The Flintstones: Volume Two Review

Finished reading The Flintstones: Volume Two writer Mark Russell concludes the series that revitalised the classic Hanna-Barbera characters who are dealing with modern day problems. The book opens with Gazoo stopping an arriving alien before the Filintstones are chased a way by a group of Marauders as Gazoo begins his report of Earth while the town of Bedrock deal with there sins in how to rid themselves of them at the church. The next story sees Wilma and Betty going to Wilma's old home to see her mother, while Fred and Barry are trying to live without their wife's the towns mayor beings to close down the hospital in hopes to make war with the Lizard people outside of the town. The following story sees Fred getting layoff at work for cheaper labour and when Wilma gives him a new bowling ball which leads to the animals with in the house to go find their friend, the old bowling ball when the armadillo is thrown away. The next story sees the mayor finding out that the Lizard people have moved away leading him to lose the backing of the people of Bedrock while the population is also dealing with the film industry coming to the town. The penultimate story sees Gazoo continuing his report when he's summoned back home while Bedrock is dealing with a large statue of Fred and Barry that Barry got for Fred's birthday. The final story has Gazoo finishing his report as the series comes to an end with Bedrock and its population's story comes to an end. Overall this was an amazing book as it continues to blend together the political and social commentary with some amazing comedic moments exceptionally well. The framing device of most of the story being from a report that Gazoo is writing for his own planet about how he views Earth and the people of Bedrock which helps to give another prospective to the book. Additionally the shift of focus to the nonhuman characters bring a surprisingly amount of development to background characters that could easily be scenery for the book and yet writer Mark Russell makes time to give these characters their own intriguing story. The art by Steve Pugh and Rick Leonardi continues to give to the book a familiar style and aesthetic to classic Flintstones while also feeling modern and updated. 9.5/10.