The Good
Giffen and DeMatteis are back with their goofy wit -- or as it's noted in the credits, crazy cosmic mayhem (and a touch of neo-Vaudeville) -- and I want to give them a gold (or orange?) star for writing the most fun book in the New 52. There's a giant duel, in space, and for all of the giant punches and plasma-snares, it's background to the incredibly amusing exchanges between warring parties and their seconds.
I spy some Kirby krackle in Scott Kolins' space, and it's perfect for the tone of this book. The cartoon-like action and creative angles keep things visually on-point with Larfleeze's bombastic combat with the Laord of the Hunt, and some elements -- like the pile of to-be-taxidermied monsters, or Larfleeze's giant orange fist construct -- look just plain fun to draw. In my mind, Giffen, DeMatteis, Kolins, Atiyeh, and their editorial team just sit in a room, watching old Three Stooges episodes and giggling about how to make them happen in the context of a space-action comic.
Larfleeze's dialogue continues to make me giggle -- he tosses flippant "nopes" and "couldn't care lesses" at a gigantic space villain with perfect beats against the Laord's haughty "do you know who I ams" -- and the Laord is about a notch shy of Doctor Doom with his nobly villainous monologuing. The overly-formal Pulsar Stargrave plays a comical (if squeamish) foil to his boss, and would steal the show if he weren't so humble.
The Bad
Count hemorrhoid jokes among the things I could do without seeing in a comic. Butthurt Stargrave is an oversharer to an unnecessary degree.
The Verdict
I sincerely hope that LARFLEEZE keeps with its trend of being the fun book at DC. It's uplifting in its comedy, and doesn't short readers on action or rob Larfleeze of his identity. I've been hoping for a series with some of the lightness of older comics, and if it weren't for the obviously modern coloring style, I'd swear this book was straight out of the 70s (in a good way!).