Broken Frontier

The Apocalypse draws near, Bone’s origin is partially revealed, and the biggest battle in all of history is set to begin in the "Season One" finale.

A major connection is revealed between Bone’s odd-ball character design and the angels seen from previous issues, the Hanging Man’s purpose is told, Mister Carpenter’s true identity comes to light, and both Lazarus and the devil take the stage as all the supporting characters choose sides and prepare for the end of all things. That may sound exhaustive, but revelations aren’t necessarily the same as explanations, and for every answer the reader receives half a dozen questions in its place, leaving plenty to be explored in "Season Two".

Writer Matteo Casali (or as my Google translator calls him, "Matt Country house"), establishes that he is wonderfully adept at plotting an epic. He moves the surreal story of Bone and his modern-day apocalypse like a slow moving train with a stunning view – you’re getting nowhere fast, but you barely notice this for all of the splendor. The characters are starkly iconic in their stations and their traits, and every small, initially mundane event, inexorably snowballs into a ruthless display of Grand Guignol. The mood is equally extreme, with a heavily foreboding atmosphere, and the story quickly amasses a dark and dense development of characters and subplots and biblical references until a true synopsis reads more like a lexicon than a mere summation.

While these are all strengths as far as I’m concerned – they kept me reading and wanting more – they are also what restrain this series from achieving any landmark level of storytelling. This is a tale that announces from the offset that it’s going to be world-shaking; it literally states this every other caption. In fact, it spends so much time reiterating its own grandeur that it ignores trying any other tactic to make the ordinary and the mythic gel into something that fits. Instead, we are presented with characters that wield the arrogance of gods with the emotional vulnerabilities of the most pathetic humanity has to offer. They are indelibly cool in the way that any urban-mythic ideal is cool to urban, non-mythic readers, but there is no subtlety, no intimacy within them that rings true. Their character is little more than mock representations of belligerent, hostile New Yorkers as seen through the eyes of an Italian writer, and the results are undeniably shallow and stereotypical, akin to an American writing about snooty, beret-topped, baguette-loving French men.

On a brighter note, I could gloss for days on Giuseppe Camuncoli’s multifaceted artwork. Whether gracing the pages of a horror comic, superheroes, or a weird drama-epic such as Bonerest, his etchings seam snuggly within the genre, appearing adeptly at home. The characters are flawlessly designed, their features fit their personas, and the story swing from commonplace to supernatural is never visually at odds. Credit should also be given to inker Lorenzo Ruggiero – when paired with Camuncoli, the artist’s line work developed into a more comprehensive, satisfying whole.

Still, the storyline as a whole – perfectly paced as it may be – sadly holds a disjointed effect on par with reading the Book of Revelations itself for entertainment value. The list of minutiae that contribute to this is long, but there are two primary causes that should be mentioned. First, the translation is lackluster, sounding like a direct Italian-to-English transfer. No artisanship was applied to the dialogue in order to procure a superior dramatic result, which would have been awfully beneficial for a dramatic story. The second, and most difficult for American readers, is the European penchant for situating every character into an obviously metaphorical placement so that the symbolism of the plot trumps the flow and natural evolution of the characters. This leaves no room for classic creative growth. No room for the characters to do or say anything outside of what they must to complete the creator’s paradigm.

Much like the Bible itself, Bonerest is composed of small scenes that build to unforgettable climaxes. But equally like a holy text, all the players have their assigned roles and they play them out to perfection, no deviation permitted, not even for the sake of a better story.