It seems to be the week of nostalgia and bringing back old cartoons in new ways.
Now DC Comics is trying their hand at the task. Today they announced that this May they’ll be launching a whole new line of comic runs based on the popular and classic Hanna-Barbera characters, like Scooby-Doo, the Flintstones, and more.
Dan DiDio, co-publisher of DC Entertainment, explains the backstory behind exploring these time-honored characters:
“I think what you find right now is there’s so much material on pop culture, and these characters resonate with so much of our fanbase. It was so fun to go out and look at them, but not just bring back versions that existed 40, 50 years ago and really look at it the way of saying, if these characters were created and interpreted today, how would they exist? So we handed off our materials to a number of top creators, and what came back was an exciting look that felt very true to the existence of the characters.”
Everyone at DC stresses this new line of comic books is not about just re-hashing these characters from their appearances in the 60s and 70s. Instead, they’re seeking to bring these characters into 2016.
“It’s a multigenerational obsession at this point,” says Jim Lee, veteran artist. “And we just thought it would just be really interesting to take the cartoon version of these characters and see where they would be if we took what existed in the very first iteration of the cartoon and moved it into this day and age.”
Multigenerational means making these comics appeal to more than just those who grew up with these characters, DiDio says:
“It’s really important for this to resonate with folks who have never even heard of the characters. If this is the first they’re seeing it, we want them to be enjoying the material. So from our standpoint, our goal is to make this exciting and accessible to all generations, whether they’re fans of the material and the characters or not.”
Some of the upcoming titles include Scooby Apocalypse, Future Quest, Wacky Raceland, and The Flintstones. So what’s in store for these runs? Don’t worry, DiDio has the answers.
“You’re gonna have an epic adventure in the future stories with Jonny Quest and Space Ghost. You’re going to have a scary, dangerous world in Wacky Raceland that is just as strange and dynamic as you hope it would be. I think Scooby Doo is going to excite people and challenge people, and 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.”
Sounds like fun!
Are you looking forward to these new comics? Which ones will you be reading? Let us know below!
Source: Entertainment Weekly
