Keith Giffen, JM DeMatteis, Jim Lee & Howard Porter “Scooby
Apocalypse, Volume 1” (DC Comics, 2017)
I really just don’t know what I think about this.
I know that Scooby has mutated over time. My Scooby was the OG>Scrappy. It changed
and quite frankly seemed diminished as time went on.
As part of the current wave of re-imagined Hanna-Barbera
books, they are once again a changed Scooby and the gang. And what do I think?
It’s Resident Evil meets Mad Max. The book opens with the
dawning of a monster apocalypse. Velma
is now a scientist from the secret lab responsible for the disaster. Shaggy was
a dog trainer at the lab, while Scooby was the product of experimentation. Daphne is a fading investigative reporter who
now does a Josh Gates shtick, while Fred is her camera man with a crush. And
Scrappy, well… let’s not talk about Scrappy.
The fundamental dynamics have changed as well. Rather than a group of friends who
investigate phenomena that always turns out to be real estate fraud, the Gang
are just meeting. While Scooby & Shaggy have strong ties, there is tension
between all the others. And this time, the monsters are all too real.
So yeah, I don’t know if this is for me. But it was a very interesting read that will
be for someone. And give it strong marks for execution. The creative team has a
plan and are doing a great job of making it happen. In particular, the art
seems to be some of the best that I’ve seen from Rebirth.
So while I’m still a bit on the fence, I’m down for more of
this crazy new version of Scooby.
