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A review by armaget
Rose by Jeff Smith, Charles Vess
2.0
Wouldn't hold up as a stand alone, and even with the backstory I have from the Bone series, this prequel is a bit too far remote for my taste. It would be better if it referenced events that the original series had flashbacks or references to- at one point I think there was some of it, but without the backing of the whole Bone canon it is a bit weak.
The characters who are present in the Bone canon also have extremely different personalities, since they are much younger here, but that just alientates them more. For example, Rose (Gran'ma Ben) acted like a mix of Smiley Bone and Thorn, which was obviously disconcerting.
Also, I can't help but think of tell don't show, a rule of cartooning that I like to refer to- In the series, there were very small, dream flashbacks to how Rose used to look, and references to stuff she did when she was Queen, and it was more exciting and cool to imagine the Valley "back in the day" then it was to actually see it "back in the day."
At first I was excited for the art, and while the colors are pretty fantastic, I think I prefer the normal art from the series better. And in some panels Rose's face looked terrifying, idk how this illustration did it but sheeeesh.
Ah, oh well.
The characters who are present in the Bone canon also have extremely different personalities, since they are much younger here, but that just alientates them more. For example, Rose (Gran'ma Ben) acted like a mix of Smiley Bone and Thorn, which was obviously disconcerting.
Also, I can't help but think of tell don't show, a rule of cartooning that I like to refer to- In the series, there were very small, dream flashbacks to how Rose used to look, and references to stuff she did when she was Queen, and it was more exciting and cool to imagine the Valley "back in the day" then it was to actually see it "back in the day."
At first I was excited for the art, and while the colors are pretty fantastic, I think I prefer the normal art from the series better. And in some panels Rose's face looked terrifying, idk how this illustration did it but sheeeesh.
Ah, oh well.