Review: Scooby Doo, Where Are You? #87

DC Comics
Review: Scooby Doo, Where Are You? #87
By Philip Schweier
November 8, 2017 - 04:47

DC Comics
Writer(s): Sholly Fisch, Paul Kupperberg
Penciller(s): Walter Carzon, Roberto Barrios
Inker(s): Horatio Ottolini
Colourist(s): Sylvana Brys, Heroic Age
Letterer(s): Saida Temofonte, John J. Hill
Cover Artist(s): Walter Carzon, Horatio Ottolini, Sylvan Brys

Most issues of Scooby-Doo feature two stories united by a common theme of sorts. In this issue, it’s misplaced protests. In the first story, a group of tree huggers are pitted against a company of lumberjacks, until an evil tree spirit comes calling.

However, this is not the typical “play fair mystery,” in which the audience is provided the clues to solve the puzzle. Some elements are kept from the reader, shared at the very end when one might say, “Well, if I know that…”

Story #2 has a small town up in arms over the bad luck brought about by a mansion full of black cats. They are blamed for every misfortune suffered by the town’s residents, but when Mystery Inc. fails victim to potential cat-tastrophe, it’s time to expose the real cause.

It really is the stronger of the two stories, and I appreciated the artwork more. It reminded me of the work of long-time DC artist Kurt Schaffenberger. It may have been a bit more cartoony than most fans would appreciate, but Schaffenberger had a very distinctive style. Roberto Barrios seems to have captured a little of that here, and that’s no bad thing.

Rating: 8/10