SDCC is upon the world, and the mother of all geek-fests is off to a big start. Comicbook movie and TV show news bombard fans from all directions. Major franchises are getting ridiculous amounts of attention, as per usual. It’s shaping up to be a big year. So it comes as little surprise that news like this hasn’t been the talk of the town. Still, that doesn’t make it any less exciting. Jeff Smith announced his return to the world of Bone with a new graphic novel, Smiley’s Dream Book. The way he chose to announce this? Apparently, a cardboard sign that he carried around the convention floor. Seems fittingly simplistic.
It’s likely that the book will star Smiley Bone, the dim-witted member of the trio of Bone cousins. This suggests that the book may take an overall light tone. While the original series was technically a family title, it did have the potential to skew a bit dark at times. Smiley was largely a character used for comedic value and levity. Of the many characters, one could argue that he developed the least out of them all. It’s possible that this book (and its planned sequel) will focus on the lightheartedness of the character. The teaser image certainly seems to support that idea. The art of the various other Bone books was often used to emphasize the adventure and epic fantasy quality of the series.
Originally published from 1991 to 2004, the series ran for 55 issues and is hailed as one of the greatest all-ages comics of all time. But this isn’t the first time Smith has returned to the Bone world. In fact, it’s been getting quite a bit of attention, of late. During last year’s 25th Anniversary of the series, Smith published Bone: Coda. It was also announced that a Bone feature film was underway, being produced by Warner Bros. Smiley Bone is very pleased.
The book will be published under Scholastic’s Graphix imprint. No specific date of release has been revealed, but the book is due out for Summer of 2018.
