If I were to ask someone to count the number of hourglass, big-breasted women in comics today, they might finish counting by sometime at the start of next year. The same is true for swearing sociopaths, gratuitous violence mongers, pointless sex and graphic death scenes. Luckily, there are still comics today that remember their simpler, childish roots.

Bone (Cartoon Books)

I am surprised something so complex could come from a man with a simple name. Jeff Smith’s Bone epic began back in the early ’90s. Featuring Fone Bone, a cartoon-like character, the series follows his comical adventures in the world. But, this is the surface of the series. Bone is also an epic fantasy and while there are cartoon elements, the pleasure of reading the book is to see the dragons, rat creatures and mysterious hooded warriors juxtaposed alongside cow races and minting schemes. The Bones, Fone Bone’s friends Phoney and Smiley, as well as Fone’s crush Thorn and her grandmother Rose are the main set of characters as the book begins. It is hard for me to pinpoint the exact reason why this series is fantastic, but I think that is what makes the series great – the fact that there is so much going on and it doesn’t get in its own way. The series is collected in nine color volumes and one “phonebook” tome that is black-and-white and

a monstrous 1,300 pages long. Though it can be used as

a murder weapon, I recommend the one volume edition. If I were to pick one series to recommend to someone that wanted to start reading comics, or heck, already reads them and wants something else, I would have to say Bone.

Billy Hooten: Owlboy (Yearling)

A young adult book, Thomas Sniegoski’s (The Menagerie) Owlboy series begins with this novel. Though regular text-based fiction, the book is about a super hero who reads comic books. He finds there is a secret world, Monstros City, beneath the next-door cemetery. All sorts of monsters populate Monstros City and here buildings are grown. Owlboy is a legacy, handed down to Billy Hooten so he can protect the city from malevolent monsters. Billy’s adventure did seem slow to me because the first half of the book was about Billy’s normal life. But I have only read the first book, and the second in the series,

The Girl with the Destructo Touch is in stores now.

Undertown (Tokyopop)

I try not to read Manga. Yes, I believe Japanese comics are saturating the American market but more importantly

I stay away because there is so much out there. I wouldn’t know where to begin.

I am glad though that I picked up Undertown by Jim Pascoe. The story is about Sama whose father is dying. He finds his way into Undertown, a world where his Teddy Bear comes to life and Furmen (animal people) fight against the evil Insurgents (insect creatures). These forces fight for sugar, the most important resource in this world while Sama searches for a way to cure his father and return home. Fused with Iraq War allegory (the Insurgents and broom RPGs), this book was well drawn (for Manga) and a brilliant read.