''Rock Jaw: Master of the Eastern Border'' is the fifth book in the ''

Bone A bone is a Stiffness, rigid Organ (biology), organ that constitutes part of the skeleton in most vertebrate animals. Bones protect the various other organs of the body, produce red blood cell, red and white blood cells, store minerals, provid ...

'' series. It collects issues 28-32 of Jeff Smith's self-published ''Bone'' comic book series. The book was published by

Cartoon Books Jeff Smith (born February 27, 1960) is an American cartoonist. He is best known as the creator of the self-publishing, self-published comic book series ''Bone (comics), Bone''. Early life Jeff Smith was born in McKees Rocks, Pennsylvania to Willi ...

in its original black-and-white form in 1998. Paperback and hardback coloured editions were published in February 2007 by Scholastic. This book focuses on the journey of

Fone Bone ''Bone'' is an American independently-published graphic novel series, written and illustrated by Jeff Smith (cartoonist), Jeff Smith, originally serialized in 55 irregularly released issues from 1991 to 2004. The series was self-published by Smi ...

and

Smiley Bone ''Bone'' is an American independently-published graphic novel series, written and illustrated by Jeff Smith, originally serialized in 55 irregularly released issues from 1991 to 2004. The series was self-published by Smith's Cartoon Books for i ...

. They travel to the mountains to return a baby Rat Creature back to his own kind. On the way, they are interrupted by Roque Ja (whose name the Bones mispronounce as "Rock Jaw"), a giant and enigmatic

mountain lion The cougar (''Puma concolor'') is a large cat native to the Americas. Its range spans from the Canadian Yukon to the southern Andes in South America and is the most widespread of any large wild terrestrial mammal in the Western Hemisphere. I ...

. They spend the rest of their journey teamed up with a band of orphans to escape Rock Jaw. On this adventure Fone Bone and Smiley Bone also have to escape Kingdok. Notably, it is the only book in the series to not feature the characters of Phoney Bone, Thorn Harvestar, Gran’ma Ben, and Lucius Down.

Synopsis

Roque Ja

Fone Bone and Smiley enter the Eastern Mountains to set free the baby Rat Creature, whom Smiley names Bartleby, and accidentally encounter the two Stupid Rat Creatures. Escaping these, they encounter the eponymous giant mountain lion 'Rock Jaw', who explains the Hooded One fears "the one who bears the star" (Phoney Bone), whom it suspects of plotting against it.

The Orphans

Rock Jaw escorts Smiley and Fone higher into the mountains, followed by the

opossum Opossums () are members of the marsupial order Didelphimorphia () endemic to the Americas. The largest order of marsupials in the Western Hemisphere, it comprises 93 species in 18 genera. Opossums originated in South America and entered North ...

children who befriended the Bones in the initial volume. Knowing that Rock Jaw hates interlopers in his territory, the "possum kids" and their

raccoon The raccoon ( or , ''Procyon lotor''), sometimes called the common raccoon to distinguish it from other species, is a mammal native to North America. It is the largest of the procyonid family, having a body length of , and a body weight of ...

friend Roderick lure the two stupid Rat Creatures to distract Rock Jaw; but Roderick refuses to leave without his friends of other species, and Rock Jaw rejoins them.

Rat Creature Temple

The Bones and small animals escape into a tunnel in the mountainside, and emerge beside a deserted

temple A temple (from the Latin ) is a building reserved for spiritual rituals and activities such as prayer and sacrifice. Religions which erect temples include Christianity (whose temples are typically called churches), Hinduism (whose temples ...

built apparently by Rat Creatures, where they speculate (after a story related by Roque Ja and other characters) that the

valley A valley is an elongated low area often running between Hill, hills or Mountain, mountains, which will typically contain a river or stream running from one end to the other. Most valleys are formed by erosion of the land surface by rivers ...

was created by a war among

dragon A dragon is a reptilian legendary creature that appears in the folklore of many cultures worldwide. Beliefs about dragons vary considerably through regions, but dragons in western cultures since the High Middle Ages have often been depicted as ...

s, and that the same war imprisoned the 'Lord of the Locusts', the story's antagonist. As the Bones continue towards the valley, they encounter the two stupid Rat Creatures; but all are pursued onto a ledge by the Rat Creatures' chief, Kingdok.

Ghost Circles

Trapped by Kingdok, the Bones and the Rat Creatures continue along a precarious cliff, and are later attacked by a swarm of

locust Locusts (derived from the Vulgar Latin ''locusta'', meaning grasshopper) are various species of short-horned grasshoppers in the family Acrididae that have a swarming phase. These insects are usually solitary, but under certain circumstanc ...

s, whereupon Fone Bone falls onto a lower ledge and the locusts try to carry him away; but a

medallion A medal or medallion is a small portable artistic object, a thin disc, normally of metal, carrying a design, usually on both sides. They typically have a commemorative purpose of some kind, and many are presented as awards. They may be int ...

given by Gran'ma Ben scares the locusts away. As the locusts flee, Kingdok vanishes, having been an illusion generated by the locusts' magic.

Call of the Wild

The Rat Creatures, the Bones and their friends descend from the mountains, unaware that they are eavesdropped upon by Roque Ja. As they descend, the Rat Creatures reveal that the current unrest has only come about since the Hooded One arrived, bringing the locusts and strange dreams. At that moment, Roque Ja orders them back up the mountain. Before they can go far, the real Kingdok fights with Roque Ja, and the Bones escape (the two stupid rat creatures). Roderick, the possum kids, and the other orphans leave; the 'two stupids' and Bartleby rejoin the other Rat Creatures; the Rat Creatures carry the unconscious Kingdok away; and Fone Bone and Smiley Bone return to the valley. {{Bone series Bone graphic novels 1998 graphic novels