The Flintstones #7 Review: The Essential Nature Of Humanity- Are They Dum-Dums?


After last issue's near-apocalypse, the time has come for the Great Gazoo to write up his report on the town of Bedrock. His chief assignment is to guard the townspeople from any extraterrestrial harm, but not from any local adversaries, like, say, prankster neighbors or a territorial dispute. This does apply to, however, enterprising aliens intent upon scamming them on out of valuable resources.

This doesn't parallel anything from our history. I don't see any similarities at all. Cough.
Mark Russell uses this to explore the nature of humanity and the goodness within people. On one side, we have the Great Gazoo's plot, saying that not everyone will do the wrong thing during a time of crisis. He observes a miner become trapped during an accident at Mr. Slate's company. There is a chance to save him, but the odds of it succeeding are precarious. Mr. Slate is against saving him just because he wants to get more work done. Of course, he does eventually get saved, but it's still a question of when the decision will be made and if he'll still be alive by the time it is.

Dude, maybe this is why no one would come to your 'end of the world party' in the last issue. You're a jerk and you only treat your employees with respect when it benefits you in the moment.
On the other hand, the Church of Gerald's subplot has a less optimistic take on society. The leader of the church unintentionally learns about the act of absolving sins in exchange for a monetary benefit. This leads to a paying system being set up. The larger the sin, the more gravel you have to pay. It does start out as a genuine attempt to help foster the better nature in humanity, but becomes corrupted by greed. The issue has an intelligent take on humanity and the essential qualities deep inside of us. Again, it doesn't have the meatiest plot, but if you view it as the second part in a two-part story, then it works.

The Flintstones is written by Mark Russell and drawn by Steve Pugh. You can find it at your local comic book shop.

Zachary Krishef is an evil genius. Do not question his knowledge of Saturday Night Live trivia or Harry Potter books.