Looney Tunes #230 review

I get it now. More accurately, my children showed me how to get it. We looked at a Looney Tunes comic a while ago and I was not a fan. There was too much white space on the edges, the stories were too short and there was just something off that led me not to embrace it. Leave it to a 4 year old to show me the light. Specifically it was the light on Looney Tunes #230 and why it’s such a hit for all age readers.

Our 4 year old has an average vocabulary, but he knows what he likes. He likes Mickey Mouse and Bugs Bunny, among other cartoon luminaries. However, having just been to Six Flags where he was inundated with all things Bugs, Daffy, Tweety, Foghorn and more, he’s in a Warner Bros. state of mind lately at the comic book store.

After much requesting of Looney Tunes in comic book for I agreed to give it a shot again. We picked up Looney Tunes #230 upon his insistence and the result was vastly different from our last experience.

Part of that was based on what I now know about how Looney Tunes is produced. In a way it’s very similar to Mickey Mouse where the comic has some repackaged stories, some that originally were published overseas and a couple new ones with original art. What I didn’t factor in from our original review was that all of the stories were new to him. He didn’t care about the 1/16 what variance on the exterior of the pages; he just wanted to be entertained.

He’s a mini Russell Crowe in the back seat yelling “Are you not entertained”, in his own, high pitched, laughing and rambling tone that only a 4 year old can do. Well yes, we were entertained-and obviously, so were you. From the moment he sat down in the car he gripped Looney Tunes #230 and semi-silently gripped the front and back cover.

Occasionally he’d audibly laugh, snicker with a ‘ha-ha’ that Nelson from The Simpsons would make and on a couple of times he crowned his head back, put the comic book down on his laugh and belly laugh.  He can’t read.

To my knowledge he can’t read. If that is true, then he was laughing himself silly over one of the three stories in the comic. The first one is about Daffy Duck, insurance salesman who has sold Elmer Fudd a life insurance policy just at the start of rabbit season. Realizing that his insurance company would go bankrupt having to pay out every time Fudd got hurt, Daffy has to intervene, getting shot, blown up and trampled by rabid ocelots in the process.

The second story is the one that was previously published. It has a small “WB #1861” in the front of the story, I’m not sure where and when it was originally shown, but I’ve never seen it before. This story is about Bugs trying to visit the Cannes Film Festival but accidently ending up on the farm that’s owned by the two country brothers who always end up in trouble.  Bugs in drag, falling pianos, slapstick humor and quick change costumes are all par for the course in this gag filled story. I suspect that this is the one that our 6 year old was laughing so hysterically over in the back seat.

The vocabulary in Looney Tunes is on par with what a 7 year old can read and understand on their own. Action wise there is nothing inappropriate for any age, the violence is silly, obscured by ‘fight clouds’ or obviously cartoonish.  In our case, the 4 year old has the comic book read to him when he’s going to sleep.  Sometimes it’ll take the place of a bed time book or depending on his mood will be in addition to a good-night book. Looney Tunes is another great example of an all age comic that is priced right at $2.99. If you’re at your Scholastic Book Fair (or on their website) you can subscribe to this comic book for about 30% off retail value too.