BONE: Edition and Color Comparison - Black+White HC vs Color PB (Cartoon Books vs Scholastic)

[@Headlounge2097]

I just finished my full color one volume edition. It was so great. It even brought tears to my eyes. Thanks for doing this, otherwise i wouldńt have found this amazin piece of storytelling.

[@ftloc]

Headlounge 2097 You just made my day! 😀 Glad you enjoyed it and thanks for letting me know!

[@johnm.withersiv4352]

I started reading Bone in the colored Scholastic editions. My mom was a middle school librarian and brought them home from a book sale. It was a fine way to begin the series. She brought one home from the Scholastic sales for the next several year so I wound up reading it all.

[@ftloc]

I've been told about how many tens of thousands of Sandman Volume 1 sell every year and how only a small fraction of those result in the sale of a Volume 2. I feel that Bone is the opposite; I have heard of very few, may one only one person, who have read the first volume and not continued with the series 😁.

[@peterlinfield]

Thanks for the comparison! Bone has been a massive gap in my reading for ages and this helped me decide to go after the original black and white. Looks great!

[@ftloc]

Oh yeah, we have all those gaps, which makes it a nice endless quest to get caught up! 🙂 Although I believe I prefer the black and white editions of Bone myself, I know lots of people who love the colouring. The colour trade paperback collections were quite reasonably priced not too long ago, but I’m assuming you’ll be going for the one volume edition?

[@clintgolub1751]

Bro fantastic breakdown! I didn’t realize how special the black-and-white editions are. You’re spot-on that the high contrast (almost negative) night scenes really do loose some spooky atmosphere with the more complex colorized version. The Tolkien-esque maps on the front page bring me back to 5th grade when I read the Hobbit

[@ftloc]

So glad you liked the video! And yes, maps a endpapers are lovely things aren't they? My wife, who is a big Tolkien fan, says a book automatically becomes 15% better for having a map at the start! 😁

[@clintgolub1751]

@@ftloc 😂 I absolutely agree with her!

[@Lazershow9876]

Your video helped me decide on the color all in one edition. Thanks

[@ftloc]

Glad I could help! I am sure you will love it!

[@greekvvedge]

Thank you got reminding me about these lovely old comics from my youth. And thanks for showing the differences between the editions ... I think from your review that you also prefer those CB editions over the Scholastic editions. There is something magical about the black and white contrast in those. It’s like you really lose something in the coloring that I can’t quite put my finger on.

[@ftloc]

I do prefer the black and white, but the colouring is not bad at all, much better than many I've seen. But yes, I feel the art to be more dynamic and moody and evocative in the original black and white. I'm glad you enjoyed the video and it helped take you down memory lane! 😁

[@Quest-lore]

I think the black and white versions let you use your imagination more to imagine what the colors and what the atmosphere is like in the comic

[@M.athematech]

Bone is possibly my favourite comic book saga. I had a colleague who always used to use the expression "looks like two tins of cat food" to describe something inferior. When he wanted to know if he should read Bone and what it was about I told him "its a fantasy adventure that makes Lord of the Rings look like two tins of cat food!"

[@sojourner650]

This video is one of the BEST i have seen when comparing any two products. I really appreciate the time and thoroughness you added. I am debating whether to get the All-in-One edition (B&W) or the single volumes (color). I think that original hardback you presented looks nice! I had not seen it before. Thank you for this. EDIT: In watching this a 2nd time, I am amazed at the way you transition from a black-and-white panel to a color panel. It is so seamlessly done! Very helpful.

[@ftloc]

Thank you so much; so lovely of you to say, and I am thrilled you enjoyed the video!

[@PR_1775]

I'm a bit older but I still love my comics. But I was a bit too old to get into Bone in its day and on a recommendation from Doug TenNapel I want to rectify that. I always wanted the full color one volume one because I do tend to like color. But I haven't seen it for less than $100 which is a lot to drop on a book even if it is expansive. But thanks SO much for this video as it has me reconsidering the B&W one volume version. This comparison really showed the pros and cons of each in a way that I never would have considered before. I'm still a little torn but the $60 price difference might be the deciding factor for me. Thanks for putting together a great video.

[@ftloc]

So glad this video was useful! I will, as I have done in many videos here, praise the all ages appeal of Bone, a truly entertaining and superbly crafted read for all readers. And in spite of the very attractive coloring, the black and white versions will always hold the slight edge for me, so you can't really go wrong with it, in my opinion.

[@grjk5044]

Thanks for the video, great job with an unbiased comparison. I've read it entirely from the Library in the past and was trying to decide which to buy now. I love his BW but the only available BW edition now is the All in one volume which is even smaller, so on the fence.

[@ftloc]

GrJk thank you, I’m glad you found this enjoyable. You’re right, the one volume edition is slightly smaller, but not by too much, luckily. Especially if you consider the colour paperbacks are a bit smaller than the original comics and hardbacks too. I was lucky enough to source all the singles (and the original black and white collections) off eBay for not too much more than what the colour volumes would cost, so perhaps you could try that if that’s an option for you? If you haven’t already, check out the other complete publication history of Bone video on my channel where I show the various singles and volumes.

[@NickSayre]

Just finished your Bone playlist. I enjoyed your thoughtful and thorough presentation and analysis! Thank you! Smith is a master at creating graphic (I mean high-contrast) compositions, so my preference is for the original black-and-white art.

[@ftloc]

Thank you so much, and I completely agree with you. Smith's work with shadows, blacks and shapes is remarkable and the colours, as pleasant and vibrant as they are, seem to obscure that a bit. Also, as I mention here, the dynamism of movement seems to be made more static in colour, something I first noticed in making this comparison. I'm so glad you enjoyed the videos. I think I should return to Bone soon - I just need to figure out the best video to do that in!

[@barrannugrahakodri8695]

I've only read the black and white version. From what little I have seen, the color version are also good. Both versions have their plus and minus points, but both are awesome in their own rights. Bone is just amazing

[@ftloc]

Absolutely! And while I still give the edge to the original black and white, I have to say the the recolouring of Bone is one of the few that I enjoy quite a bit! 😁

[@grjk5044]

The Colors are such a good match because they're done by the colorist who did the original covers and Jeff Smith was very involved in the process.

[@the1stMoyatia]

There was a Colored version that was within the pages of Disney Adventures Magazine back in '94, '97 and '98.

[@ftloc]

I recently found out about those issues of Disney Adventures! I hear they also edited out Phoney's cigar and a couple of other things!

[@the1stMoyatia]

@@ftloc I can definitely name a few. Imagine walking into a tavern, and all they had was Soda. You can easily compare that to the tavern in the Marvelous Misadventures of Flapjack.

[@timtavender1553]

Great insight. Made me consider a few new things about this series. Thanks!

[@ftloc]

So glad you enjoyed it; I'd love to know what you think of the series, either in colour or B&W!

[@ThePreciseClimber]

Decided to get the black & white all-in-one edition (English ver.). For that original black & white experience, plus for $30, it's a steal. Got through the whole comic in 5 days. Man, reading it from 1991 to 2004 must've been torture. Here in Poland, the series got published in 3 triple volumes, colour only. Well, at least they're hardcover.

[@ftloc]

That's a great choice! And so cool to hear about the Polish editions - were they from Scholastic, similar (or exactly like) the 3-in-1 Canada editions I talk about in this video? kzbin.info/www/bejne/sGe5e6Oml7ecf6s

[@ThePreciseClimber]

​@@ftloc Yup, pretty much. Egmont published 'em in Poland. Although they don't use the Canadian covers, they just reuse the Out from Boneville cover for the first 3-in-1, the Dragonslayer cover for the second 3-in-1 and the Ghost Circles cover for the third 3-in-1. They used the double titles for each. So, "The Valley, or Vernal Equinox" and so on. They also published the Rose prequel in the same hardcover size format. But nothing beyond that, it seems. Their website says the three 3-in-1 and Rose were published in 2017-2018. So I wouldn't hold my breath for the missing stuff like Bone Coda or Quest for the Spark novels. Also, here are the names they changed to make them sound more natural in Polish: Fone Bone - Chwat Gnat (archaic word for energetic, resourceful, and daring person) Phoney Bone - Kant Gnat (con trick) Smiley Bone - Chichot Gnat (chuckle) Thorn - Zadra (snag or splinter) Rock Jaw - Granitowy Kieł (granite fang) Rose is still Rose so I assume Briar is also still Briar.

[@rufphoenix1353]

Fascinating...as always!

[@ftloc]

Thank you! Cheers!

[@blakemartin9054]

Thank yoy very much for this. Taking a break from vertigo's, "hellblazer" to read this in b&w as was intended. You really helped me decide on buying this volume. Super excited for it to come in!

[@ftloc]

Oh, a very similar reading journey/arc to what I had! 😊 I'd love to know what you think of Bone when you''re done.

[@blakemartin9054]

Will do! Have you read, “cerebus?” Debating if I should get into it. I heard sims had some mental health issues that affected the read.

[@ftloc]

I just started from the very start some months ago! I mention it briefly in this video here, in case you're interested: kzbin.info/www/bejne/mWKcYYh_bqhmaKs but I haven't made much progress. perhaps I should try and find a copy of the High Society TPB and start from there, as many advise.

[@blakemartin9054]

For the Love of Comics I just finished the b&w, “bone.” It was truly a wonderful journey. Tons of heart, humor, and sadness. Unlike anything I have read. I will be going back to this and eventually picking up the color version. I can’t think of anything in recent memory that has brought me so much joy. Thank you so much for this video. You are the reason I dipped into this. Now going to do some Rossa Scrooge mcduck comics.

[@ftloc]

Blake Martin That makes me so happy! 😀 I’m sure you’ll enjoy the colour version too, although I’d be curious to know if you have a preference. And Rosa’s McDuck is a great follow up read, I think!

[@simonh5004]

good video, appreciate the comparison. i grew up reading the color one but the b&w art is excellent. guess imma have to get both lmfaoo

[@ftloc]

Haha that's certainly what I did!

[@usmanisi]

According to Wikipedia, the colored version made some changes to the dialogue and frames from the original B&W version.

[@ftloc]

Yes they definitely fixed some spelling errors and made very slight adjustments to some panels. They're hard to spot of you don't know what to look for. There are other versions of Bone that have much more drastic cuts, like removing Phoney's cigar and references to Fone Bone's attraction to Thorn, those were done for serialisation in the Disney Adventures magazine.

[@gioravalico550]

Very informative video. Thank you

[@ftloc]

Gio Ravalico Thanks, glad you liked it!

[@thesecretsaucechannel]

Superb comparison. Had it not been for the price, I would have gone for the one volume color edition. Furthermore, would you by any chance be doing any Hellboy in the future?

[@ftloc]

Sohan Surag thanks so much! Yes, the one volume colour HC is a bit on the pricey side, but I would still have pursued it if I didn’t love the black and white so much more. I think the colour TPBs are the same size, and the black and white one-volume is too, so finding the original issues or collections is the only way to get the larger size.

[@ftloc]

Sohan Surag And yes, there will definitely be a Hellboy FTLOC video, I just haven’t figured out exactly when. Watch this space! 😀

[@mb8509]

I might like the black and white better, but I did buy the Color version. I feel like you get more engrossed with the black and white when you can create a more tense atmosphere and let your imagination run wild!

[@ftloc]

I definitely think the black and white is more dynamic and atmospheric, as you say. The nighttime scene in the forest, for example, is almost black and white in the colour version too, but that on/off/on with the lighting is made for black and white and works best in black and white. Still, there’s definitely a lot of appeal in the colour, and it definitely highlights the fantasy/ fairy tale storybook aspects of Bone, for one.

[@grjk5044]

If you're a big fan of the BW they did an actual art size special edtion of vol 2 a couple years ago. It's around $100 (if you're lucky) but looks great if you have the funds.

[@ftloc]

GrJk I’ve only run across it once and it was even more expensive than the 100 you mention. I love those Artist Editions and Bone being one of my favourite comics, it’s only a matter of the right opportunity before I get one. I’ve got my eyes peeled! 😀

[@amadeusthecat69]

I'm actually going to get the one volume edition of this comic, mainly because it is the most affordable way to get the entire series. That, and I'm curious about what the black and white looks like.

[@ftloc]

As I mention here, I like the original B&W just a tiny bit more!

[@nishitkumar7650]

Sir i like your comparision video please a do a video on describing sequences of different comics which you had already read

[@ftloc]

Nishit Kumar you mean deeper analysis of particular sequences? That is definitely something I’d love to explore, I think I just need to get better with the whole scripting (right now I just talk off the top of my head, not very organised!) and editing (learning the software on a video-by-video basis) processes. I hope to have ‘video essays’ like the ones I admire someday soon! Thanks so much for watching and for commenting! 😀

[@ahchiu9]

I am always torn between which version I like better, color or black and white. Because of this, I have multiple versions despite needing the shelf space. Haha

[@ftloc]

DItto!

[@Bucky749]

Have you ever read the marvel noir series it’s basically what if the marvel heroes where around in the 1920’s or it might be 40’s I forget witch but they did spider -man , iron man , Luke Cage , daredevil and the x-men .

[@ftloc]

Nope, I haven't. The closest I've read to something like that would be 1602, which wasn't great but wasn't terrible either.

[@BABYTREE123]

now im not sure if i want the black & white version or the colored version lol i kinda want both

[@ftloc]

Haha that's definitely the conclusion I came to : both please! 😁

[@nishitkumar7650]

Do you like dc or marvel comics apart from manga or tintin comics

[@ftloc]

Nishit Kumar I grew up reading a lot of DC and Marvel, so even though these days my comics reading doesn’t feature them too heavily, there’s always one or two on my to-read lists. One day soon you’ll see a couple of my favourites make an appearance next to all the other non-superhero videos I have up!

[@DiptarupGhoshDastidar]

Just watched your entire Bone playlist and maybe somewhere I heard you saying that there is a hardcover colour edition? Is that available if I heard it correctly? The summarisation is beautifully done as usual!

[@ftloc]

Diptarup Ghosh Dastidar Oh yes, there’s a one-volume full-colour edition, in hardcover no less! It’s a bit in the expensive side, as is to be expected. Check it out if you’re interested in the colour over the original B&W

[@DiptarupGhoshDastidar]

@@ftloc based on what I saw in the comparison video, I guess I'll rather go with the B&W first!

[@ftloc]

Diptarup Ghosh Dastidar I’m a fan of the original myself, although the recolouring here is just fine, unlike for some other comics.

[@samchampionlives]

I prefer black and white

[@ftloc]

It’s not that I dislike the colouring, but if I’m being perfectly honest, I too prefer the black and white (as I think this video reveals, in spite of me trying to stay on the fence for viewers! 😋)

[@VixxKong2]

The black and white would have been better if the author was familiar with screentones. The Japanese artists use this in manga in order to suggest color and texture in their panels.

[@ftloc]

I'd say Jeff Smith is considered a master of black and white, so the absence of greys here, like in many great comics, is an artistic choice. I feel the world of Bone is very well detailed by the starkness of the backs, and those are a signature part of the series.

[@epm1012]

Colour is better.

[@ftloc]

Well, Bone is an Eisner award winner for best coloring (Volume 2 - The Great Cow Race). What are your reasons for preferring the color edition?

[@epm1012]

For the Love of Comics I just find it more aesthetically appealing, and often times the black and white blends together, making it hard to tell what’s going.

[@10418]

B&W 😺

[@ftloc]

I agree 😁

[@theconstantcommenter683]

I allways go colour for a book im gonna read as i find comics in colour more enjoyable and pleasimg to look at but for a book i just want to showcase black and white all the way

[@ebruzzone]

I am planning to buy the one-volume edition for my 10 year old daughter. I assume color version would be more appealing but any suggestions are accepted.

[@ftloc]

Oh, nice dilemma! I agree that a ten-year-old would probably gravitate toward the colour version, so that’s a safe bet. Having said that, if you want to introduce your daughter to the joys of black and white comics, I can’t think of a better comic than Bone. Everything else would be so appealing that ‘part of the charm’ would be the dynamism of the black and white, whether she realised it now or not. If you’re decided on the one volume edition, the colour one is more expensive but also hardcover, and features thicker paper than the black and white, if those are factors for you.