Mark Russell has taken on controversial topics in The Flintstones before, merrily using the Stone Age world to mock our modern-day prejudices and faults, like a comic-book version of The Colbert Report. The newest issue takes it to new levels of intellectual awesomeness by using monogamy as a metaphor for gay marriage.
 |
| "Go back to the sex cave like nature intended!" is the name of my Weird Al punk rock cover band. |
 |
| Says the news anchor who (presumably) makes a good living off of Stone Age television, something that most likely wasn't around when he was a kid. I dub thee Hypocrity McFalsehood. |
The plot is essentially an excuse to make fun of bigots, but that doesn’t mean that it’s a slapdash story. Far from it: the issue has a well-crafted beginning, middle, and end. Not only does it have a lot of laughs, but it also provides some relevant information on Fred’s past. Speaking of Fred, the comic also goes into more of his perspective on life, including his fears about his marriage with Wilma.
 |
| Mawwiage...is what bwings us together. |
The Flinstones #4 is a fantastic issue. I definitely recommend it. My one criticism would be that I wish it had more of the B-plot with Pebbles, Betty, and Barney interacting, but what we did get was funny. Speaking of Pebbles, there's a cute in-joke about the Fruity Pebbles cereal where we see Pebbles eating it. Seeing more of Dino, the most adorable character in DC Comics, is worth it.
The series continually impresses me with the level of intelligence, not only in the writing, but with the jokes and the characters. It would be so easy to just make a badly-written nostalgia based-reboot with obnoxious efforts to be relevant, à la Fuller House, but Mark and Steve genuinely care about the source material. To paraphrase a certain cartoon scientist, it makes you laugh and it makes you think. In the end, isn't that what's important?
Zachary Krishef is an evil genius. Do not question his knowledge of Saturday Night Live trivia or Harry Potter books.
