Yabba-Dabba-Huh? DC Meets Hanna Barbera (2017)

 

Review:

What if the characters from one comic publisher's universe crossed over and met those from another, completely different universe? What would happen? If they fought, who would win? Fans occasionally wonder and ask such questions, indulging in the sheer joy of speculation and debate. Who doesn't love a good Superman-or-Spider-man argument?

This collection attempts to offer some answers by pairing characters from two very different comic worlds.

The problem, however, is how painfully silly the answers offered here are. DC's modern universe and Hanna-Barbera's classic kids-cartoon characters are simply too different for this to succeed. The situations and interactions are too forced and ridiculous, offending fans on both sides. Maybe, with different characters in a different era, this could have turned out better. Think Golden-Age Shazam, for example.

The most natural and promising pairing is the lead story. DC offers the time-travelling Booster Gold; what if, in his many adventures through time, he landed in Bedrock and met Fred Flintstone and friends? It is not too crazy a premise in either universe. 

Its intriguing possibility, however, goes off the rails immediately, when Booster's arrival accidentally kills the peaceful visiting prophet from an alien race. This sets the ball rolling for a future extra-terrestrial invasion, of course. Tampering with the time stream, come on Booster, you know better than that! Where are those hard-earned Time Master skills?

Throw in the caveman-tech repairs to the damaged time sphere and this degenerates into a goofy, slapstick farce.

The Green Lantern and Space Ghost cross-over is the most fun to look at. Ariel Olivetti's visuals lean toward paintings and water-color scenes. Well-done to take the assignment so seriously, as it seems more effort than this light tale deserves, as much a stretch as the Booster + Flintstone cross-over.

Adam Strange is no stranger to, well, strange and unusual places and scenarios, so his cross-over with Future Quest also has some potential, at least at the pitch-deck stage. But like so many others in this collection, its attempt to walk a line between serious and silly winds up disappointing on all fronts.

As for the cross-over between Amanda Waller's Suicide Squad and the Banana Splits gang - well, we just won't mention it again.

The collection brings together four one-shot specials and includes the bonus backup story from each issue. These use other characters, such as the Jetsons. The biggest standout of the bonus features has to be Batman meeting Top Cat. Writer Dan Didio gives us a clever story of Top Cat's struggles and Batman's compassionate offer of assistance. The line of the whole book comes after they part ways: "Is he always this gullible?" Top Cat asks an off-panel Catwoman. 

Alas, that is as good as it gets with these cross-over stories. 1.5 capes.

Description:

DC’s iconic superheroes meet some of Hanna-Barbera’s best-loved characters in the most unexpected stories of the year, collected here in DC MEETS HANNA-BARBERA.

When Booster Gold tries to rescue future Earth from an alien invasion, he travels back in time and finds help from none other than Fred Flintstone and Barney Rubble! In an unexplored sector of space, Green Lantern and Space Ghost join forces to help an alien race facing disaster! Adam Strange lands on an unfamiliar Earth, and only Jonny Quest, Hadji, Dr. Quest and Race Bannon can help him get home! And when Amanda Waller needs to rescue the Suicide Squad, she reaches out to the newest inmates in Belle Reve: animal rock band the Banana Splits!

All this plus unexpected takes on Hanna-Barbera characters the Jetsons, Top Cat, Ruff ’n’ Reddy and Snagglepuss in a collection featuring some of comics’ top creators, among them Howard Chaykin, Mark Russell, Jeff Parker, James Tynion IV, Steve Lieber, Tony Bedard, Marc Andreyko, Ariel Olivetti, Amanda Conner, Jimmy Palmiotti, Dan DiDio and Howard Porter!

Collects: BOOSTER GOLD/THE FLINTSTONES SPECIAL #1, GREEN LANTERN/SPACE GHOST SPECIAL #1, ADAM STRANGE/FUTURE QUEST SPECIAL #1 and SUICIDE SQUAD/BANANA SPLITS SPECIAL #1

Authors:  Mark Russell, IV Tynion, James, Christopher Sebela, Marc Andreyko
Artists:  Various
Published By:  DC Comics
Published When:  Sept 26, 2017
Parental Rating: PG
ISBN:  978-1401276041
Pages:  168 pages

What is Protocol Six? Review of Smallville Season 11 Volume 4 - Argo (2013)

Review:

Superman. Supergirl. Booster Gold. The Legion of Superheroes. Doomsday. A Lois Lane and Lana Lang team-up. There is so much packed into this slim volume collecting a baker's dozen of digital chapters tying into the hit CW TV show, Smallville.

When a brash Booster Gold pops in on Clark at his civilian job, it leads to them both getting whisked to the 31st century. Booster's (stolen) Legion flight ring has enacted Protocol Six, an emergency summons to all recognized Legionnaires - Booster not being one of them, of course.

They find themselves dropped into the middle of intrigue, plots and battles between Earthgov and New Krypton. Mutual suspicions between Earthgov and the Legion complicate any peace efforts. When Supergirl, a captured prisoner and spy, is freed, Clark learns firsthand of the power of xenophobic fear of the foreigner. He is not only not revered but actively hated.

Booster fares no better. After a humiliating dressing-down by Brainiac, Booster seeks to prove his courage and heroism, but only succeeds in getting himself arrested and tortured. But, after escaping and stealing / commandeering a large frigate space vessel, his heroic efforts to save the citizens of Metropolis from certain death triggers a peaceful cooperation between all sides.

Meanwhile, Superman's battle with Doomsday, resurrected in Earthgov's near-sighted efforts to tip the conflict in their favor, leads to him nearly sacrificing himself. Only a last-minute rescue through the cooperative efforts of all the citizens of New Krypton saves him.

These chapters were published in 2013 and collected in 2014, but here in 2025 they feel spot-on, speaking as they do to the fear of others and the conflicts that can ensue when people raise the stakes rather than open their arms.

The final story, Valkyrie, sees Lois Lane and Lana Lang team up in a very different tale. Lois, on assignment as a reporter embedded with a military unit in Africa, discovers that the legendary "Angel of the Plateau" is not only real, but is... Lana Lang? With Prometheus infecting her and giving her powers, she is out to save the children and bring justice to the oppressed, caught in the middle of a regional conflict between factions and warlords. But not everyone appreciates her efforts, and John Corben, with absorbing powers of his own, is dispatched to stop her.

The stories in this little volume have several frustrating gaps and jumps. Some of them might be clear to fans with a deeper knowledge of the TV series, but not enough back story is provided for the rest of us. The visuals, especially in the Valkyrie pages, are disappointing, with stiff and amateurish postures. The result of these shortcomings in both the writing and the art leaves the reader occasionally bewildered and unimpressed.

In all, these stories contain an intriguing premise but ultimately disappoint.

Description:

The first time in print for these digital-first stories, the hit CW series Smallville continues!

Clark Kent finds himself transported to the future, where he meets the greatest heroes of the 31st Century: Booster Gold and the Legion of Super-Heroes! However, it's not a mere social call: Superman must stop war between Earth and a stunning villain! Collects issues #13-15 and SMALLVILLE SEASON ELEVEN SPECIAL #2.

Collects: Smallville Season 11 online digital chapters 41-53

Authors:  by Bryan Q. Miller
Artists:  Daniel Hdr, Cat Staggs 
Published By:  DC Comics
Published When:  March 25, 2014
Parental Rating: Teen
ISBN:  978-1401246372
Pages:  160 pages

Broken Down - Review of Justice League International vol 2 Breakdown

 

Review:

With this book, which collects the second half of the brief run of Justice League International, the New 52 era JLI, and Booster Gold as a team leader, fizzle to their anticlimactic end. The premise was sound: a UN-sanctioned, globally representative metahuman peace-keeping force, fronted by someone comfortable with the media spotlight. Heroes from nearly every continent. Globe-spanning challenges and adventures. 

The formula had worked before, granted with a lot more silliness, in the late 1980s first edition of Justice League International and its connections to Justice League titles set in Europe and America. But ultimately it falls flat in 2012. It was clearly time to either reboot or end this series.

For a time, a radical reboot seemed in the works. This collection opens with the immediate aftermath of the bombing of the United Nations, seen at the very end of volume 1. The chaos, heroism, confusion, death and mourning packed into an intense first chapter of this book start us off with a bang. And what an impact the bombing had on the team! Gavril aka Rocket Red is dead. Ice is badly wounded, her leg shattered like, well, ice. Vixen is out of commission and in hospital. Fire is in a deep coma. We are set up for a major overhaul, potentially a whole new direction.

Instead, we get a wandering and unfocused plot. New character like Batwing pop in and out. The team jumps halfway around the world and back on a wild goose chase. Budding relationships disappear. Heroes behave out of character.

The final panel of the last issue of the series is artistically set up by Aaron Lopresti and Matt Ryan to look like the start of something new. The heroes have survived and rededicated themselves to each other and their cause. But even this wrap-up is at odds with its own scattered lead-up, so much so that it feels like a forced happy ending.

The book also includes the Annual and one issue (#9) from Fury of Firestorm. But they only serve to compound the lack of focus. While including the Firestorm issue does fill in some of the details of their Paris diversion, the characters are so embedded in their own plotlines that it leaves JLI readers more confused than enlightened.

For its part, the Annual, written by Geoff Johns and Dan Didio, is more interested in setting up the return of Brother Eye and the next major crossover event than in furthering the stories and characters of the JLI. In the process, they muff significant bits of the continuity, such as it was, of this short 12-issue series run.

There are glints and glimmers of gold in this disappointing book. The heroism, confusion and sorrow after the UN bombing is very well handled in both its writing and visuals. Lopresti and Ryan give us some fun panels over the course of these chapters, a personal favorite being the dissolving of Guy Gardner's ring creation once they arrive back in New York and no longer need it.

But ultimately this disappointing series ends with a whimper. 2 capes out of 5.

Description:

Trying to collect themselves after an extra-terrestrial attack and death of a teammate, members of Justice League International expected to bask in glory and appreciation. However, Booster Gold, Guy Gardner, Batman and company are learning that's not the case as a new threat, one far more dangerous than anyone dared suspect. Called Breakdown, he emerges and attacks with dire results, forever altering the team and sending it in a bold, new and unexpected direction!

Collects: Justice League International #7-12 and Annual #1, plus Fury of Firestorm #9

Authors:  Dan Jurgens
Artists:  Aaron Lopresti
Published By:  DC Comics
Published When:  Jan 8, 2013
Parental Rating: Teen
ISBN:  978-1401237936
Pages:  200 pages

What a Difference a Mentor Makes! Review of Justice League International v1 Signal Masters

            

Review:

This New 52 version of the Justice League International follows on the heels of the Justice League Generation Lost series. The world - and especially the United Nations - has seen the need for a team of superheroes with less freelance attitude, one who is more responsive to their needs and concerns. 

So they reassemble the core of the Generation Lost team, with Booster Gold as leader, Fire, Ice and Rocket Red joining him. Add in some lesser-known international heroes like Godiva from the United Kingdom (she had a minor role in Infinity Inc.) and August General in Iron from China (who debuted in the early issues of the 52 series), Vixen from Africa (an occasional member of the Justice League over the years). The best-known of the teammates rounding out the roster is Guy Gardner (from I guess the USA via Oa?). Last but not least is Batman, an unofficial and definitely unsanctioned occasional member. He is, after all, not possible to control, in the eyes of the team's UN handlers.

The result is a genuinely multinational and multi-racial, if rather low-powered, team. Guy Gardner is the strongest, followed by Booster Gold and the August General, I suppose.

This dearth of heavy hitters leads to an ignominious failure and retreat on their very first mission. A feel-good rescue mission, with loads of public-relations upside, uncovers a literally Earth-shattering plot. Intergalactic villain Peraxxus is using a quartet of giant robots to disassemble the planet for its most valuable natural resources. The robots are new, and a bit silly in the grand plot, but Peraxxus is a more serious and dangerous version of Manga Khan, who pulled a similar stunt in the Formerly Known as the Justice League series.

The art team of Aaron Lopresti and Matt Ryan gives us pages packed with dramatic, frame-busting poses. They love the big splash, taking a cue perhaps from series author Dan Jurgens, who has mastered the technique in his own art. The inks are well balanced and the vivid colors pop from nearly every page. It makes for an intense and immersive, absorbing read.

Jurgens gives us a solid story with lots of layers. Global politics and bureaucracy. Social opposition to change. Earth-threatening villains. But where he shines most is in the team dynamics. This is a new team, thrown together with no time to truly even get to know each other's names. No training camp or onboarding time for them! They must learn each other's powers and reactions under pressure, sure. But even more than that are the personal relationship dynamics. The post-romantic tension between Guy Gardner and Ice. Godiva's flirtatious advances on Booster. Her doubts and the surprising role of friend and mentor adopted by the August General. Booster's own growth as both a team leader and as a political player.

It's Batman's mentorship that really advances Booster's leadership. Batman - whose presence is unsanctioned, who lurks in the shadows, when necessary, but is always there to push, instruct, mentor and otherwise guide Booster in his leadership skills. He repeatedly takes Booster under his wing and shapes him into, not just the pretty face of the team, but its heart and head. This interaction is so well handled by Jurgens, who as Booster's creator, must have delighted in writing this significant character growth after decades of the self-centered buffoonish portrayals.

Description:

A New York Times Bestseller

As a part of the acclaimed DC Comics - The New 52 event of September 2011, the United Nations brings together Batman, Booster Gold, Green Lantern Guy Gardner, August General in Iron, Fire, Ice, Vixen and Rocket Red - a new group called Justice League International!

With the growing presence of super beings around the world, the JLI are charged with promoting unity and trust - but if they're going to discover the mystery behind the giant alien Signalmen who are appearing all over the globe can they reach that goal without killing each other first?

Collects: issues #1-6

Authors:  by Dan Jurgens
Artists:  Aaron Lopresti, Matt Ryan
Published By:  DC Comics
Published When:  May 15, 2012
Parental Rating: Teen
ISBN:  978-1401235345
Pages:  144 pages