The Justice League Once Included The Looney Tunes (Seriously)

Comic book fans have seen no shortage of wild and outlandish Justice League crossovers and team-ups, but probably the most (literally) cartoonish pairing came when the team joined forces with the Looney Tunes in 2000’s four-issue miniseries Superman & Bugs Bunny.

The story opens with a descriptor explaining that this is what happens when “reality takes a left turn at Albuquerque.” Readers find Clark Kent and Lois Lane investigating a story when they come across the mischievous imp and frequent Superman foil Mr. Mxyzptlk. Meanwhile, in another universe, Bugs Bunny and Elmer Fudd are doing their “wabbit hunting” shtick. Superman tricks Mxyzptlk into saying his name backwards (the only way to vanquish him back to his own dimension), but after a series of mishaps, he actually lands in the Looney Tunes dimension. And just for mayhem’s sake, Mxyzptlk begins transporting the cartoons into the “real” world of DC. They start to vanish from their own world like they’d just been blipped.

Readers get the kind of absurdity they can expect from such a crossover event. Green Lantern interrupts Marvin the Martian as he tries to destroy the Earth because, “its colors clash with Neptune!” The Flash finds himself racing both Speedy Gonzales and Road Runner (followed shortly by Wile E. Coyote on rocket skates, naturally). Aquaman encounters Yosemite Sam, who’s commandeered a pirate ship. Characters begin to doubt Green Arrow’s sanity when Michigan J. Frog (characteristically) will only sing in front of him. Superman and Elmer Fudd even body swap. The arc culminates in Superman making the Tunes honorary members of the Justice League. There’s a lot going on in these four issues.

While this might seem like an especially bizarre melding of two worlds, DC actually has a long history of crossing paths with Looney Tunes. There was that time Elmer Fudd and Batman teamed up, with the cartoon hunter getting an especially gritty treatment. Wile E. Coyote once hired Lobo to kill Road Runner. Daffy Duck joined Joker’s crew for a while. DC Comics even provided The Looney Tunes a startlingly dark origin story. And considering both DC and Looney Tunes are Warner Bros. properties, it makes sense for the company to pluck from its pre-existing pool of characters for an event like this.

What does make this crossover perplexingly meta, though, is that each universe’s characters exist as fictional characters in the other universe. Bugs is seen reading a Superman comic and the DC characters recognize the Looney Tunes from TV. Foghorn Leghorn says he’s a big fan of Action Comics and at one point even singles out Clark Kent as being, “from one o’ them there comical books.” The giant rooster goes so far as to point out that his glasses aren’t fooling anybody. Even some of the issues’ titles are self-referential: The Wast Son of Kwypton, The Duck Knight Weturns, Cwisis on Infinite Earths.

So fans of Looney Tunes, Justice League – or just zany crossover events in general – have a lot to look forward to with Superman and Bugs Bunny. And this is definitely one take on The Justice League that would make for an interesting Snyder Cut.

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