Legion of Super-Heroes/ Bugs Bunny Special #1

    A member of the Legion of Super-Heroes is fighting for their life thanks to a mystery virus. Brainiac 5 determines that the only way to save his comrade is to treat the patient with a now extinct isotope. Since the element is known to exist during Superboy’s time, the Legion uses a time cube to bring the teen hero to the 31st Century! However, instead of Superboy, the being that travels a 1,000 years into the future winds up being none other than Bugs Bunny?! When the wisecracking rabbit asks “What’s Up Doc?’, I don’t think this is what the Legionnaires had in mind to save their ill teammate.

The Crossovers of The Summer

    The Legion of Super-Heroes/ Bugs Bunny Special is just one of about a dozen DC/ Warner Bros. specials that will hit shops this summer. Written by Green Lanterns’ Sam Humphries with art by Tom Grummett (Action Comics), the story is very tongue-in-cheek with lots of inside jokes and teen angst. Even the editors get in on the action, having a caption war of sorts with Humphries throughout the book.

    One might think that a crossover between Looney Tunes characters and DC legends would not work visually. The Legion is comprised of humanoids whereas Bugs is a funny animal. Yet, the film Space Jam is a mash up of real-life human beings and cartoons. That film is still considered a visual masterpiece of 90s cinema despite 2 different medias. So, the artistry isn’t problematic.

Rated T for Too Strict, Not Tunes

     What I have trouble with not only this special, but the whole line-up of DC/Looney Tunes specials, is the ratings. DC decided to release these books with a rating of Teen. Than means that the publisher believes that readers under the age of 12 should not be reading this book.

      I’m not sure if pure nostalgia for Looney Tunes is going to make these book’s a success. True, DC recently saw major dividends with it’s edgy grown-up versions of Hanna-Barbera cartoons. But Bugs Bunny has always been thought of as family friendly. I didn’t really see anything any more objectionable in this book from what you might see on a episode of Looney Tunes cartoons on Boomerang.

      These specials do not need to be rated for all-ages. But Teen is too strict for this comic. Limiting your readership with in my opinion too-strong of a rating, I think will hurt DC in the long-run. As an educator, I notice that parents tend to take the ratings system for books a lot more seriously than that of TV or movies. I’ve seen this firsthand, having run book fairs before. Mom and Dad love for their child to be able to read at a higher level. Yet parents will shy upon purchasing books that may be more violent or scary than their kids can handle. (Note: Next Week’s Lobo/ Road Runner Special, which is rated Teen, may actually be classified too low considering the Last Czarian’s violent publication history.)

Things To Come

     Each special is supposed to include a small backup feature. This book’s second story was a retelling of the main attraction. Juan Ortiz gives his version of events a different spin and I loved his 60s DC Comics art-style for the piece. But, I feel cheated by not getting an all-new, all-different tale. I hope the other specials will not fall into this trap.

    I’m looking forward to the rest of the DC/ Looney Tunes specials. They are the right mix of silly and sentimental. Nevertheless, these one-shots are also $4.99 a piece. So, I am probably going to have to hold off on a few of these issues until I come across them in a bargain bin somewhere down the road. The Batman/ Elmer Fudd team-up by Tom King and Lee Weeks that drops in July, will not be one of those. That’s one’s going to be epic and I for one do not want to miss out on it!

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 8 out of 10 stars.