BSR: Everything I learned about comics, I learned from Jeff Smith

Author: Robbie Puzzitiello

Jeff Smith, the creator of RASL and the award winning comic book bone, took time out of his schedule for an interview last month. Consumers and readers rarely get the opportunity to hear from their idols and entertainers in such proximity, which leads to an enlightening interview for newcomers and decade old fans alike.

Bone was released in the early 90s, and twenty years later is still relevant as one of the biggest indie comic book successes of all time. Speaking from experience, this would be some people's first adventure into the entertaining world of comic books, and it's an appropriate entry point. The bone comics straddle the line between a Sunday paper strip and an epic tale such as Lord of the Rings. The action is usually portrayed in simple panels, the humor is slapstick and ironic, and the protagonists are cartoony and loveable.

Bone was a humble reading experience for me personally because I grew up reading comic strips such as Calvin and Hobbes. The three bone cousins are commonly referred to as "Marx Brothers types" by Jeff, which instantly makes them enjoyable for anyone who's interested in a good laugh. However, the story goes deeper with the action of an overall epic that spans nine volumes. Like any story, it takes influence from all over, but perfectly blends it into a tale that can easily be enjoyed by any audience. In fact, the Bone cousins were created as comic characters that would appeal to adults, but ended up adopting a "kids book" title. Ironically, cartoons in general such as the Loony Tunes were created for adults, so it's not a very baffling idea that Bone would follow in the footsteps of its predecessors.

What makes Bone, and indie comics all-around, so enjoyable is their closed universe. Generally, these stories are contained in only one set of volumes. Major comic book companies like Marvel and DC try very hard to tie their universes together, which becomes confusing and jumbled very quickly. This is where Jeff changed my perception on comic books for the second time in my life. Bone was the gateway into comics, but people probably rarely consider how independent comic book making works. Jeff Smith and his crew at Cartoon Books write, illustrate, and publish his stories completely apart from the major companies. Jeff has only crossed the lines once with his four issue run on Shazam. It seems that writers for the big leagues stay with the well defined characters such as Spiderman or Batman, whereas authors like Robert Kirkman do their own thing in the comic book world, and still break ground quite regularly. Without a doubt, indie comic books are a well respected medium, it's just not every day that one really realizes that Spawn and The Farside are the same method of entertainment. Comic books are very versatile, they know many shapes and sizes, whether they're in a book, a newspaper, or adapted to the big screen.

What is possibly the most exciting thing to consider is how easy a comic book is to make. Granted, that's not underestimating the time, creativity, and true genius that goes into these works, but comic books have never restricted anybody. In fact, publications like Mad Magazine have taught children "what the grown-ups are really up to" (Jeff Smith) where Ben Parker taught readers "with great power comes great responsibility". Comics don't require anything flashy, just a pen, paper, and some imagination, which could very well make them the first method of creativity many people ever experienced. Truly, this medium is only at the mercy of what a person is capable of imagining.

DMU Timestamp: April 17, 2012 20:04