Bone

Jeff Smith's Bone (1995–2005, Delcourt) follows the three Bone cousins—Fone Bone, Phoney Bone, and Smiley Bone—as they are run out of their hometown and lost in a vast, mysterious valley populated by strange creatures and hidden dangers. Over the course of eleven issues, Smith blends slapstick comedy, high fantasy, and epic adventure, gradually revealing a deep, sprawling mythology involving a lost dragon, an ancient evil, and a young girl named Thorn. The series is widely celebrated as a landmark of independent comics, demonstrating how a creator-owned, black-and-white fantasy could achieve both critical acclaim and broad, all-ages appeal.