"Never again": Jeff Smith posts very weary comic after (yet another) Bone adaptation falls apart
Netflix's adaptation of Smith's beloved fantasy comic was recently declared dead at the streamer

The frustrating thing about Hollywood’s consistent inability to adapt Jeff Smith’s beloved, best-selling, critically beloved comic series Bone to either film or TV is that it feels like such a no-brainer. Smith’s series (originally printed from 1991 to 2004, and still available in gorgeous collected editions) is a winning combination of classic cartoon slapstick and Tolkien-esque epic storytelling, managing to achieve the sweep of a great fantasy novel without losing track of the comedy stylings of cartoon heroes Fone, Phoney, and Smiley Bone. Smith’s blend of simpler cartoon characters and far more elaborate art feels like such an obvious fit for animation—and yet, here we are, Boneless once again.
The latest Bone project was announced to have fallen apart earlier this week, when The Wrap’s Drew Taylor ran a longer report on problems at Netflix’s original animation department. (This, amidst the wider problems plaguing Netflix as a whole at this particular moment.) Developments around the Bone show had been quiet since the show was announced back in 2019, but, hey: It’s animation, right? Sometimes things take a while.