"Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies" #128, June 1952: "Elmer Fudd and Daffy Duck"

Sniff sniff...what STINKS around here? Definitely not this brilliant story from "Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies" #128, June 1952. I have no idea who wrote it, but I believe animator Phil De Lara drew it, and they did a wonderful job. Elmer Fudd wants to go to his cabin getaway in the mountains to get away from Daffy Duck, who begs to come along. Elmer (foolishly) gives in, and they arrive at the cabin to find they're not alone. The skunk involved is not specifically Pepe Le Pew, but it's clearly his character design. Watch Daffy's facial expressions!

"Looney Tunes" (Dell) #240, October 1961: "Bugs Bunny and Pepe Le Pew: A Battle of Wits"

While the amorous French skunk Pepe Le Pew first appeared in cartoons in the late 1940's, it wasn't until the 1960's that he wandered into the world of comics. Even then, his appearances were few. While his pursuit of l'amour remained, his odor and his habit of chasing whitewashed cats weren't really addressed. In comics, Pepe is often depicted as a hobo and a moocher. He also appears to have an unrequited crush on Petunia Pig.

In this boffo story from 1961, Pepe takes advantage of Bugs Bunny's hospitality, taking over his rabbit hole! Bugs ultimately assists the help of Yosemite Sam in ousting the freeloading polecat. Since this story was concocted in 1961, when the space craze was in full swing, it's no surprise that it manages to fit rabbits from Mars into it. Sacre bleu!

"Looney Tunes" (DC) #120, January 2005: "Laugh-A-Thon"

For the 120th issue of "Looney Tunes" (DC), Sholly Fisch and David Alvarez created a series of 1-page gag strips strung together loosely by Bugs and Daffy hosting a "Laugh-A-Thon". Here are a handful of the gags.

"Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies" (Dell) #42, April 1945: "Minnie the Minah Bird"

Here's a weird little tale from "Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies" (Dell) #42, April 1945. Porky Pig buys the Minah Bird (from the "Inki and the Minah Bird" cartoons) from a con artist who convinces him that it can talk. He then attempts to show Bugs Bunny and Elmer Fudd his talented new pet, and quickly learns that the seller was a ventriloquist and the bird doesn't actually talk. Or DOES it? As it turns out, the bird's name is Minnie, and she can, indeed, talk...but never when money is involved. Though Minnie trusts Porky, the pig eventually goofs and makes a bet...and he loses her trust forever.

Though Porky is not driven to ruin by his mistake or punished for any greedy intentions, the concept is similar to Chuck Jones' classic cartoon "One Froggy Evening" released ten years later.

"Looney Tunes"(DC) #57, October 1999: "Claws and Effect"

Here's a Road Runner and Wile E. Coyote story that further shows how creative the team of Dan Slott and David Alvarez was. Earlier stories in the DC series proved that the characters didn't need dialogue to be funny in comics, but stories like this one took it to the next level. Here's "Claws and Effect" from LT#50, October 1999.

"Looney Tunes" (DC) #50, March 1999: "Mystery Bait"

In honor of Father's Day, here's a 2-page Sylvester and Son gag from the all-star 50th issue of DC's "Looney Tunes", March 1999. Written by Dan Slott, art by David Alvarez.

"Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies" (Dell) # 74, December 1947: "Senator Leghorn"

Henery Hawk had a slightly different history in comics than he did on screen. In the cartoons, he was created by Chuck Jones for "The Squawkin' Hawk" (1942) and resurrected a few years later by Robert McKimson for "Walky Talky Hawky' (1946). While Henery was immediately upstaged by the boisterous Foghorn Leghorn in the second film, he had already been established as a featured character in the comics. While Henery served as a foil for Foghorn (and, in one case, Daffy Duck) in cartoons, he seemed more content to pal around with his brainy, level-headed pal Ollie Owl in comics, and with trying to convince his parents that he wasn't too young to catch a chicken. Foggy actually didn't show up in comics until later, but a characthttp://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gifer called "Senator Leghorn" did. Other than the similar name (derived from radio personality "Senator Claghorn"), the Senator was not near as good-natured or witty as Foghorn. Senator Leghorn quickly established himself as the barnyard's resident corrupt politician, a bigger threat to the chickens than Henery ever was.