Bone Sharps, Cowboys, and Thunder Lizards
Cover of Bone Sharps, Cowboys, and Thunder Lizards
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| Author | Jim Ottaviani |
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| Illustrator | Big Time Attic |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Publisher | G.T. Labs |
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Publication date
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October 2005 |
| Media type | Print Paperback |
| Pages | 165 pp |
| ISBN | |
| OCLC | 62186178 |
| LC Class | QE707.C63 O88 2005 |
Bone Sharps, Cowboys, and Thunder Lizards: A Tale of Edward Drinker Cope, Othniel Charles Marsh, and the Gilded Age of Paleontology (2005) is a graphic novel written by Jim Ottaviani and illustrated by the company Big Time Attic. The book tells a slightly fictionalized account of the Bone Wars, a period of intense excavation, speculation, and rivalry which led to a greater understanding of dinosaurs in the western United States. This novel is the first semi-fictional work written by Ottaviani; previously, he had taken no creative license with the characters he depicted, portraying them strictly according to historical sources.
Bone Sharps follows the two scientists Edward Drinker Cope and Othniel Marsh as they engage in an intense rivalry for prestige. Ottaviani has Cope and Marsh interact and meet many important figures of the Gilded Age, from P. T. Barnum to U.S. Grant, as the two scientists pursue their hotheaded and sometimes illegal acquisitions of fossils. Unlike in his previous books, "the scientists are the bad guys this time". Upon release, the novel received praise from critics for its exceptional historical content, although some reviewers wished more fiction had been woven into the story.
Author Jim Ottaviani was drawn to the subject of paleontologists Edward Drinker Cope and Othniel Charles Marsh after reading a book about the Bone Wars while working at the University of Michigan Library in Ann Arbor. Ottaviani had previously written books and comics on scientific figures, but had never written a work of historical fiction. While Ottaviani was putting his ideas together, he met Zander Cannon at the 2004 San Diego Comic Convention. Cannon and associates were forming a new production studio, "Big Time Attic"; Ottaviani mentioned he had a proposal he wanted to show them. Referring to Big Time Attic, Ottaviani stated in an interview that "A newly formed studio taking on a 160-page graphic novel is ambitious" and that he was lucky to have had the book published. Even the format—the book is wider than it is tall—was a departure for Ottaviani, but he explained that since the story was talking about "wide expanses of territory" and the American West, the artists at Big Time Attic wanted a more non-traditional landscape page design.
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