Exit Stage Left: The Snagglepuss Chronicles is a clever reinvention of an iconic 1960s cartoon character.

Snagglepuss was originally a pink swishy wannabe actor and actual mountain lion in the Yogi the Bear cartoons beginning in 1959. This comic, set in 1953, casts Snagglepuss as a successful playwright caught up in the McCarthy Congressional hearings looking for communist sympathizers within the show business community.

I wasn’t expecting such a serious comic based on such a silly character from my childhood. However, Exit Stage Left: The Snagglepuss Chronicles won me over. Even though this is set during the 1950s, it brings with it the more accepting mindset of 2018. Snagglepuss is married to Lila Lion, who both has a beard and is a beard for Snagglepuss’ gay lifestyle with boyfriend Pablo. Pablo escaped from Baptiste’s Cuba after his friend is murdered by government thugs for being openly homosexual. Many famous icons from the 1950s appear: Dorothy Parker, Marilyn Monroe, Lillian Hellman, Joe Dimaggio, Clint Eastwood and Arthur Miller. Huckleberry Hound is also out of the closet and a novelist. Even the iconic Stonewall club is featured.

Exit Stage Left: The Snagglepuss Chronicles is not a comic for everyone. It is a deep dive into mid-century politics from a modern viewpoint. I would recommend it to readers of historical fiction and fans of thoughtful movies like Hidden Figures and the Imitation Game. Since I embrace both of those categories, 5 stars!

Thanks to the publisher, DC Comics, and NetGalley for an advanced copy.

If anyone else had been writing Snagglepuss, I am not sure I would have picked up this comic. I love Mark Russell, which was enough for me to pick this comic.

Snagglepuss fits in perfectly during the 1950s. He's bold and colorful and perfect for NYC. This book is heartbreakingly real in every single twist and turn. The last two issues had me sobbing, to the point I needed to put the book down and regroup.

If Mark Russell wasn't already on my list of "if he writes it, I'll read it," then this book would put him there.

If you had told six year old Kate that one day she would weep openly over Hanna-Barbera character Snagglepuss, she would look at you like you were nuts. And yet here we are. EXIT STAGE LEFT: THE SNAGGLEPUSS CHRONICLES is a poignant and powerful examination of McCarthyism, homophobia, and political corruption and hypocrisy at the expense of innocent lives, all through the eyes of closeted playwright Snagglepuss. With clear inspiration from Tennessee Williams and perhaps Truman Capote as well, Snagglepuss is a complicated character who doesn't wish to become involved in political turmoil, but is forced into it when he becomes the target of zealous ant-Communists in the government. What I liked best about his character was that he is absolutely a reluctant symbol of rebellion, who would be more interested in living his life and ignoring the House of Un-American Activities Committee rather than standing up to them. You see other familiar Hanna-Barbera characters here as well, from Quick Draw McGraw to Squiddly Diddly to a very tragic, Faulkner-esque Huckleberry Hound, and all of them fit into the story seamlessly. This story also has a lot of references to relevant people and moments from that time period, from the Execution of the Rosenbergs to the upheaval in Cuba to Stonewall. Stories like this remind me that DC still has amazing stories to tell, and that they can remain incredibly relevant to what is going on today in modern American society.

I loved this book. Best graphic novel of the year so far.

I never thought I'd say this, but Snagglepuss has some very good points about the dangers of McCarthy-ism and blind political ambition at the expense of basic human decency. Author Mark Russell's previous re-invention of Hannah Barbera cartoons, The Flintstones, was one of my favorite series of 2017, so when I saw that he had a new work coming out, I knew I needed to look into it.

What if Hanna-Barbera characters were real? You can find out in The Snagglepuss Chronicles. I'ts 1953 and the House Un-American Activities Committee is in full swing, hunting communists in the entertainment industry. Snagglepuss is an erudite New York playwright who gets caught up in the hearings, having to choose between principle and protecting a friend.

The writing is amazing in this comic. The characters are believable, and the writer really captures the emotion of the time. I highly recommend this series.

This re-imagined collection of childhood favorites takes Mark Russell's political commentary up a few notches. This time we see Snagglepuss, Augie Doggie, Huckleberry Hound and other favorites as characters in 1953 who are all under the eye of the House Committee on Un-American Activities. Several of them get caught up in the Stonewall raid, and their lives are never the same. Throughout we see historic happenings and characters; Marilyn Monroe, Joe Dimaggio, Arthur Miller and Fidel Castro all help complete the story of America under fire and fighting for its soul. If you liked The Flintstones or remember these characters from your childhood, you'll love what Russell has done with Snagglepuss.

In "Exist Stage Left" class cartoon character Snagglepuss is transformed into a closeted gay playwright trying to manage the Red-Scare era of the early 1950's. Through its themes of sexuality, art, censorship and "national safety," this is more than a speculator read. It feels like an absolutely perfect work for these current turbulent times. Once again, Mark Russell has absolutely hit it out of the park with his latest reimagining, and has given iconic but also very one-note Hanna-Barbara characters and successfully managed to given them extra dimension and weight beyond what one would reasonably imagine possible.