Review: Scooby Apocalypse #14

DC Comics
Review: Scooby Apocalypse #14
By Philip Schweier
June 14, 2017 - 04:00

DC Comics
Writer(s): Keith Giffen, J.M. DeMatteis
Artist(s): Ron Wagner, Randy Owens, Jan Duursema, Tom Mandrake
Colourist(s): Hi-Fi
Letterer(s): Travis Lanham
Cover Artist(s): Howard Porter; Cully Hamner

The carnage continues as Mystery Inc. + 1 discover new clues that will hopefully enable them to unravel the monsters unleashed upon an unsuspecting world.

Aiding them is Barbie Daisy, the wife of Rufus Dinkley (Velma’s megalomaniac brother). He perished in a moment of insanity last issue (though this issue's cover might suggest otherwise). Now Shaggy has dibs on the grieving widow. She blonde; she’s built; she’s a bimbo. Though maybe less so, as the pharmaceutical buffet Rufus used to control her begins to wear off.

MEANWHILE… whatever happened to Scrappy-Doo? Well, here’s your answer, kids. What’s that? Is he less annoying thanks to Velma’s cybernetic implants? No, not really. Y’see, kids, Scrappy suffers from what we call Cousin Oliver Syndrome. It’s a ploy TV writers use to inject new life into a stale concept – just add a cute new cast member and watch your ratings climb. It worked for the Brady Bunch, for the Cosby Show – Superman Returns, not so much.

So now, Scrappy aint so happy with his role in the Scooby Doo franchise. Believe me, I know just how he feels. It’s unfortunate he’s yet to fall victim to the Chuck Cunningham Syndrome (that’s when a supporting character disappears without explanation, never to be seen again).

I am uncertain how much life this storyline has in it. Do the writers have an ending in sight? Do they have one in mind? Or is this a variation on the Walking Dead, which will fade once the odd fascination with zombies becomes a staggering, shuffling lifeless mass?

But until then, there’s still life in the Scooby Apocalypse story. It hasn’t jumped the shark yet. (That’s when – oh, never mind)