Smith sucks readers in with the cute Bone creatures and the comic aspect of the tale early, and then slowly turns the narrative toward the more epic and fantastical tale he is telling. This is not a simple funny anthropomorphic tale, but a traditional fantasy with hidden royalty and swords and evil spirits. And somehow, Smith manages to keep a good balance between the heavy, darker aspects of his story and the comic moments. He never forgets to temper the darker sections of the narrative with some levity. And, in the same way Smith utilized the comic page to relate his comic timing, he also understands how to use it to create tension and dread in his audience. A prime example from issue #16 comes when Thorn, Gran’ma, and Fone Bone are skulking through the rainy forest in the dead of night trying to evade the rat creatures:
This is a brilliant use of the comic page to convey the emotion he wants readers to feel.
Smith can do creepy too:
Smith also takes everything about the comic page into account when crafting his stories. Like Dave Sim, who may be the master of this, Smith utilizes his lettering to convey emotions in pages like this one:
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