Status
Available
Call number
Publication
DC Comics (2018), 168 pages
Description
"It's 1953. While the United States is locked in a nuclear arms race with the Soviet Union, the gay Southern playwright known as Snagglepuss is the toast of Broadway. But success has made him a target. As he plans for his next hit play, Snagglepuss becomes the focus of the House Committee on Un-American Activities. And when powerful forces align to purge show business of its most subversive voices, no one is safe! Written by Mark Russell, the critically acclaimed mastermind behind the award-winning Prez Vol. 1 and The Flintstones, Exit Stage Left: The Snagglepuss Chronicles enters the Hanna-Barbera reimagined universe!"--
User reviews
LibraryThing member magicians_nephew
OK we all know Snagglepuss, right? Pink Lion, upright, lace cuffs, prissy-pants "elegant" trick of speech? He was a second banana to Yogi Bear in the Saturday Morning Hanna-Barbara Cartoon Universe.
Or maybe he was a Southern playwright in the 1950's or so, writing smash hit after smash hit for
The author of Exit Stage Left: The Snagglepuss Chronicles has the second guy in mind. Think Tennessee Williams in a velvet smoking jacket called up in front of the "House Un American Activities Committee" -- saying all the right things to the press but later taking a cab down to the Village for a drink with friends at the Stonewall Inn -- and you've got it.
Did I mention that this was a graphic novel? Don't run away!. The art will remind you not at all of the old H-B limited animation -- it's better, intricate, vibrant almost Addams Family Gothic. The writing is sly and funny but not afraid to dig deep down and got for a nerve now and then.
Augie Dogie ("my Son, my Son") and Huckleberry Hound and Quick Draw McGraw show up here too - but not at all how you would expect. The ending - well I dunno. Is it a victory? or a defeat? You'll have to read it.
Highly recommended.
Or maybe he was a Southern playwright in the 1950's or so, writing smash hit after smash hit for
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Broadway, with a private life that was - (maybe) - none of your damn business. I mean, just because he's pink? (and how many ways were there to be "pink" in 1950's America?)The author of Exit Stage Left: The Snagglepuss Chronicles has the second guy in mind. Think Tennessee Williams in a velvet smoking jacket called up in front of the "House Un American Activities Committee" -- saying all the right things to the press but later taking a cab down to the Village for a drink with friends at the Stonewall Inn -- and you've got it.
Did I mention that this was a graphic novel? Don't run away!. The art will remind you not at all of the old H-B limited animation -- it's better, intricate, vibrant almost Addams Family Gothic. The writing is sly and funny but not afraid to dig deep down and got for a nerve now and then.
Augie Dogie ("my Son, my Son") and Huckleberry Hound and Quick Draw McGraw show up here too - but not at all how you would expect. The ending - well I dunno. Is it a victory? or a defeat? You'll have to read it.
Highly recommended.
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LibraryThing member PardaMustang
Exit Stage Left: The Snagglepuss Chronicles by Mark Russell is a collection of comics issues based on Hanna-Barbera characters, with a more realistic bent. This is a story about standing up for what is right, despite the consequences. It's about the place of the arts in society, as a constant
***Many thanks to Netgalley and DC Entertainment for providing an egalley in exchange for a fair and honest review.
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mirror to the absurdity of closed-minded thinking. Snagglepuss is a playwright, during Nixon's era, faced with the Committee for Un-American Activities, an idiotic smokescreen for inflicting narrow-minded 'Christian’ values on the entire population, and deeming anything even slightly out of those bounds as a path leading straight towards dreaded Communism. One big trigger is being gay, considered ‘subversive’ and 'immoral’. Here, many of these well-known cultural icons are secretly homosexual. I grew up with these cartoons, so this collection intrigued me. This is certainly a dark, gritty lens to view them through. I loved the history bits at the end, tying everything together, and explaining where changes were made and what actually happened, and the historical figures that these versions of the characters were patterned after. Highly recommended!!***Many thanks to Netgalley and DC Entertainment for providing an egalley in exchange for a fair and honest review.
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LibraryThing member ecataldi
Unlike the Flintstones and the other Hanna-Barbera imprints at DC, this comic was super bad-ass (wait I forgot about Scooby Apocolypse, that too was cool). The Snagglepuss Chronicles was unlike anything I expected. It's set in the 50s at the heart of McCarthyism and Snagglepuss is a playwright who
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isn't playing by the government's rules. He'll give them sass but not the list of names they want. He has just as much to lose as everyone else, Snagglepuss is gay and like his friend the esteemed author, Huckleberry Hound, he has to hide that, because to the American public it's almost worst then being a communist. Inventive, wonderful storyline. Nothing at all like cartoon, yet... dare I say.... better? Show Less
LibraryThing member asxz
I got a great recommendation for this which caught me at a good time and so I picked it up. It is quite the most unusual thing. Snagglepuss a pink, cartoon mountain lion is reimagined here as a Tennessee Williams-esque playwright in the 50s appearing before HUAC and refusing to name communists. He
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gets involved in the love triangle between Marilyn Monroe, Arthur Miller and Joltin' Joe and he mediates between Huckleberry Hound and Quick Draw McGraw after they hook up at the Stonewall Inn. Most unusual. But somehow it works, it's alive, it's oddly urgent and genuinely affecting. Show Less
LibraryThing member JesseTheK
Remarkable reimagining of a Hanna-Barbera cartoon of my youth. Snaggle Puss Is a closeted queer actor, bullied by Joseph McCarthy’s red scare, for which the book provides a potted history. Noir hero suffers much. Only happiness in the story is seeing how far we come.Lush art captures the 40s
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through 60s aesthetic. Show Less
LibraryThing member amanda4242
I picked this one up because of the bizarreness of having a Hanna-Barbera character as a closeted playwright during the McCarthy era. Once you look past the classic cartoon characters you'll realize that the story isn't exactly revolutionary, but it is surprisingly well told.
LibraryThing member Ghost_Boy
DOROTHY PARKER IS IN A COMIC BOOK! Kind of fangirling here for a moment, but I love the fact Parker and the Algonquin Round Table are in this book. Only for a brief cameo, but they kid of set the stage for what this comic book is about.
If you liked the Flintstones comic book, you'll probably like
You could say this comic book has a ton of things going on at once, but take a look at the time period it was set in, a ton of things were gong on at once. Besides the Red Scare, this also deals with homosexuality during the 50s They make SP, HH, aand QD all gay which fits for this comic book. This comic has a ton of witty (Dorothy Parker, even) comments, but it also has a lot of tragic moments I wasn't prepared for, unlike the Flintstones were it was mostly a fun ride.
This comic book does get into politics, but thank God it's not party based of favored. They have Snagglepuss mention in the beginning and end he's not about politics and he not a party person. I think for this type of comic book based on a cartoon that was a smart decision. All we know is Snagglepuss isn't a Communist. Russell menages to write a political satire without mention any party names besides the Communist Party.
At the end they have a really nice write-up of some of the historical parts telling you what is what. I didn't realize beforehand that Snagglepuss and Huckleberry were loosely based on Tennessee Williams (SP) and William Faulkner (HH). Kind of helps making these cartoon character seem more then just fictional animals. There are somethings they don't explain to readers, like Dorothy Parker as I mentioned above. She's not really well know anymore unless you are into writing. I feel like they need a little more explanation.
There probably a lot more I can talk about with this comic book, but I won't because I might run into spoilers, which there is a few. If you're looking for something different, this is another must read I think. I'll be honest, not a Snagglepuss fan but this comic book might have changed my mind. I think I like this better then the Flintstones comic book too.
If you liked the Flintstones comic book, you'll probably like
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this just a much. Mark Russell is good with satire and cartoons. Exit Stage Left is a satire on the early 50s during the Red Scare. Of course, it has cartoon characters like Snagglepuss, Huckleberry Hound, and Quick Draw, but it also has a bunch of historical characters as well.You could say this comic book has a ton of things going on at once, but take a look at the time period it was set in, a ton of things were gong on at once. Besides the Red Scare, this also deals with homosexuality during the 50s They make SP, HH, aand QD all gay which fits for this comic book. This comic has a ton of witty (Dorothy Parker, even) comments, but it also has a lot of tragic moments I wasn't prepared for, unlike the Flintstones were it was mostly a fun ride.
This comic book does get into politics, but thank God it's not party based of favored. They have Snagglepuss mention in the beginning and end he's not about politics and he not a party person. I think for this type of comic book based on a cartoon that was a smart decision. All we know is Snagglepuss isn't a Communist. Russell menages to write a political satire without mention any party names besides the Communist Party.
At the end they have a really nice write-up of some of the historical parts telling you what is what. I didn't realize beforehand that Snagglepuss and Huckleberry were loosely based on Tennessee Williams (SP) and William Faulkner (HH). Kind of helps making these cartoon character seem more then just fictional animals. There are somethings they don't explain to readers, like Dorothy Parker as I mentioned above. She's not really well know anymore unless you are into writing. I feel like they need a little more explanation.
There probably a lot more I can talk about with this comic book, but I won't because I might run into spoilers, which there is a few. If you're looking for something different, this is another must read I think. I'll be honest, not a Snagglepuss fan but this comic book might have changed my mind. I think I like this better then the Flintstones comic book too.
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LibraryThing member mktoronto
This was utterly brilliant. Snagglepuss as Tennessee Williams, fighting the red scare. The theatre person in me loved all the commentary on theatre vs film vs TV. I just can't say enough about the writing. The art matches, the palate fitting perfectly. A must read, especially for those who remember
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the Snagglepuss cartoons. Show Less
LibraryThing member bmanglass
I really enjoyed an American comic????? The writing in this was so good.
Awards
Lambda Literary Award (Finalist — 2019)
GLAAD Media Award (Winner — 2019)
Excellence in Graphic Literature Award (Finalist — Adult Fiction — 2019)
NPR: Books We Love (2018)
Los Angeles Public Library Best of the Year (Fiction — 2018)
Language
Original language
English
Original publication date
2018
Physical description
10.19 inches
ISBN
1401275214 / 9781401275211