Beauology 101: DC Entertainment And Hanna-Barbera: To Engage The Future, You Must Embrace The Past

Beau Smith of the Antarctic

Beau Smith of the Antarctic


by Beau Smith

This past week DC Entertainment/Comics announced that they are bringing the Hanna-Barbera cartoon characters back in a new line of comic books. This caught a lot of the comic book world’s attention, mine included.

The Herculoids!

The Herculoids!


Like many, many others in the comic book reading world and creative business, I grew up in the 1960s-‘70s with most of the characters that they are bringing back. They have already mentioned and shown art on, Jonny Quest, The Flintstones, The Herculoids, The Galaxy Trio, The Impossibles, and some like Scooby Doo and others that were popular after I stopped watching cartoons. Reruns of a lot of these characters have placed them in the mind set of folks younger than me, as well as parents like myself, showing these cartoons to our own kids as they grew up.

Scooby Apocalypse art by Jim Lee

Scooby Apocalypse art by Jim Lee


The key to this is that in the 1960s and ‘70s television and comic books were basically the only two pop culture means of communication out there. So these cartoons were heavily embossed on our little brains. A very strong and loyal audience was created. Loyal enough and strong enough that it continues with most well into their 60s. Like a family heirloom, these cartoons and characters were passed down to their children in the forms of video tapes, DVDs and reruns. My 32 year old son was raised on most all of the Hanna-Barbera material and is still an avid fan today. Along with this passing down, there is also a true love of the core of what these cartoons were about that is passed on as well. My son rejected the newer Jonny Quest material that came out in the ‘80s or ‘90s, because he felt it had lost the center of what made Jonny Quest entertaining. When revitalizing a character, it’s more than just “Keeping the charm” as DC’s Dan DiDio mentioned in Entertainment Weekly. “Keeping the charm” is DC’s way of saying, “Oh, yeah, we haven’t forgotten you old people.” (My opinion and made up thought balloon.)

Sometimes with revitalizing established material you automatically date it with making it “New day and age”. Marvel Comics did a lot of this with their comic books in the 1990s. Most of those died a quick and forgettable death.

The Flintstones art by Amanda Conner

The Flintstones art by Amanda Conner


Dan DiDio said that “We didn’t just want to repeat what people saw in the past. It’s important for this to resonate with folks who have never even heard of the characters. If this is the first time they’re seeing it, we want them to be enjoying the material, so from our standpoint, out goal is to make this exciting and accessible to all generations, whether they’re fans of the material and characters or not.”

Of course you don’t want to merely repeat what people saw in the past, but you also don’t want to misunderstand the core tradition in character and storytelling that made this material iconic in the first place. There’s a reason why multiple generations still enjoy these characters today and have passed them down to their own children. It’s not just to revisit their own childhood and have their views of entertainment clouded by a fondness of simpler times, it’s because the stories are good and the characters are compelling. Dan mentioned they want to make this accessible to all generations. Okay, how do you want to do that if that is your goal? What is your plan? It’s not just a wish or simply to publish it and hope vast generations find it on their own, what is DC Entertainment’s plan? The reason I ask is because all of us that already enjoy the characters and the original material want to help DC make this accessible if the new material is truly compelling; equal parts traditional and respectful to the original material and characters. You won’t find a better free marketing department than me and others like me that believe that word of mouth is truly the best form of advertising you can have. It beats a full page ad in print or online every day of the week.

Future Quest art by Darwyn Cooke.

Future Quest art by Darwyn Cooke.


Trust me when I say, nothing would please me more than to shell out $4.00 a pop on a great Jonny Quest, Space Ghost, Herculoids, Mighty Mightor comic book. I would be more than happy to recommend to my creative peers, fellow readers and friends that they pick up these issues, and I would be on cloud nine to be able to buy and give these comics to kids, young adults and folks even older than me, and know they are all going to enjoy and understand the stories on various levels.

I hope the care and time has gone into these characters and the best way to represent them in exciting stories, in likable stories, and in a way, we can all continue to pass down the tradition. I’m looking forward to May 2016 when these are released. I’ll be waiting with open arms and most importantly, an open mind.

Do your part, DC Entertainment, and don’t shut the door on this wonderful opportunity. It’s not about marketing, it’s about customer satisfaction.

Your amigo,

Beau Smith

The Flying Fist Ranch

www.flyingfistranch.com

 

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