In 2016, DC announced plans to reinvent classic Hanna-Barbera cartoon characters in contemporary comic books such as Keith Giffen, J.M. DeMatteis and Howard Porter's Scooby Apocalypse -- which, as the name implies, put the Scooby-Doo gang in the middle of the apocalypse -- and people were, not surprisingly, skeptical. Then the comic books came out, and many were won over by the unconventional and creative approaches on display -- especially in Mark Russell and Steve Pugh's The Flintstones, which became one of the most critically acclaimed comic books of that year.

Last year, DC took this Hanna-Barbera renaissance to its next natural destination, in four one-shots that saw DC superheroes matched up with famous names from the Hanna-Barbera roster: Green Lantern/Space Ghost, Booster Gold/The Flintstones, Adam Strange/Future Quest and, of course, Suicide Squad/Banana Splits. On May 30, DC will release four brand-new one-shots crossing over the world of Hanna-Barbera and the DC Universe in unexpected ways, this time focused on Hanna-Barbera characters from the '70s, rather than the '60s. CBR has the first details.

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All on the way, as 48-page one-shots with a $4.99 cover price: An Aquaman/Jabberjaw Special by Dan Abnett, Paul Pelletier and Andrew Hennessey (with a back-up by Jeff Parker and Scott Kolins starring Captain Caveman, The Spectre and the wizard Shazam); Black Lightning/Hong Kong Phooey Special by Bryan Hill, Denys Cowan and Bill Sienkiewicz (with a back-up by Parker and Kolins featuring a pre-Demon Jason Blood and The Funky Phantom); The Flash/Speed Buggy Special by Scott Lobdell, Brett Booth and Norm Rapmund (starring the Wally West Flash); and Super Sons/Dynomutt Special, which writer Peter J. Tomasi has already discussed online, featuring Fernando Pasarin and Oclair Albert.

”Mixing DC and Hanna-Barbera characters together for these stories is always fun because the results tend to be wildly unpredictable,” DC Co-Publisher Dan DiDio said in a statement. “Even before you know what the story’s about, just hearing the names that get thrown together instantly brings a smile to your face and puts your imagination into overdrive, trying to figure out what kind of story could possibly come from these team ups. Fortunately, we’ve got the perfect lineup of creators that can bring those stories to life.”

CBR talked in-depth with DiDio about the new round of DC/Hanna-Barbera crossovers, the inevitable pairing of Hong Kong Phooey and Black Lightning, the opportunity to introduce characters like the Funky Phantom to new audiences, the importance of having fun with DC superheroes and the tantalizing tease of "Reverse Speed Buggy."

Black Lightning/Hong Kong Phooey Special cover by Denys Cowan, Bill Sienkiewicz and Jeromy Cox

CBR: Dan, definitely want to talk about each one of these individually, but let's start from a broader perspective: You've really championed DC's Hanna-Barbera Beyond comics, and these crossovers -- was it a no-brainer to do another round? Did you have enough ideas generated the first time around you had to do it again?

Dan DiDio: We had a lot of fun with the first round of crossovers, and also the series themselves have been a real interesting mix of product that we've been able to kick out, and present these characters in new ways. But one of the things that I've noticed personally is that I was really focused on the Hanna-Barbera characters from the '60s, because that was my sweet spot. Those were the ones I remembered well. Then I had folks in the building coming up to me, constantly asking me about different characters that we didn't use. Characters like Jabberjaw, or Dynomutt, or Hong Kong Phooey weren't my sweet spot. Because of that, I never really gave them the amount of attention. Then, as I started to look at these characters more, I saw there was a lot of potential here, as well.

Sure enough, just as we found creators that were interested in Jonny Quest and Space Ghost, we found just as many characters that were interested in Hong Kong Phooey, Jabberjaw, and, of all things, Speed Buggy. It was a lot of fun. I enjoy any one of these things where we get a chance to look at characters from a different way, and present them in a story that we haven't seen before. We've done it with Hanna-Barbera, we had a lot of success with Looney Tunes -- we still have people talking about Batman/Elmer Fudd -- I'm hoping that with every round of these crossovers, we create that one, two, three books that really pop out, and become something people really enjoy.

It's fun seeing these Hanna-Barbera characters reimagined in different ways, and pairing them with DC characters say something about both. What kind of message, for you, does this send about the current era of DC and the willingness to have fun with the DC superheroes, and the freedom to put them in clearly unexpected positions and situations?

We've been broadening out on a pretty consistent basis, in terms of stories, ideas and concepts that I really think take full advantage of our character base. It's interesting, because DC was always built on a diverse product. You go back to the '60s and the '70s, you had war, horror comics, westerns, everything. Then we really focused on superheroes for a rather extended period of time. By doing crossovers like this, it plays to the strength of what superheroes are, but allows us to really broaden out the type of story we tell with it.

We've had a lot of success with other companies crossing over, but doing these all in-house, with such an array of characters, is a lot of fun. Honestly, if Warner Bros. didn't own the Hanna-Barbera characters, we'd probably try to do these anyway. That's how much these characters resonate with the folks in the building.

Super Sons/Dynomut Special cover by Fernando Pasarin and Oclair Albert

It's been a little more than two years since the initial announcement of DC's Hanna-Barbera lineup -- that day, there was certainly a lot of skepticism. Once they came out, I think people saw what they were, and were largely won over. Have you been surprised by how these books received, or is this pretty much what you expected and hoped?

It's what I had hoped for. We've had mixed sales success, but I argue that if you sat down and read any one of these books, you can't argue the quality and the care that's been put into them. It's a level of risk that we're willing to take.

It's been wonderful to work with the folks inside Warner Bros. -- we actually have to negotiate these within Warner Bros. itself, this isn't something we just can do arbitrarily. Diane Nelson was integral in helping us bring the Hanna-Barbera library over to the DCU. There's a lot of respect put into every one of these characters and stories. We love the opportunity to really do what we do with our own characters -- find the core of what makes these characters great, what people remember most, and find a way to contemporize the world around them.

The approach to every one of these stories is, it's a DC comic with Hanna-Barbera characters in it, as if they belong in that world. I think that just naturally makes the artists and writers approach it in a different style and sensibility. That makes this a really fresh take on this type of story.

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On that note, you look at the pairings for this round and in the initial crossovers, and as outwardly wacky as they may seem, you can see the connections. There are some similarities in the properties being mashed-up -- how did these pairings come about?

In this particular case, we started with the Hanna-Barbera character first, and tried to figure out who matched up best with them. There were a couple of naturals -- Jabberjaw and Aquaman seemed like they naturally should meet. Nobody will argue that. Same thing with Flash and Speed Buggy -- it just seemed natural to get that race going. We went with Super Sons and Dynomutt, because naturally, two boys and a dog seemed to go well.

Probably my personal favorite night now is Black Lightning and Hong Kong Phooey. The idea to take a martial artist and a strong African-American character, and pair them together in a '70s setting, where they operate as private investigators -- you know, I'm surprised nobody's ever tried that before. [Laughs]

Then naturally what happened was, we had more characters that we wanted than the number of books we were able to put out. We were able to do a couple of short stories -- and again, natural pairings. Captain Caveman/Shazam, seems natural when you think about it. As does the Funky Phantom meeting characters like the Demon. As you can tell, we're just having fun, man. [Laughs]

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How did the creative teams came together for this? There are a lot of DC vets. Dan Abnett, makes sense because of his experience with Aquaman. Denys Cowan drawing Black Lightning/Hong Kong Phooey is exciting -- how did the talent recruitment go for this?

It went easy. Dan Abnett was working on Aquaman, so it seemed to naturally fit into his storytelling and continuity. Pete Tomasi was brought in to work on Dynomutt as soon as the Super Sons were added. Denys Cowan was the only artist we could think of for the cover, and to really bring that book to life. In Black Lightning/Hong Kong Phooey, the writer, Bryan Hill, has probably been the one that has been most actively petitioning for this particular book. He's a huge Hong Kong Phooey fan. To be honest, it was his perseverance that really brought all of these characters more to my attention.

Lastly, Scott Lobdell, he had me on "Reverse Speed Buggy." When he pitched the story, and said the villain was going to be Reverse Speed Buggy, it seemed liked one of the best single pitch lines I've had in quite a while.

The Flash/Speed Buggy Special cover by Brett Booth and Norm Rapmund

The '60s Hanna-Barbera characters are largely a little bit more recognizable and have endured more to future generations. There will be a lot of readers who don't know Jabberjaw or Speed Buggy or the Funky Phantom. What's the approach there, knowing you're introducing these characters to a portion of the audience for the first time?

And that's why we're introducing them in the crossovers first. That was the whole purpose behind the crossovers. The idea is, these guys might not be as recognizable, but they is certainly a fanbase for them. For us to help reintroduce them into the marketplace is fun, and hopefully there's enough interest in them that we can look at similar programs like we've built for our other characters with these characters. Who knows, these one-shots might also lead to standalone series, just like we had with the other Hanna-Barbera characters.

Right, and we saw that with Snagglepuss the last time around. We've touched on all of them a little bit already -- but let's go down the line of the four books and get a little more commentary from you on each one. Let's start with Aquaman/Jabberjaw, which, ad you said, is something of a natural fit -- what excites you about this story?

What excites me about this story is, it has a time travel component. If you're not familiar with Jabberjaw, Jabberjaw is the shark that's part of a rock band, the Neptunes, in the near future. So naturally we had a time difference between Aquaman and Jabberjaw, and we wanted to address that in the most serious matter possible, so we don't have to talk about the fact that the shark is a drummer in a band. [Laughs]

I don't want to tip my hand, but there is another set of Hanna-Barbera characters that guest star in there, in a cameo role that is essential to the overall story. How about that?

Then there's Black Lightning/Hong Kong Phooey -- which is definitely definitely '70s Black Lightning, right?

'70s Black Lightning. We embraced him with both arms on this one. Hong Kong Phooey/Black Lightning is being written very straightforward, very serious, and therefore I think it's going to really have a tone and sensibility that I think people will react in a great way to. There's a lot of fun stuff going on in that one. Hong Kong Phooey runs a detective agency, and Black Lightning is brought in to help on a particular case that takes them on a really fun adventure.

With Flash/Speed Buggy, we already know to watch out for the Reverse Speed Buggy.

We can't diminish the evil of the Reverse Speed Buggy! I think that is a threat that, honestly, if Flash cannot contain it, it has a chance to really affect all of the DC Universe. I'm glad he's able to work with Speed Buggy in keeping that contained.

And Super Sons/Dynomutt, folks first heard about that a couple weeks back -- sounds like a fun pairing, also maybe Pete Tomasi's last Super Sons story for a while?

I don't know, that sounds incorrect to me, but I only work here! [Laughs]

This is a Pete Tomasi Super Sons production. I'll tell you -- looking at the art as we're talking, Dynomutt looks like he could take on Krypto the way they'e drawing him over here. I feel like there's going to be a lot of fun with these two. There's also the potential of other canine guest stars in that book, if I'm not mistaken. So who knows who else might show up in that story.

Aquaman/Jabberjaw Special cover by Paul Pelletier and Andrew Hennessey

Are there more ideas if there's another round?

You know, to me, these are fifth week stunts that really make fifth weeks a lot of fun. I'm looking at every fifth week month as a way to find some crazy crossovers. We're sitting here going, we'd love to go back and revisit the Looney Tunes characters at some point, as well. If these things click, then you'll see more. I'm very happy to say, the last two rounds, the crossovers between DC and Hanna-Barbera and DC and Looney Tunes, have been very successful for us. I think it caught a lot of people off guard.

The best part of it is, that level of success gets people more excited, and come at us with more ideas. It's not about us generating ideas as much anymore, as it is starting to hear what people might want to bring us, and the type of crossovers they might want to see.

I can tell you one that we're thinking about already: Sylvester and Tweety and Birds of Prey. Seems like a natural to me. [Laughs]

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Now that it's out there, that has to happen.

I can almost promise you it will. [Laughs] As you can see, we have with this. That's all that maters here.

It's a mix of product. It's fun comics, it's dramatic comics, it's science-fiction adventure, it's horror, it's superhero adventure at its best, it's thoughtful, insightful character studies -- it's not just diversity of characters and creators, but also content. I think that's what we need to do right now. One size doesn't fit all anymore. So what we got to do is, we got to keep on reaching and pushing out, and we've got to create product to find the people, and hopefully when they find that, it will lead them into the DCU, and all the other types of stories we tell.

All four of the new DC and Hanna-Barbera one-shots are scheduled for release on May 30.

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Each of these new DC and Hanna-Barbera one-shots are scheduled for release on May 30:

Aquaman/Jabberjaw Special cover by Paul Pelletier and Andrew Hennessey

AQUAMAN/JABBERJAW SPECIAL #1

In a story written by Aquaman writer Dan Abnett with art and by Paul Pelletier and Andrew Hennessey, the town of Amnesty Island is besieged by a series of shark attacks, and the authorities call Aquaman for help! What’s unusual about this case is that the shark isn’t trying to kill people—he just wants to talk to them. All Jabberjaw wants is to get back to Aqualand, the future undersea utopia where he came from. But that peaceful city where man and sentient sea life have been living in harmony has been turned into a dystopian nightmare created by a new Ocean Master! Now the King of Atlantis and his friendly shark ally must team up to set things right.

This one-shot also includes a bonus short story by Jeff Parker and Scott Kolins that tells the tale of the first-ever meeting between Captain Caveman, The Spectre and the wizard Shazam.

Black Lightning/Hong Kong Phooey Special cover by Denys Cowan, Bill Sienkiewicz and Jeromy Cox

BLACK LIGHTNING/HONG KONG PHOOEY SPECIAL #1

Back from Vietnam, kung-fu master Hong Kong Phooey has set up his own detective agency in the inner city. Meanwhile, Jefferson Pierce (a.k.a. Black Lightning) has uncovered a plot by three assassins to collect the components of a sacred text revealing the darkest secrets of martial arts magic, and they’ll kill anyone who owns them—including the dog who holds the last chapter of the book, Hong Kong Phooey. MICHAEL CRAY Bryan Hill, Denys Cowan and Bill Sienkiewicz team up to deliver a story with all the power of a roundhouse kick to the chops!

Plus, Jeff Parker and Scott Kolins team up once again in a bonus story featuring a pre-DEMON Jason Blood and Hanna-Barbera’s own “Spirit of ’76,” The Funky Phantom.

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The Flash/Speed Buggy Special cover by Brett Booth and Norm Rapmund

THE FLASH/SPEED BUGGY SPECIAL #1

RED HOOD AND THE OUTLAWS scribe Scott Lobdell, along with Brett Booth and Norm Rapmund, is gearing up to deliver a rubber-burning story that pushes all the way into the redline! When Wally West tries to take down the villain Kilg%re, he’s surprised to find he has an unknown ally who can move just as fast as he can. Dr. Pernell, a brilliant S.T.A.R. Labs scientist, has found a way to power his dune buggy using the Speed Force. When the Flash agrees to help test the limits of the vehicle in a race, something unexpected sends them spiraling out of the Speed Force and into the unknown. They land in a post-apocalyptic future, but Dr. Pernell is missing, leaving a now-sentient Speed Buggy to help the Fastest Man Alive repair the time stream and stop the triple threat of Savitar, Speed Demon Buggy and… Reverse Speed Buggy?

Super Sons/Dynomut Special cover by Fernando Pasarin and Oclair Albert

SUPER SONS/DYNOMUTT SPECIAL #1

It’s no fun for Jon Kent to be visiting Big City with his parents for the funeral of an old friend, so his best pal Damian Wayne decides to follow along and give him the inside scoop on the city. But when they go to meet Robin’s local friend, Dynomutt, they find him injured and in need of help. And Dynomutt’s human superhero companion, Blue Falcon, has seemingly turned evil. What’s the reason for this betrayal between once-loyal companions, and what role might the evil Red Vulture play in this scenario? Fan-favorite SUPER SONS writer Peter J. Tomasi teams up with Fernando Pasarin and Oclair Albert to tell this story featuring the first encounter of the Dog Wonder with the sons of the Man of Steel and the Dark Knight.