The Flintstones #22 (Gold Key, 1964)
Welcome back, fellow stone-age enthusiasts! Figment Fossilwright here, fired up to share another classic issue from my retro collection. While I grew up in the 80s digging through comic bins long after these books first hit newsstands, diving into Gold Key's mid-1960s run of The Flintstones always brings back that pure, unadulterated nostalgia of classic Hanna-Barbera storytelling!
October 1964's The Flintstones #22 is an absolute gems-and-gravel delight. Featuring full-color stone-age satire, classic Fred-and-Barney rivalry, and adorable toddler antics with Pebbles, this issue captures everything that made Bedrock the premier prehistoric municipality of comic history. Grab a cup of pterodactyl tea and let's review every story in this issue!
Golfing Grizzly
Plot Summary: Fred decides to hit the local Bedrock country club golf course to showcase his driving skills. However, his round gets completely derailed when a wandering prehistoric grizzly-bear-like creature takes a liking to his golf balls, mistaking them for delicious dinosaur eggs and causing total mayhem on the green.
Review & Rating: 8.5/10. Fred Flintstone on a golf course is an automatic recipe for comedy, but throwing a gigantic stone-age beast into the hazard hazards elevates the physical slapstick to prime Gold Key standards!
Monster from the Deep
Plot Summary: Barney and Fred head out for a peaceful weekend fishing trip on Bedrock Lake, hoping to land a record-breaking catch. Instead, they hook into an enormous sea monster that drags their stone boat across the water, leading to a wildly chaotic rescue operation.
Review & Rating: 8/10. The creature design in this story is top-notch. Seeing Fred and Barney try to outsmart an absurdly large aquatic dino-beast using primitive fishing gear delivers classic Hanna-Barbera charm.
Pebbles' Little Friend
Plot Summary: Baby Pebbles makes a brand-new playmate in the backyard: a tiny, mischievous prehistoric critter that loves playing hide-and-seek. Dino tries his absolute best to keep an eye on Pebbles while preventing the little critter from making a total mess of Wilma's pristine garden.
Review & Rating: 9/10. Dino's non-verbal reactions and protective instincts over Pebbles are always the highlight of these mid-60s Gold Key issues. Heartwarming, cute, and full of great visual beats.
The Big Trade
Plot Summary: Fred decides he's an expert trader and swaps one of his household appliances for what he thinks is a high-value stone-age treasure at the local swap meet. Naturally, Wilma is less than impressed when Fred returns home with a completely useless relic that unleashes unexpected trouble.
Review & Rating: 8.5/10. A perfect showcase of Fred's signature overconfidence and Barney's reluctant willingness to go along with it. The suburban sitcom dynamic shines bright here.
Final Thoughts from Figment
Gold Key's 1964 run of The Flintstones remains one of the high-water marks for prehistoric cartoon comics. Issue #22 delivers everything a fan could ask for—vibrant artwork, clever prehistoric creature appliance gags, and timeless family humor that feels just as fun today as it did decades ago!
- Figment Fossilwright
Source: The Flintstones #22 (Gold Key, 1964)
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