The Secret Origin of Jeff Smith’s BONE Comes to Light! NYT Bestselling Author Smith Returns to his Roots with a New Collection of His THORN College Strips Cartoon Books announces THORN: The Complete Proto-BONE College Strips 1982 to 1986, and Other Early Drawings, reprinting the entire run of his earliest rendering of the world-famous BONE characters for the first time. The comic strips reveal an early version of BONE called THORN that was written for a college audience in the 1980s. THORN appeared five days a week in the pages of The Ohio State University’s student newspaper The Lantern. A few were reprinted in a self-published 1983 book called THORN: Tales from The Lantern. Another small selection was published in 2008’s limited edition fundraiser for OSU’s Billy Ireland Cartoon Library & Museum called Before BONE. Both books are long out of print and sell at collector’s prices. There has never been an official, complete run published until now. This beautiful edition includes plenty of bonus material such as recently discovered early drawings of the BONE characters, essays and interviews. “These college strips are an essential element in Smith’s journey toward BONE. But they’re their own unique tale too!” - Comic Book Couples Counseling Podcast “Read BONE the graphic novel, and read THORN: The Complete College Strips, and compare them…you have basically just taken maybe the best masterclass in cartooning.” - James Kochalka, creator of Monkey vs Robot and Johnny Boo