You’re Either Going to Love or Hate DC Comics’ New Hanna-Barbera Line
Or maybe you’ll love some and hate some? Either way, today DC Comics announced a new line of Hanna-Barbera books.
Entertainment Weekly had the exclusive reveal writing, “You remember their names: Fred Flintstone, Scooby-Doo, Johnny Quest. You remember the scenario: Sitting in front of the television every Saturday morning, watching great animated adventures while still in your pajamas. And this May, DC Entertainment is taking you back to those days with an all-new line of comics based on your favorite Hanna-Barbera characters. Featuring books like Scooby Apocalypse, Future Quest, Wacky Raceland and The Flintstones, DC is looking not to rehash old stories, but revitalize the characters in a new day and age — while keeping their charm, of course.”
From DCComics.com:
SCOOBY APOCALYPSE – Featuring character designs by veteran artist Jim Lee and an origin story by Jim Lee and Keith Giffen (JUSTICE LEAGUE 3001), artist Howard Porter (SUPERMAN) will provide his own unique take on Freddie, Velma, Daphne, Shaggy and Scooby-Doo. “Those meddling kids” and their Mystery Machine are at the center of a well-meaning experiment gone wrong and they’ll need to bring all of their mystery solving skills to bear (along with plenty of Scooby Snacks), to find a cure for a world full of mutated creatures infected by a nanite virus that enhances their fears, terrors and baser instincts. This time, the horrors are real in this apocalyptic near-future badland!
FUTURE QUEST – Writer Jeff Parker (AQUAMAN, JUSTICE LEAGUE UNITED, BATMAN ’66) and artist Evan “Doc” Shaner (JUSTICE LEAGUE DARKSEID WAR: GREEN LANTERN) join forces to bring fans new tales of adventure’s most iconic teenager, Jonny Quest, along with his sidekick Hadji. This series combines Team QUEST (Hadji, Race Bannon, Dr. Benton Quest and Jezebel Jade) with some of the most well-known action and adventure heroes ever created by Hanna-Barbera, including SPACE GHOST, THE HERCULOIDS, BIRDMAN, MIGHTOR and FRANKENSTEIN Jr., among others.
WACKY RACELAND – Take The Ant Hill Mob, Penelope Pitstop and Dick Dastardly, mix in a healthy dose of “Mad Max” and you get this dark and gritty take on Hanna-Barbera’s “Wacky Races,” courtesy of writer Ken Pontac (REBOOT, HAPPY TREE FRIENDS) and artist Leonardo Manco (HELLBLAZER), with vehicle designs by Mark Sexton (MAD MAX: FURY ROAD). A time of hope and innocence with Utopia at the finish line has given way to planetary Armageddon and a desert wasteland full of radioactive lakes, nanotech dust storms, and cannibalistic mutants. Against this backdrop, the Wacky Racers and their sentient vehicles continue their contest, but now the competition is for survival, and there can only be one winner when the checkered flag falls.
THE FLINTSTONES – Based on character designs by Amanda Conner (HARLEY QUINN, STARFIRE), writer Mark Russell (PREZ, GOD IS DISAPPOINTED IN YOU) provides his own unique perspective on everyone’s “modern stone age family.” Russell will use Bedrock’s most popular family to shine a light on humanity’s ancient customs and institutions in a funny origin story of human civilization. Fred is still the simple man, striving to be the king of his castle, Wilma is still the tolerant but not-indulging wife and Barney (with his wife Betty and infant son Bamm-Bamm) is still the original wingman, whose loyalty to Fred often outweighs his common sense.
“You’re gonna have an epic adventure in the future stories with Johnny Quest and Space Ghost,” co-publisher of DC Entertainment Dan DiDio told EW. “You’re going to have a scary, dangerous world in Wacky Raceland that is just as strange and dynamic as you hope it would be. I think Scooby Doo is going to excite people and challenge people, and I think that we’re going to use Flintstones to really bring out that voice and social commentary that they might’ve brought out in the ’60s and raise it back for today.”
So far I’ve seen the most negative responses are to the look of the Scooby gang and I concede, it certainly isn’t for everyone, but I think overall the new line is a great idea to pull in new readers. The first issues of each book will debut in May. Thoughts?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ad_duF9l3JU
Know your Wacky Racers history!
Future Quest looks like a load of fun, very good combining of the pulp fun of Johnny’s adventures with the sci-fi/super hero characters of HB.
Wacky Raceland (wasteland) has vehicle designs my Mark Sexton, the car designer for Fury Road, so, yeah, I’ll be buying that. Could Dick Dastardly be the next Immortus Joe? Penelope Pitstop with an artificial arm and shaved head? Bring it! Hope these books are no more then 2.99 though, heck, the first ish should be 1.99 to generate buzz.
I’m not a fan but you know whatever.
So why did you post?
because I don’t like what they did with them or enjoy the direction. Could have got me interested.
Will The Flintstones comic just be for adults? It sure looks like some “action” is goin’ on between these couples. Either that or will it be like “The Sopranos”? Remember all the times Fred and Barney were making counterfeit money, or stealing pianos?
And while we’re at it. Will Birdman still be an attorney? Will Space Ghost still host a talk show? Will Brak still be living with his parents? And will Dr Quest and Race Bannon still be a couple? And where are The Jetsons?
I’m firmly ‘eh’ on all of them… until you hit me with Doc Shaner drawing the Herculoids teaming up with Johnny Quest and then it suddenly turns into the question of why isn’t this already a thing because it sounds so perfect and looks so beautiful.
Is it too soon for this to be an April Fool’s Joke?
I’ll be ambivalent.
Why in the world does Velma look like a child there?
Ahem.
THESE PROPERTIES DO NOT NEED GRIM AND GRITTY REBOOTS.
There, I said it.
Jeff Parker and Doc Shaner on Future Quest have my money. He doesn’t sem to be making substantive changes to the characters as much as finding some crazy way to get them all working together. I like crazy; crazy is good.
Looks like they have to my favourites The Impossibles – some cross-overs just don’t work; I feel they need to be changed too much to fit in here.
The only one that makes me go “HUH?!” is the Scooby Apocalypse one… The rest sound interesting enough…