TACO EL GATO #2 - Cathy Briones

Continuing the story of the adopted feline with the soul of a dog, Taco El Gato #2 seems to have backed off on the promise of issue one to get deeper into the lead cat's story.  The Fritz the Cat lewdness and rudeness feels tapered down as well, the story here coming out of the blue (pun intended) as Fluffy enlists the aid of the fluffy-headed Furr-ball to help him find the One-Headed, Blue-Assed Monkey (Fluffy is now an exterminator of all creatures annoying, putting flyers up all over town, and this is his first conquest).  The trail leads them to a park late at night, as in another part of town Fluffy's real father has arrived in Ditz City in search of his son - and all parties come together, along with two inept cops, in a tangle of mistaken identities and general silliness.  The artwork is still kitschy 1970's, and in some ways I almost enjoyed this overly-simple story better than the first ... though it doesn't fulfill what felt like the promise of the first book in giving us something a bit more, particularly with the majority of the supporting characters from the first book gone MIA.  2.5/5 stars

Note: I received a free ARC of this title via NetGalley and the publisher, in exchange for an honest review.

THE FLINTSTONES (2016-) VOL. 1 - Mark Russell & Steve Pugh

As a child (as an adult, for that matter), I lived for two cartoons (sorry, that's what us dinosaurs called "animated series" when I was a mere baby brontosaurus): "Speed Racer" and "The Flintstones".  Both have remained rabid favorites as an adult, the residents of Bedrock so familiar and familial to me by now, even cover of this graphic novel (comprised of the first six comics of the series) alone had me worried about what modern day might wrought on the world's (and my) most beloved prehistoric family.  Here, the Flintstones and Rubbles have both grown up - literally, Pebbles and Bamm-Bamm are teenagers now - but the genius of what writer Mark Russell and artist Steve Pugh have created here reveals itself in some brilliant political and social satire, the goings-on of Fred, Barney and their families mirroring our own times.  Whether tackling politics, obsessive consumerism, the right to marry, genocide/war, organized religion, gentrification, or the objectification and abuse of animals, in comic book form Russell and Pugh have cast both satirical and critical eyes on today's society, mirroring the 21st-century in the dinosaur age - up to and including unique and ingeniously creative back stories behind how the Flintstones got Dino and the Rubbles became parents.  Illustrated in just as coarse and "caveman-chic" a style befitting its subjects, the pages reflect the times and draw you that much more into the stories: Fred still trying to get ahead at the quarry (Mr. Slate is, like, three times the douchebag here as in the cartoon), with Barney as his dopey sidekick and Wilma this time showing off an artistic bent as well as her own kind-of-cool backstory (Betty, by comparison, is severely relegated to almost an afterthought of a character here).  Extremely well-crafted with obvious love for the original, this is a new retelling of "The Flintstones" for our times that somehow never loses - at its heart - any respect for the source material.  4.5/5 stars

Note: I received a free ARC of this title via NetGalley and the publisher, in exchange for an honest review.