Bone, Vol. 3: Eyes of the Storm by Jeff Smith

"After being run out of Boneville, the three Bone cousins - Fone Bone, Phoney Bone, and Smiley Bone - are separated and lost in a vast, uncharted desert. One by one, they find their way into a deep, forested valley filled with wonderful and terrifying creatures. Eventually, the cousins are reunited at a farmstead run by tough Gran'Ma Ben and her spirited granddaughter, Thorn. But little do the Bones know, there are dark forces conspiring against them and their adventures are only just beginning!" --Provided by publisher.

Bone is a graphic novel that deftly evolves from a tale of strangers in a strange land to low-fantasy epic - replete with dragons, secret destinies, sundered monarchies, and dark days - over its course. What begins as a lighthearted adventure becomes something engrossing that brings meaning and dimension to what could otherwise too easily remain two dimensional characters. The Bone cousins themselves evoke a nostalgia for a lost age of characters, reminiscent of the mischievous Mickey days or the Marx brothers.

This graphic novel is a masterpiece of pacing - to read it is to find yourself conceding, “Oh, just one more chapter.” It will be rather surprising how rapidly 1300 pages will fly by.