Today in Comics History, March 24: Happy birthday, Joe Barbera!

Born on this day in 1911: animator, director, producer, and artist Joseph Barbera, who, with partner Bill Hanna, founded one of the most productive animation studios of the 20th century: Hanna-Barbera!


from Fifty Who Made DC Great one-shot (DC, 1985)



At MGM, Hanna and Barbera produced the astonishingly successful Tom and Jerry cartoons, and later formed H-B to operate at a reduced cost through "limited animation" during a time when shorts for cinema animation were becoming replaced by television cartoons.



from Comic Book History of Animation #4 (IDW, February 2021); script by Fred Van Lente; pencils, inks, and letters by Ryan Dunlavey; colors by Adam Guzowski
The Hanna-Barbera studio created or developed some of the most recognizable cartoon characters in popular culture, many of which came from comics or have had comic book adaptations: The Flintstones, The Jetsons, Huckleberry Hound, Yogi Bear, Top Cat, Wally Gator, Snagglepuss, Magilla Gorilla, Wacky Races, Jonny Quest...

from Jonny Quest (1986 series) #1 (Comico, June 1986), interview by Steve Kaye
(Click picture to stone-age-family-size)
...Atom Ant, Secret Squirrel, Jong Kong Phooey, Jabberjaw, Space Ghost, Birdman and the Galaxy Trio, The Herculoids, Fantastic Four, Scooby-Doo, Captain Caveman, The Smurfs, Super Friends, Josie and the Pussycats...




from Josie and the Pussycats (1969 series) #50 (Archie, September 1970), script by Dick Malmgren, pencils by Dan DeCarlo, inks by Rudy Lapick, letters by Bill Yoshida
...The Powerpuff Girls, Dexter's Laboratory, Johnny Bravo, I Am Weasel...all of these, and many more, have been both cartoons and comic books (from Dell/Gold Key, Charlton, DC, Marvel, Comico, Archie, Harvey, IDW, and more)...some being still published today.


Happy birthday, Joe Barbera! (And we'll see you back here on July 14 for Bill Hanna's birthday!)