Top Cat Backup Review: The Sleazy Feline Meets The Dark Knight

The Top Cat backup story appeared in the Adam Strange/Future Quest Annual #1 issue. Written by Dan Didio himself, it features a slightly altered backstory for the felonious feline. No, not Catwoman, but she does make a brief appearance. Back in Top Cat's dimension, every resident was a cat, and he ended up selling out his gang and escaping to the main DC universe through a portal.

One of the best Batman reactions in DC history.

The story is told from Top Cat's perspective, showing him to be an unreliable narrator. In this case, it's because he doesn't want to deal with Batman (no, really), but he hasn't been the most honest back home, either. It's actually a surprisingly fascinating story about a con-man cat looking to find his missing friend and get home, preferably while living the high life. The end of the story teases an upcoming comic and I think it actually sounds like a great idea.

Seeing a wannabe crime boss contend with the likes of the Penguin and the Great White Shark sounds fun. I hope that if this does happen, then future issues will take Top Cat out of Gotham and into the expanded DC universe. After all, if you're going to write a story like this, why not play with every character in the toybox? Who wouldn't want to see Lex Luthor get confounded by a talking cat or have the Rogues gain a temporary new member?

"Back In The Alley" is written by Dan DiDio, drawn by Phil Winslade, colored by Chris Chuckry, and lettered by Nick J. Nap. You can find it in Adam Strange/Future Quest Annual #1 at your local comic book shop.

Zachary Krishef is an evil genius. Do not question his knowledge of Saturday Night Live trivia or Harry Potter books.

To My Eternal Delight, Select DC Comics Heroes And Looney Tunes Will Unite In June

Yes, this is really happening. To my delight, DC Comics has announced a series of Looney Tunes crossovers in the same vein as the Hanna-Barbera specials set to come out later this month. However, unlike those, the much more humor-orientated epics will be released over the course of June. Interestingly enough, this isn't the first time that DC has taken advantage of their shared ownership by Warner Brothers. 

A notable episode of the Duck Dodgers tv show, based on 1953's Duck Dodgers In The 24 1/2th Century, actually had Daffy Duck accidentally become a Green Lantern after a mishap with the cleaners. Later, The Looney Tunes Show featured a one-off gag revealing that Bugs Bunny was secretly Batman, an entire episode dedicated to Superman's mythology, the Looney Tunes: Back In Action feature film had a sequence with the Batmobile, and, of course, a set of amazing variant covers back in 2015. It's been two years and I would still read those. There was even an awesome four-part crossover miniseries called Superman & Bugs Bunny. (Check back later in June for my review!)

In fact, an original Bugs Bunny short entitled "Super Rabbit" aired all the way back in 1943, satirizing Superman. Essentially, I'm saying that this has been brewing for a long time and I'm so happy that DC Rebirth has now provided the means for some suitably zany crossover action. Six specials will be arriving and here's the scoop on all of them, served with a generous side portion of speculation and nerdy predictions.

"Batman/Elmer Fudd Special #1"- After a chance meeting with billionaire Bruce Wayne, multi-millionaire Elmer Fudd’s obsession quickly escalates into stalking Batman through the dark alleys and high-class social settings of Gotham City.

Isn't this cover amazing? I just love the image of Elmer Fudd and Batman stalking each other. Just the thought of someone as pathetic as Elmer trying to hunt down Batman makes me chuckle. I've been coming up with my own joking dialogue for this ever since the crossovers were teased. Despite the dark nature of much of Tom King's Batman work, I'm not worried that the special will be lacking in humorous content. The beginning of Batman #16 was hilarious. Set to be written by Tom King and drawn by Lee Weeks, who also illustrated the cover, it will come out on June 28th. Mark your calendars and make sure to be vewy, vewy quiet, Elmer's got a new target.

"Jonax Hex/Yosemite Sam Special #1"-  When miner Yosemite Sam strikes it rich, word gets out as everyone comes gunning for his wealth, including the notorious Freleng gang! To protect himself and his his new riches, he hires bounty Hunter Jonah Hex­—but the man protecting him may be his worst nightmare!

This is where I start to get a little dubious. Part of the problem with the crossovers would be the more realistic style that the Looney Tunes characters are drawn in. I mean, they're cartoons, and it looks odd to have them with fairly realistic proportions, or as realistic as you can get. It's not as awkward for Yosemite Sam, but something about Foghorn Leghorn seems off. Maybe it's just that I can't really see his face.

In any case, I appreciate the nod to Friz Freleng, one of the original workers on the cartoons. I'm also curious as to precisely how Foghorn fits into the whole affair. Is he part of the gang? Could he be Sam's partner in crime? Jimmy Palmiotti and Mark Texeira will give us the details on June 28th.

"The Legion Of Super-Heroes/Bugs Bunny Special #1"-  The Legion of Super Heroes always thought they had taken their inspiration from the 21st Century’s Superboy. But when they try to bring that hero into their future time, the team discovers to their surprise the caped champion isn’t who—or even what—they expected!

Nyehhh, what's up, doc? Super Rabbit is what's up, coming all the way from 1943, or earlier in this article. I wonder if this will lead to a Legion Of Super-Pets joke. I do wish that Bugs had on the classic Superman suit, but at least the over-sized boots are red. As I mentioned earlier, seeing a titch more realistic Bugs is slightly disconcerting, but it could be much worse. I also love the full-cover homage to Adventure Comics #247, the first issue to feature the team. I'm kind of a Legion nerd, I've had the first two Showcase Presents volumes for years. Cosmic writer supreme, Sam Humphries will scribe the tale and both Tom Grummett and Scott Hanna will provide the artwork, coming on June 14th.

"Lobo/Road Runner Special #1"- Wile E. Coyote travels to the far reaches of space to hire Lobo to hunt down and kill his greatest nemesis of all time, The Road Runner. When the Coyote and Lobo are after you, the Road Runner realizes if they catch him he’s through.

Okay, Bill Morrison could just take an actual Road Runner comic and crudely paste Lobo over Wil E. Coyote and I would probably still love it. I believe this one has the most potential for some classic slapstick because of the sheer absurdity of Lobo's healing factor. He once healed from a single drop of blood, after all. I'm not sure how Wil E. got into space, but maybe he's also in his "Super Genius" persona from a few Bugs Bunny crossovers. In any case, will hiring an intergalactic hit-man prove to be more successful than using a Batman suit? (Twice, actually.) Bill and Kelley Jones will release the results on June 21st.

"Martian Manhunter/Marvin The Martian Special #1"- Martian Manhunter tries to halt Marvin the Martian’s determination for world domination. J’onn is conflicted with his own Martian identity as he attempts to stop the hapless, determined Marvin from blowing Earth to bits in order to gain a clear view of Venus.

This was the most obvious crossover of the bunch. With two Martian-based characters, how could you not have them interact in some meaningful way? I'm glad that they're still keeping Marvin's extremely petty reason for wanting to blow up the Earth and I'm interested by the new twist of them being related. Shape-shifting vs a Q-36 Explosive Space Modulator, what will win? The comic will be released on June 14th, written by Steve Orlando and Frank Barberi and drawn by Aaron Lopresti.

"Wonder Woman/Tazmanian Devil Special #1"- Not since the twelve labors of Hercules has a Greek warrior faced as great a danger and as destructive a peril as the Tasmanian Devil!

Whoa, Taz, buddy, I hate to be mean, but have you been taking steroids? Wow, he looks bigger than usual. This one is the most mystifying to me. Apart from the brief synopsis, I'm really not sure why Wonder Woman would be matched up with Taz. Maybe he's supposed to represent toxic masculinity, but you would think that Pepe LePew would fulfill that role. I guess he just looks like more of a threat. In any case, the comic is coming out on June 21st, written by Tony Bedard and drawn by Barry Kitson, with Jim Lee providing the cover.

So, that's everything to be released for the event and I'm pretty hyped. No matter what, this definitely seems to be a return to the fun DC Comics days of yore. I hope this goes well. Maybe it'll lead to a second wave of specials with Plastic Man meeting Daffy Duck or Zatanna encountering Dr. Moron. Let's hear it for crossovers! I'm going to go crack open a big bag of carrots and watch some cartoons.

Zachary Krishef is an evil genius. Do not question his knowledge of Saturday Night Live trivia or Harry Potter books.

Super Fun! - Super Sons #1 Review

I’ve pretty much been waiting for Super Sons to come out from the moment DC announced their Rebirth titles. I’m a sucker for Batman and Superman team ups and stories about superhero families, so getting a title about Robin and Superboy was pretty much a dream title for me. “Superman #10” teased us with the “World’s Smallest” story, and I’ve been itching to get more of this diminutive duo ever since. Well this week I finally got to read issue #1 and it does not disappoint.

The beginning actually manages to double up on one of what is quickly becoming one of my least favorite plot devices in comics. It starts with a section labeled “Prologue” then jumps to “Now” then back to “Hamilton County. 300 miles from Metropolis. Two days earlier.” Starting a comic with a bunch of time jumps is something I’ve seen used way too much lately. It feels increasingly cheap as a device to artificially increase the tension at the beginning of a comic as a way to hook readers. While I understand that it was probably used in this case to get some splashy action scenes into what would otherwise be a comic that consists mostly of exposition, knowing that doesn’t make me any less bored with the trope.

After that though, my complaints evaporate. Jorge Jimenez’s art is wonderfully kinetic and expressive. He stretches faces and exaggerates poses to create the perfect playful, energetic mood for the two young protagonists. Even relatively still scenes pack in a lot of personality. It's even, dare it be said of a non all ages title, quite cute and charming.

Tomasi’s writing is great too, even with my quibbles about pacing. He introduces the characters in a way that covers a lot of their personalities and backgrounds for newcomers without needing to resort to explaining things so those who already know the characters get bored. Jon is the sweet kid who stands up to bullies even when he can’t really stop them because he needs to hide his powers. Damian is the clever kid who skips out on his homework because it bores him and talks his friend into sneaking out to fight crime. There’s just a little bit of one-upmanship and rivalry here too that feels genuine and boyish.

I’m eagerly awaiting the next issue in this series, and not just because this one ends on a cliffhanger. Super Sons is fun. It’s a pleasant antidote to the mountains of grim seriousness that can plague superhero stories, and I want more.

Miz Opifex is a union electrician by day and a champion of feminine geekery by night. She lives in the American Rust Belt with her cat and a staggering amount of books, movies, and albums on vinyl.