Review: THE FLINTSTONES #1

THE FLINTSTONES No. 1
DC COMICS – @DCComic

[This review was originally posted on Patreon.]

WRITER: Mark Russell
ARTIST: Steve Pugh
COLORS: Chris Chuckry
LETTERS: Dave Sharpe
COVER: Steve Pugh
VARIANT COVERS: Ivan Reis with Marcelo Maiolo; Walter Simonson with Steve Buccellato; Dustin Nguyen; Dan Hipp
40pp, Color, $3.99 U.S. (September 2016)

Rated “T” for “Teen”

“A Clean Slate”

The Flintstones is an animated, prime-time animated television series, produced by American animation studio, Hanna-Barbera Productions.  When it debuted on ABC September 30, 1960, it was the first American animated prime-time TV series.  A situation comedy, “The Flintstones” is an anachronistic and fantastic depiction of a working-class, Stone Age family, led by patriarch, Fred Flintstone, who has a wife, Wilma, and eventually a daughter, Pebbles.

The series juxtaposes what was then modern life (the late 1950s to mid-1960s) with a faux Stone Age setting.  Modern technology (such as cars and home appliances) have fanciful Stone Age versions, which sometimes involve animals and creatures that did not live in the Stone Age (like dinosaurs).

DC Comics has reinvented “The Flintstones” as part of its line of comic books that are reinvented and re-imagined versions of Hanna-Barber animated television series.  The Flintstones is written by Mark Russell; drawn by Steve Pugh, colored by Chris Chuckry, and lettered by Dave Sharpe.

The Flintstones #1 (“A Clean Slate”) is set 100,000 years ago in the town of Bedrock.  The story's focus is on Fred Flintstone, a brawny and muscular veteran of the “Paleolithic Wars.”  He is an employee of Slate's Quarry, where he has just been named “Employee of the Month.”  His boss, Mr. Slate, the owner of Slate's Quarry, has recently hired three male Neanderthals.  [Fred, Mr. Slate, and the people of Bedrock are Homo Sapiens.]  Mr. Slate wants Fred to train them, but each man has a different outlook on life, which may cause problems in their approach to dealing with the Neanderthals.

The inspiration for the 1960s TV series, “The Flintstones,” is the 1950s television comedy, “The Honeymooners.”  After reading The Flintstones #1, I believe the influence for the re-imagined Flintstones, at least in part, may be the 21st century television series, “Mad Men” (2007-2015), which is set during the early 1960s, when “The Flintstones” aired.  I also found a few scenes in this first issue that reminded me of similar scenes in the Oscar-winning film, The Best Years of Our Lives (1946).

I think “The Flintstones” comic book focuses on a military combat veteran trying to make his way in a post-war society in which there is a business boom and a rise in consumerism.  People are less about “us” and more about “me,” and I will paraphrase a character in this first issue.  People want others to do their killing and their dirty work.  In that vein, I think The Flintstones comic book also makes allusions to the post-war lives of Vietnam veterans (such as was done in the films, The Deer Hunter and Coming Home).  You can even throw in the veterans of the 21st century “Middle East” wars and the nebulous “(Global) War on Terror.”

I am intrigued because the writer of The Flintstones comic book is Mark Russell, the writer of the deadly sharp satirical comic book, Prez (2015), from DC Comics.  “The Flintstones” animated series was a comedy, but The Flintstones comic book re-imagining is like a period workplace and domestic drama.  I am comfortable with grading this first issue, and I want more.

A

Reviewed by Leroy Douresseaux a.k.a. "I Reads You"


The text is copyright © 2016 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this blog for reprint and syndication rights and fees.

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Leroy Douresseaux on Hotwire: Deep Cut #3

HOTWIRE: DEEP CUT #3 (OF 3)

RADICAL PUBLISHING

CREATORS: Steve Pugh and Warren Ellis

WRITER/ARTIST: Steve Pugh
LETTERS: Steve Pugh
28pp, Color, $3.50 U.S.

Hotwire: Deep Cut, the sequel to Hotwire: Requiem for the Dead, comes to an end. Deep Cut is written and drawn by Steve Pugh and released by Radical Publishing.

Hotwire takes place in a future where the dead return as blue-light ghosts. They feed off the electromagnetic waste of billions of wireless devices, but while most drift about harmless and witless, some can take more solid form and become very dangerous. Detective Exorcist Alice Hotwire, a character created by Pugh with Warren Ellis, battles those blue-lights and any persons or entities that would use them for nefarious purposes.

The latest Hotwire miniseries comes to an end in Hotwire: Deep Cut #3. Alice has to stop Thomas Epping, a dead soldier brought back by some exotic technology, before Epping and his ragtag army of blue lights enter the city. Alice and her partner, Detective Peter Mobey, have to save the day before Bertus Rantz, the boss of the private security firm, Bear Claw Security. Rantz and his mercenaries plan to use a proto-type “ghost-killer,” called Soul-Easter, which will make everything worse.

As much as I’ve enjoyed Hotwire: Deep Cut, I kept thinking that it could not maintain its exceptionally high, high quality even throughout its short three-issue run. Of course, it did. Imaginative, inventive, and fun, every exciting page of Deep Cut is a dazzling mix of exotic super tech and science fiction horror. One of the signs of a good comic book is that you immediately miss it as soon as you finish reading it, and I can’t wait for Alice Hotwire to return.

A

http://www.radicalpublishing.com/

Hotwire: Deep Cut #2 Now Available

HOTWIRE: DEEP CUT #2 (2 of 3)

 

Created by STEVE PUGH and WARREN ELLIS

Writer and Illustrator STEVE PUGH
Letterer STEVE PUGH
Cover Artist STEVE PUGH

Diamond Order Code: JUL101105
Price: $3.50
Page Count: 32
Format: Full Color

While Bertus Rantz and his private security contractors investigate a crash, Detective Exorcist Alice Hotwire cools her heels in a detention cell - only to emerge to the cheers of her co-workers in the police force. As Alice avoids her fellow officers and deals with a rampaging Rantz as well as her paranormal ex-boyfriend, a blue-light housed in a robotic body has taken one of the crash victims on her own accord…but for what purpose? Can Hotwire and Mobey uncover the truth of the car crash and discover the identity of this mysterious entity before Rantz finishes his crusade against all blue-lights?

Alice Hotwire - the Hot Girl

I read HOTWIRE: Requiem for the Dead Volume 1

I posted a review at the Comic Book Bin.

New "Hotwire" Series Coming in June from Radical Publishing

HOTWIRE: DEEP CUT #1 NOW AVAILABLE FOR ORDER THROUGH DIAMOND PREVIEWS

Detective Exorcist Alice Hotwire is back in a brand new adventure! Radical Publishing is proud to announce that the first issue Hotwire: Deep Cut, follow-up to the acclaimed Hotwire: Requiem for the Dead, is now available for order through Diamond Previews. Written and illustrated by Steve Pugh and co-created by Warren Ellis, Hotwire: Deep Cut delves further into the life and mind of the city’s only supernatural investigator, Alice Hotwire.

Directly following the explosive events of Hotwire: Requiem for the Dead, Alice Hotwire is taking some much needed R&R. But when a ghost from her storied past appears at her door, it sets off a series of events that lead Hotwire and her partner, Mobey, across the city as they try to stop a secret government project from turning the city into a living nightmare. In Hotwire: Deep Cut, Steve Pugh takes readers on a new supernatural adventure that will offer a glimpse into Alice Hotwire’s past, as well as her future, with a host of familiar faces including the unsettling Coroner Love and the rest of the Metro Police.

“Iconic characters like Alice Hotwire deserve to have their stories told,” said Radical President and Publisher Barry Levine. “With Requiem for the Dead just released in trade paperback, we felt it was time to continue the story that Steve and Warren began. This time around, Steve has upped the ante for Alice and I can’t wait to see how the fans react to some of the surprises he has in store.”

Hotwire: Deep Cut #1 is the first of a three-issue miniseries and is listed in the May 2010 edition of Diamond Previews, shipping July 2010. Hotwire: Deep Cut #1 is 32-page comic retailing for $3.50.

Fans are encouraged to visit the Radical Publishing website at www.radicalpublishing.com for more information.


About Radical Publishing
Radical Publishing is founded by Barry Levine (producer for Hercules, Caliber, Freedom Formula, Shrapnel, Abattoir, Oblivion, The Last Days of American Crime and executive producer for the in-development Rex Mundi movie for Warner Bros., written by Jim Uhls and starring Johnny Depp) and entrepreneur Jesse Berger (executive producer for Hercules, Caliber, Freedom Formula, Shrapnel, Abattoir, Oblivion and The Last Days of American Crime).

For their quality and excellence in 2008, Radical Publishing was granted the Gem Award for “Best New Publisher of the Year” from Diamond Comic Distributors. Radical brings the best writing, storytelling, and fully painted cover and interior art to the global comic book market, from prominent international talents such as Yoshitaka Amano, Rain Beredo, John Bolton, Matt Cirulnick, Tomm Coker, Clayton Crain, Flint Dille, Marko Djurdjevic, Ian Edginton, Warren Ellis, E. Max Frye, Antoine Fuqua, Justin Gray, Paul Gulacy, David Hine, Joseph Kosinski, Clint Langley, Richard Lee, Alex Maleev, Leonardo Manco, David Manpearl, Stephan Martinière, Francesco "Matt" Mattina, Peter Milligan, Steve Moore, Arvid Nelson, Wayne Nichols, Steve Niles, Jimmy Palmiotti, Nick Percival, Vincent Proce, Steve Pugh, Patrick Reilly, Rick Remender, Luis Royo, Nick Sagan, Sam Sarkar, Stjepan Sejic, M. Zachary Sherman, Bill Sienkiewicz, Wesley Snipes, Jim Steranko, Arthur Suydam, J.P. Targete, Greg Tocchini, Andree Wallin, Dave Wilkins, Concept Art House, Haberlin Studios, Meduzarts Digital Environment Studio, Weta Workshop, Zombie Studios, and many more.

Currently, Radical Publishing has production deals with Spyglass Entertainment and Peter Berg’s Film 44 for Hercules, with Johnny Depp's Infinitum Nihil for Caliber, and with New Regency and Bryan Singer’s Bad Hat Harry Productions for Freedom Formula.