Open Mike Night: Scooby Apocalypse #1

Scooby Apocalypse #1

Plots and Breakdowns: Keith Giffen
Dialogue: JM DeMatteis
Pencils and Inks: Howard Porter
Colored by: Hi-Fi
Lettered by:Nick J Nap

Published by: DC
Cover Price: $3.99

Mike Maillaro: It wasn’t until I sat down to write this review that I figured out what this comic reminded me of, Afterlife with Archie.  Take a beloved collection of iconic children’s characters, and put them into a very warped horror scenario.  You run a pretty big risk when you do this.  How far can you distort the characters until they become unrecognizable?  How far can you push the envelope to where you lose the nostalgia crowd?  

When I saw the title “Scooby Apocalypse” I kind of rolled my eyes, but then I saw the creative team, and I decided it was well worth checking out.  Giffen, DeMatteis, and Porter have done many comics over the years that I absolutely love.  If anyone could produce a new version of Scooby Doo that I would want to check it, it was definitely these guys.

The story started with Dr. Velma Dinkley helping to release a plague of nanites across the world.  She works for a secret science lab that is looking to better the world.  But about a year later, she is starting to have major doubts.  It seems like the nanites could be used to make the world into mindless drones.  So she reaches out to Daphne Blake and Fred Jones, the star and cameraman of a conspiracy theory show on the nether reaches of cable.  She brings them into the lab, meeting up with the lab’s dog trainer, Shaggy, and his favorite dog, a wash out of the Smart Dog program named Scooby.  Something goes wrong, and the nanites activate seeming to turn everyone in the world into monsters.

While there was definitely some big exposition drops in this one, I thought they did an excellent job introducing the characters and the story.  I also thought there was a surprising amount of depth to the characters.  Mystery Inc have tended to be big broad stereotypes in most of their incarnations, but I thought each character was given a distinct personality and spotlight here.

Mike Weaver:  I came into this with a different kind of reticence...in the past, Giffen and DeMatteis have often skewed “too jokey” for me.  I figured that with Scooby Doo as the subject matter, too jokey at least fit the subject matter, but I still anticipated it being occasionally overplayed.

It’s never overplayed.  There are comedic moments, obviously, but overall, it felt very much like a typical apocalyptic story with the Scooby gang thrown in, and the way they were thrown in was beautiful.  In this reality, they don’t really meet each other until everything is about to go to hell, so there’s no time spent dealing with the rapid left turn from riding around in a hippie van investigating haunted amusement parks to...well, this.  And yet, to me, not only were all the characters deep and possessing a unique voice, they also did a great job of being sensible extensions of the older Scooby lore.

This comic did a fantastic job of setting everything in the world up, especially the five main characters.  I’m not sure where it goes from here...it sort of feels like a set-up to getting a Volkswagen van and traveling around fighting monsters...but I am sure that it’s a step in the right direction.

Maillaro: Giffen and DeMatteis have a real strange way of blending humor and intense darkness.  Justice League 3001 is the perfect example.  All the males on the Justice League are basically killed off, and it wasn’t until several issues later I even realized how horrific everything was. It just sort of crept up on me. I do agree with you it can be a little much (especially in some of Giffen’s more solo works), but when they hit that right balance, it creates for some amazing comics.

And this definitely fell right in their wheelhouse.  I don’t know if DC approached them for it as a way of saying “sorry we cancelled Justice League 3001” or if this was their idea, but it worked brilliantly.  

Weaver: I’m going to have to assume it was their idea, but it may have been greenlit because Justice League 3001 was canceled.  They’re well known enough creators that you want to keep them around doing something if you can.

Maillaro: A lot of complaints have come about the redesigns of the characters that Jim Lee did, and I actually do agree with that to a certain extent.  Daphne looks like Fairchild from Gen 13 (not in terms of her body, but her face). I found that very distracting for me.  And Shaggy looks like a crazy hipster throughout the book.  And I really didn’t like the cybernetic headgear they threw on Scooby, especially since it was never quite clear what it was supposed to be doing.

Weaver: I spent a lot of the issue dithering about whether I was okay with Shaggy or not.  In the end, I sided with “not” because his facial hair was done so neatly.  I can’t imagine that character ever being considered well groomed to any extent.  I had the same problem with the cybernetic headgear, because Scooby could talk without it, and it didn’t seem to give him any other abilities.  Plus, I can kind of get behind sneaking a poorly performing test dog out of the facility, but that looked like some expensive and well-tracked stuff.  Also, on Shaggy as a hipster, I wish if they were going that route they would go all the way there.  A true hipster wouldn’t be disappointed with vegan pizza.

I guess the big question I still have on this issue is: where do we go from here?  Is all of humanity now monsters, or will it be pockets of civilization?  How responsible is Velma, anyway?  It’s clear that there were five scientists governing this, with the implication that it’s the four she mentions plus her, but the “nanite activation” seemed to happen at a convenient time, especially if no one but the bosses can make it happen.  Did she purposely throw everything to hell in order to traipse across the new landscape with some investigative reporters and a defective dog with its trainer?

Mike: The “four” or “five” thing kept catching my eye (in the comic, Velma kept saying four, but it was clear she wanted to say five and was lying).  It seemed like there was definitely a lot more going on here than she was willing to let on.  Do the “five” have some kind of connection to Mystery Inc (which is five people), and their presence is what triggered the activation?  

One last comment from me about the character design, I don’t blame Howard Porter for my issues with the character design.  They were done by Jim Lee, and when your boss gives you something specific to go with, there isn’t a lot of wiggle room there.  But, we review comics, not creators...

Weaver: Even if we’re reviewing it just as the comics, the headgear issue definitely stands out.  If you’re forced to work with that model, find a reason for that model.  As is, it felt like something that only existed to look cool.  

So, I think we’re in agreement that the writing was very good.  I’ll dock it a half point for a few little issues (like the headgear) and pull it to a 4.5.  I mostly liked the art, but it had issues too, as discussed.  I’ll give that a 3.5.

Maillaro: I agree with the 3.5 for the art, but I am going to go a full 5 for the writing.  There was a real high degree of difficulty there with so much that could have gone wrong, and I think they did an excellent job making this into something new while still respecting the history of these characters.

Future Quest was good too, so now I am real curious about the Mad Max version of Wacky Races.  My gut feeling is “too much,” but after two good books in this line, I am willing to give them some leeway.

Summary: Creating a modernized version of Scooby Doo is a tricky balance, but Giffen and DeMatteis pulled it off really well here.  Some of the character designs leave a lot to be desired, but they function well enough in the story.  DC has done some solid work with their Hanna-Barbara revamps.  
 

Final Scores

Maillaro: Got quite a few suggestions for next week.  We could do Civil War II….but I also have Revisionist from Aftershock and Strange Attractors from Boom!  DC also has a bunch more Rebirth books this week. Superman.  Batman.  Green Arrow.  Green Lanterns.

Weaver: I want to avoid Civil War II.  I’m interested in a Rebirth title, probably Green Arrow.  We could do an indie book too.

Maillaro: Let’s do Revisionist.  I like AfterShock and they always retweet my Longbox column, so it’s nice to get them a little more press.