I’m old enough to remember laughing at Hanna Barbera’s Snagglepuss cartoons on TV. DC’s Snagglepuss #5, however, is serious stuff.
Snagglepuss, in this issue, is doing his best to stand up to the US government during the Red Scare years of the 1950’s. “Are you a Communist?” was the question of the day, striking fear in the hearts of many Hollywood personalities. If you were a liberal thinker and had “Red” friends, you were in deep trouble. You could get jailed, go bankrupt, lose your career, be friendless and shunned. It was a real threat to personal freedom, and nothing to joke about. Enter Snagglepuss??
Why this comic was made is a mystery to me; Snagglepuss and Huckleberry Hound have become the newest cartoon characters to undergo an update in a comic miniseries. But while I enjoyed the recent Flintstones miniseries for its cleverly modernized themes and its story twists, the Snagglepuss Chronicles lacks spark. It’s simply a story from the McCarthy era with two sad cartoon characters being persecuted. Remember when they used to be funny?
The concept aside, Mark Russell’s dialogue and scenes are good, and the art by Sean Parsons and Mike Feehan does the trick. The catch is that the comic lacks any sort of cheerfulness, and that’s a shame; the Saturday morning cartoon equity value of Hanna Barbara’s Snagglepuss is being ignored here.
The backup story is Sasquatch Detective, written by Brandee Stilwell, with art by Gus Vazquez and colour by Ross Campbell. The ultra-thin Sasquatch Detective is on the case, and in the spa. It’s a nail trimmer of a detective story, and it’s continued in the next issue. I’m not familiar with the character, but it’s wacky and kooky enough to fascinate me.
DC, The Snagglepuss Chronicles #5, $3.99 For 30 pages of content. Teen +
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