DC Comics 2016
Plot & Breakdown by Keith Giffen
Written by J.M. DeMatteis
Illustrated by Howard Porter
Coloured by Hi-Fi
Lettered by Nick J Nap
Those meddling kids-Fred, Daphne, Velma, Shaggy, and their dog, Scooby-Doo get more ghost-debunking than they bargained for when faced with a fundamental change in their world. The apocalypse has happened. Old rules about logic no longer apply. The creatures of the night are among us, and the crew of the Magical Mystery Machine has to fight to survive-because in the apocalyptic badlands of the near-future, the horrors are real!
I’ve been wary of the changes made to the Scooby Doo franchise ever since the fad where everyone was turned into little kids. Still this is taking the place of the other Scooby titles it’s a completely new re-imagining of the classic characters in a much more adult setting. So naturally I was in and after reading this I have to say this is probably the best thing i’m going to read this week. Yep only couple new issues read and i’m making that statement.
So after the rather ominous opening page featuring Velma we see Fred and Daphne at a Burning Man festival, well a Blazing Man festival. Love the homage to Blue Falcon and Dynomutt thrown in too! I’m pretty impressed the gang hasn’t met each other yet, they didn’t grow up together or go to highschool together and i’m digging that they are strangers at this point. Fred and Daphne’s personalities are put on display extremely well here too. They are there filming for a show they do and Fred’s kind of wimpy whereas Daphne’s kind of a bada$$.
I was a little worried about this version of Shaggy but a hipster with tattoo’s and their and the look yeah it all fits together perfectly. In all honesty he’s cuter than Fred too. The much more realistic look, including Scooby’s really does the trick here. Howard and Hi-Fi really knocked this outta the park here.
So the way they all meet each other, well Shaggy and Scooby live and work where Velma, Dr. Dinkley, is a scientist. Seems Scooby was an early experiment in increasing a dog’s intelligence. Shaggy’s a dog trainer who’s a lot smarter and more adept than you’d think. Gotta like this new upgrade and how the meet is the back-up story here and totally worth reading on it’s own. I’d love to see more but we’ll get there.
Meanwhile the story we get here that starts off this grand new adventure is utterly spectacular! From the concept, dialogue, characterization and execution this takes all the classic elements of what we grew up with and elevates it into this new and amazing adventure. Not only do we get how they meet but how the Apocalypse comes about so what happens next is going to be anyone’s guess.
I’ve touched on the interiors but honestly they are much better than I could have hoped for. Finally we get to see more of Fred as a blonde without all the black linework in his hair. Shaggy’s light brown do and goatee work amazingly well. Velma’s a little bit on the short side but again she comes across beautifully and Daphne well yeah what’s there to say about that. Their looks are modern yet completely in synch with their original looks. The pages flow incredibly well and the eye for storytelling here is amazing from Howard.
This is the Scooby for both a new generation and the grown up version longtime fans have been waiting!