Bone Sharps, Cowboys, and Thunder Lizards

Bone Sharps, Cowboys, and Thunder Lizards

Author	Jim Ottaviani
Illustrator	Big Time Attic
Language	English
Publisher	GT Labs
Publication date	October 2005
Publication place	United States
Media type	Print Paperback
Pages	165 pp
ISBN	ISBN 978-0-9660106-6-4

Bone Sharps, Cowboys, and Thunder Lizards: A Tale of Edward Drinker Cope, Othniel Charles Marsh, and the Gilded Age of Paleontology is a graphic novel written by Jim Ottaviani and illustrated by Big Time Attic. The book tells a slightly fictionalized account of a real historical event known as 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 historically fictitious work Ottaviani has done; previously, Ottaviani had taken no creative license with the characters he depicted, portraying them strictly according to historical sources.

Following the two scientists Edward Drinker Cope and Othniel Marsh as they engage in an intense rivalry, Ottaviani has the two scientists interact and meet many important figures of the Gilded Age, from P. T. Barnum to U.S. Grant in their hotheaded and sometimes illegal pursuits. Unlike in his previous books, according to Ottaviani, "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 Upon release, the novel received praise from critics for its exceptional historical content, although some reviewers wished more fiction had been woven into the story.

Background

According to author Jim Ottaviani, he 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 was willing 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; again, I'm really 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 nontraditional landscape page design.

One of Ottaviani's bits of creative license was to transport the artist Charles Knight earlier into the story than originally intended. On Knight's role in the story, Ottaviani wrote:

As I was reading about Cope and Marsh, I ran across Knight as something of a bit player in their lives. As I got further into the Cope and Marsh story, and I liked the two less and less as people—which is different from liking them as characters, of course—I wanted to have a character in the book for the readers to root for, and neither of the scientists could fill that role. When I found out that Knight had met Cope just before Cope died, I became convinced that he was the character I needed.

Ottaviani's granddaughter forwarded the author a copy of Knight's autobiographical manuscript, which further solidified Knight's role in the book. Ottaviani's company G.T. Labs eventually published Knight's biography, with notes by Ottaviani and forewords by Ray Bradbury and Ray Harryhausen.

Plot summary

Bone Sharps

The novel begins in Philadelphia. Henry Fairfield Osborn is introducing Charles R. Knight to Edward Drinker Cope, a paleontologist whose entire house is filled with bones and specimens. Cope is commissioning a painting, something to "catch the spirit" of the sea creature Elasmosaurus. Cope then leaves for the West, as the official scientist form the U.S. Geological Survey. On the way, he meets Othniel Charles Marsh, a fellow paleontologist, and shows him his dig site at a marl pit in New Jersey; after Cope leaves, Marsh talks to the owner of the land and pays him off to gain exclusive digging rights. At Fort Bridger, Wyoming, Cope meets Sam Smith, a helper to the USGS. During excavations, Cope finds some of the richest bone veins ever. Sending back carloads of dinosaur bones east by train, Cope encounters Marsh, who is heading out west as well. Marsh travels in style, lounging in coach while the rest of his team travels third class—Marsh even berates them for playing cards, saying it is “low class” and that Yale graduates should look more presentable. At Fort McPherson, Nebraska, Marsh meets "Buffalo” Bill Cody, who serves as their guide, along with the native American Indian tribe. Marsh discovers many new fossils, and promises to Chief Red Cloud that he will talk to the President about the situation of the Native Americans—they have been given spoiled food in exchange for their land.

Back East, Knight has finished his reconstruction of Elasmosaurus. He and Knight return to the marl pits of New Jersey, but are forced away. Cope becomes furious and storms away when he learns Marsh has bought the digging rights, and published a paper revealing his interpretation of Elasmosaurus flawed.

Cowboys

Some time later, John Bell Hatcher is backing out of paying his share of a card game by drawing his revolver. He has taken to gambling, as Marsh, who employs him as a bone hunter, is not providing him with enough funds. Meanwhile Marsh is lobbying to the Bureau of Indian Affairs on behalf of Red Cloud, but also visiting with the Geological Survey and President U.S. Grant, insinuating that he would be a better leader of the USGS than Cope. After learning about Sam Smith's attempted sabotage of Cope and once again receiving no payment from Marsh, Hatcher leaves the employ of Othniel. Marsh, now representing the survey, heads west with wealthy businessmen, scoffing at the financial misfortunes of Cope, whose investments have failed.

Cope travels with Knight to Europe; Knight with the intention to visit Paris zoos, Cope with the intent of selling off much of his bone collection. Cope has also spent much of his money buying The American Naturalist, a paper in which he plans to attack Marsh's dealings. Hatcher arrives in New York to talk about the find Laelaps; in his speech, he subtly hints at the folly of Marsh's elitism and backstabbing as well as Cope's collecting obsession. Cope and James Gordon Bennet, Jr, arrive in Washington later to discuss Marsh; Marsh arrives later, and is chastised for the bad press and expense he is bringing to the survey by pursuing his "birds with teeth" theory. Cope returns to the west for more fossils, at the expense of his health.

Thunder Lizards

Later, Marsh is attending a conference on telephony hosted by Alexander Graham Bell; it is here he learns that his USGS expense tab (to which he had been charging drinks) has been withdrawn, his publication has been suspended, and that the fossils he found as part of the USGS are to be returned to the Survey. His colleagues now shun him, and he is forced to go to Phineas T. Barnum, an entertainer, to try and obtain a loan.

At the same time, Osborn and Knight arrive at Cope's residence; Cope has died of illness. The funeral is markedly pitiful, with only a few Quakers and the two friends in attendance. Cope has bequeathed his remains to science, and requested to have his bones considered for the Homo sapiens lectotype. Back at Marsh's "wigwam", Marsh rejoins his guest, Chief Red Cloud, who is examining Marsh's luxuries, including a telephone, a chimney, and various bones and antiquities. Red Cloud's interest is piqued by a long tusk from a Mastodon, which the Shawnee call Yakwawi'ak. The Shawnee have an ancient legend, which Marsh relates. At one time there were giant men proportionate to the mastodons. However, when the great men grew few, the Great Spirit decided to destroy the Yakwawi'ak himself. All but one bull was killed; this last mastodon fled north, where he remains to modern times. In exchange for the loss of the Mastodon, the Great Spirit created the cranberry, a bitter reminder of the blood spilled. Chief Red Cloud remarks that it is a true story, but Marsh rebukes him, saying that science tells modern man that his ancestors were smaller, not larger, than him. Red Cloud, on his way out, responds that "it is not a story about science. It is about men."

Characters

All the characters in the graphic novel are real figures from history; in addition to the prominent paleontologists, Bone Sharps also features other important historical figures from the Gilded Age.

• Edward Drinker Cope – An American paleontologist, Cope spent nearly all his money in attacking Marsh and financing further digs for bones out west. In the novel, Ottaviani portrays Cope as the more sympathetic of the two scientists.
• Othniel Charles Marsh – Rival to Cope, Marsh was a Yale-educated scholar who disdained what he called "the publicization of science". His sizable fortune granted him favor and status in politics and society. By the end of Bone Sharps, Marsh is seen to have lost favor with the science world at large for his excessive means to acquire fossils; nonetheless, he "defeated" Cope by discovering more new species.
• Charles R. Knight – A famous painter of the twentieth century who created numerous paleontological pieces (the dinosaurs on the cover are based on Knight's painting Leaping Laelaps). As a plot device, Ottaviani introduces Knight to Cope earlier than historically recorded.
• P.T. Barnum – American showman, famous for his hoaxes and for founding the Ringling Brothers and Barnum and Bailey Circus later in life. Barnum's Cardiff Giant is exposed as a fraud by Marsh, who later comes to the entertainer begging for money.
• Henry Fairfield Osborn – paleontologist and geologist, Osborn joined the US Geological Survey in 1890, and on one fossil-hunting trip to the West met Cope. He described numerous well-known dinosaur species, including Ornitholestes, Tyrannosaurus rex, and Velociraptor.
• Bill Cody – Commonly known as "Buffalo Bill", this western showman makes a brief appearance in Part II.
• Ulysses S Grant – 18th President of the United States of America, Marsh uses his connections to lobby directly to Grant.

Fact and fiction

While the majority of Bone Sharps is true and all of it is based on history, the author acknowledged several differences between real events, and certain artistic license taken. A major change made to complement the story was the insertion of Charles Knight into the narrative; in real life, Knight did not meet Cope until much later in his career. In addition, his autobiography states that it was reporter William Horsea Ballou who introduced the two, not Osborn. There is no evidence Marsh and Knight ever met. Editor James Gordon Bennet, Jr. never lobbied with Cope, and never exposed Marsh's will; Cope's bones also never made it to New York.

Some conversations, due to their private nature, were fictionalized; Ottoviani makes up Marsh's lobby to Congress and what happened during his meeting with President Grant, and P.T. Barnum never told off Marsh the way he did in the novel. Ottoviani also wove the story Marsh tells about the Mastodon from several different versions of the legend.

Reception

The book was generally well-received upon release. Todd Klein recommended the book to his readers, stating that the novel was able to convey the depths of Cope and Marsh's rivalry and "we can only wonder how much more could have been accomplished if [Cope and Marsh] had only been willing to team up instead". Klein's complaints focused on the somewhat stiff art and the difficulty in telling some characters apart, but said these shortcomings did not affect the flow and reading. Johanna Carlson of ComicsWorthReading.com found Bone Sharps's central message, "the question of whether promotion is a necessary evil (to gather funds through attention) or a base desire of those with the wrong motivations", is still relevant to today' society; Carlson also lauded the flow of the novel and some of the intricate details. Other reviewers praised Ottaviani's inclusion of notable historical figures, and the educational yet entertaining feel of the work.

In addition to minor issues with the art, some reviewers, including Entertainment Weekly, felt that more fiction could have been used in the mostly non-fiction writing. Due to the historical background of the book, Bone Sharps has been used in educational settings, as part of a test to educate young children using comic books. Since the release of the graphic novel, Ottaviani has published other slightly fictionalized historical stories, including Levitation: Physics and Psychology in the Service of Deception and Wire Mothers: Harry Harlow and the Science of Love.

External links

• Bone Sharps, Cowboys, and Thunder Lizards Preview at GT Labs