DC Comics just announced a new line of comics based on the Hanna-Barbera cartoons of the ’60s, such as Jonny Quest, Scooby Doo and The Flintstones. Polishing off some of the problems in stories like Scooby Doo and Jonny Quest sounds like a fun challenge — but The Flintstones? That could be a tough one; Amanda Conner (of Harley Quinn fame) has the task of updating the story.
Dan DiDio, co-publisher of DC Entertainment, explained to EW that the line will “not just bring back versions that existed 40, 50 years ago.” Instead, the plan is to modernize the stories a bit:
If these characters were created and interpreted today, how would they exist? … What you’ll see is that Amanda Conner really looked at the Flintstones and found a way to move them forward, even though they’re set in the past ….
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.
The rest of the books — Scooby Doo, Jonny Quest, and Wacky Raceland — get described in terms of how they’ll offer an “epic adventure,” but The Flintstones? That’ll be the book with “social commentary.” Sounds about right — although it could be tricky to tackle modern issues in a throwback series that’s about as nostalgic as it gets.
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