REVIEW: B.C. A Clam For Your Thoughts

B.C. : A Clam for Your Thoughts
Author: Johnny Hart

In 2018, I am making a dedicated effort to enjoy reading backlist books from my own shelves and to re-visit some favorite nostalgia reads. The B.C. cartoon books by Johnny Hart always made me laugh as a teenager back in the 80s. I decided it would be fun to revisit Hart's hilarious Caveman (and Cavewoman) antics to see what the adult me thinks of the humor. I'm so glad I did.....I had such a good time re-reading this book after so many years! :) Put a big smile on my face.

Johnny Hart's B.C. cartoons feature several cavemen and cavewomen. The two cavewomen are feminists...or at least try to be. One is rather plump and the other is blonde and gorgeous. The six assorted cavemen range from inept idiots to greedy businessmen. There are also snarky ants and a few snakes that get mercilessly bashed by the overweight older cavewoman who is afraid of them. The topics are still very relevant today -- feminism, environmental concerns, insecurity, therapy, and basic human emotions/actions....love, anger, greed, jealousy. I guess the point is that human nature and life has been pretty much the same since the start....so why not poke fun at it? :)

In this particular book, the cartoons range in topic from feminism and relationships to the awkwardness of therapy sessions and strange advice from a greedy palm reader with some snake bashing and sarcastic ants sprinkled in for good measure.

A fun read! I look forward to enjoying more of Hart's artwork and social commentary this year as I re-visit some old favorites!

Johnny Hart also created the Wizard of Id cartoons (I loved those too!). He created the B.C. characters in the late 1950's. Wizard of Id came along in the 60s. Both cartoons ran in syndication in newspapers and were collected in multiple books until Hart's death in 2007.