Exit Stage Left: The Snagglepuss Chronicles #1

My first 2018 title, and I read it on the day it came out! A real treat for me since I'm normally months behind as you will no doubt discover.

DC’s acquired properties of Hanna-Barbera and Wild Storm seem to be the place for full expressions of strangeness and much more open to savage critiques of American culture and U.S. government. The Flintstones—of which I’ve only read the first trade paperback—is notable for its idiosyncratic visual style and Paul Verhoeven-esq satire. The poppy visuals and funny gags barely contain the anger at the heart of a comic book about genocide and the commodification of human existence under capitalism. Exit Stage Left: The Snagglepuss Chronicles #1 promises to be a continuation of this DC/Hanna-Barbera brand of re-imagining old school cartoons as sophisticated adult stories—and here I mean adult in these sense of complex ideas and storytelling rather than saying fuck and showing titties (I’m looking at you Fables).

Snagglepuss isn’t as immediately arresting as The Flintstones. Mike Feehan’s art has much more generic digital feel that sacrifices character for a sort of realness (in many ways this feels like a Furry comic par excellence—and that’s not a jab!). Mark Russell, who also pens The Flintstones, is also more clearly going for a long-form story arc instead of the episodic situational comedy of his previous title. This isn’t to suggest that Snagglepuss is bad, far from it! The introduction of the time period is layered and nuanced in ways that comic-book period pieces rarely are. It goes for a feeling and mood rather than a string of contextualizing references (although those are present, but always in service of feeling). The nihilistic anti-intellectualism of American politics of the time permeates the narrative through deflated figures and a creeping violent crassness. These elements structure its most compelling sight-gag: the revelation that the dating strangers of the opening aren’t rushing to see Snagglepuss’s latest play (a spot-on parody of overwrought Tennessee Williams works that suggests an intimate familiarity with the style), but rather the execution of Ethel Rosenberg.

Lastly, I’m most intrigued by the introduction of an antagonist working with the House Un-American Activities Committee; a prudish crusader akin to Anita Bryant named Gigi Allen (although no piss drinking a la G.G. Allin) who looks like Ayn Rand.

references:

1. Exit Stage Left: The Snagglepuss Chronicles #1 w.Mark Russell p.Mike Feehan Pub. Jan. 3, 2018 Read 1/3/18
2. top image: Exit Stage Left: The Snagglepuss Chronicles #1 variant cover art by Evan "Doc" Shaner