Sunday, October 3, 2010

Comic Book Covers: THE FLINTSTONES # 8 (December, 1962) "The Modern (Art?) Stone Age Family!”


Today’s “Flintstones at Fifty” is more of a “Fifty/ Fifty”!

Fifty percent illustration and Fifty percent LOGO!

Look at the SIZE of that thing! It’s a prehistoric GIANT – just as large as the cover illustration itself!

In its first eighteen months (mid 1962 thru 1963) Gold Key Comics did a great deal of “graphic experimentation” – shaking up the traditional version of the comics formerly published under the Dell label.

Borderless panels, rectangular dialogue balloons, reduced background detail and singular background coloring (in a sort of imitation of the “modern” theatrical cartoon shorts of the time). And occasional experimentation with the front cover illustrations… such as we see here!

Frankly, this looks more like an early-sixties RECORD ALBUM COVER than a comic book!

Enjoy this oddity, and be back for more “Flintstones at Fifty”!

2 comments:

Chris Barat said...

Joe,

Talk about unusual... that pterodactyl must have unusual -- make that super-reptilian -- STRENGTH in order to carry Fred and Wilma in that fashion! The downward pull of gravity on the Fred-end of that thing must be overwhelming.

Chris

Joe Torcivia said...

Yeah, the weight distribution in general would be far more toward the front. Some effort to keep things level, wouldn’t you say?