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SUMMARY:
Published by Gold Key for October 1962, this 80-page magazine-size comic features ten short stories presented as acts for a Looney Tunes variety show hosted by Bugs Bunny.
- Bugs Bunny: “Showtime.” Stuck bunny-sitting his three nephews, Bugs has a series of mishaps with Elmer Fudd.
- Daffy Duck: “The Magic Garbage Can.” Daffy and a duck pal try scamming Elmer Fudd with a garbage can supposedly containing a genie.
- Pepé Le Pew: “Boat Bungle.” Mistaken identity has the French skunk as a hired security guard aboard a bayou riverboat targeted by a pirate gang.
- Beep Beep (Road Runner): “Beepers Weepers.” The Road Runner and his three relatives trade dinner time double-crosses with Wile E. Coyote.
- Porky Pig & Cicero Pig: “Gibraltar Jam.” A grateful young monkey inadvertently involves Porky & his sidekick, Cicero, in a criminal gang’s diamond heist.
- Henery Hawk: “Helpful Hawking.” To avoid a spot on Henery Hawk’s dinner menu, Bugs helps the diminutive chicken hawk get some revenge on Foghorn Leghorn.
- Mary Jane & Sniffles: “The Safe Place.” The kind little brown mouse helps a young blonde girl, Mary Jane, magically search for her lost piggy-bank.
- Tweety & Sylvester: “Watch the Fur Fly.” Sylvester’s excessive shedding problem is only exacerbated by Tweety.
- Elmer Fudd: “Bird on the Brain.” Elmer Fudd needs Bugs Bunny’s help escaping a little blue bird who wants to use his head for a nest.
- Speedy Gonzales: “Dinosaur Dinner.” Speedy and a mouse friend contend with a hungry purple dinosaur, who coincidently resembles a bigger version of The Flintstones’ Dino.
REVIEW:
Anyone will readily deduce the tepid kiddie humor in a Gold Key comic. This issue doesn’t disappoint in that regard. As so few of these story premises are even faintly amusing, Gold Key’s super-dull execution makes for a very long slog. Only the charming Disney-like “Safe Place” is worth spending time on. What else comes to mind are dubious out-of-character sights: whether it’s Pepé and Porky sporting handguns against baddies in their respective stories, or the Road Runner/Beep Beep and Wile E. Coyote carrying full-on conversations (which just seems wrong). As Gold Key ineptly demonstrates, Looney Tunes don’t translate to print well without witty dialogue. Unfortunately, “Safe Place” isn’t enough of a reason to bother with Bugs Bunny Showtime # 86.
ADDITIONAL CONTENT:
Underneath a single illustration, a full-page written story entitled “Piñata Party” tells of a Latino child’s birthday party where a ‘bull’ may be a gift from his father. Underneath an illustration, Beaky Buzzard’s love life gets a full-page write-up entitled “Beau Bumble.” The back cover is a full-size Bugs Bunny ‘pin-up’ of the front cover.
BRIAN’S ODD MOON RATING: 2½ Stars
