You'd think that a smart guy like The Great Gazoo would be able to tell himself apart from an oaf like "dum-dum" Fred Flintstone, but check out this sequence from THE GREAT GAZOO # 5 (Charlton Comics, Cover Date: August, 1974)...
But, to "get confused" to the extent of getting his identity, Fred's identity... and that of his home planet ("Zetox", not "Ziltox" - as it was continually referred-to in these comics) so horribly wrong...
...It really takes some "help" from the one-and-only Charlton Comics!
But, ya gotta love artist Tony DiPreta's "retro-looking Fred" (especially as seen in the second panel), which he often tended to draw!
By the mid-1970s, Fred invariably looked like "Corporate-Cocoa-Pebbles-Happy-Fred", rather than his original 1960 "Ed Benedict design", a blander, more "mascot-ish" look that continues to the present day. And DiPreta was a rare artist who bucked that trend. Good for him!
Cover of THE GREAT GAZOO # 5, (with "retro-looking Fred") from the one and only Charlton Comics.
4 comments:
While I haven’t read the rest of it, this sequence is giving me Bill Walsh Mickey Mouse comic strip flashbacks. You can almost imagine a similar scene playing out with Mickey Mouse and Eega Beeva.
Yes, Deb! Very definitely yes! If Eega were to take Mickey to his “home-time” of 2447!
…Of course, Eega would be able to tell himself apart from “Pmickey”! Actually, unless Eega’s “word-leading letter-Ps” are silent (something we REALLY DON’T KNOW, even after all these years), he would also (at least technically) be getting “Mickey’s” name wrong too!
From the “Carrying an Idea TOO FAR Department”: Imagine if, like Tony DiPreta, Floyd Gottfredson chose to draw a “Retro-Mickey” for this sequence… and we had a 1930s-looking Mickey accompanying Eega Beeva to 2447!
Um, yeah… That was “Carrying an Idea TOO FAR”. …Sorry!
When these comics first appeared, the original Flintstones series had been off the air for a few years, and the teen versions of Pebbles and Bamm-Bamm were headlining the Saturday morning escapades. Thus, I had forgotten the original name of Gazoo's home planet and when Charlton insisted on calling it "Ziltox" I went along with it. Of course, I had the original appearance of Gazoo in Gold Key comics, and in re-reading that story I noticed that the planet was referred to as "Zetox" but since so much was inaccurate with that particular depiction of Gazoo (his total indifference to Pebbles as a human being, for one thing, and also Wilma and Betty could see him, for another) I was never sure, until I caught the introductory episode in reruns. And then I wondered--did someone at Charlton mess up the name, or was the second version a deliberate revision? Of course, there's probably no way to know.
But here's the deal: In the original series, Gazoo was from a far distant planet, from which he was exiled. So we never saw Zetox at all. And if I had imagined how the inhabitants of Gazoo's planet would look, I never would have expected all of the other Zetoxians (or in this case Ziltoxians) to look like variants on his design. They might all be green, but they probably--in my imagination--would have been different body types. And one thing that Charlton comics indulged in freely was transporting Gazoo and often Fred as well to the home planet, whatever its name was really supposed to be. This totally destroys the notion that Zetox/Ziltox is hard to reach, and it also undercuts the severity of Gazoo's exile. He visits the place in almost every issue.
Finally, did the Gazoo story arc in the original series ever really end? My answer is Yes, because the ending of "My Fair Freddy" (Gazoo's last episode and one of the final episodes of the Flintstones original series) shows Gazoo in ecstasy from having performed one good deed at last (like he hadn't been doing good deeds before that?). His enthusiasm convinces me that this last helpful deed is truly his ticket home, and that he will be departing shortly. At least that's how I like to read it. And it provides closure for me. (Of course, people who don't like Gazoo don't need that kind of closure--but interestingly, my whole family adored the character. We did not consider him an awkward fit at all--although I can completely understand and sympathize with those who feel he sort of "wrecked" the series. It did make for a major difference in storylines. But in my family, we liked the Flintstones whatever they dished up.)
Scarecrow:
So many Gazoo thoughts… so little time!
First, forgive me for the length of time it took to publish this comment and my response. I wanted to wait until I found time to re-watch the episodes “The Great Gazoo” and “My Fair Freddy” once again before offering up anything on your enjoyably thorough insights into Gazoo.
Recall that my original period of comics-buying ceased toward the very end of the 15-cent period. I never purchased a 20-cent comic – or anything until 50-cents – as an original. So, obviously, I never saw Charlton’s GREAT GAZOO title until more recent years – making the repeated use of “ZILTOX” stand out painfully! But, I figured… “That’s Charlton!” and, as I’ve also noted in recent years, there were a number of “good surprises” to be found in Charlton’s pages – though that was to occur after I’d abandoned them the first time.
The Gold Key story, adapted as it was by Vic Lockman, is understandable considering WHEN the comic was released – and HOW Western Publishing worked. …And "how they worked" could be up to two-years in advance!
In order to get this comic out while THE FLINTSTONES was still an active show, I’d expect that Lockman very likely got the assignment BEFORE the H-B studio finalized the details on The Great Gazoo, and no one would have seen the shows Gazoo was in before the comic was complete – at least the writing of it. Lockman and artist Pete Alvarado probably went by notes and sketches supplied to Western by H-B… and simply did their best.
There are other such instances, such as The Flying Sub being drawn quite incorrectly (though not unlike what such a craft COULD look like) in Gold Key’s VOYAGE TO THE BOTTOM OF THE SEA comic. Perhaps it was even taken from a preliminary design sketch from Irwin Allen’s desk. Later the “FS1” assumed its proper and familiar appearance – but, again, this was a case of Western producing a comic based in an “active show”, and working so far in advance.
Getting back to Charlton’s Gazoo… Many of the stories had to do with his being checked-on – and even summoned – by his superiors, as to why he flew back-and-forth. I felt that, if THE FLINTSTONES had gone one more season, we would have seen some of that in the show itself. …Then again, there is your last paragraph!
Here’s where you totally turn the whole “Gazoo-thing” on its green ear… Your ending of Gazoo’s story arc REALLY DOES fit within the context of “The Great Gazoo” and “My Fair Freddy”!!!
Though presented more subtly than it should have been (If that WAS H-B’s intent), Gazoo actually DOES a “good deed” that makes Fred a better person – and happier with himself “just as he is”! As a result, Gazoo is also much happier than any of the lessons he taught the dum-dum about gambling, easy money, and the like – which you felt never really sunk in on Fred anyway! Gazoo joyously says “Good bye!” – and disappears! So… YEAH!
It may have been as subtle as it was so that the character could be around for the next season – if there was a next season. But, sure enough, IT WAS THERE… and I never noticed it until this week! Thank you!
Finally, you invoke the dreaded “teenage Pebbles and Bamm-Bamm”. Since only children and animals could see Gazoo, would he have “vanished” to them upon entering puberty?
Post a Comment