I have, I think, a metric ton of layouts, sketches and character designs in my filing cabinets in my studio. Lately, I’ve been going through them to find some old stuff that maybe no one’s ever seen. I’ve actually been finding more stuff than I thought I would– more stuff than I remember doing until I come across some obscure sketch that refreshes my memory. Today’s sketch is one such animal.

A few years back, I was contacted by someone in Spain (I don’t remember the person’s name) about a BONE tribute book that they were putting together for a visit that Jeff Smith was making to a comic festival over there. They were asking for contributions to the book from various artists– and frankly, I was honored that they asked me, since I’ve been a HUGE BONE fan from way back. So, I worked up a piece and mailed it off to the address I was told to send it to. Unfortunately, I never heard whether the piece ever got there– nor, needless to say, did I recieve a copy of the tribute book. Oh, well– it was fun to do anyway. So, here’s the sketch/layout I did for the piece.

Jeff Smith just ended his marvelous BONE saga with issue #55 recently. It was really a sad day for me personally. I have been reading BONE faithfully since I first stumbled on the book (issue #4, I think) over a decade ago– and it’s always been a book that I look forward to. I never lost my love for the characters, even when Smith got distracted by Hollywood and fell behind, or hurt his hand and fell behind…. or any of the things that caused delays in his publication schedule. BONE was the kind of comic I would have waited any amount of time for– I just loved it….. well, still do. That’s the beauty of comic books– you can always go back and read them again, reliving all the great moments.

I’m looking forward to seeing what Smith does on SHAZAM (the REAL CAPTAIN MARVEL).

Mike