What do you think?
Rate this book
B.C. Strikes Back
"You'll fall out of your family tree roaring at the misanthropological antics of these hilarious missing links"
128 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1965
2 people are currently reading
46 people want to read
About the author
Johnny Hart
228 books25 followersLibrarian note:
There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name
John Lewis Hart, also known as Johnny Hart, was an American cartoonist noted as the creator of the comic strip B.C. and co-creator (with Brant Parker) of the strip The Wizard of Id. Hart was recognized with several awards, including five from the National Cartoonists Society, and the Swedish Adamson Award. In his later years, he sparked controversy by incorporating overtly Christian themes and messages into the strips.
There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name
John Lewis Hart, also known as Johnny Hart, was an American cartoonist noted as the creator of the comic strip B.C. and co-creator (with Brant Parker) of the strip The Wizard of Id. Hart was recognized with several awards, including five from the National Cartoonists Society, and the Swedish Adamson Award. In his later years, he sparked controversy by incorporating overtly Christian themes and messages into the strips.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
January 17, 2018
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.
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.
August 31, 2015
Johnny Hart is one of my favorite humorist. I never really got into Wizard of Id, but B.C. always gets me. This is one of the books I regularly take out to read. I mean what's not to like, slightly bizarre humor, the occasional political satire and a good set of characters. It's more than fifty years since these first appeared in newspapers and a lot of the humor is still pretty fresh. Okay, some of comes off as a little sexist, but for most parts it just makes me laugh.
One great quote to end this, at one point Clumsy Carp yells at Thor "GET A DINOSAUR!" Priceless. I'm not going to tell you why he yells this, you just have to read it to find out.
One great quote to end this, at one point Clumsy Carp yells at Thor "GET A DINOSAUR!" Priceless. I'm not going to tell you why he yells this, you just have to read it to find out.
July 2, 2022
Got excited when I picked this one up because I knew it was one I'd had before but...nope...it does not contain the strip I'm looking for. :-(
But it's memorable, if for no other reason, for its foreword by...Rod Serling. How cool is that? It's not quite as sublime as the previous three books but still solid fun. The themes are the same (men vs. women, man vs. politics, man vs. his own dumbness, etc.) and this or the last book begins the psychiatry jokes which have been a staple of comedy since Freud first developed legs and evolved to walk on land.
The struggle continues.
But it's memorable, if for no other reason, for its foreword by...Rod Serling. How cool is that? It's not quite as sublime as the previous three books but still solid fun. The themes are the same (men vs. women, man vs. politics, man vs. his own dumbness, etc.) and this or the last book begins the psychiatry jokes which have been a staple of comedy since Freud first developed legs and evolved to walk on land.
The struggle continues.
Read
July 25, 2024B.C. Strikes Back - from 1965 with a foreword by the fabulous Rod Serling. Now there's a voice that was silenced too soon. People might remember Rod Serling from The Twilight Zone and The Night Gallery but he will always be the guy I remember narrating Jacques Cousteau National Geographic documentaries that fed my hunger for stories about shipwrecks and ancient civilizations and sea exploration. So, reading a short introduction by Serling to this volume of cartoons by Johnny Hart was a fun bonus.
B.C., The Wizard of Id, and Peanuts were all favourites of mine when I was a child and it's fun to look at these cartoons from a long-ago era. While I find the humour doesn't always remain they do offer an interesting look at how people thought about work and politics and the role of men and women in the world at that time. I smiled more than laughed but I enjoyed my time with the B.C. gang more because of nostalgia and a personal connection than anything else. Up next I think I will seek out Ziggy, Marmaduke, and maybe more Herman - I love Herman. And I suppose in many ways these cartoons were the memes of their day.
B.C., The Wizard of Id, and Peanuts were all favourites of mine when I was a child and it's fun to look at these cartoons from a long-ago era. While I find the humour doesn't always remain they do offer an interesting look at how people thought about work and politics and the role of men and women in the world at that time. I smiled more than laughed but I enjoyed my time with the B.C. gang more because of nostalgia and a personal connection than anything else. Up next I think I will seek out Ziggy, Marmaduke, and maybe more Herman - I love Herman. And I suppose in many ways these cartoons were the memes of their day.
April 2, 2020
Now see, This type of humor is outdated and almost forgotten. THANK GOD its in book form so that people can remember what humor is supposed to look like!! This is one of many great books by Mr. Hart and If you ever read the comic in the newspaper, Then go ahead and get these books. ALL OF THEM!
September 15, 2021
Fun, dated, still OK.
March 22, 2018
Enjoyed reading B.C. Strikes Back. Just as entertaining and classic as the other B.C. comics I've recently read.
October 20, 2013
B.C. has gotten better with age, but some of these were still pretty funny.
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews