Mark Russell and Steve Pugh’s acclaimed Flintstones series comes to a yabba-dabba-end with this second volume. While Bedrock’s community undergoes numerous changes, Fred’s career at Mr Slate’s Quarry continues to have its ups and downs, Wilma’s still trying to make it as an artist, and Pebbles questions the importance of science and religion.
Like the first book, Russell uses the Flintstones to critique modern Western society. The First Church of Gerald discovers it can make money off its rubes, er, “parishioners” through paid forgiveness of sins, George Slate embraces an Ayn Randian religion but finds material success is hollow, and Clod continues to scare up money for a bizarre war against the nebulous “Lizard People” who’re stealing some guy’s ferns! The comparisons to our world are easy to see.
As clever as it is though, the material doesn’t make for a gripping read and, coupled with the lack of an overall narrative and episodic structure (which I get mirrors the TV show), made it very easy to keep putting down. I was never that wrapped up in what any of the characters were doing and often found my mind wandering.
Ironically, while Russell couldn’t make me care much about the Flintstones themselves, I was shocked at how deeply he affected me with his two new, minor characters: Bowling Ball and Vacuum Cleaner. The Flintstones’ appliances are all living animals who start talking to one another once the humans leave so their stories have a Toy Story-esque vibe to them. And, like Toy Story 3 in particular, without going into spoilers it gets surprisingly dark. The small lives and dreams of Bowling Ball and Vacuum Cleaner are the biggest takeaway for me from this series; beautiful, understated and totally unexpected to find in a Flintstones comic of all things!
I also liked that Russell gave religion a fair shake. The First Church of Gerald is obviously a stand-in for Christianity and, while not religious myself and I’m guessing Russell isn’t either, religion clearly has its place in our society and helps many people so I was pleased to see that acknowledged rather than reading yet another tedious one-sided screed bashing belief.
I appreciated Russell/Pugh’s Flintstones run more than I enjoyed it – the lack of any strong stories probably being my biggest issue - but I can easily see why so many loved it. It’s got heart, brains and humour wrapped in fine art and a smart modern take on an iconic series. And it ends perfectly too: with a bowling match! The Flintstones, Volume 2 isn’t the most compelling read but I think most fans will be delighted with this version of the show.
No comments:
Post a Comment