In a move that feels both surprising and strangely overdue, DC Entertainment is going to release a line of comics that give new life to classic Hanna-Barbera cartoon properties, including Scooby-Doo, the Flintstones, Jonny Quest, Space Ghost, and Wacky Races. In an interview over at Entertainment Weekly, DC co-publisher Dan DiDio said the mass reboot’s goal is to “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?” Not much is known about the content of the comics, but some of their titles suggest new slants on old concepts: Future Quest, Wacky Raceland, and, most eyebrow-raising of all, Scooby Apocalypse. And speaking of the apocalypse: A designer from Mad Max: Fury Road consulted on Wacky Raceland!
The new slate is scheduled to launch in May and will feature work from some of the industry’s best creators, including Jim Lee, Amanda Conner, Evan “Doc” Shaner, Jeff Parker, and Howard Porter. This is far from the first time these characters have gotten a modernized sheen; among the many previous attempts were the mid-’90s The Real Adventures of Jonny Quest cartoon (which was rad if you were a preteen at the time), legendary cult talk show Space Ghost: Coast to Coast (which was definitely rad, with no qualifications), and the 1994 Flintstones movie that starred John Goodman and Rosie O’Donnell (about which the less is said, the better).
