“Pway for Me”
Story: Tom King
Art: Lee Weeks
Colors: Lovern Kindierski
Letters: Deron Bennett
Variant: Bob Fingerman
“Rabbit Season”
Story: Tom King
Art: Byron Vaughns
Colors: Carrie Strachan
Letters: Deron Bennett
Batman created by Bob Kane and Bill Finger.
Elmer Fudd created by Tex Avery & Chuck Jones.
Bugs Bunny created by Ben Hardaway, Cal Dalton, Tex Avery.
When two tonally dissimilar fictional characters meet in a crossover, the resulting story must play a delicate balancing act that lends credibility to both. Archie Comics has usually accomplished this by setting their crossovers in the Archie universe (see Archie vs. Predator). However, the current DC/Looney Tunes series of one-shots splits the difference: a main story takes place inside the DC universe, while a backup story takes place within the more cartoony Looney Tunes setting. The latter isn’t that hard to imagine, given that Looney Tunes has already skewered DC multiple times (remember BatDuck?). But the former requires DC’s stable of writers to be clever when reimagining the Looney Tunes characters operating in a timeline that normally doesn't acknowledge talking cartoon animals.
Regular Batman scribe Tom King succeeds by making Batman/Elmer Fudd a noir story about the small town vs. the big city. His Elmer is a starving country boy who moved to Gotham and parlayed his hunting skills to become a hitman. When his girlfriend is murdered, Elmer tracks down her killer Bugs “The Bunny” to a local dive called Porky’s. Bugs bargains for his life by giving up the name of the client who ordered the hit - someone named Bruce Wayne. Without realising it, Elmer has been put on a collision course with the Dark Knight Detective.
The comic’s appeal rests on artist Lee Weeks being able to transplant the Looney Tunes characters into the gritty noir setting while maintaining their general features. Elmer looks out of place in Gotham with his hunting jacket and oversized cap. But the getup serves as his menacing calling card. Bugs is bucked-tooth, and weaselly looking. Porky’s regulars also happen to be other Looney Tunes characters: from mustachioed biker Yosemite Sam, to a mohawked tough guy named “Taz.” What elevates the story from noir to some place even more surreal is that Weeks’ visuals are accompanied by Elmer’s first person narration. The character’s trademark “w” substituting for “r” and “l” speech impediment remains intact while he monologues like the typical male protagonist dead set on carrying out his revenge in the name of his dead lover. It sounds hilarious, and shows an awareness of the comic's own absurd premise.
When the inevitable confrontation between Elmer and Batman takes place, the fight is more evenly matched than most would expect from an Elmer Fudd/Batman fight. Elmer holds his own with nothing more than his signature shotgun. His brutal efficiency works so well against the caped crusader’s fancy, acrobatic dodging that even Batman has to eventually talk his way out of getting shot in the chest, again. Take that, f@#* one percenter! It's a duel between two people whose contrasting fighting styles reflect their backgrounds from different social strata. Not a small amount of class resentment is mixed with the desire for revenge when Elmer resolves to kill this spoiled billionaire playboy he doesn't know, but who probably never had to hunt and kill his own food.
And if that’s not to the reader’s delicate taste, Tom King’s backup story is basically the same story done in the more conventional Looney Tunes style. As Batman himself would say in the comic, “He is… quite a stinker.”
