B.C. has gotten better with age, but some of these were still pretty funny. ( )

Cartoonist Johnny Hart created his loveable cavemen characters in the 1950s. Over the next few decades his group of dysfunctional prehistoric humans invented the wheel, started the battle of the sexes, attended the first therapy sessions, and created team sports. :) The six cavemen and two cavewomen poke fun at everything from love and feminism to politics and society. Side characters range from ants pursued by hungry anteaters, a turtle and his bird BFF, and cute dinosaurs.

I loved these cartoons when I was in middle and high school. Hart poked fun at just about every part of life and society. In 2018, I am revisiting books and series that I have on my own shelves, or books I remember enjoying in the past. I decided it was time to re-read B.C. and another Hart creation, Wizard of Id. These cartoons are still amazingly relevant. I suppose the basic ponderings and challenges of humanity really don't change all that much. Some of the jokes or interactions between the male and female characters could be seen as a bit sexist....BUT.....it is never disrespectful, just truthful. The cute, sexy cavewoman is treated differently than the overweight, unattractive cavewoman --- but isn't that the way things really are? Might as well poke fun at it! :) Today it might be non-PC to crack jokes at uncomfortable truths....but that doesn't lessen the truth, just hides it. Most of Hart's jokes about the sexes point out the strengths of the women in a humorous way. An example.....while the cavemen are celebrating their invention of the wheel and trying to decide what they might be able to do with it, the cavewomen have already invented the bicycle.

B.C. Strikes back features an introduction by Rod Serling. It's a great collection of Hart's wit and humor. I enjoyed re-reaading this book, I still find the cartoons as funny as I did years ago, although some of the jokes have a bit different meaning for me now.

B.C. ran as a syndicated cartoon in many newspapers from the 1950s up until Hart's death in 2007.





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