Review: Scooby Doo, Where are You? #78

DC Comics
Review: Scooby Doo, Where are You? #78
By Philip Schweier
March 8, 2017 - 11:19

DC Comics
Writer(s): Derek Fridolfs, Robbie Busch
Artist(s): Randy Elliott, Scott Neely
Colourist(s): Silvana Bris, Paul Becton
Letterer(s): Saida Temofonte,Tom Orzechowski

Scooby Doo, Where Are You #78 features two stories. The first, “Mission to Monster,” is a traditional “fake ghost is unmasked by those meddling kids” tale, only it’s not a ghost, it’s an alien. An alien with the ability to hack into the space programs communications, land a jet, and prowl around Space Camp without being noticed. Who could the culprit be? Well, not the one single suspect presented. Instead it’s someone entirely unnoticed in a deus ex machine plot device.

The second story is entitled, “Psychic Fiend Network,” in which Mystery, Inc. is hired to investigate threats against Madame Louisa, daytime TV’s #1 psychic. Unlike the previous story, suspects abound. Freddy uses a séance with all the suspects to suss out the real culprit, while leaving a glaring plot hole behind.

I realize that when you have a franchise starring a nearly-talking dog, reality goes out the window, but a little bit of believability is still in order.

I have mixed feeling about the artwork. In Mission to Monster,” Randy Elliott’s line work at times can be somewhat heavy. It suggests to me that some panels aren’t drawn so much as they are assembled from stock imagery of characters from previous stories. Enlarge the image, and the line work thickens. I wouldn’t mind so much if it wasn’t so glaring.

Scott Neely’s artwork has a different problem. He’s made an admirable effort to create individual characters for the story. They almost seem to have been created from Hanna-Barbera model sheets. However, the execution is perhaps a little inconsistent at times, and the Scooby gang seems more cartoonish in comparison. I trust this is a hurdle that will be overcome with time and experience.