Stupid, Stupid Rat Tails

Last updated
Stupid, Stupid Rat Tales
Stupid Stupid Rat Tails.jpg
Cover of trade paperback
Publication information
Publisher Cartoon Books
Format mini-series
Publication date1998-2000
No. of issues3
Creative team
Written by Tom Sniegoski
Artist(s) Jeff Smith, Stan Sakai

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.

Whereas the other spin-off, Rose , focuses on the valley people from the story, Stupid, Stupid Rat-Tails focuses on the formation of Boneville, the hometown of the Bones. The series is drawn but not written by Smith. The writer is Tom Sniegoski. The backup feature included in the trade paperback collection, Riblet, is written by Sniegoski and drawn by Usagi Yojimbo creator Stan Sakai. The series was yet again reprinted in the Scholastic collection Tall Tales, released in August 2010. [1] [2] [3] The Riblet backup story was reprinted in Scholastic's More Tall Tales collection, published in September 2023.

Plot

In the principal story, the Bones' culture hero, Big Johnson Bone, has suffered the disappearance of compatriot Gertie Bone, and is traveling with Mr. Pip: a cantankerous capuchin monkey. En route, Johnson and Pip are blown by a tornado into the valley of the earlier Bone comics, where they learn that the antagonist Rat Creatures are attacking every other inhabitant thereof. Accompanied by some local animals, and the miniature dragon Stillman, Johnson invades the Rat Creatures' territory to recover their hostages; but finds the latter imprisoned alive in the entrails of Tyson, the son of the Rat Creatures' Queen Maude. There, Johnson and his companions give Tyson indigestion, while Pip, Stillman, and the others are taken to Maude's dungeon. Stillman's fiery breath enables their escape, while Johnson's music prompts Tyson to disgorge him and the others. Trying to recapture them, Tyson severs his own tail, and Johnson severs Maude's to make a hat for himself. Thereafter Johnson and Pip establish a dry-goods store, which later becomes the center of Boneville. Upon their departure, Stillman is commended for protecting the animals by the Great Red Dragon of the earlier series, and Maude orders that all Rat Creatures be deprived of their tails annually, to compensate for the loss of her own.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">James A. Owen</span> American novelist

James A. Owen is an American comic book illustrator, publisher and writer. He is known for his creator-owned comic book series Starchild and as the author of The Chronicles of the Imaginarium Geographica novel series, that began with Here, There Be Dragons in 2006.

<i>Bone</i> (comics) Comic book series by Jeff Smith

Bone is an American independently-published graphic novel series, written and illustrated by Jeff Smith, originally serialized in 55 irregularly released issues from 1991 to 2004. The series was self-published by Smith's Cartoon Books for issues #1–20, by Image Comics from issues #21–27, and back to Cartoon Books for issues #28–55.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jeff Smith (cartoonist)</span> American cartoonist

Jeff Smith is an American cartoonist. He is best known as the creator of the self-published comic book series Bone.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Thomas E. Sniegoski</span> American writer and journalist

Thomas E. Sniegoski is an American novelist, comic book writer and pop culture journalist.

<i>Out from Boneville</i> 1991 comic book by Jeff Smith

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.

<i>The Great Cow Race</i>

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.

<i>Eyes of the Storm</i> 1996 comic book by Jeff Smith

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.

<i>The Dragonslayer</i>

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.

<i>Rock Jaw: Master of the Eastern Border</i>

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.

<i>Old Mans Cave</i>

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.

<i>Ghost Circles</i>

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.

<i>Crown of Horns</i> (comic)

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.

<i>Rose</i> (comics) Comic by Jeff Smith

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, 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.

<i>Bone: Out from Boneville</i> 2005 video game

Bone: Out from Boneville is an episodic adventure game by Telltale Games. It was Telltale's first adventure game, and their second game overall, following Telltale Texas Hold'em. A Mac port of the game was released on October 13, 2006, ported by Vanbrio.

<i>Treasure Hunters</i> (comic)

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.

The Year of Rogue Dragons is a series of novels set in the Forgotten Realms campaign setting.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jared Emerson-Johnson</span> American video game composer

Jared Nathaniel Emerson-Johnson is an American video game music composer, sound designer, voice director and voice actor. Emerson-Johnson is the Music Supervisor and lead composer at Bay Area Sound, an audio production company specializing in sound design, music and voiceover for video games.

"The Lair of the Ice Worm" is a fantasy short story by American writers L. Sprague de Camp and Lin Carter, featuring the fictional sword and sorcery hero Conan the Barbarian created by Robert E. Howard. It was first published by Lancer Books in the paperback collection Conan of Cimmeria (1969), which was reprinted several times, first by Lancer and later by Ace Books through 1993. It has also been published by Sphere Books in the omnibus paperback collection The Conan Chronicles (1989).

B. K. (Bob) Taylor is an American illustrator, cartoonist, writer, production designer, costume designer, puppeteer, and musician known for his work on the Odd Rods collector stickers of the late 1960s, his covers for Sick magazine, his comics in National Lampoon, and for his work as a staff writer on ABC’S popular sit-com, Home Improvement. He lives in Metro Detroit and continues to work as an illustrator and writer, performing occasionally in a local rock band.

Yoon Ha Lee is an American science fiction and fantasy writer, known for his Machineries of Empire space opera novels and his short fiction. His first novel, Ninefox Gambit, received the 2017 Locus Award for Best First Novel.

References

  1. ↑ "Tall Tales by Thomas E. Sniegoski - Reviews, Discussion, Bookclubs, Lists". Goodreads.com. Retrieved 2011-01-08.
  2. ↑ "The Official Thomas E. Sniegoski Website". Sniegoski.com. 2010-08-01. Retrieved 2011-01-08.
  3. ↑ "New BONE books; BONE: Tall Tales & Quest for the Spark". B o n e v i l l e. Archived from the original on 2010-01-06. Retrieved 2011-01-08.


This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.