Eisner and Harvey-award winner Jeff Smith, best known for his long-running indie comic series Bone, has cancelled the remaining stops on his latest book tour after suffering cardiac arrest. Cartoon Books, Smith’s publisher, confirmed the news today, writing in a statement posted to their website:
Videos by ComicBook.com
“To our friends and fans: Jeff Smith is recuperating from a cardiac arrest, which he suffered on Sunday. There will be a long road to recovery, so regrettably we must cancel the remainder of his book tour this year. Our apologies to his fans who were coming to see him at: Rob Con (VA), CXC (OH), Bedrock Comic Con (TX) and NYCC (NY). We hope this is just a bump in the road and that Jeff will see you all next year. Thank you for your support and understanding at this time.”
Well wishes for Jeff Smith naturally began to pour in after the news was confirmed.
- “Wishing a full and speedy recovery to the great Jeff Smith,” comic scribe Christos Gage wrote in a post.
- “So sorry to hear this. Great creator, lovely gentleman,” Batgirl writer Gail Simone wrote.
- “Amanda and I love Jeff and wish him a speedy recovery!!” wrote Jimmy Palmiotti.
Fans also naturally went on to post wishes for a speedy recovery for Jeff, many noting his important to the comic book medium as a whole.
Smith’s work on Bone, a comic that ran from the 1990s to the early 2000s with over 50 issues, netted Smith ten Eisner Awards during its publication and eleven Harvey Awards. The series mixes the setting of a fantasy epic with characters modeled off classic cartoons like Bugs Bunny, mixing humor and adventure along the way. Attempts to adapt the comic into something for the big screen or television have been attempted before, including most recently with Netflix. After that version failed to materialize, Smith appeared to announce that he would no longer sell the option to the series to anyone hoping to adapt it. Naturally that announcement came in the form of a comic.
