INQUISITR.COM / Entertainment

DC Comics Rebooting Hanna-Barbera Titles And They Are Different: ‘Scooby-Doo’, ‘The Flintstones’, More

By Danny Cox
Published on: 03:46 PST, Jan 28, 2016

Over time, many changes are made to things that people love and cherish, sometimes for the better and sometimes not. The latest change comes from DC Entertainment, as they have announced plans to reboot a line of comics devoted to old-school Hanna-Barbera characters such as Scooby-Doo and The Flintstones. They won’t look like many remember, though, and will feature some brand new stories, too.

People have to realize that changes are going to happen, and even some old favorites can undergo a bit of change and even a face-lift. Dan DiDio is the co-publisher of DC Entertainment, and he recently spoke with Entertainment Weekly about the new line.

“From a personal standpoint, I was always a fan of the old Hanna-Barbera characters, having grown up on them. I think what you find right now is there’s so much material on pop culture, and these characters resonate with so much of our fanbase. It was so fun to go out and look at them, but 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? So we handed off our materials to a number of top creators, and what came back was an exciting look that felt very true to the existence of the characters.”

To start, the new Hanna-Barbera line of DC Comics would feature these titles.

  • Scooby Apocalypse
  • The Flintstones
  • Wacky Raceland
  • Future Quest

As can be seen by the images, there is a real different look to the old Hanna-Barbera characters that people were so used to. It may sound odd and strange, but The Flintstones have gotten a more modern-day look for prehistoric families.

The top creators from the roster of DC Comics have been hand-picked to bring these new series reboots to life. Co-publisher Jim Lee, Amanda Connor, Howard Porter, Evan “Doc” Shaner, and Jeff Parker are all a part of the team.

All four of the new Hanna-Barbera titles are going to get a lot of attention, but Jim Lee knows that the flagship of the series will be Scooby Apocalypse.

“I’m a huge Scooby Doo fan, as I think most people are. I mean, look at these iconic series and they were cultural touchstones for everyone. All my kids know of Scooby Doo from the various cartoons and live action movies, and we’re in a period where you have people my age that are spending their days thinking about cartoon and sci-fi action movies. It’s a multigenerational obsession at this point, and we just thought it would just be really interesting to take the cartoon version of these characters and see where they would be if we took what existed in the very first iteration of the cartoon and moved it into this day and age.”

Future Quest is going to bring about a whole new line of future stories, as revealed by Business Wire. Look for Jonny Quest and Space Ghost characters to have their own tales, and it’s possible that they could even interact or crossover from time-to-time.

Wacky Raceland will have a “scary, dangerous world” that is strange and dynamic and just totally out there. It’s a reboot of the old Wacky Races series that used to be an animated television franchise and had Hanna-Barbera characters racing against one another.

DiDio and Lee have only said that this is the initial lineup of titles coming from DC Entertainment and Hanna-Barbera, but there is likely more coming. There is a huge library in the Hanna-Barbera world that essentially gives them endless and countless titles.

Maybe Laff-A-Lympics will hopefully come back around?

The DC Comics/Entertainment artists are really looking forward to this reboot of Hanna-Barbera titles because it is what they grew up watching and reading. Seeing Scooby-Doo, The Flintstones, and other titles are not just enjoyable, but full of great memories.

[Image via Hanna-Barbera]

Share this article: DC Comics Rebooting Hanna-Barbera Titles And They Are Different: ‘Scooby-Doo’, ‘The Flintstones’, More
DC Comics
More from Inquisitr