Ambush Bug Nothing Special

I really love me some Ambush Bug. It’s strange thogh, he seems like he belongs in the 80’s. Not necessarily becasue of a costume or anythign liek that, it’s just that’s when his greatest hits were. We didn’t see him too much in the Bronze age. Ambush Bug’s goofy optimistic humor just didn’t fit that well in the dark age full of gritty anti-heros, big guns and dark fantasy.

In fact it’s actually pointed out that Ambush Bug is in a special place here, neither alive or dead…possibly outside of continuity.

I actually wonder what the impetus for this special was. Keith Giffen, obviously, but I was never quite sure why they choose this particular moment to publish a new Ambush Bug story. Perhaps dipping their toe in the water? I honestly didn’t even know this was out until almost a year later when I found it in a quarter bin (where I found most of my Ambush Bug issues).

In this story, Buggy visits every corner of the DC universe in a vain attempt to get into the summer crossover. There’s a joke in poor taste about visiting the bathroom in each title. What’s really fun is that he not only visits the mainstream titles, he also visits the vertigo series. Not all of them but definately the big ones with better critical acclaim.  He shows up in Doom Patrol which is actually really ironic considering that he’d actually become a part-time member about fifteen years later, shortly before DC rebooted everything in the New 52. He also shows up in the Dreaming with the Sandman and this is the source of some debate. Many Sandman and Gaimen fans take the position that this isn’t cannon – it can’t be because Neil Gaiman didn’t write it and at this time he wrote everything related to the Sandman (this changed when Sandman ended and vertigo commissioned several spin offs written by other people. Still Gaiman is the only one to ever write Sandman proper)

If you see this around pick it up. Of course don’t let that stop you from visiting any of Buggy’s other series, like Son of Ambush Bug, Ambush Bug, or Ambush Bug : Year None.

March 3, 2015 | Categories: best comics you never read, Comic Books | Tags: best comics you never read, Comic Books | Leave a comment