Jump to ratings and reviews
Rate this book

The Flintstones (2016) #1-12

Los Picapiedra: Integral

Rate this book
En el pueblo de Piedradura, Pedro y Vilma Picapiedra, su hija Pebbles, sus vecinos los Mármol, y sus amigos, compañeros de trabajo y dinoaparatos protagonizan divertidas aventuras ambientadas en una Edad de Piedra que bien podría ser reflejo de nuestra era, tan confusa y cautivadora como alienante. Esta versión moderna de la icónica serie de animación de Hanna-Barbera es oscuramente hilarante, y dirige su mordaz mirada sobre asuntos como el consumismo, la religión, la política y las relaciones interpersonales.

Entre 2016 y 2017, el equipo creativo formado por Mark Russell (Prez, Superman) y Steve Pugh (Animal Man, La Cosa del Pantano) se embarcó en una serie limitada que convirtió a la primera familia de los dibujos animados en protagonistas de una obra maestra del cómic contemporáneo. A través de 12 entregas, íntegramente recopiladas en este volumen, construyeron una brillante sátira que sedujo a la crítica, cosechando nominaciones a los premios Eisner 2018 en las categorías de mejor serie limitada, mejor publicación de humor y mejor guionista.

320 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2016

25 people are currently reading
183 people want to read

About the author

Mark Russell

435 books385 followers
Mark Russell is the author of God Is Disappointed in You and Apocrypha Now. He also writes the comic book series Prez and The Flintstones for DC Comics. He lives and works in Portland, Oregon.

Ratings & Reviews

What do you think?
Rate this book

Friends & Following

Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!

Community Reviews

5 stars
242 (49%)
4 stars
170 (34%)
3 stars
59 (12%)
2 stars
15 (3%)
1 star
2 (<1%)
Displaying 1 - 30 of 92 reviews
Profile Image for Raquel Estebaran.
299 reviews290 followers
October 13, 2021
Versión actualizada de Los Picapiedra con un guión y dibujo geniales.

Es una crítica satírica de la sociedad actual. Muy recomendable.
Profile Image for Dan.
3,216 reviews10.8k followers
December 25, 2023
The Flintstones: Deluxe Edition collects Flintstones #1-12 and Booster Gold/Flintstones #1.

So the last time I read The Flintstones by Mark Russell, Steve Pugh, Chris Chuckry, Rick Leonardi, and a couple other people, I said it was one of the best Big Two runs of the past twenty years. Was it as good as I remembered it?

No. It was better.

The Flintstones is a darkly humorous take on the Flintstones but it's more of a social commentary on modern life, from religion to economics to science and many points in between. Thought provoking, sad, bleak, and hilarious. Indeed, it is one of the best Big Two runs of the past twenty years. Five out of five stars.
Profile Image for A.J..
603 reviews84 followers
February 23, 2022
“Because if civilization is going to last, if it’s going to amount to anything more than just a place to watch TV and get cheap snake meat, it will only be because we’ve learned to do one thing. To care for people who mean nothing to us.”

Yabba-Dabba-Doo it’s The Flintstones for the modern age! Mark Russell teams up with Steve Pugh for a scathing satire on civilization in general, with 12 issues plus an annual with Booster Gold rounding out this mostly fantastic hardcover collection. The Flintstones follows the characters we know and love from the Hanna-Barbera cartoon, and puts a new modern twist on them, with Bedrock being a satire for basically every civilization that followed it. Russell brings his standard flair of writing to each issue, with each one dealing with a different conflict or issue in Bedrock that can be seen in modern society.

This book seems to have a lot of positive talk around it, but I honestly had some issues while reading this. I feel like the main problem was there wasn’t a particular story that stood out to me besides Leisure Class. The rest of the stories were fine, but there was nothing in here that I was blown away after reading. As others have said, even Russell himself, this book can be super heavy-handed sometimes, and not in a good way. Some of it is funny like the dude lecturing the kids about economics from weird places, but other stories, like the consumerism one, are just a little too much for me. The Booster Gold crossover was also super weak and frankly just not very good.

Even with the issues I had, I did still enjoy this for the most part, and the fact it even exists means it just automatically gets a bit of a pass from me. It has charm and I always enjoy a solid satire, especially if it manages to be funny, which this book is. Gags fill up the panels with Steve Pugh contributing just as much as Russell to making this book work. While the characters don’t necessarily feel like they are growing, they are still likable enough to carry this story forward and keep the reader engaged, but at the same time, while I do enjoy what Russell has to say with this book, I just wish there was a little more to the stories as well as each of the characters and their personality. The standout arc is probably the one between a bowling ball and vacuum cleaner.

Overall though, I liked The Flintstones. I didn’t love it or have my socks blown off as others seemed to, but I did think it was a solid enough read that was just lacking some stronger stories and characterizations of the characters to make me feel more connected to this mostly interesting world. Mark Russell and Steve Pugh work well together and have undeniably made something awesome and wholly unique here though, which definitely plays into how high this review is scored.
Profile Image for It's just Deano.
184 reviews8 followers
February 28, 2022
+ For fans of Hanna Barbera cartoons.
+ Light hearted social commentary.
+ Flintstones nostalgia.

________________

Well that was definitely unexpected! I knew very little about The Flintstones comic book series when starting this. I'd assumed I'd be getting a slapstick nostalgia punch from the old Hanna Barbera cartoons, however, this book ends up being so much more.

Essentially Mark Russell has taken all the charm of the original Flintstones to create a semi-anthology series that offers up a light hearted and comedic social commentary on modern civilization. Each single issue tackles a different aspect of society, such as; politics, consumerism, religion and sexuality - to name a few.

And for the most part they're good! Is it all a bit silly? Most definitely! And it does have its downsides. It's lack of extensive story arcs definitely seems to hinder the pacing and the absurdity of its nature may put some folk off for the most part.

That said, it's a sweet and thoughtful look at modern society using the nostalgia of The Flintstones as it's catalyst and for the most part it works. It's definitely an unexpected read so if you're feeling like something light and different I would dive right in.

________________

My score: 7/10

Goodreads: ⭐⭐⭐⭐

________________
Profile Image for Javier Muñoz.
849 reviews103 followers
August 2, 2020
Genial actualización de los personajes de piedradura, este integral está compuesto por 12 números que no forman una historia de largo recorrido sino que nos cuentan capitulos individuales con, eso si, tramas paralelas que se van desarrollando y temas recurrentes sobre los que se va profundizando a lo largo de la colección.

Aunque Mark Russel no inventa nada aquí, la verdad es que aplica la fórmula clásica de los picapiedra (paralelismo entre la sociedad actual y la de la ciudad de piedradura, tecnología análoga a la actual pero basada en animales, anacronismos...) con mucho acierto y mala uva, toca muchos temas de permanente actualidad (machismo, racismo, belicismo, conflicto religión-ciencia, excesos del consumismo, política, explotación laboral, relaciones de pareja...) con espíritu crítico y humor certero.

Cuando engañas a alguien para participar en un fraude a pequeña escala, se llama timo.

Pero cuando el timo es tan grande que la gente no tiene más remedio que participar, se llama economía


El dibujo es muy diferente de lo que podíamos ver en la serie de dibujos, es más estilizado y realista pero el tono caricaturesco sigue estando ahí y la expresividad está muy bien conseguida, algunas páginas están repletas de detalles curiosos a descubrir.
Profile Image for Richard.
1,062 reviews475 followers
February 23, 2022
★★1/2

Yeah, I know. I didn’t believe it either.

I didn’t believe that I’d be reading a comic book about the Flintstones and somewhat enjoying it! But Hanna-Barbera had always used The Flintstones to comment on modern society and here, Mark Russell does the same, and does it well. He takes the idea of the “modern Stone-Age family” and takes it up a notch, reflecting on our millennial society, everything from organized religion, marriage, sexuality, politics, and modern science. It’s fun to see all the allegory.

But I was really disappointed by the book’s structure. Not only is it frustratingly episodic issue to issue, but sometimes even scene-to-scene! Not only does that give the effect of not really being able to connect with the characters, their issues, or a full story arc, but it also makes each sequence kind of jarring, jumping from vignette to vignette. This was a big issue for me and I wish that the creators were able to present this commentary with more of a through-line, within an actual cohesive story with potent character work.
Profile Image for Nacho Fregossi.
43 reviews2 followers
January 29, 2020
Excelente versión moderna de Los Picapiedra que, al igual que la clásica serie animada de Hanna-Barbera, aprovecha la excusa de la familia de la Edad de Piedra para hablar de los tiempos que corren. Religión, consumo, política, todo entra en el combo. Sin embargo, a diferencia de aquella, en estos 12 numeritos Russell va con la plancha al pecho y plantea un tono mucho más ácido y crítico, pero también con justas dosis de ternura y corazón. Mención especial para Steve Pugh que cabecea a la perfección todos los centros que le tira Russell.
Profile Image for Chris Lemmerman.
Author 7 books124 followers
January 31, 2022
The modern Stone Age family take centre stage as the world's first civilization. But being at the bleeding edge of innovation might not actually be as beneficial for the Flintstones as they'd have you believe.

Mark Russell's brutally honest and scathingly direct Flintstones run is collected in its entirety in this lovely hardcover collection, as well as the Booster Gold crossover issue. Each issue introduces the Flintstones and their friends to some new idea, be it marriage, genocide, or aliens, and shows the effect that this has on them. It's social commentary of the most thinly veiled kind, because while these problems are filtered through the Flintstones era, the stories are as relevant to nowadays as they are to the world of Bedrock. Some of it's a little heavy-handed (the guy literally trying to break into Bedrock High School to teach the kids about 'economics' is both hilarious and daft in equal measure), but it's all done with Russell's usual tongue-in-cheek-but-still-quite-serious way.

It would be easy to write this off as Russell saying that the human race was basically doomed from the start, but as he himself says in his introduction for the book and numerous times throughout, there's still hope. We're not all as bad as we think, and there's a road to redemption if we just work together to find it. Flintstones can be surprisingly bleak, but it's also pretty optimistic as well.

Oddly, the weakest issue of the bunch is the Booster Gold crossover, because Booster gets in the way of literally anything the Flintstones are trying to do. It's more of a straight forward superhero story, which isn't a bad thing, but it's a stark contrast to the previous twelve issues so it really stands out.

On art for the most part is Steve Pugh - his cavemen characters have a bulk and a weight to them that makes them feel much more real than you'd expect. They're still recognisable as the characters you love from their cartoon, but they're definitely human now, and that makes their more human problems more believable. Pugh also draws some amazing animals/dinosaurs (his Dino is adorable), and he never skimps out on the backgrounds either. This book is jammed to the brim with detail, right down to the Chew-esque shop signs in the backgrounds. Rick Leonardi also shows up for a fill-in issue and the Booster Gold special.

The Flintstones is one of those books that gets a lot of hype and manages to live up to it. A book about the Flintstones really shouldn't be as good as this is, and yet here we are. They're a page right out of history, and you know what they say about history repeating itself; Mark Russell and friends use these twelve issues to show you that it just might be true.
Profile Image for Highland G.
542 reviews31 followers
February 22, 2022
I think 3 stars is being generous. This book is trying to do to many things and once and doesn’t really do any of them that well.
It starts with future man commenting on a society existing in stone age times.
Then it jumps back to stone age times but for some reason it’s getting modern society gimmicks one at a time and comments around this.
Then aliens, because that adds to the story?

THIS IS A PERSONAL POLITICAL COMMENTARY SIMPLY USING THE FLINTSTONES.

It was missing so many key things, no overarching plot, character development was minimal.
I enjoyed key short moments but that doesn’t carry the whole. Sadly disappointed with this one.
Profile Image for Guille1293.
2 reviews1 follower
November 9, 2020
Ya venía de leerme las crónicas del León Melquíades y esta obra sigue en la misma línea. Mark Russell utiliza a personajes populares para construir, con muchísimo ingenio, una sátira socio-política, y de paso, modernizar toda su mitología.
Profile Image for Melanie Valdivieso.
3 reviews18 followers
May 29, 2023
Straightforward social commentary! Mark Russell made me think of things that I’ve never thought of before. Great marriage advice to boot.
Profile Image for Shawn.
952 reviews225 followers
September 23, 2025
There's no point in writing a long, involved review. If you grew up with THE FLINSTONES cartoon, and have pleasant associations attached to it, you might enjoy this "reinvention". What's interesting is that they took a standard low stakes slapstick comedy with a little bit of social satire and reversed the formula, making it a low-stakes social satire (by default, the citizens of Bedrock are the first to experience EVERYTHING, whether it be consumerism, monogamy, religion or science) laced with some comedy. This is satire in the sense of "pointing out how fucked up things are" and not really offering any solutions, but there was something nicely poignant in having these familiar characters realize that caring about others (even people they don't care about) is the secret of civilization. You also get a running side narrative about the hellish existence of the animals enslaved as prehistoric devices ("well, it's a living....") which is, again, not as grim as that may sound.

This isn't amazing or anything but it is kind of refreshing - by not being particularly serious or heavy, it gets to make for a refreshing, charming read. You get most of your familiar characters: including a rather poignant issue dedicated to Wilma's mother (portrayed in the cartoon as a battle-axe mother-in-law but rethought here in an interesting way as the representative of another way of living) and, believe it or not, the Great Gazoo (functioning here as an extraterrestrial game warden). I appreciated that they remembered that Bamm-Bamm was adopted (and his secret origin here is very well done) and the way they rethought the Royal Order of Water Buffalo into a veteran's group. Again, all that may sound "heavy" but it really isn't - the series, commendably, is more interested in rethinking the show in interesting ways without really overthinking it. Good, light entertainment.
Profile Image for Miriam .
178 reviews18 followers
October 11, 2021
¡Yabadabadú! 🦕

"Los Picapiedra" es una serie de animación de la productora Hanna-Barbera Productions. Fue estrenada por la cadena estadounidense ABC el 30 de septiembre de 1960 y fue emitida hasta el 1 de abril de 1966, con un total de 166 episodios y además de algunos especiales y películas.

"Los Picapiedra" fue una serie pionera en traer temas adultos a la ficción televisiva, puede que sirviese de referencia a otras más actuales como "Los Simpson" o "Padre de familia".

en cualquier caso, yo recordaba ver la serie de animación de pequeña, y hoy por hoy os puedo asegurar que si no hubiese leído este libro y luego volver a ver algún que otro episodio de nuevo después de "mil años" habría olvidado (porque casi lo había olvidado de verdad) lo feliz que era haciéndolo y los momentos maravillosos de mi infancia que ellos me regalaron y lo mucho que aún me gustan. Pero también la tristeza que siento de que estén como algo olvidados, como algo viejo que se tiene en un trastero sin darnos cuenta lo valioso que es, a mí parecer.


«-¿Puedo hacerte una pregunta?
-Claro.
-¿Cómo es que llevas corbata?
-Una vez leí un artículo que decía que deberías vestirte para el trabajo que quieres, no para el que tienes.»
🧡Pedro Picapiedra🧡
Profile Image for Shannon Appelcline.
Author 30 books167 followers
March 14, 2022
They're a *modern* stone-age family. It's right there on the tin. So in rebooting The Flintstones it's only appropriate to reboot their moderness, making them (once more) a commentary on modern life.

Russell does a good job. Most of the issues are interesting, but there are a few scattered throughout that are phenomenal. Even if the volume is somewhat (but not entirely) episodic, it becomes more readable the deeper you go. Overall, a fun ride.
Profile Image for Alba Calvo.
145 reviews12 followers
August 3, 2019
Este recopilatorio integral de Los Picapiedra es oro puro. En sus viñetas, se parodian varios aspectos polémicos de la sociedad actual y son un zasca a las nuevas "corrientes" de pensamiento absurdas que usan las redes sociales de altavoz.
Profile Image for Joe Glocke.
Author 1 book3 followers
September 26, 2024
One of my favorite comics of all time. So smart and fun. And made me cry. 5 bags
Profile Image for Danny.
298 reviews3 followers
March 14, 2023
I never would have thought a Flintstones comic would amaze me this much. I'll come right out and say this is my favorite read thus far of 2023. It had no business being this clever.

I wanna say a lot, but I feel it can be summed up succinctly. A satire on modern civilization through the lens of the beginning of civilization. It talks of workers' rights, sexual politics, religion vs. scientific belief, bigotry, gentrification, and more. It was a brilliant mirror being held up to us.

Also he does a clever subplot throughout the series about the appliances in the Flintstones household. You remember how in the show, they used animals as a way to explain technology. Well now these animals have their own dilemmas and adventures. It's brilliant!
Profile Image for King Reinhardt.
61 reviews
February 21, 2025
Full transparency: I was recommended this comic by a Tumblr post, and I'm so, so glad I decided to check it out, because it's amazing!

I knew going in that this iteration of the story was going much deeper than the cartoon, but wow! Perhaps a tiny bit pretentious, but I'm a tiny bit pretentious myself, so that works out just swell!

I especially liked the vignettes about monogamy (As someone in a poly relationship), Fred's trapped coworker, and the whole vacuum cleaner/bowling ball subplot! The aliens were a surprise, but I'm not mad about them being there, lol.

Favorite quote: Human beings are just walking accumulations of love and regret. The only thing that ever made me happy is being next to someone who loves me.
Profile Image for Mariano.
741 reviews12 followers
January 3, 2024
Mark Russell. That's it, that's the review.
Profile Image for Julio RGuez.
295 reviews5 followers
May 7, 2024
La verdad es que no pensaba poner esto aquí, pero es una lectura espectacular. Critica y comentario del mundo de hoy en día a través de los Picapiedras.
1,895 reviews56 followers
February 19, 2022
If anyone had told me that one of the best graphic novels that I had read recently was about the Flintstones, I would have laughed and said you were "Way-Out". Outside of the vitamins, I don't think I have given the Flintstones much thought since watching them on Channel 5 in New York years ago.

This comic by Mark Russell with art by Steve Pugh is amazing. I care more about the relationship between and elephant/ vaccum cleaner and a bowling ball/ armadillo than anything I have read recently. The writing is superb, a look at our messed up world through the eyes of a modern stone age family. Every page is a revelation. Jokes, asides, puns, political comments. There is a lot of retro conned history, but it makes so much sense. Bam-Bam's origins, the Great Gazoo. I really have no idea how DC or Hanna-Barbera allowed this. If they did kudos to them for this kind of thinking. If the corporate powers had no idea it was being published, kudos to the team that snuck this through.

I was unfamiliar with both Mark Russell and Steve Pugh. One that I am going to have to amend. Just a great story, that really touches you and makes you think. I liked the Flintstones as a kid. It's nice to see them older, wiser and still good people. There is a lot of hope in this book, hope for us, hope that we can live to a certain set of ideals. I never thought the Flintstones would make me think about things like this. I can't recommend this title enough.
Profile Image for Neyebur.
237 reviews6 followers
February 15, 2019
Aunque hoy en día se les vea como una serie infantil, "Los Picapiedras" empezaron como una crítica a la sociedad de la época, satirizando la sociedad del consumo de la época, tan moderna se creía, con una sociedad prehistórica.
Este cómic recupera esa mirada crítica a la sociedad, en esta ocasión a la sociedad del siglo XXI, y tenemos a Pedro como el veterano de una guerra absurda, racismo, crisis de fe con dioses electrodomésticos, críticas del turismo destructivo con Gazoo y sus compañeros, el rechazo a modos de vida alternativos, objetivismo, políticas populares y del miedo...

Mis únicas críticas es que a veces esas críticas podrían parecer demasiado obvias y que el cómic me ha dejado con ganas de más, le veo muchas posibilidades a esta nueva Piedradura. Aunque esto último podría verse como algo positivo.

Ahora tengo curiosidad por saber qué hizo DC con "Los Supersónicos".
Profile Image for Chemical Cavernícola.
64 reviews2 followers
April 7, 2021
Una genial obra, una auténtica crítica a la sociedad actual con temas como el capitalismo, la democracia, el machismo, el racismo... Una sátira que hará las delicias de cualquiera que se acerca a éste cómic con los genuinos Picapiedra de toda la vida pero con un nuevo aire y aventuras alejadas de las habitualmente suyas.
26 reviews6 followers
October 16, 2023
Divertida sátira sobre la actualidad reflejada en Pedro, Pablo & cia.

El cómic es del 2016 y desde entonces la sociedad tiene algunos problemas diferentes de los que el cómic presenta por eso puede ser que haya quedado un poco anticuado.

Además la serie de marionetas Dinosaurios ya iba un poco de lo mismo.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 92 reviews

Can't find what you're looking for?

Get help and learn more about the design.