​The Flintstones #1

Comic review by Paul Fiander

Written by Mark Russell
Pencils Steve Pugh
Inks Steve Pugh
Colored by Chris Chuckry
Published by DC Comics

As a kid I loved the Flintstones, some preferred the Jetsons but I love stories from the past and in a straight battle Fred and the gang would always come out on top in this particular matchup. Unfortunately we have seen the Flintstone dragged through a rather poor movie or two so it’s nice to see the franchise becoming part of the new Hannah and Barbera slate of DC books.

Unlike the Scooby Apocalypse series writer Mark Russell has kept the series true to its roots with Fred living in the Bedrock we have all come to love and cherish. For this I am truly grateful as Russell is a great writer as anyone who has read the Prez (2015) can testify to. That’s not to say that the story feels like it has been lifted from an episode, in fact with the task Mr Slate has Fred trying to complete through the issue I ‘m pretty sure it would not have been allowed on a kids show. This task is taking a few new recruits to the quarry out on the town in the hopes of them becoming of team. The trouble is they are Neanderthals and this mix of cultures allows for some communication issues throughout the issue.This though is only the surface story as we get a few interesting bits of information about the world in which we find Fred and Barney. I will not spoil these but much like the aforementioned Prez Russell is not afraid to through the real world into his comic writing.

Steve Pugh gets to have a blast on the art side, creating the quirky mix of dinosaur digging equipment that we know from Slate and Co as well as his representations of the cast. These are iconic characters with distinctive looks and Pugh has not stepped away from this instead he has just given them a bit of a twist. My only thing is Fred is a little more chiseled than I would expect, this is a small thing but he looks a bit too handsome for my taste.

The Flintstones feels a nice enough departure from the basic storytelling of the cartoon to intrigue most readers. The nostalgia factor though is huge and you can not step away from this with any of these Hannah and Barbera titles. This team though are taking the two and making a really fun read.

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