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MoriartyL · 12-17-2006, 02:44 AM

The Bone comic book series by Jeff Smith takes place in a fantasy world with many wondrous things. (I won't dare to be more specific, so as not to spoil it.) Those characters who know of these things do not speak of them, do not tell others about them, so that they should be able to make that discovery for themselves. If it were spoiled, and everyone knew exactly what existed near them, that discovery would be lessened. Now, in an interesting twist, the Bone series itself is just such a wondrous thing. Though I've read countless comic books, Smith's epic is my favorite comic without any real competition. The sense of discovery I had when I first read it is the sort of thing I'll remember for the rest of my life.

Unfortunately, whenever I try telling anyone (my family, for instance) about it, I feel like I'm trying to tell them about Moby Dick! Why, you ask? Because what needs to be praised about these books is not the characters themselves, or even the adventure/fantasy story they get swept along into! No, what sets Bone apart from everything else out there is one simple thing: Jeff Smith himself. He is a master of the form, in every way. (..save perhaps for coloring, which is contributed by the also-brilliant Steve Hamaker in the new editions of the comics.) His drawings are the very definition of nuance, with every slight change in expression on the characters' faces telling the reader exactly what's going on in their heads. His excellent sense of pacing sweeps the reader off his feet. His complete genius at storytelling means that when he writes funny, you can't stop laughing, and when he writes exciting, your eyes are glued to the page, and when he writes emotional your heart melts.

I imagine that the developers at Telltale had similar moments of discovery to mine. And like me, they must have felt like they had to share it with the world. But whereas I tried to talk about Smith's skill, they tried to retell the tale. They copied the dialogue word for word from the original, copied the coloring choices (though not the techniques) of Steve Hamaker, tried to imitate the drawings as well as possible through their graphics. And what we're left with is akin to Fone Bone trying to tell friends about Ishmael and Ahab- no one cares, no one should care. Because no matter how precise the imitation is, the player has not had the moment of discovery for himself yet. And what it was that fueled that moment of discovery was not Fone Bone and the valley and the rat creatures and the chain of events that connects them! It was the extraordinary skill of the master storyteller who illuminated that story for us: Jeff Smith himself.

So what, exactly, is this imitation trying to achieve? Sure, the adaptation is professional. The graphics are perfectly adequate, the animations are decently amusing, the voice acting is (with very few exceptions) a perfect match for the originals. (Phoney in particular couldn't have been much better.) But at the end of the day, what has any of this accomplished? Are the Telltale guys crazy enough to think that they can tell this story as well as Jeff Smith?! Well, they can't. Not by a long shot. A gag about rat creatures was hilarious in two pages, but dragged out into a five-minute mechanical puzzle the humor is lost. Fone Bone's lonely journey was expressed perfectly through wordless minimalism in the comic, while here it's turned into an artificial-feeling maze. Running from the "army" later on in the comic was very scary and desparate, while here it's a little arcade sequence which won't really excite anyone. Essentially, what we have here is the empty shell of the comic -all the superficial bits- while what made it work in the first place -the brilliant application of sequential art- is replaced by soulless computer-game clichés. Most of the scenes here don't work one tenth as well as the comic book in getting their message across. So what's the point?

I don't think it was even technically possible to match the comic's storytelling. See, the comic medium has a hundred-year head start over the adventure. The adventure as a storytelling medium is in its infancy. The potential just isn't there yet. Jeff Smith didn't singlehandedly invent the comic- he inherited it from countless great cartoonists who came before him. But if this adventure were to work, and I mean by that actually holding up in a comparison to the comic, it needed to seriously evolve the language of adventures to tell stories better, and that is a task which cannot be expected of any team. By opting for a straight adaptation, the good people at Telltale were playing way out of their league. They could have decided to make an adventure which stands on its own. A story which is not so closely tied to the original, new additional characters perhaps. A game world in which inventory puzzles don't feel out of place. In short, they could have put a bit of themselves into the game. But they didn't. And it doesn't stand on its own.

I desperately hope that this series does not attract anyone who has not already read the comics. If someone who had not experienced Jeff Smith's storytelling for himself yet played this game, listening to the Telltale group telling him the entire story, the moment of discovery of the original would be spoiled. The rat creature joke wouldn't be as funny after playing a five-minute repetitive puzzle which spoiled the punchline. The adventure-comic thrill of "What'll happen next?" wouldn't be as exciting after the whole story had been spoiled via a slowly paced adventure. The awe of turning the page and seeing Steve Hamaker's lovely coloring of the valley landscape wouldn't be as strong when the quick and sloppy approach the game took already told you roughly what you'd be seeing. If the developers were hoping to share the original discovery with their customers, they have been sorely misguided. They needed to let them discover the comic for themselves!

If this game were instead a prequel to the comic, or a sequel, or a side-story, or a re-envisioning, it would have served the same purpose. The players, enjoying the enthusiastic new ideas the developers had shared, would be eager to find more with the good "Bone" name. And then they'd experience the original with few expectations, as it should be. But if they wanted to tell the original story, then they were foolish, as foolish as believing that retelling the story of Moby Dick yourself is going to compare to the work of Herman Melville! If you have not read the comic, I beg of you, do not play this game.

2/5

12-17-2006, 02:44 AM	#22
MoriartyL Not like them! Join Date: Aug 2005 Location: Israel Posts: 2,570	Out From Boneville: a counterproductive imitation The Bone comic book series by Jeff Smith takes place in a fantasy world with many wondrous things. (I won't dare to be more specific, so as not to spoil it.) Those characters who know of these things do not speak of them, do not tell others about them, so that they should be able to make that discovery for themselves. If it were spoiled, and everyone knew exactly what existed near them, that discovery would be lessened. Now, in an interesting twist, the Bone series itself is just such a wondrous thing. Though I've read countless comic books, Smith's epic is my favorite comic without any real competition. The sense of discovery I had when I first read it is the sort of thing I'll remember for the rest of my life. Unfortunately, whenever I try telling anyone (my family, for instance) about it, I feel like I'm trying to tell them about Moby Dick! Why, you ask? Because what needs to be praised about these books is not the characters themselves, or even the adventure/fantasy story they get swept along into! No, what sets Bone apart from everything else out there is one simple thing: Jeff Smith himself. He is a master of the form, in every way. (..save perhaps for coloring, which is contributed by the also-brilliant Steve Hamaker in the new editions of the comics.) His drawings are the very definition of nuance, with every slight change in expression on the characters' faces telling the reader exactly what's going on in their heads. His excellent sense of pacing sweeps the reader off his feet. His complete genius at storytelling means that when he writes funny, you can't stop laughing, and when he writes exciting, your eyes are glued to the page, and when he writes emotional your heart melts. I imagine that the developers at Telltale had similar moments of discovery to mine. And like me, they must have felt like they had to share it with the world. But whereas I tried to talk about Smith's skill, they tried to retell the tale. They copied the dialogue word for word from the original, copied the coloring choices (though not the techniques) of Steve Hamaker, tried to imitate the drawings as well as possible through their graphics. And what we're left with is akin to Fone Bone trying to tell friends about Ishmael and Ahab- no one cares, no one should care. Because no matter how precise the imitation is, the player has not had the moment of discovery for himself yet. And what it was that fueled that moment of discovery was not Fone Bone and the valley and the rat creatures and the chain of events that connects them! It was the extraordinary skill of the master storyteller who illuminated that story for us: Jeff Smith himself. So what, exactly, is this imitation trying to achieve? Sure, the adaptation is professional. The graphics are perfectly adequate, the animations are decently amusing, the voice acting is (with very few exceptions) a perfect match for the originals. (Phoney in particular couldn't have been much better.) But at the end of the day, what has any of this accomplished? Are the Telltale guys crazy enough to think that they can tell this story as well as Jeff Smith?! Well, they can't. Not by a long shot. A gag about rat creatures was hilarious in two pages, but dragged out into a five-minute mechanical puzzle the humor is lost. Fone Bone's lonely journey was expressed perfectly through wordless minimalism in the comic, while here it's turned into an artificial-feeling maze. Running from the "army" later on in the comic was very scary and desparate, while here it's a little arcade sequence which won't really excite anyone. Essentially, what we have here is the empty shell of the comic -all the superficial bits- while what made it work in the first place -the brilliant application of sequential art- is replaced by soulless computer-game clichés. Most of the scenes here don't work one tenth as well as the comic book in getting their message across. So what's the point? I don't think it was even technically possible to match the comic's storytelling. See, the comic medium has a hundred-year head start over the adventure. The adventure as a storytelling medium is in its infancy. The potential just isn't there yet. Jeff Smith didn't singlehandedly invent the comic- he inherited it from countless great cartoonists who came before him. But if this adventure were to work, and I mean by that actually holding up in a comparison to the comic, it needed to seriously evolve the language of adventures to tell stories better, and that is a task which cannot be expected of any team. By opting for a straight adaptation, the good people at Telltale were playing way out of their league. They could have decided to make an adventure which stands on its own. A story which is not so closely tied to the original, new additional characters perhaps. A game world in which inventory puzzles don't feel out of place. In short, they could have put a bit of themselves into the game. But they didn't. And it doesn't stand on its own. I desperately hope that this series does not attract anyone who has not already read the comics. If someone who had not experienced Jeff Smith's storytelling for himself yet played this game, listening to the Telltale group telling him the entire story, the moment of discovery of the original would be spoiled. The rat creature joke wouldn't be as funny after playing a five-minute repetitive puzzle which spoiled the punchline. The adventure-comic thrill of "What'll happen next?" wouldn't be as exciting after the whole story had been spoiled via a slowly paced adventure. The awe of turning the page and seeing Steve Hamaker's lovely coloring of the valley landscape wouldn't be as strong when the quick and sloppy approach the game took already told you roughly what you'd be seeing. If the developers were hoping to share the original discovery with their customers, they have been sorely misguided. They needed to let them discover the comic for themselves! If this game were instead a prequel to the comic, or a sequel, or a side-story, or a re-envisioning, it would have served the same purpose. The players, enjoying the enthusiastic new ideas the developers had shared, would be eager to find more with the good "Bone" name. And then they'd experience the original with few expectations, as it should be. But if they wanted to tell the original story, then they were foolish, as foolish as believing that retelling the story of Moby Dick yourself is going to compare to the work of Herman Melville! If you have not read the comic, I beg of you, do not play this game. 2/5 __________________ -Mory My first game My second game My third game Last edited by MoriartyL; 12-17-2006 at 02:51 AM.