza a anunciar desde el final de este volumen. La cosmogonía ya está explicada y los personajes en su sitio. Agárrense a sus asientos, que esto se precipita desde ya.
February 4, 2026
Bone is always going to stay with me forever what a beautiful series really captures everything that made me fall in love with this medium. Also this is the best black and white work i have ever read the whole series just has great art. I love the twists and the little fun moments with greater and darker tones our little adventurers get into really excellent stuff.
April 10, 2023
Oh man, the reveal! The cliffhanger at the end! While the series had teetered towards High-fantasy serious stuff for a while, this feels like the book where it really took the plunge. Great stuff all around.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 531 reviews