Chris Butcher takes time out from his usual delightfully savage commentary to examine the evolution of the cover designs of various editions of BONE :

Fabulous! The best one yet! You can really see where Smith refined the hell out of his previous design and made it sing. We get a big beautiful bone, front and centre, and the biggest he’s ever appeared on a cover! The backpack and map colours are brought more in line with Bone’s colouring to make them stand out less. We still get a sense of place (mountainous region) and a sense of time (moonlight) and even an idea of the story (bone with a map, travelling, being stalked by a meancing shadow). Our shadowy friend is greatly simplified, with his large eyes harkening back to the firs OFB edition, but with a much clearer focus and really drawing the reader in. Bone is also engaging the map (not just carrying it), which harkens back to the very first design. The framing is still there thanks to our rocks, the text pops thanks to a drop-shadow, and our pal Bone is smiling too, so we know that even though it’s a bit scary, there’s fun to be had as well. The book is also more colourful than the previous edition, with fewer deep shadows. It’s just a really, really strong design that tightens up all the good elements of the previous editions, and brings something new as well.