Good mother of God, kill me bury me and take me to heaven. How do you know you are happy to be alive? When you receive a gift you didn’t know you wanted at all, and it makes you happier than anything you have ever known.
When I saw the cover for the Joker/Daffy Duck crossover issue, my mind gave birth to a new version of itself that never, ever wants to leave the DC Looney Tunes Universe. By God, let there be a movie version of this comic.
Okay now that I have expressed my sheer, inimitable joy at being able to see two of the most vitriolic WB characters in history together, we can get into the nuts and bolts of the review.
Part 1
Before I get into the story, I need to point out how impeccable the linework is in this issue. There is a sense of fun and edginess in the jaggedness of the lines.
The angularity is perfectly suited to bridging the Looney tunes and DC worlds without compromising the rawness of either one.
At the center of the story is Daffy being is a tragic comedic character, and this is exemplified in his posing. I really enjoy how the posing of Daffy’s cartoonish body works seamlessly with that of the Joker and other ‘regular’ human characters. The atmosphere of the colors feels rich too, but not too heavily saturated which really helps balance Daffy in the grittiness of Gotham. Great job Norm Rapmund and Brett Booth.
Story-wise I think the plot progresses at a great pace, and is easy to follow. Batman, obviously makes an appearance, and helps Daffy in taking down the Joker. I really like the idea of Daffy being hired to help Joker with the logistics of evil. However, I think that Daffy would naturally want to outdo the Joker in terms of mischief. I think it could be interesting to see a Daffy who is just as diabolical as the Joker and less of a lapdog, or should I say lap-duck.
I understand that there is a natural deference to the Joker in all of us, but I think the level of frustration Ducky faces in all his Looney adventures would make him want to rebel from being Joker’s ‘Alfred’ a lot sooner.
(I need to point out the awesomeness of a Batman through the window face kick that will change your life.)
Part 2.
The second part follows Daffy being called in as the only psychotherapist who can talk to The Joker without losing his mind. In terms of status of the characters I find this story to be more balanced. The brightness of the color, and the wonkiness of the line give it a vibrant energy that is a more cartoony fun, and so the tone feels a little more slapstick if you will
I love this silliness, and this story feels a lot more like Arkham Asylum has been pulled into the Looney Tunes universe. Daffy’s voice and reasoning follow the Looney Tunes formula a lot more in this case and feel a bit more consistent.
In fact, the depiction of the Joker in this version seems a little flat, he answers the questions posed by Daffy in the way you might think an actual serial killer would. I think this depiction of the Joker could have used one more layer of depth or variety to make it pop. The first Joker is psychotic but childlike which works better with Daffy Duck.
The ending feels a little abrupt (daffy changing shirt in one panel) but I think this makes a little more sense in a Looney Tunes world.
Last words
Ultimately we have two very fun visions of a DC/Looney mashup. One in which Daffy is the straight man in the classic comedic, straight man-crazy man matching; and the other in which the Joker is the straight man, because his version of crazy is tad predicable. I guess what I’m saying is I want to see the maximum insanity of both of these characters unleashed upon each other. Hopefully there will be more issues, although the stories seem to not necessarily lead into a next chapter. Perhaps DC is testing the waters? Well let me tell you DC, JUMP RIGHT IN, because I WANT MORE, AND THE PEOPLE DESERVE MORE!!
That’s all folks!
-Tatenda Mbudzi
