Warning! Spoilers ahead for New Fantastic Four #2
The great thing about comics is fans never know what might be hidden in the background, just like when Marvel Comics slyly snuck two classic Looney Tunes characters into its latest Fantastic Four adventure.
Given the long and rich history of Marvel Comics, there are plenty of opportunities for creators to revisit classic time periods and tell stories that take place during those eras. Some great recent examples include Symbiote Spider-Man as well as Wolverine: Patch. The series New Fantastic Four revisits the time Wolverine, Ghost Rider, the Hulk, and Spider-Man took over as Marvel's first family. The story focuses primarily on a demon taking over people in Las Vegas. And after confronting the demon and narrowly escaping, a priest named Father John is on the run.
In New Fantastic Four #2 by Peter David and Alan Robinson, Father John is on a bus headed through the desert after being rescued by the New Fantastic Four. The scene is quickly introduced by focusing on two animals that are on the desert highway as the bus approaches. While any two desert-dwelling animals could have been used to introduce the scene, Robinson's art depicts a coyote hunting an unsuspecting roadrunner. Although they are not their classic cartoon versions, it's hard not to imagine the animals as the real-world counterparts of the classic Looney Tunes characters Wile E. Coyote and Road Runner.
Marvel obviously couldn't put the likeness of the really Looney Tunes icons into the comic because their intellectual properties are owned by Warner Brothers, which coincidentally also owns DC Comics. Several years ago DC actually produced several Looney Tunes books that crossed over with some of their superheroes. What Marvel is doing in this scene is a bit of friendly competition, a wink that shows the publisher can still pay homage to some of its competitor's iconic characters.
It will be interesting to see if in the future DC might return the favor and do something similar. Perhaps DC could have real world depictions of Mickey, Goofy, or Pluto either in the background or introducing the scene like the Looney Tunes' Wile E. Coyote and Roadrunner do in New Fantastic Four #2. It doesn't even necessarily have to be a decision by the editorial staff. Since artists have to draw tons of backgrounds, it's easy for them to slip in a cleverly veiled Easter egg that can make its way to publication without any editors knowing. It's unclear whether or not that's what happened in this case with the Looney Tunes, but either way, it's a cool little tidbit for Marvel Comics to include.