DC Comics has a lot of crossovers planned this year, from the Justice League-Power Rangers mash-up to the Looney Tunes mash-ups coming later this year. Last week, we got another set, as the DC superheroes got to meet the stars of the Hanna-Barbera line.

GL Wishes

Green Lantern / Space Ghost Special
Writen by James Tynion IV
Art by Ariel Olivetti

Our first stop on the crossover tour is a galaxy far, far away, as Green Lantern Hal Jordan goes to answer a distress signal in an uncharted dimension that doesn’t have a Green Lantern of its own. As he gets closer to the planet, he not only runs into Orange Lantern Larfleeze, but also into a battle between Space Ghost and Zorak. The two heroes assume that the other is a villain – because this is a comic book crossover – and end up getting trapped on a planet that denies the existence of anything in space.

The battling heroes attract the attention of the army, which wants to ensure that no one else on the planet learns that there are planets and beings beyond the world that they know. Neither Space Ghost or Green Lantern feel that lying to everyone is a good idea, and they don’t want the army to kill them, so they call a temporary truce to fight off the incursion. Hal tries to use his ring to create something that anyone, in any universe, would find terrifying. So, what does he conjure?

GL Batman

Hal must really be terrified of Batman…

Of course, Space Ghost and Green Lantern put aside their differences and help an old man finally see outer space, while inspiring a little girl to follow in his footsteps. That’s the trick with all of these crossovers. In one way or another, they seem to be setting up a future Hanna-Barbera comic, as the first wave of series start to come to an end. I’m guessing this is setting up a new Space Ghost comic, fresh off his appearance in Future Quest.

If Ariel Olivetti is drawing it, I’m definitely one board. His art here was absolutely gorgeous.

Booster Leave

Booster Gold / The Flintstones Special
Written by Mark RussellĀ 
Art by Rick Leonardi, Scott Hanna and Steve Buccellato

This crossover was probably the one I was looking forward to the most. Mark Russell’s Flintstones series has been one of the best books I’ve read over the last year. And Booster Gold, when written write, can be a lot of fun.

In this issue, Booster Gold decides to go into the past to try and prevent an alien invasion in the 25th Century. He has his robot sidekick Skeets find the last time the aliens invaded Earth, which turns out to be in Bedrock. So Booster gets to meet The Flintstones. Unfortunately, Booster also ends up CAUSING the 25th Century alien invasion by killing the civilization’s cleric of peace. And just as he was about teach the men of Bedrock the secret of worry-free erections that last more than four hours.

Booster is a jerk.

After causing a little bit of chaos, Booster turns to the timestream to try and find some help to get him back to the 25th Century. Booster strikes out with a number of time travelers in the wrong place at the wrong time before we get to our second Batman reference of these specials…

Booster Alfred

That conversation with Alfred gets paid off MUCH later. But it’s good to know that Bruce Wayne ’66 is a Gilmore Girls fan.

Russell brings his satiric sensibilities that have made The Flintstones so much fun to this special, which is packed with social commentary, from the prehistoric to the futuristic. Fans of the ongoing series could consider this another part of the story of Bedrock, because it fits in perfectly.

The set-up in this issue has nothing to do with the Flintstones, though. It comes in the form of the back-up story featuring The Jetsons, written by Jimmy Palmiotti and Amanda Connor. The writing couple re-establishes George, Jane, Judy and Elroy in the same way that the other HB stars have been. The focus here, though, is in the new and much more poignant origin story for the robotic maid, Rosie. Turns out, she has more connections to the family than we thought.

Booster Jetsons

Did not see that one coming, though I suppose it makes sense.

The third crossover I picked up this week – the Adam Strange / Future Quest Special – was another fun issue that picks up after the end of both the DEATH OF HAWKMAN miniseries and the end of FUTURE QUEST, which closes next month. It was a fun issue, written by Marc Andreyko that bridges a gap between the end of both series. If you enjoyed either story, I’d pick that up, too. The back-up there also features Batman, as Top Cat gets to con the Dark Knight while helping out Catwoman.

I still have no interest in the Suicide Squad / Banana Splits Special, though. I’ve had my fill of Harley Quinn.