Plot

A profile of cartoonist Jeff Smith and his acclaimed fantasy comic book series, Bone.

The inspiring story of Jeff Smith's creation of the epic comic book, BONE, hailed by critics as one of the greatest graphic novels of all time. Fellow cartoonists Scott McCloud, Colleen Doran, Harvey Pekar, Paul Pope and Terry Moore, as well as friends, associates, experts and Jeff himself, share their stories of this worldwide phenomenon that began in small comics hobby shops and is now found in bookstores, schools, libraries and the homes of millions of adults and children in 25 countries. In addition to discussing Jeff's early years, influences and philosophies, the film provides a look at a unique industry and art form that continues to evolve as its audience expands.—Ken Mills

"The Cartoonist" tells the inspiring story of Jeff Smith's creation of the epic comic book, BONE, hailed by critics as one of the greatest graphic novels of all time. Fellow cartoonists Scott McCloud, Colleen Doran, Harvey Pekar, Paul Pope and Terry Moore, as well as friends, associates, experts and Jeff himself, share their stories of this worldwide phenomenon that began in small comics hobby shops and is now found in bookstores, schools, libraries and the homes of millions of adults and children in 25 countries. In addition to discussing Jeff's early years, influences and philosophies, the film provides a look at a unique industry and art form that continues to evolve as its audience expands.—Ken Mills

Appropriately named, this documentary not only follows the career of cartoonist Jeff Smith but also covers changes in the comic industry. The film begins with Jeff's early influences: Charles Schultz (creator of 'Peanuts'), Elzie Stinger (creator of 'Popeye'), Walt Kelly (creator of 'Pogo') and especially Carl Barks (creator of 'Scrooge McDuck'). Growing up, Jeff was always drawing which irritated his teachers and especially his parents. But drawing was something he had to do. Following high school Jeff attended Ohio State University where he created a comic strip ('Thorn') for the student newspaper. Interviewed for this film were Lucy Caswell (founding curator of the Cartoon Library and Museum at OSU), Scott McCloud (author of 'Understanding Comics'), Harvey Pekar (creator of 'American Splendor') and others. After college, Jeff went into business with former high school classmate Jim Kammerud. The business they founded was an animation studio: Character Builders. But the idea of creating and producing comics kept nagging at Jeff. So six years after creating Character Builders he left to start his own company: Cartoon Books. His real passion was a longer form, one similar to Tolkien's 'Lord of the Rings' but done in the comic format. This starts the second part of the documentary: Changes in the comic industry. Today that long form of cartooning produces what is known as a graphic novel. Smith drew the artwork, handled shipping, billing, and all the other parts of a business. Finally it got to be too much so Smith convinced his wife to take over the business part and leave him to the artwork. Originally Bone was done in black-and-white but Scholastic Books came along and convinced Smith to reissue the Bone series - this time in color. Bone is now found in both children's libraries and public libraries. Awards and acclaim followed.