The Jetsons started off with a rocky launch that ultimately left me skeptical. I was a fan of the weirdly mature take we saw The Flintstones explore; the social commentary paired with a complicated character study of familiar cartoon characters ultimately blended into one very remarkable read. However, much like how the original Jetsons cartoon struggled to capture the easy-to-relate-to human charm of The Flintstones, DC’s miniseries fights to keep its head above water.
Nothing in this series holds much gravity, and at first I was blaming the anti-gravity hover boots we’ll own in the future, but the issue really stems from a weird presentation. There is little conflict in this future being painted before us, much like the first season of Star Trek: The Next Generation. There is an optimism about humanity’s future of a world where people cooperate and tolerate each other without question and every individual seems to agree on social and moral ethics with little room for debate.
There is a very light and vague theme of environmentalism, but only in the sense that the lessons learned can be applied to this fictional version of Earth. This also becomes a double-edged sword as the ultimate peril in this series is a meteor that threatens to destroy the Earth and no amount of conservative planning can change its course.
Issue #6, the final issue in the series, opens with citizens around the globe accepting their impending doom while Jane Jetson mourns the death of George. Nothing about this feels satisfying as a fan of these characters. I won’t go too deep into spoiling the story, but I will say this: With the help of a deus ex machina twist it turns out the meteor isn’t quite the threat that humanity feared it to be. In fact, things turn out very positively for all of humanity and the Earth, almost backpedaling on any environmental messaging the issue does manage to present.
The moral of the story is that everything will work out anyways and no one has to die ever and everyone should be happy.
What frustrates me with this issue isn’t just the weak ending and lack of conflict, but the opportunity loss when I reflect on what could have been. It is difficult not to compare this series to The Flintstones and ultimately that has to be my recommendation: Go read that and pass on The Jetsons. This one opened with an odd take that seemed similar to The Flintstones but ultimately ends with less thought-provoking situations and more dry farts. This book won’t satisfy any hardcore Jetsons fans, and I can’t imagine it capturing the imagination of a newcomer passing by. It’s just a dry fart.
