To the best of my recollection, Batman/Elmer Fudd Special #1 is the first comic that literally made me laugh out loud with its first sentence. This comic is every bit as ridiculous as one would expect from an ultra-serious mash-up of the Looney Tunes and Batman universes. But beyond the humor and sheer novelty factor, there's a surprisingly deep story here about two deranged men fighting and bonding over the one thing in life that unites them. It's a far better comic than it has any right to be.
Each of the DC/Looney tunes crossover specials has taken its own approach when it comes to merging the two franchises. Writer Tom King and artist Lee Weeks have chosen to play things 100% straight here, offering a dark, gritty, noir-flavored version of Gotham City where the traditional Batman rogues have taken a backseat to realistic, humanoid versions of all the iconic Looney Tunes. King and Weeks play it 100% straight here, which is the source of much of the book's humor. Elmer Fudd is cast as a brutal, lonely killer much in the vein of Marv from Sin City, yet he still speaks with that trademark speech impediment. Batman is every bit as tortured and ominous a hero here as he is in King's regular Batman series. The result is that you frequently get hilarious scenes like this where the pervasive darkness collides with the inherent ridiculousness of the concept:
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Each of the DC/Looney tunes crossover specials has taken its own approach when it comes to merging the two franchises. Writer Tom King and artist Lee Weeks have chosen to play things 100% straight here, offering a dark, gritty, noir-flavored version of Gotham City where the traditional Batman rogues have taken a backseat to realistic, humanoid versions of all the iconic Looney Tunes. King and Weeks play it 100% straight here, which is the source of much of the book's humor. Elmer Fudd is cast as a brutal, lonely killer much in the vein of Marv from Sin City, yet he still speaks with that trademark speech impediment. Batman is every bit as tortured and ominous a hero here as he is in King's regular Batman series. The result is that you frequently get hilarious scenes like this where the pervasive darkness collides with the inherent ridiculousness of the concept:
Continue reading…
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