44. Bone is a fantastic Disney-style adventure
I.
Over the past few months, Iāve thoroughly enjoyed Bone. This comic series by Jeff Smith ran from 1991 to 2004 and is now available as a complete collection. Itās a massive book. 1,300 pages, a stack of paper 6.5 cm thick (I measured it).
Bone is about three brothers who are driven out of their town, after which they end up in a fairy-tale valley. All sorts of extraordinary creatures live there, from mysterious dragons hiding in the shadows to rat-like monsters who happen to be very fond of quiche. The Bone brothers soon find themselves embroiled in a quest to restore a princess, believed to have disappeared, to the throne. But to do so, they must defeat the Lord of the Locusts and his army.
What begins as a light-hearted adventure unfolds across 55 collected comic volumes into a sweeping epic. In total, you follow the brothers for a year as they make friends and enemies. You unravel the mysterious story of the dark forces in the valley until a massive war is unleashed. Bone is not entirely unjustifiably sometimes compared to The Lord of the Rings in comic form.
But it never becomes too heavy. Smith creates a new world, yet you are never overwhelmed by the history and legends of that world. Smith is also an incredible artist in the style of, for example, Donald Duck. The charactersā facial expressions look as if theyāve come straight out of a Disney cartoon. Furthermore, the pacing of this book is excellent. On the one hand, the momentum largely remains strong, whilst Smith spreads his jokes perfectly across multiple panels. Thatās an art in itself.
Itās bizarre that Bone has never been made into a film. Makers of the animated series could easily use the comic as a storyboard. Over the years, there have been various plans for this. The last time was when Netflix took on the project, but that too ultimately fell through. Jeff Smith subsequently created a comic strip about how the film adaptation of Bone keeps failing, with a reference to Peanuts, in which Charlie Brown never manages to kick the football because Lucy keeps taking it away.
II.
I keep track of my reading lists on Goodreads. Itās an online library where you can record which books you own or which ones you still want to read. You can also log when youāve read certain books and give them a rating. Thereās a social aspect to it, as you can follow people and read othersā reviews.
Itās sometimes a bit of a messy and clunky app (like all Amazon services). Thatās why Iām sometimes on the lookout for alternatives. Lately, The StoryGraph has been one such alternative that many people are using. You can create an account there and import your Goodreads data, so you donāt leave your entire reading history behind. The app and website are a bit bare, but thereās one thing that makes me want to keep using it: statistics.
In pie charts, for example, you can see what your favourite emotions in books are. Mine boil down to reflective, dark, emotional and adventurous. My most-read genres are modern literature, science fiction, classics and memoirs. I usually read my books at an average pace, but I tend to read slowly rather than quickly. Half of what I read are books with fewer than 300 pages.
The StoryGraph also has a social section and reviews from others. But I donāt think this is as active as it is on Goodreads. The StoryGraph is a bit more experimental; for instance, the service uses AI to determine which readership a book is best suited for.
III.
The CES tech fair was dominated by AI. It is gradually becoming a buzzword for everything we used to call āsmartā. We must be careful that it does not become a hollow term for products that sound futuristic but are not necessarily so, I wrote on NU.nl.
One of the most striking products at CES this year was the R1 from the company Rabbit. The promise is that this little device will become an AI assistant that can use various apps on your behalf. If you want to play music, you can ask the R1, which will then control Spotify. You can also, for example, order an Uber by saying you need a taxi. And in principle, you can have your groceries delivered in the same way. So without having to open different apps on your phone all the time.
The R1 is therefore not a phone. It has a small screen, a button and a scroll wheel. Nothing more. It is unclear whether you always have to carry the R1 alongside your phone and whether it really works with all apps. Tens of thousands of people have already ordered the $199 gadget to give it a go. I have no idea if this will work. But the R1 is already interesting as an early glimpse into a possible future without smartphones and apps.
Itās a catchy pitch, though:
---PS.
Just a quick note on last yearās best films. I know, most lists come out in December, but Letterboxdās always appears just after the New Year and is well worth a look. In a very comprehensive overview, you can see which films were rated highest each month, as well as the best films by genre. Youāll be scrolling for ages because the overview is absolutely packed. Beautifully designed too.
Film journalist David Ehrlich compiles a list of the 25 best films of the year every year, beautifully presented in video form. Itās worth watching just for the music and editing.
---Seen, a short animation about a woman trying to reconnect with an old friend after a long time. Picking up where you left off isnāt always that easy.
---Netflix is making a documentary about the charity single We Are the World, for which 46 global stars came together. The trailer is online. I hope the footage below is included in full in the film. One of my favourite Bob Dylan videos.
---Variety is producing a series about hotels from films and TV series. Naturally, you canāt ignore The Great Northern Hotel from Twin Peaks. Kyle MacLachlan (Dale Cooper in the series) and Mark Frost (one of the creators of Twin Peaks) have their say. Itās made me want to watch the series all over again.
---I want to read more (European) comics and graphic novels this year. Tips are welcome!
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