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Back to B.C.
A collection of cartoons from the comic strip B.C.
Paperback
First published January 1, 1961
1 person is currently reading
34 people want to read
About the author
Johnny Hart
234 books23 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.
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
July 2, 2022
OK, I've gotten a little obsessed with trying to find this strip. I'm looking through the gaps in my childhood collection and picked this one up (in mint condition!) on Ebay. I'm pretty sure I never had it, though (as opposed to having had it but me or one of my kids destroying it) as I don't recognize most of the cartoons. (Besides serializations, B.C. had a few "best of" type collections, which explains some of the strips I do know.)
This is a really good one: The strip goes from its primeval form to its final, polished state in these pages. The characters start to evolve into what we know. (Peter, in particular, is kind of a frustrated and even a little bitter would-be elite who takes the brunt of a lot of pushback before becoming more of a smooth-operator who learns to exploit the system.)
The commentary humor is timeless: The cavemen divide themselves up into competing political parties and fight bitterly, if arbitrarily. The question of whether life exists on other continents is raised. Women may be the weaker sex, generally, but woe betide those underestimate them. Etc.
The strip I'm looking for isn't in here, of course. On to the next...
This is a really good one: The strip goes from its primeval form to its final, polished state in these pages. The characters start to evolve into what we know. (Peter, in particular, is kind of a frustrated and even a little bitter would-be elite who takes the brunt of a lot of pushback before becoming more of a smooth-operator who learns to exploit the system.)
The commentary humor is timeless: The cavemen divide themselves up into competing political parties and fight bitterly, if arbitrarily. The question of whether life exists on other continents is raised. Women may be the weaker sex, generally, but woe betide those underestimate them. Etc.
The strip I'm looking for isn't in here, of course. On to the next...
February 14, 2025
B.C. and his friends are cavemen living in what appears to be prehistoric times. Fire and the wheel are relatively new inventions, and humans mix with dinosaurs and animals that can talk to each other if not to humans. Their world is a bit absurdist, but livable.
This long-running comic strip began in 1958, and creator Johnny Hart kept doing it until his death in 2007, when it was taken over by a relative. Recently I came across two collections I’d picked up in my school library discard sale, Back to B.C. (1961) and B.C. Big Wheel (1969). Since like many long-running gag strips, the status quo stays the same as much as possible, I’m reviewing both here.
B.C. is our everyman character, and a bit of a patsy. When politics comes up, he is the representative of the “complacency” party. Peter thinks of himself as smarter, and is more sarcastic. He is the representative of the “progress” party. Thor is actually pretty intelligent, being the inventor of the wheel. Wiley is more grizzled than the others, and has a wooden leg. He’s afraid of women, water, woodpeckers and other “w” things. Clumsy Carp is a bespectacled klutz, able to trip over a shadow but also able to create “waterballs” that stay stable for long periods of time. Curls is a curly-haired fellow and even more sarcastic than Peter.
The only two known women are Fat Broad and Cute Chick (they would not get actual names until after Mr. Hart passed away.)
Important animal characters include Gronk the dinosaur, the anteater and his intelligent prey, clams got legs! and the pair of Old John the turtle and Dookie Bird who rides the reptile around.
Some jokes rely on anachronism, such as the cavemen playing baseball or having psychiatrists. Others have the characters bouncing off each other’s personalities or making observations on humanity and nature. And every so often there will be an absurd sight gag. In these early days, there will usually be a sequence of strips carrying a central gag for several days under slight permutations, such as Clumsy Carp getting a clam stuck on his nose.
One gag that has passed its sell-by date is the old chestnut about hitting a woman with a club and dragging her by the hair to court her.
A couple of dated references aside, this is decent enough mild humor and has aged okay. (Late in the strip’s history, it became overtly Christian which did not go over well with some audiences.)
The art is decent enough for its purpose, deliberately crude to evoke prehistoric times, and the small cast is easy enough to tell apart after a few pages.
You can probably find the old paperback collections in used bookstores and garage sales, and these are recommended to fans of gag comic humor. The newer large collections tend to be spendy, and you should check your library to see if it can be ordered for you.
This long-running comic strip began in 1958, and creator Johnny Hart kept doing it until his death in 2007, when it was taken over by a relative. Recently I came across two collections I’d picked up in my school library discard sale, Back to B.C. (1961) and B.C. Big Wheel (1969). Since like many long-running gag strips, the status quo stays the same as much as possible, I’m reviewing both here.
B.C. is our everyman character, and a bit of a patsy. When politics comes up, he is the representative of the “complacency” party. Peter thinks of himself as smarter, and is more sarcastic. He is the representative of the “progress” party. Thor is actually pretty intelligent, being the inventor of the wheel. Wiley is more grizzled than the others, and has a wooden leg. He’s afraid of women, water, woodpeckers and other “w” things. Clumsy Carp is a bespectacled klutz, able to trip over a shadow but also able to create “waterballs” that stay stable for long periods of time. Curls is a curly-haired fellow and even more sarcastic than Peter.
The only two known women are Fat Broad and Cute Chick (they would not get actual names until after Mr. Hart passed away.)
Important animal characters include Gronk the dinosaur, the anteater and his intelligent prey, clams got legs! and the pair of Old John the turtle and Dookie Bird who rides the reptile around.
Some jokes rely on anachronism, such as the cavemen playing baseball or having psychiatrists. Others have the characters bouncing off each other’s personalities or making observations on humanity and nature. And every so often there will be an absurd sight gag. In these early days, there will usually be a sequence of strips carrying a central gag for several days under slight permutations, such as Clumsy Carp getting a clam stuck on his nose.
One gag that has passed its sell-by date is the old chestnut about hitting a woman with a club and dragging her by the hair to court her.
A couple of dated references aside, this is decent enough mild humor and has aged okay. (Late in the strip’s history, it became overtly Christian which did not go over well with some audiences.)
The art is decent enough for its purpose, deliberately crude to evoke prehistoric times, and the small cast is easy enough to tell apart after a few pages.
You can probably find the old paperback collections in used bookstores and garage sales, and these are recommended to fans of gag comic humor. The newer large collections tend to be spendy, and you should check your library to see if it can be ordered for you.
January 17, 2020
I find this likely the funniest of the B.C. comic strip book collection. Some of the earliest of the strip and Johnny Hart sharp of wit. A lot of laughs through out involving science. Politics and fishing are included.
Hart's characters are rather crudely drawn, but the simplicity, which All Capp's foreword notes, helps with the punches of each gag. Hart is also is well defining each character at this point. This is something he strayed from in later years.
Bottom line: I recommend this book. 10 out of 10 points.
Hart's characters are rather crudely drawn, but the simplicity, which All Capp's foreword notes, helps with the punches of each gag. Hart is also is well defining each character at this point. This is something he strayed from in later years.
Bottom line: I recommend this book. 10 out of 10 points.
January 30, 2019
I used to love reading B.C. And it is still fun, but it's not as funny as I remember it being. I also don't remember it being quite so serial/ linear and remember it being more situational. Still, that being said, it was a fun little book, even if it wasn't anything like I was expecting when I grabbed it.
July 31, 2020
Yet another collection of the early day of B.C.
Plenty of jokes about ant-eaters, the invention of wheels and base ball.
And, given the current events of the nation (#PosponingElections), jokes about elections, Democrats and Republicians.
Plenty of jokes about ant-eaters, the invention of wheels and base ball.
And, given the current events of the nation (#PosponingElections), jokes about elections, Democrats and Republicians.
September 25, 2019
Funny stuff!
October 7, 2023
Found this at an antique store for 3 clams. B.C. is such a good strip.
July 24, 2009
More fun with those silly cave people.
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews