20 funny comics to lighten your mood and make you laugh

15. Bone

Bone is something of a rarity. Taken all together, it’s a massive, fantasy-inspired story written and illustrated by one creator, Jeff Smith. Published somewhat sporadically in 55 issues from 1991 to 2004, the collected omnibus edition comes out to over 1000 pages of beautiful art and compelling story.

Smith’s work is also deeply inspired by fantasy conventions. There are evil magic users, menacing monsters and way more dragons than you would expect, even from a fantasy epic. We even get to learn about a long-lost princess and her mysterious grandmother, who are far more than you are initially led to believe. There’s also a big-time villain known ominously as the Lord of the Locusts.

But, these aren’t the main characters, or at least they are not alone. Bone features the eponymous Bone cousins — the greedy Phoney Bone, silly Smiley Bone and the very ordinary Fone Bone. Unlike the very detailed other characters, the Bones are simply drawn, white, cartoon characters. That doesn’t mean they lack for personality or adventures, however. Even Fone Bone has some weird character quirks, including his deep and abiding love for Moby-Dick.

Smith’s writing is beautiful, both for its deeply felt stories and the humor throughout. Even when Fone Bone and his cousins are running from terrifying rat creatures, they’re able to crack jokes. When the cousins are rescued by a mysterious girl named Thorn, Fone develops a crush on her and expresses it through awful poetry.

Even the villains get in on the fun. Those rat creatures have a surprisingly good ongoing joke about quiche. At one point, two creatures capture Fone Bone and debate the different ways in which they should cook and eat him. The suggestion of quiche throws one into a rage: monsters don’t eat quiche! They should eat him in a stew, like proper evil creatures. Luckily for Fone Bone, the matter never makes it as far as the cooking pot.