Cartoon Books has launched a Kickstarter campaign for THORN: The Complete Proto-BONE College Strips from 1982 to 1986 and Other Early Drawings. The collection prints the earliest renderings of the world-famous BONE characters for the first time in its entirety!

The comic strips reveal an early version of BONE called THORN that was written for a college audience in the 1980s. THORN appeared in the pages of The Ohio State University’s student newspaper The Lantern. A few were reprinted in a self-published 1983 book called THORN: Tales from The Lantern. Another small selection was published in 2008’s limited edition fundraiser for OSU’s Billy Ireland Cartoon Library & Museum called Before Bone. Both books are long out of print and sell at collector’s prices. There has never been an official, complete run published until now.

This beautiful edition includes plenty of bonus material such as recently discovered early drawings of the BONE characters, essays and interviews. Because these strips were created for a college audience, this book may not be appropriate for all ages.

THORN: The Complete College Strips, will be published in both hardcover and trade paperback. The digital pdf will be available December 2023 for the holidays, and the physical rewards will ship in Spring of 2024.

The campaign runs until Friday, November 17 2023 11:59 AM EST.