Cartoonist Jeff Smith Suffers Cardiac Arrest, Cancels Remaining Tour Dates

An image from Jeff Smith's 'Bone' (Image: Comic Books)

Jeff Smith, the cartoonist best known for Bone, suffered a cardiac arrest on Sunday, according to a statement shared by his publisher Kathleen Glosan on the platform X, formally known as Twitter.

Smith is canceling his remaining tour dates amid his recovery.

“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,” Glosan stated.

He had been on his Dawn of Men tour since March to celebrate the release of his new graphic novel, Tuki, a prehistoric-themed action series that takes place two million years ago. The novel revolves around rival humans who struggle to survive and thrive. Smith self-published Tuki through Kickstarter, with the first volume TUKI: Fight for Fire, being released in July 2021, while the second volume, TUKI: Fight for Family, was released in October 2021.

On his tour, Smith had four more stops, including a New York City Comic-Con appearance. He also had to cancel other comic conventions in Virginia, Ohio and Texas and will not make any further appearances for the rest of the year.

Smith is best known for creating Bone, a graphic novel series that blends dark fantasy and lighthearted comedy. The series centers around three bone-shaped cousins exiled into Boneville, where they begin their adventure. Bone was hugely successful in the ’90s and 2000s, winning ten Eisner awards, prizes for achievement in American comic books and graphic novels. There were numerous plans for an adaptation, with Warner Bros. and Nickelodeon attached to the project, though none have been produced. The most recent attempt was an animated series produced through Netflix, which was canceled in 2022 due to an upheaval of Netflix’s animation department.