Looney Tunes #262

Daffy Duck is the star of this issue. More importantly, the focus is on Daffy's amazing superhero character Stupor Duck! Starring in a trio of stories!

Based on a 1956 Looney Tunes short of the same name, Stupor Duck is a parody of Superman, The Man of Steel. By day, Stupor Duck is Cluck Trent, a mild mannered reporter for a Large Metropolitan Newspaper, whose nose for news is questionable at best. In fact, that spotty track record is what kicks off our 3-story tribute to the Mallard of Steel.

In an all-new story by Derek Fridolfs, Cluck Trent finds himself out of a job. With the paper going digital due to a lack of sales, the managing editor sends Trent packing. With no employment, this means more time to be Stupor Duck. Only, the superhero makes a gigantic mess of everything along the way. 

The second adventure is a reprint story in which Stupor Duck attempts to help a citizen, played by Porky Pig, with the washing machine that took his money! Reprint story #2 (story #3 overall) is a tribute to legendary DC Comics editor Julius Schwartz who firmly believed that putting monkeys on the cover of his books resulted in massive sales. Here, Stupor Duck takes on a giant gorilla that is terrorizing the fair city. 

The two reprint adventures told more cohesive stories. The first adventure is an awful lot like that 1956 cartoon in which we see more of an array of super-heroic feats that end in hysterically bad ways. Like for instance, at one point, Stupor Duck comes across some bank robbers. But instead of seeing them as bad guys, the hero thinks the criminals are bank patrons who are having trouble accessing their funds. In the end, Stupor Duck helps the crooks rob the bank, feeling like he's a hero who just helped out a bunch of stand-up townsfolk. Add about 3-4 mishaps and Cluck Trent's job search has been all but forgotten while the city reels from the destructive good intentions of Stupor Duck!

I like the Looney Tunes comic book very much. It captures the spirit of the original cartoons very well. Knowing that this was an all-Stupor Duck issue is why I wanted it. This issue did not disappoint. There's just so much going on in that first story. I feel like maybe 10% of the antics of Stupor Duck could have been trimmed back in order to circle around back to a closing gag that would have again featured Cluck Trent's job search woes. I think that would have made for a better ending than the one we get. But the two reprint stories were masterpieces and I understand why DC decided to reissue them in this tribute to Stupor Duck. 

Now, could we get an all-Duck Dodgers issue as well?

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 9 out of 10 stars.

Dell Giants #28 (Bugs Bunny's Winter Fun)

I'm not really sure when and where I picked up this frosty read. According to my records, I paid 50 cents for it. So I must have gotten it at a con or comic shop sale. Based on the cover, I had filed this 1960 comic in with my holiday books. But I may need to rethink that now.

There are about a dozen stories in this book. You'll have to forgive me for not being all that accurate. The cover was hanging on by a single staple and some prayer. I've already re-bagged this book and don't want to risk further damage by taking this 62 year old comic book back out for a looksie. 

The majority of the stories are set during winter time. Some examples include Bugs Bunny and Yosemite Sam taking a wrong turn at Albuquerque and winding up at an ice festival in the Alps. Porky Pig plays intermediary between Jack Frost and Old Man Winter trying to outdo each other. Daffy and Elmer Fudd conduct some Looney Tunes level shenanigans when Elmer refuses to let the duck into his warm and cozy cottage. The story between Tweety Bird and Sylvester as well as Foghorn Leghorn and plucky Henery Hawk's adventure seem awfully familiar to me. I swear that I've seen animated versions of both those stories as a kid!

There's also some characters that I am just not all that familiar with and most of those episodes are the ones that do not occur during winter. A little girl named Suzanne, who appeared only once in a 1955 Fritz Freleng short starring Sylvester the Cat, visits a sick friend. A tiny mouse named Sniffles and his human friend, Mary Jane, help a tired gopher find a safe place to hibernate. Finally, readers are taken South of the Border to meet the family of Little Pancho Vanilla. 

That story is full of stereotypes. However, it's nothing compared to how the character appeared in the sole 1938 Merrie Melodies short that bears his name. And if you thought the portrayal of Speedy Gonzales and his lazy mouse friends were bad, try reading a similar story drawn with human characters.

This Dell Giant also contains a character that I've grown-up with all my life but never encountered a story starting them until now. Porky's forgotten girlfriend Petunia Pig was on not one but two Pepsi glasses. Both were said to be my Grandmama's favorite glasses in the series as she was a fan of the character. I now own those very glasses and cherish them. Yet it's only in the Porky Pig/Jack Frost/Old Man Winter story that I've finally come across a story starring Petunia! (It's taken 45 years, folks!)

The unofficial title to this comic doesn't lie. 3/4 of this issue is full of winter fun. Since Pancho Vanilla lives closer to the equator and his story involves rain, that tale very well could occur in Mexico's winter season. I just don't know. The reason I put this book in holiday was that I hoped it might have a couple of Christmas themed stories inside. Only, I knew how fragile this book was and didn't want to damage it until I was ready to read to find out for sure.

I was originally gonna to read this for my 2022 Christmas reads. But after that first story, I realized that this wasn't as such. So I kept this out until after the holidays. It was a fun read; though a story or two is a bit racist in its caricature. As for where to file this book, I'm assuming it's now going to get categorized as a 'Kids Cartoon, Non-DC/Marvel'. I'll probably file it under letter D for Dell Giant in my long boxes. 

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 8 out of 10 stars.

Lex Luthor/Porky Pig Special #1

Wave 2 of the DC/Looney Tunes crossovers launched this week. My most recent Geek Pick was the Lex Luthor/Porky Pig Special. There was just something about this issue that screamed it was going to be as good as last year’s amazing Batman/Elmer Fudd team-up and it did not disappoint!

Written by: Mark Russell, Jim Fanning Art by: Brad Walker, John LoterPublished by: DC Comics

When a down on his luck Porky Pig runs into Metropolis’ most powerful man, the stuttering swine is given a second chance to conquer the business world. Luthor puts Porky in charge of Lexcorp’s new social media division Lexema. While it may look innocent enough, the new website is actually a front for Superman’s arch-enemy to steal the passwords and secrets of its users.

You would think Porky Pig would be on top of this. But he’s too busy finding out just who is stealing the sandwiches from the employee break room. Sadly, this distraction will pave the way for Lex Luthor to find his latest scapegoat, um -pig for his impending round of Senate hearings on Capitol Hill.

This odd pairing of Lex Luthor and Porky Pig actually worked. Porky is normally the sidekick of the conniving Daffy Duck. Daffy tends to be aloof and reckless. Here, Luthor is quite dangerous, but he’s no dummy. Lex plays the part of the fool so well in order to gain Porky’s undying trust. However, there’s evil intent underneath all that foolishness.

Mark Russell provides some very funny moments in the opening tale. He also manages to pen a story that reflects many of the controversies of the day (social media privacy, big pharmacy, corporate greed) without being preachy or offensive. I usually get tired of Lex Luthor being used ad nauseam in all of the Superman titles. But he’s quite refreshing here as this is a story with zero influence of the Man of Steel.

The back-up feature by Jim Fanning and John Loter was also great. It was done in the style of a Looney Tunes cartoon. Here, Porky is an office supply salesman given the chance to make a pitch directly to Lex. Things seem to be going smoothly until Luthor gets distracted in yet another attempt to rid the earth of a certain Kryptonian. It’s a great comedy of errors done in that classic Merrie Melodies style.

Wave 2 of crossovers between Looney Tunes and superheroes offered lots of unique pairings: Catwoman Vs. Tweety Bird, The Joker pals with Daffy Duck, and Harley Quinn meets Gossamer. But this story of Pig and Mogul was the one that captured my interest most. Other than Brad Walker’s kinda creepy way of drawing Porky Pig and other Looney Tunes characters in the DC fashion, I didn’t have any issues with this special. It was darn near flawless and a must read for any fan of weird team-ups such as myself!

The Lex Luthor/Porky Pig Special #1 debuted in stores on August 29, 2018.

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 9 out of 10 stars.