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Rose | |
---|---|
Publication information | |
Publisher | Cartoon Books |
Format | Limited series |
Publication date | 2000-2002 |
No. of issues | 3 |
Creative team | |
Written by | Jeff Smith |
Artist(s) | Charles Vess |
Rose is an American comics miniseries, the prequel to the comic book Bone . It was written by Bone creator Jeff Smith and illustrated by Charles Vess [1] , who earned an Eisner nomination for his work on it. The story was originally published as a three-issue miniseries and was later included in both trade paperback and hardcover collections. It takes place when Rose Harvestar was a young woman, before her rise to the Atheian throne.
The prologue tells the story of how the world was created by a powerful dragon named Mim, who maintained peace and created powerful dreams. She was possessed by the powerful Lord of the Locusts, driving her mad and leading the other dragons to seal her, as well as the Lord of the Locusts, away in stone.
Rose, the youngest of the two sisters, is being trained to be a Veni-Yan-Cari (an "Awakened One"). Her mastery of the Dreaming Arts, a talent possessed by nearly everyone in her family except her older sister Briar, is renowned throughout the Valley. She sets off for Old Man's Cave to take her final exam with Briar, Lucius, the Captain of the Guards, and her two dogs, whom Rose can understand and talk to. It is clear that Rose is falling for Lucius and that he reciprocates her feelings, but he behaves oddly around Briar. The Red Dragon appears and meets with the headmaster to alert him that the River Dragon has gone rogue. On the way, Rose gets her "gitchy feeling" (a manifestation of her dreaming arts), alerting her that something is wrong. She then dreams about freeing a dragon from a river.
The next day, Rose encounters the Red Dragon, who orders her to go to her headmaster. On the way, she is attacked by locusts and then by Balsaad, the River Dragon she freed in her dream. She cuts off his hand, but it suddenly reattaches. Balsaad flees and Rose describes the ordeal and her dream to Briar, who asks her to not tell the Order about it. Rose goes after Balsaad once more and is told by the Red Dragon how to defeat it – at a price. She must take Balsaad to the river where she freed it, kill him, and then kill the next living thing she sees. Meanwhile, Lucius then leads the Veni-Yan-Cari in battle with the rat creatures, who are being led by a mysterious new master to take back the valley.
As Rose leads Balsaad back to the river, she is knocked out and has a dream. It is revealed that Briar is Balsaad's new master and the one who led the rat creatures to the valley. The Lord of the Locusts has discovered Briar's hidden hatred of her sister, inspired by jealousy of the powers Briar would never have as a dreamer and future queen, and has taken advantage of it through her dreams. Rose is about to be killed by the Lord of the Locusts, but Briar stops him, as she wants to be the one to kill her. She then wakes up and kills Balsaad by chopping him up and his body parts are washed away by the river's current, and then Briar appears at almost the same time as one of her dogs. She has aged as punishment for defying the Locust King and begs Rose not to kill her, thus Rose kills her dog rather than Briar. She brings Briar back to the valley and bursts into tears when her other dog asks where its companion is. Later, the people of the valley cheer her victory while the Red Dragon looks on disapprovingly.
Rose, Briar, Mim, the Lord of the Locusts, and Lucius Down, the bartender at the Barrelhaven Tavern in the original series, have significant roles. The Rat Creatures, monsters for which Bone is well known, also make an appearance, though the ones that have individual personalities in Bone do not appear in Rose. The Veni-Yan, a benevolent religious order, makes an appearance while the Great Red Dragon also does the same. The only characters in Rose that do not appear in Bone are Rose's two talking dogs, whom only she can understand.
In Bone flashbacks, Briar looks a little older than Rose. In Rose, however, Briar ages for failing the Lord of the Locusts, though it is possible that eventually she was given some of her youth back by the Lord of the Locusts as he had other plans for her to complete.
It appears that the whole plot of Balsaad, the way to defeat him, and Rose's choosing to kill her dog instead of Briar are all influenced by the legend of Lambton Worm from north-east England. The Lambton Worm regenerated itself by reattaching body parts that were cut off. It was defeated in the River Wear when John Lambton cut it into pieces that washed away. A witch or wise woman had told Lambton that he must kill the first living thing he saw after defeating the worm. Lambton saw his father first, but instead killed the hound that he saw second.
The lindworm, also spelled lindwyrm or lindwurm, is a mythical creature in Northern, Western and Central European folklore that traditionally has the shape of a giant serpent monster living deep in the forest. It can be seen as a sort of dragon.
Bone is an American fantasy comic book limited series written and illustrated by Jeff Smith, originally serialized in 55 irregularly released issues from 1991 to 2004. The series is primarily self-published by Smith's Cartoon Books; it was also briefly published by Image Comics. The issues were collected into nine volumes, as well as a single omnibus volume. Since 2005, color editions of the volumes are published by Scholastic's Graphix imprint. The series intertwines comedy and dark fantasy.
The Lambton Worm is a legend from County Durham in North-East England in the United Kingdom. The story takes place around the River Wear, and is one of the area's most famous pieces of folklore, having been adapted from written and oral tradition into pantomime and song formats.
American Dragon: Jake Long, or simply American Dragon, is an American animated television series. It was produced by Walt Disney Television Animation, created by Jeff Goode and co-developed by Eddie Guzelian and Matt Negrete. It premiered on Disney Channel on January 21, 2005, and ended on September 1, 2007. Fifty-two episodes were produced.
A hellhound is a mythological hound that embodies a guardian or a servant of hell, the devil, or the underworld. Hellhounds occur in mythologies around the world, with the best-known examples being Cerberus from Greek mythology, Garmr from Norse mythology, the black dogs of English folklore, and the fairy hounds of Celtic mythology. Physical characteristics vary, but they are commonly black, anomalously overgrown, supernaturally strong, and often have red eyes or are accompanied by flames.
Out From Boneville is the first story-arc in the Bone series. It collects the first six issues of Jeff Smith's self-published Bone comics. It marks the beginning of part one of the Bone series, titled Vernal Equinox. The book was first published by Cartoon Books in its original black-and-white version in 1995; excerpts were printed in Disney Adventures over the course of 1994–1998. Paperback and hardback colored editions were published in 2005 by Scholastic.
The Great Cow Race is the second book in the Bone series. It collects issues 7-11 of Jeff Smith's self-published Bone graphic novels, along with the short story "Up on the Roof" which was originally published in Wizard Presents: Bone 13½. The book was first published by Cartoon Books in its original black-and-white form in 1996. Paperback and hardback coloured editions were released in 2005 by Scholastic.
Eyes of the Storm is the third book in the Bone series. It collects issues 12-19 of Jeff Smith's Bone comic book series along with 5 previously unpublished story pages and 9 new illustrations. It marks the conclusion of the first part of the saga, titled "Vernal Equinox". The book was first published by Cartoon Books in its original black-and-white form in 1996. Paperback and hardback coloured editions were published in 2006 by Scholastic.
The Dragonslayer is the fourth book in the Bone series. It collects issues 20-27 of Jeff Smith's Bone comics. This volume marks the beginning of the second part of the Bone saga, entitled Solstice. The book was first published by Cartoon Books in its original black-and-white form in 1997. Paperback and hardback coloured editions were published in 2006 by Scholastic.
Rock Jaw: Master of the Eastern Border is the fifth book in the Bone series. It collects issues 28-32 of Jeff Smith's self-published Bone comic book series. The book was published by Cartoon Books in its original black-and-white form in 1998. Paperback and hardback coloured editions were published in February 2007 by Scholastic.
Old Man's Cave is the sixth book in the Bone series. It collects issues 33-37 of Jeff Smith's self-published Bone comic book series. It marks the conclusion of the second part of the saga, entitled Solstice. The book was published by Cartoon Books in its original black-and-white form in 1999, and in color by Scholastic Press in 2007.
Ghost Circles is the seventh book in the Bone series. It collects issues 38-43 of Jeff Smith's self-published Bone comic book series and marks the beginning of the third and final part of the saga, entitled Harvest. The book was published by Cartoon Books in black-and-white in 2001 and in color by Scholastic Press in 2008.
Crown of Horns is the ninth and final book in the Bone series. It collects issues 50-55 of Jeff Smith's self-published Bone comic book series. The book was published by Cartoon Books in 2004. The color version was published by Scholastic Press and released on January 21, 2009.
Tall Tales: The Adventures of Big Johnson Bone, Frontier Hero is a prequel to the Eisner Award-winning comic book Bone by Jeff Smith. It was initially published in 1998 as a three- issue mini-series before being collected in a trade paperback (ISBN 1-888963-06-9) in 2000.
Treasure Hunters is the eighth book in the Bone series. It collects issues 44-49 of Jeff Smith's self-published Bone comic book series. The book was published by Cartoon Books in 2002 and in color by Scholastic Press in 2008.