Written by (See Credits Below)
Art by (See Credits Below)
Cover Art by Ariel Olivetti
SUMMARY:
Published in 2017 by DC Comics, this 168-page paperback consists of: Booster Gold/Flintstones Special # 1 (with a Jetsons back-up feature); Green Lantern/Space Ghost # 1 (with a Ruff ‘n’ Reddy back-up tale); Adam Strange/Future Quest Special # 1 (with a Top Cat-Batman back-up caper); and Suicide Squad/Banana Splits # 1 (with a Snagglepuss back-up story), which were individually released earlier that year.
Booster Gold/Flintstones: Booster Trouble (32 pages, including cover/variant cover). Writer: Mark Russell, with art by Rick Leonardi; Scott Hanna; Steve Buccellato; Dave Sharpe. Cover art by Michael Allred & Laura Allred, with the variant cover by Dan Jurgens; Norm Rapmund; Hi-Fi. To avert a 25th Century alien invasion of Gotham City, Booster Gold & Skeets visit the distant past. Needing his time-traveling vehicle repaired , Booster relies upon Fred Flintstone and mechanic Barney Rubble. To resolve a hostile time-loop crisis, Booster’s sole chance of saving Gotham is returning to the future, with some unlikely allies in tow.
The Jetsons: Eternal Upgrade (8 pages). Writers Jimmy Palmiotti & Amanda Conner, with art by Pier Brito; Alex Sinclair; and Michael Heisler. Judy Jetson accompanies her grandmother for a high-tech medical procedure. The other Jetsons race to try and stop them.
Green Lantern/Space Ghost: The Wonders of Space (32 pages, including cover/variant cover). Writers: James Tynion IV and Christopher Sebela, with art by Ariel Olivetti and A Larger World Studios. The cover is by Olivetti (which doubles as this collection’s cover), while the variant is by artists Doug Mahnke; Christian Alamy; and Alex Sinclair. In deep space, Green Lantern Hal Jordan encounters Orange Lantern Larfleeze, Zorak, and the mysterious Space Ghost. Drawn to a nearby planet’s plea for emergency intervention, the two heroes mistakenly neutralize each other. Yet, a common cause brings them together to thwart this alien world’s true enemy.
Ruff ‘n’ Reddy! (8 pages). Writer-Artist: Howard Chaykin, with assistance from Wil Quintana and Pat Brosseau. The black-and-white Golden Age of Television is lampooned by an embittered dog-and-cat stand-up comedy team.
Adam Strange/Future Quest (32 pages, including cover/variant cover). Writers: Marc Andreyko & Jeff Parker, with art by Steve Lieber; Veronica Gandini; and ALW Studios’ Dave Lanphear. The cover artist is Evan “Doc” Shaner, with the variant cover by Steve Lieber & Ron Chan. Helping an amnesiac Adam Strange stranded in the Lost Valley, Jonny Quest’s team is pursued by F.E.A.R. agents for Strange’s dimension-breaching technology. Birdman and The Herculoids make guest appearances.
Top Cat/Batman: Out of the Alley (8 pages). Writer: Dan DiDio, with art by Phil Winslade; Chris Chuckry; and Nick J. Nap. In a Gotham City alley, Batman & Catwoman’s ‘date night’ is sidetracked by a garbage can-scrounging Top Cat.
Suicide Squad/Banana Splits: Suicide Splits (Hey, It Beats ‘Banana Squad’) (32 pages, including cover/variant cover). Writer: Tony Bedard, with art by Ben Caldwell; Mark Morales; Jeremy Lawson; and A Larger World’s Troy ‘n’ Dave. Caldwell is the cover artist, with the variant by artist Carlos D’Anda. Arrested during a traffic stop, a befuddled Banana Splits band wind up in Belle Reve Penitentiary. Deeming them highly expendable, Amanda Waller repackages the Splits as a commando squad to rescue the Squad (Katana; Col. Rick Flagg; Killer Croc; Deadshot, and Harley Quinn) off a snow-capped mountain from an army of lethal robotic girls.
Snagglepuss: House Fires (8 pages). Writer: Mark Russell, with art by Howard Porter; Steve Buccellato; and Dave Sharpe. Set during the McCarthyism era in Washington D.C., 1954, accused Communist playwright Snagglepuss befuddles a congressional committee pushing him to expose his ‘co-conspirators.’ To his acquaintance, Augie Doggie, the verbose pink feline reveals a tragic experience from his past.
REVIEW:
‘Huh?’ doesn’t really cover it. This disappointing mash-up falls far short of the conventional Scooby-Doo/DC crossover-title: Scooby-Doo Team-Up, which is brilliant in comparison. Dropping any pretense of kiddie hijinks, DC’s hook here is exploiting nostalgia by devising adult-oriented reboots of Hanna-Barbera properties.
What DC badly misjudges is why endearing characters, like Snagglepuss, innocently charmed kids in the first place. Far too often, DC Meets Hanna-Barbera sabotages any incentive a new generation might have to discover the original TV magic of these Hanna-Barbera icons.
Still, this DC Meets Hanna-Barbera isn’t all bad news. Case in point: Green Lantern Hal Jordan & Space Ghost’s intergalactic adventure is this compilation’s best asset (a B+ tale). Even in a team-up no one asked for, Adam Strange’s encounter with Jonny Quest and Birdman at least delivers a mildly entertaining read.
The book’s few giggles, shockingly enough, arise from the Banana Splits & Task Force X (aka the Suicide Squad) as a demented tag-team parody. Despite its lukewarm moments, writer Tony Bedard concocts a quirky miracle converting the Squad’s bloody violence quotient into something closer to kid-appropriate fun. Bedard’s wry ending deserves a few kudos for amusingly updating the Splits.
The book’s glaring unforced error, however, belongs to the morbid Booster Gold/Flintstones. This dumpster fire squanders a prime opportunity at crossover comedy gold. For one thing, a beefy Fred & Barney appear in name only, as their reboots have zero charm in comparison to their goofy TV counterparts. Also, writer Mark Russell’s crummy gags re: half-severed aliens; time travelers being eaten by monsters or killed amidst other mayhem; and even an erectile dysfunction joke flunk good taste. DC’s most flagrant offense is targeting pre-teens with this offensive dreck.
Re: the back-up features, adult re-imaginings of other Hanna-Barbera characters can’t deflect the dismal storylines. Meant for adults and mature teenagers, the Jetsons’ tale aims for poignancy, but it’s just plain creepy. More so, co-writers Jimmy Palmiotti and Amanda Conner should have had a field day playing up Jetson-style humor. Instead, they punt that opportunity for a sci-fi plot akin to The Outer Limits.
The Top Cat/Batman and Snagglepuss tales are far too surreal to be humorous. A human-sized Top Cat resembles his snarky TV counterpart, but comparing this revamped Snagglepuss with his witty TV persona ends with the same shade of baby pink fur. Re: Howard Chaykin’s vile Ruff ‘n’ Reddy tale, the less said the better.
Wasting high-caliber artwork by multiple creative teams, DC Meets Hanna-Barbera deceptively passes itself off as kid-friendly entertainment. No matter how stale Hanna-Barbera cartoons often were and still are, that studio proudly adapted DC Comics into multiple TV incarnations of The Super-Friends. Yet, DC can’t be bothered to return the courtesy, as far as this collection goes.
Considering this mishmash of DC’s ‘ain’t it cool?’ reboots mostly deliver kid-repellant tripe, calling this book a bait-and-switch on unsuspecting parents is a fair assessment.
ADDITIONAL CONTENT:
In full-page color, the covers and variant covers are included. A four-page sketch gallery depicts the development of some of these covers. For the Booster Gold/Flintstones Special # 1, it’s artist Dan Jurgens while artist Steve Lieber handles Adam Strange/Future Quest Special # 1. Then, there is artist Ben Caldwell’s effort re: Suicide Squad/Banana Splits Special # 1.
BRIAN’S ODD MOON RATING: 3½ Stars
Note: Despite some unnecessarily ghoulish elements, DC Meets Hanna-Barbera, Volume 2 is a mild improvement. Its one-shots include Hong Kong Phooey/Black Lightning and Blue Falcon & Dyno-mutt/Super-Sons.
