DC Comics reboots are almost a punchline at this point. Don’t like the direction of a book? Wait six months. But now the comic book arm of Time Warner is using that predilection to bring back a bunch of properties that have been languishing for years – the Hanna-Barbera cartoon characters.
Outside of Scooby-Doo and maybe the Flintstones, these characters haven’t really had any play. DC has a long-running Scooby-Doo comic book, and that’s about it. Outside comics, there’ve been a few alternate takes on those two big characters… but few as alternate as these.
Source: Entertainment Weekly/DC Comics.
That art is from Scooby Apocalypse, by comic book superstar Jim Lee, with Howard Porter, and personal favorite Keith Giffen. NO idea what’s going on here, but worth a check out.
The Flintstones get a reboot too, with art by Harley Quinn artist, the incomparable Amanda Conner. I’m not as familiar with writer Mark Russell’s work, but note the lack of any sign of the Great Gazoo. That’s a good sign.
Source: Entertainment Weekly/DC Comics.
But as I note, we’ve seen these properties time and again. What about something that hasn’t been rebooted or de-aged like twenty times already?
I give you… Wacky Race Land:
If you’re not familiar with the classic Wacky Races, I feel sad for you. No word on what will be up with Dick Dastardly, Penelope Pitstop, or Peter Perfect, but with a designer from Mad Max: Fury Road (fellow by name of Mark Sexton) as the mind behind this, one wonders if this will be more of a derivative gag of that property than a reboot.
Now, the above three are all ones I can dismiss or ignore. They don’t look terrible, but they don’t look like must-buys. Interesting, but not going to mob the store. What else do they have, you ask?
Source: Entertainment Weekly/DC Comics.
Space Ghost and Johnny Quest? Wha… oh! And The Impossibles? Birdman? Mightor? The Herculoids? Frankenstein Jr? What is this? This is Future Quest, by Darwyn Cooke, Jeff Parker, and Evan “Doc” Shaner. If there was ever a “SHUT UP AND TAKE MY MONEY!!” lineup of creators to work on any of these characters, it would be them. And all of them? HELL YES. If Parker and Shaner bring half the love to this that they brought to Flash Gordon, it will be epic.
I don’t care how much it costs, I do not care how long it runs. I. Will. Own. This. I have no more details, but when I know – you will.
