The oddball Hanna-Barbera line, as overseen by DC’s secret weapon, group editor Marie Javins, and gleefully promoted by co-publisher Dan DiDio, has done a lot better, sales-wise, than anyone expected. Pairing fresh comics talent with updated version of the line has hit a sweet spot with baby boomer comics fans. Ands the line is just getting more outrageous, with a just announced series of annuals, set for March 29, that will team HB characters with DCU characters and preview upcoming additions to the line. Howard Chaykin on Ruff and Ready? Suicide Squad meets the…Banana Splits? Harley Quinn and Fleagle did always seem like two peas in a pod to me.
Just in case you are under the age of 50, the Banana Splits were yet another nightmare inducing vision from Sid and Marty Kroft, featuring people in animal suits playing in a band, running into traffic and doing other dangerous things. My favorite part was the cartoons that ran DURING the Banana Splits. Size of an elephant! Bring that back!
Everyone will have their own secret wish list for future HB properties — and I”m sure they’ve all been considered by Javins and DiDio — but here’s mine: Augie Doggie and Doggie Daddie! So much to say about fatherhood and masculinity!
Anyway here’s the team up lineup:
ADAM STRANGE/FUTURE QUEST ANNUAL #1
Written by Marc Andreyko and Jeff Parker
Art by Steve Lieber
Backup Feature: TOP CAT
Written by Dan DiDio
Art by Phil Winslade
Following the events of the DEATH OF HAWKMAN miniseries, Adam Strange is blasted through multiple dimensions only to land on Earth! But instead of super powered beings and legendary crime fighters, he encounters a boy adventurer and his scientist father – and they’re the only ones who can help him return home. Jonny Quest, Hadji, Dr. Benton Quest and Race Bannon have a plan, but it’s going to involve a dangerous trek through Dino Boy’s Lost Valley of prehistoric threats!
BOOSTER GOLD/THE FLINTSTONES ANNUAL #1
Written by Mark Russell
Art by Rick Leonardi and Scott Hanna
Backup Feature: THE JETSONS
Written by Amanda Conner and Jimmy Palmiotti
Art by Pier Brito
Welcome to the 25th Century, where the Earth is a polluted, post-industrial nightmare, most animals are extinct and reptilian aliens are invading cities across the planet! In their time of need, the world’s citizens turn to the time-traveling Booster Gold to save the day. To learn why these aliens are attacking Earth, Booster dives deep into the prehistoric past to see what happened when they first came to the planet. In this bygone era, Fred Flintstone and Barney Rubble must help Booster learn the truth and return to his own time armed with the information that will bring down the invaders – if Booster can convince them to help him out.
Harley Quinn’s Amanda Conner and Jimmy Palmiotti put a new twist on an old twist about our future in THE JETSONS! The Jetsons live in a world of robotics and gadgetry. But how does dying change when grandma’s brain can be digitally imprinted onto a housecleaning robot?
GREEN LANTERN/SPACE GHOST ANNUAL #1
Written by James Tynion IV and Chris Sebela
Art by Ariel Olivetti
Backup Feature: RUFF AND REDDY
Story and art by Howard Chaykin
Trapped in a strange rift in time, Green Lantern and Space Ghost are forced to battle a variety of foes – and each other! And even if they manage to survive, they will be thrown into a world with no concept of interstellar travel – or even what an alien is! Stripped of their weapons by a xenophobic culture, the duo will have to battle to regain them – but what happens when Space Ghost dons the Lantern Ring and Hal Jordan puts on the Power Bands?
Iconic writer Howard Chaykin puts a modern spin on one of Hanna-Barbera’s earliest animated animal teams! Ruff and Reddy were once the toast of nightclubs, variety shows late night chat fests and Broadway. Learn how they became the comedic duo of yesterday… Before they hit rock bottom today!
SUICIDE SQUAD/BANANA SPLITS ANNUAL #1
Written by Tony Bedard
Art by Ben Caldwell
Backup Feature: SNAGGLEPUSS
Written by Mark Russell
Art by Dale Eaglesham
“Suicide Splits” pairs up Saturday morning’s animal rock band with Amanda Waller’s Task Force X, the dirtiest players in the game! Mistaken for metahumans and thrown into the bowels of Belle Reve Penitentiary, the Banana Splits are recruited by Amanda Waller for a secret mission: Save the Suicide Squad! What follows is quite possibly the weirdest team up ever; how will Fleegle, Bingo, Drooper and Snorky stand up to Harley, Deadshot, Katana and Killer Croc?
Mark Russell brings his hilariously satirical style to this backup feature, where Snagglepuss is a Southern gothic playwright working with an ensemble cast of cultural figures, exploring an intensely creative time in the New York City theater scene of the 1950’s.
That Snagglepuss pitch is brilliant!
Meanwhile, Scooby-Doo Team-Up has been doing this since November 2013!
(Also, Scooby-Doo is the Kevin Bacon of animation!)
Ha! Yeah, this looks like an amazing amount of fun. Gotta have that Green Lantern/Space Ghost issue.
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