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DC Comics had a digital sale last weekend on several of their crossover books. In addition to the expected fare, such as the Batman/Predator collection, they also included their recent crossovers with the WB "Looney Tunes" characters. One of those handled the idea in the usual way, with the DC and LT universes meeting via Mr. Mxyzptlk, but the other six... well. Those were independent one-shots, each with a "lead" story in the DC style and a short LT-style backup feature. In no particular order:
Batman/Elmer Fudd
Legion of Super-Heroes/Bugs Bunny
Jonah Hex/Yosemite Sam
Wonder Woman/Tazmanian Devil
Lobo/Road Runner
Martian Manhunter/Marvin the Martian
Each of those took one of three general approaches. Batman gave us human versions of the LT characters - underworld characters with mannerisms and features reminiscent of the talking animals. MM and LoSH went to the other extreme, using a gizmo to bring the recognizable LT characters into their setting for a quick encounter. Hex, WW, and Lobo did something better, though: they made generally plausible (for comic book values of plausibility) attempts to put more realistic versions of the LT characters in the DC setting, then arrange meetings.
I liked the LoSH story the least, primarily because it was trying too hard to poke fun at its own tropes. A Legion fan might enjoy it more, but as a casual reader, it just fell flat. Similarly, the double-Martian issue got tired in a hurry. Yes, I get that it seems like a natural pairing, but like the LoSH tale, it relied too much on the "control the nutty visitor until you can send him home" plot for my taste.
The Batman story was a credible Batman tale, as told from Elmer's POV, but most of the entertainment value was in the novelty of the concept and in playing "spot the Easter egg" to identify the more obscure characters. WW was perhaps the most organic fit, using Taz as a guardian of the Labyrinth and thereby not having to change much of anything to tell the story. Jonah Hex was almost as good, but suffered IMO from the decision to use Foghorn Leghorn as a literal rooster-man circus freak. Aside from that, it played as a pretty serviceable Western.
Surprisingly, my favorite issue had to be Lobo/Road Runner. In this combo, Acme uses the Roswell crash to get into genetic tampering, using alien DNA and captured animals to create hybrids. The coyote engineers a lab accident MacGyver-style, then spends the next seventy years chasing the similarly-enhanced Road Runner. (Yes, that puts the assorted shorts squarely into the story's continuity, and a glorious one-page montage shows the passage of time.) Once they reach the present day, the coyote manages to hire Lobo to take out his nemesis, and what follows is absolutely priceless. All I'm gonna say is that Lobo made for an able stand-in, and the last panel left me green with envy.
These were definitely on the short side at about 40 pages each, and the normal price is too expensive (or maybe I'm just old), but they were generally decent reads, earning three to five stars from me.
Yes, I gave a Lobo story five stars. Never thought I'd see the day...
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