The Flintstones, Vol. 1 by Mark Russell and Steve Pugh

The Flintstones, Vol. 1 collects comic book issues 1-6. It is an updated, grownup, dark comic, similar to the TV show Riverdale in style. 

Publishers Weekly describes The Flintstones as, "absurd reality that isn't much different from the original TV series-cartoon cavepeople living with prehistoric versions of modern technology". The same quirky shop names you remember from the TV show make an appearance here - Bloomingshales, Spears and Roebuck, Outback Snakehouse. 

The characters deal with current issues in sneaky ways. There's commentary on working one's self to death (literally - by dinosaur attack) for someone else's benefit. Fred and Barney are veterans of the Bedrock Wars and dealing with issues of PTSD. For Barney, his PTSD is complicated by the fact that Bam Bam is a child that was orphaned by the Bedrock Wars. There are also questions of the next war - is it worth fighting aliens who show up to Bedrock Valley or should the town wait it out to see what happens before taking action? The characters even deal with issues of marriage equality as protesters crash a marriage retreat to protest monogamous relationships. 

Publishers Weekly writes, as in the original TV show it's the "sweet characterizations that present Fred and Barney as lovable lunkheads whose sincerity often sets them apart from the rest of Stone Age society" that make this satire a fun take on modern issues. 

Shannon 

Fun Home: a family tragicomic by Alison Bechdel

Fun Home is a graphic novel memoir centered around Bechdel’s father and their sometimes close, sometimes strained relationship. Bechdel’s father, Bruce, was a passionate restorer of their Victorian home, a high school English teacher, a part-time funeral home director, and a man who tried to hide his true self from friends and family. His relationship with his wife and children was often strained, and when he commits suicide he and Alison are barely on speaking terms. While the subject is often bleak, Bechdel has a knack for finding both humor and beauty in difficult times.

Before picking up Fun Home, I had not read a graphic novel since middle school. While I enjoy a number of comic strips, I never understood the idea of an entire book told in comic form. Now I cannot imagine this story being told any other way. The imagery and languages work together to immerse the reader so deeply into Bechdel’s life that it’s impossible not to feel the complicated mix of emotions she herself felt for her father: adoration, disgust, trust, betrayal, love, and heartbreak. Woven throughout are comparisons of her family members to characters from literature especially Daedalus, the ancient Greek inventor, and his son Icarus, the boy who flew too close to the sun. In Fun Home, Alison and Bruce take turns as parent and child to one another, at times pushing each other to great heights, and at others falling into the depths. And much like the tales of Greek mythology, Fun Home is a tale that sticks with you long after the story has been told.

Fun Home has won a number of awards including the Eisner Award for Best Reality-Based Work, Lambda Literary Awards for Biography / Autobiography, and the Stonewall Book Awards: Israel Fishman Nonfiction Award. In 2013, it was adapted for the stage winning the 2015 Tony Award for Best Musical, Best Original Score, and others.  

- Portia Kapraun