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Before The Simpsons, before Family Guy, there was The Flintstones!
On roll with the success of their two syndicated animated shows Huckleberry Hound (and it's spin-off Yogi Bear) and Quick Draw McGraw, Bill Hanna and Joe Barbera, seeing that these shows played in primetime in many markets, decided to make a show that would play on one of the major networks.
Settling on a stone age theme, Hanna and Barbera came up with "the Gladstones", the story of two family's that would have modern homes, cars, appliances, etc. made out of stone, wood and (especially funny) pre-historic creatures.
They made a pilot and sold it to ABC, picked up sponsors and the show was ready to air. But a problem arose, the name "Gladstones" was the last name of the comic strip characters "Hi and Lois". Wanting to avoid any legal ramifications, the name was changed to "Flagstones" but that name didn't seem to work. Finally "The Flintstones was chosen and on September 30, 1960, history was made as the first animated series made it's debut.
We were introduced to Fred and Wilma Flintstone and their friends and neighbors Barney and Betty Rubble and each week audiences followed the misadventures of Fred and Barney in a modern stone age era.
The show was very successful and lasted for six seasons on ABC. In a 1967, the reruns played on Saturday Morning TV and shortly after that, week day syndication. "The Flintstones", even though no longer on primetime television, never really left the air.
Above is a sketch I did of Fred and Barney, done especially for the show's 50th Anniversary. Fred and Barney are the first two cartoon characters I remember learning how to draw while watching the reruns every afternoon.
So let's all have a YABBA-DABBA-DOO time and celebrate with the Flintstones!
It's a shame Superman is only a fictional character, because if he was real maybe he and his fellow members of the Justice League could have help prevent the tragedy of 9-11.
But in the real world we honor our dead and the brave men and women who came to the call to this horrific act.
Please take time today to remember America's second day of infamy.
God Bless America.
He was The King of Comic Books.
'Nuff Said!
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Eugene the Jeep and Bernice the Whiffle Hen - two of the great fantasy characters created by Elzie Segar for his Thimble Theatre comic strip.
Eugene a magical creature that could predict the future and travel through the fourth dimension, was introduced into the strip on April 1, 1936. Segar insisted that that there was no reason for the Jeep to be introduced on the infamous holiday, it was just a coincidence.
Bernice the Whiffle Hen was the reason for Popeye's introduction into the strip. Whiffle Hen's give their owners incredible luck by rubbing the three hairs on it's head. Castor Oyl received Bernice from his uncle and wanted to try the bird's luck on Dice island, a casino resort. He buys a boat with Olive's then boyfriend Ham Gravy and hire Popeye to sail it for them.
In the climax of the story after Castor and crew clean up at the resort, Snork the owner's henchmen shoots Popeye numerous times. Popeye escapes death rubbing Bernice's head through the night and emerges the next morning to knock Snork to kingdom come.
A lot of Popeye fans believe this is the reason for his super strength. Segar established the eating of spinach a few years later but displayed super strength before this.
Which is right? In my opinion they both contribute to the powers of our one-eyed champion.
And thanks to Segar we were introduced to great characters like Jeeps, Whiffle Hens, Goons, Sea Hags and many more to the Popeye Universe.
Ready for Action!
Quisp and Quake, the great commercial stars of 1960's and 1970's Saturday Morning Television.
Created by the Jay Ward Studios (creators of some of the BEST animated series for TV, Rocky and Bullwinkle and George of the Jungle) for Quaker Oats, Bill Scott and his writing staff came up with the concept of an pink colored alien versus a caped construction worker that challenged the kids watching their commercials that their cereal was the best. This gave Quaker Oats the opportunity to introduce two new cereals to the public and then get the kids watching the chance to pick which one they liked best.
The best part of these ads is they had the great humor and puns that made the Jay Ward shows so funny, and also so memorable. Along with Capn' Crunch, Quisp and Quake were the best commercials that interrupted our favorite Saturday Morning Shows.
So who was your favorite - Quisp or Quake?
I love the Kid Gang Comics of the Golden Age and Joe Simon and Jack Kirby did the best of them. Their second gang was for National Publications (you know them as DC Comics today). They were the Newsboy Legion with their Guardian police officer Jim Harper who was really a costumed crime fighter named the Guardian (ironic,huh?). The boys helped the Guardian clean up the streets of Suicide Slum in between selling newspapers and helping the citizens of their neighborhood.
Above is a drawing I inked over an unfinished pencil sketch by Kirby. I finished it, then inked and colored it. This is one of my favorite pieces of inking The King.
