Scratch #4 - Mobile Edition

DC Comics
Scratch #4
By Koppy McFad
September 19, 2004 - 09:40

DC Comics
Writer(s): Sam Kieth
Penciller(s): Sam Kieth
Cover Artist(s): Sam Kieth

This is a very strange comic about a teenaged werewolf. On the surface, it looks like one of those "monster-as-hero" books of the 1970s, complete with a misunderstood protagonist and a howling lynch mob that wants him dead. But then we also have a scene right out of a Saturday morning cartoon where Scratch, the werewolf of the title, transforms only halfway -- leaving him with a scrawny human torso and huge werewolf legs. We also have Sage, one of the oddest looking girls in comics as the romantic interest-- and we have the Batman who has been narrating the first issues of this new title and who finally makes his appearance in the story. The presence of Batman is a rather transparent attempt to boost the readership but it seems to work. The characters are sympathetic, even very interesting. It is the story that just isn't very compelling. Maybe this is because no one really seems to be under threat, despite the large number of monsters that seem to be running around. At times, it seems like a parody of a monster comic rather than a real horror book. Maybe we should be grateful to Sam Kieth for not resorting to blood and gore to grab the audience.