Last year DC Comics released a bunch of one shots pairing DC characters with Looney Toons ones as both properties are owned by WB Entertainment. It seemed like an odd choice but the one shots last year ranged from very good to instant classic. The line was enough of a success that DC decided once again to grace us with another series of one shots this year. I picked up three out of four of them (fellow reviewer and DC guru Ray Goldfield politely told me Joker/Daffy Duck was not worth the money) and here’s my thoughts on the order I read them below. Can any of them match up to last year’s brilliant Batman/Elmer Fudd? Well let’s see.

Lex Luthor/Porky Pig

In a batch of comics where all the team ups are odd, this seems to be the oddest. I’m not sure what made Lex and Porky such obvious bedfellows but hey, the same could be said about Batman and Fudd which turned out pretty okay. Unlike the rest of the DC/Loony one shots which do go to some effort to explain how/why the latter characters come into a more serious superhero setting, this one doesn’t. Porky just exists as does fellow Looney Tooner Daffy Duck among a few others with not explanation given, its an odd choice which I felt was leading to something that I’ll elaborate on momentarily.

The story essentially sees failed crypto currency businessman Porky Pig (stutter and all) hired by Lex to front their new social media initiative. Basically Lexcorp is offering a social media choice for those that have been banned everywhere else to have free reign. While this is a diabolical enough endeavor, Lex clearly has more up his sleeve (including stealing his employees’ lunches) and Porky is his fall guy.

The main story, written by Prez and Flintstones scribe Mark Russell, is fine with Lex being written very well and the art by Brad Walker does a good job putting the story across. Like Russell’s other works there’s a lot of political undertones and major issues addressed like crypto currencies, social media, racism/racial profiling and more. None of these points really lead to anything significant and the story just glides along to its conclusion. I kept expecting that since Porky’s seemingly normal existence was never explained, it would be revealed ultimately that he wasn’t a literal pig. It would all be a metaphor for something and that was something that didn’t happen. I feel there was supposed to be a metaphor but it didn’t come across enough in the story to deliver. It was a competent fair read that doesn’t leave much of an impact.

Like last year, all these one shots include a more Looney Toons style backup story and the one in this issue by Jim Fanning and Jon Loter was much better than the main narrative. It had Porky selling office supplies to Lexcorp while Lex is thinking he’s selling very dangerous Superman type weapons. It’s a really fun story that makes up for the ‘okayness’ of the main offering.

Grade: C

Harley Quinn/Gossamer

This one has an interesting back story as the team up between these two was inspired by a variant cover Amanda Connor did for the main Harley Quinn series some time ago. The issue is a very fun read that basically reads like another issue of Harley Quinn by Connor and Pilmiotti who only relatively recently handed over the writing reigns to first Frank Tieri and more recently, Sam Humphries. The issue starts a bit slow with a storm about to hit Coney Island and then out favorite clown princess finds an Acme crate on the beach which has Gossamer inside.

What follows is a typical wacky adventure full of good gags and zany fun that readers of Harley since her reinterpretation following the New 52 will be familiar with. Fans of the Connor/Palmiotti ongoing will not be disappointed and glad to see the pair back so soon after leaving without missing a beat.

Curiously, there is a slight hint of an offshoot from this one shot hinted at so I’m curious if this still isn’t the last word these writers haven’t had with Ms. Quinn. I’m also very glad to see the Harley/Ivy relationship be depicted like a proper romantic one. For years DC were like ‘well they might be but they might not be’ when it was so obvious the pair were an off and on couple. The main series has had them together regularly but I’ve never seen it as blunt as it is here. I’m sure it’ll make a lot of fans of both very happy.

The art by Pier Brito is good without being anything overly amazing. In my opinion this isn’t a patch on the usual Harley artists but its good enough to deliver the fun story. The backup this time by Sholly Fisch and Dave Alvearez a great fun little extra and Harley adapts so well to the Looney Toons verse in her current version it just shows how versatile the character is and that’s why she continues to be so popular.

Catwoman/Tweety and Sylvester

I think I wisely saved the best for last when reading these. This bizarre match up comes about because the witches three (of Hamlet and Sandman fame) make a major between which is the superior species, cats or birds? We then finds a cat avatar of sorts in Sylvester trying to eat a bird avatar in Tweety and he has a set amount of time to do so proving cats are better but if the tiny yellow bird can stay off the menu, then birds win.

The concept is brilliant in its absurdity and somehow makes a fun little one shot have stakes with the entire universe on the line. To help him out, Sylvester hooks in Selena Kyle/Catwoman while Tweety hits up the Black Canary for protection. Their way of convincing these two women to go along is that the losing animal will have their entire species and anyone linked to that species die out. So the stakes are big and the issue keeps upping the ante until it feels more like a big scale event than a silly Looney Toons thing.

Along with Catwoman, Black Canary is as much a star here but likely got her name kept off the cover since at the moment Selena is a far more popular and hotter character. Writer Gail Simone seemingly has a blast writing characters she’s best known for in some cases while throwing in as many characters with tenuous links with birds and avatars as she can think of. The art by Inaki Miranda is lovely and I hope it leads to them getting more work at any of the major companies soon.

The Looney Tunes-style backup by Shea Fontana and Walter Carzon is a lot of fun too with Sylvester looking to get Selena’s help to break into Grannies so the former can eat Tweety and the latter can nab a pricey necklace. Typical Looney fare that comes together well.

The issue was excellent, well worth picking up and I’d grade it higher but I don’t think it was quite as strong as last years Batman/Fudd but it was very close and that’s nothing to sniff at.

Grade: A

I’m not sure how much more mileage DC can get out of this idea but I think overall its been a pretty fun and worthwhile endeavor overall. Looking forward to more next year perhaps/maybe.