Genie in the Wrong Bottle

 

cover art by Tony Strobl

As I've written before, the Looney Tunes comic book universe was a little less anarchic than the cartoons. Despite the presence of often hilarious slapstick humor, the comic stories usually involves a real sense of danger. 

Bugs Bunny #103 (January 1966), by an unidentified writer and art by Tony Stobl, is a great example of this. Bugs is digging himself a new hole when he finds an old bottle. That bottle contains a genie. Sadly, the genie can't access most of his magic powers. For this, he needs to be moved back to his original lantern, which is back in his homeland. But if Bugs can get his lantern back, the genie will gladly grant wishes.

This seems like a good deal. But getting to the unnamed Middle Eastern country will take money and Bugs doesn't have any.

So its off to Elmer Fudd's home. Elmer is short on cash as well, but once he has proof of the genie's existence, he agrees to sell his house to fund the trip.

The slapstick in the Dell and Gold Key Looney Tunes books really is good. What follows is a sincerely funny series of gags in which Bugs and Elmer get the lantern back, but are pursued by the soldiers of the local sultan and must uses wishes to escape. There's no chance of thinking through the individual wishes, so the first two merely give them a few minutes lead on the soldiers. The last one is a desperate wish to go home.

Throughout all this, the genie is enjoying being back in his lantern and annoyed that Bugs and Elmer keep interrupting him when he's in the shower, at dinner, etc.

They are on their third wish before the genie reminds them they only get THREE wishes. Bugs wishes he and Elmer home in the nick of time.

Which means the fortunes they both hoped for will now never exist. Elmer is without a place to live and has to move in with Bugs. Well, I guess that will make things more convenient for him when Rabbit Season rolls around.

It really is a fun story and Strobl's art is excellent. The Looney Tunes Comic Universe is definitely a different place than the Cartoon Universe, but it earns its right to exist.

Next week, we'll visit the Twilight Zone, where a man tries to cheat death. That's something that never ends well in the Twilight Zone.