The artist for this story, Jack Manning, was completely unknown to me until I stumbled upon this comic in a recent buying binge. Manning, who died in 1986, had an impressive resume of work; drawing funny animal comics for Dell for about 20 years. He also animated for Hanna-Barbera from 1959 to 1967.The Roman Holidays was a short lived Hanna-Barbera cartoon (13 episodes), turned into an even shorter lived comic book from Gold Key (4 issues). Taking a page from both the Flintstones and the Jetsons, The Roman Holidays were a nuclear family set in another time period - in this case Ancient Rome. This comes from The Roman HolidaysNo. 4, November 1973.
Manning had a nice style and his earlier stuff is even better than this.
ReplyDeleteHi, Gary! I like this a lot. It was a bit late in the day for Mr. Manning, though. I will have to check out the stuff he did for Dell.
ReplyDeleteRoman Holidays was just barely before my time. I remember seeing ads for the show in old comics and being curious about it. Thanks for sharing this!
ReplyDeleteJack Manning did a lot of Disney comics, including Mickey Mouse, Super Goof, and The Beagle Boys VS Uncle Scrooge (which later became simply The Beagle Boys) to name a few.
ReplyDeleteKW: Both show and artist are completely new to me. How I missed it, being an HB freak, I can't explain.
ReplyDeleteDebbie: Thanks for the info. Jeez, how did I miss this guy?
Mykal,
ReplyDeleteI remember of this episode, which's from the Roman Holidays cartoon series (Hanna-Barbera, 1972). And Jack Manning did the comic book version from this episode, which you depicted here.
Rodineiselveira: Nice to hear from you and thanks for commenting and reading! I still don't know how I missed this cartoon or Jack Manning!
ReplyDeleteI hate to be negative, but YUCK. I never knew the name of this artist until this post, but I NEVER liked this guy's work. It always seemed like the hacked-out work of someone who was capable of better things. I was always disappointed as a lad, when I bought a comic book, only to find this mediocre art in it.
ReplyDeleteStill, the Roman Holidays make me smile. Love to see HB attempting to milk a proven formula to death! :^D
And yes, I am sure the above criticisms could apply to a bunch of my published work...
Hey, Bill, don't sugar coat it like that, just tell us what you really think! ;-)
ReplyDeleteAnd I refuse to believe that any of your work would ever be "yuck"!
This was definitely not one of the best "Family" shows, but it did have some interesting elements as shown...the flesh colored eyes became a standard of that era..
ReplyDeleteThis is totally unrelated to this post but awhile back I had saved (on my old computer which crashed) an old comic book story (circa late 40s-50s) about a girl on a farm where the tractor and other equipment comes to life and terrorizes her.It was wild!! Any clues about this story???
ReplyDeleteK.L.: Doesn't ring any bells.
ReplyDeleteI'd never heard of The Roman Holidays until now. I sometimes wonder if with the success of The Flintstones and Jetsons that Hanna Barbara would try and corner the market on cartoon families from different eras.
ReplyDeleteFun stuff as always, Mykal.
Thanks, Oscar, and thanks as always for dropping around.
ReplyDeleteMykal:
ReplyDeleteActually, Manning was probably never an animator at H-B. He was most always a layout man. He did animate at Disney in the early forties, though.
Anyway, here's what I have about him as far as animation credits are concerned.
Bestest,
Alberto
MANNING, Jack Oliver (5 June 1920-2 April 1986)
Animator/Effects Animator: DISNEY 40-41 (Donald Duck [A Good Time for a Dime 41, Donald’s Snow Fight 42] Mickey Mouse 42 [Symphony Hour])
Layouts: SCHLESINGER/WARNER BROS. 40s; HANNA-BARBERA 59- -82 (The Wacky Races 68-70, Dastardly and Muttley in Their Flying Machines 69-71, The Amazing Chan and His Chan Clan 72 [The Crown Jewel Caper, To Catch a Pitcher], The ABC Saturday Superstar Movie 72 [The Banana Splits in Hocus Pocus Park], Inch High Private Eye 73-74, Wheelie and the Chopper Bunch 74-75, Devlin 74-76, Scooby’s All-Star Laff-a-Lympics 77-78, The Godzilla Power Hour 78-79 [Jana of the Jungle], Scooby’s All-Stars 78-79, The New Fred and Barney Show 79, Casper and the Angels 79-80, The Flintstones Comedy Show 80 [R. V. Fever], The Richie Rich/Scooby-Doo Hour 80-82, The Kwicky Koala Show 81-82, The Smurfs 81-82 [62 episodes], Pac-Man 82 [13 episodes], The Dukes 83); FILMATION c69 (Will the Real Jerry Lewis Please Sit Down 70); RUBY-SPEARS c78-80/82-86 (The Plastic Man Comedy/Adventure Show 79-80, The Heathcliff and Dingbat Show 80-81, Saturday Supercade 83 [Donkey Kong: Gorilla My Dreams], Alvin and the Chipmunks 83 [13 episodes], Dragon’s Lair 84-85, Turbo Teen 84-85, It’s Punky Brewster 85-87)
Alberto: As always, thanks for the impeccable info!
ReplyDeleteRevisiting this post, I was also struck by the absence of backrounds in the stories! Page after page, with only a landscape sprinkled in here and there.
ReplyDeleteHow did this guy get away with it?!
OAN, Mykal, did you ever check out that NEW Richie Rich story by Ernie & Sid? I'd love to know what you thought of it.
I had almost forgotten this series and had NEVER seen any comic adaptations of it.
ReplyDeleteVery nice stuff, Mykal.
Bill: Im beginning to get the feeling you don't like this stuff ;-) I don't know enough about Manning to know if this was typical, but I do like it. I think he had a nice feel for character.
ReplyDeleteJeffie: This was the only comic in the title Manning did - the other issues were done by Pete Alvarado. Thanks for commenting!
I dig the art here, but never really dug the show (infuriating, eh Mykal?) I just barely remember RH airing back in the day, and then a few years ago caught some episodes on Boomerang which only reminded why it wasn't exactly so memorable. I'd be interested in seeing more comic book art though.
ReplyDeleteKarwell: I like this stuff, too. I still can't figure out how I missed this cartoon. Judging from reactions, though, I sense my first instinct was probably correct: HB probably taped the Flinstones/Jetson well once too many times.
ReplyDelete¿Dont you have a red rabbit comic starting from # 12?
ReplyDeleteNo
ReplyDeleteThank you so much for this post Jack Manning is my grandfather and I never got to see his work because he passed away when I was quite young so your post really means a lot to me thank you
ReplyDeleteKate: The pleasure is all mine. You comment means a lot to me! I have one more story from Mr. Manning from the same issue. I'll post it next.
ReplyDeleteKate, he is my second cousin and I have been looking for some of his. Wish we could connect up.
ReplyDeleteKate, Jack is my second cousin. I've been looking for some of his work. Wish we could connect up some way. BTW, my grandmothers name was Kate Blackard
ReplyDeleteGood Luck, Tech.
ReplyDelete