Like the rest of the internet, I have a curiosity about the upcoming Scooby Apocalypse comic book that cannot be satiated by simply looking at preview artwork or giggling at precarious convention panels and interviews–I need to know what this thing is actually about in advance of the May 25 release date.
So far, we know that this comic is an origin story and that Scooby is wearing a device that fires off emoticons (yes you read that right). Velma is incredibly short and is piloting a device through a controller–we haven’t even gotten to Shaggy’s beard yet! Daphne and Fred both have odd weapons–suffice to say that there was a lot of backlash when this comic was first revealed. The Jim Lee (Justice League) cover is incredibly polarizing and I still can’t look at these characters and wonder if they are malleable enough for this take to actually work.
That’s why today was my lucky day when TV Guide ran a preview of some interiors for the comic book. There’s one huge takeaway from the story so far…that’s the amount of dialogue soaking the page. The Scooby team is orbiting the same space in this issue, but they aren’t quite together working as a team yet.
The balloons shouldn’t come as a surprise to seasoned comics fans familiar with the work of writers J.M. DeMatteis, Keith Giffen and artist Howard Porter (Justice League 3000). The writers in particular have a body of work stretching into the ’80s with a Justice League comic book that is chock full of dialogue and fun character development.
Jim Lee was present in the TV Guide article giving some information that shed new light on the upcoming series: “We noticed there wasn’t really an origin story for the characters,” Lee said. “What if we refined who these characters are? They’re really cyphers in a way.”
Keith Giffen confirmed that the supernatural threats in this comic are not a hoax–they are real creatures!
Finally, Jim Lee had a message for the haters; “All these people saying, ‘it’s horrible, he’s a d-bag,’ and I say, ‘wait… you look like this guy!’ It’s an unusual look, but it’s to show he’s visually distinct from the others, and not part of the mainstream.
Are you willing to give Scooby Apocalypse a chance? Maybe the preview pages will change your mind.
This is so dumb and a waste of everyone’s time and resources.
With Giffen and DeMatteis on board Im in. Love their JLI run, and love the JL3000. Dont judge a book by its cover. Besides, the reboot worked forthe Archieverse.
Looks fun.
Is that Goober in the foreground? Cosplaying as Dynomut?
So far, it looks like fun!
(And given the many various reboots of Scooby-Doo, this will probably work out okay.)
Serious question – who is this comic for? Who is the target audience?
Nah, I’ll pass. Although I will say the character re design of this is far more imaginative than what they did with Be Cool Scooby Doo.
It looks pretty bad. There’s “it looks fun!” and there’s “this time and energy could have been spent on something original instead of regurgitating Scooby Doo for the umpteenth time.” It doesn’t look fun. It looks stupid. But as a guy who grew up in the 80s and 90s watching Scooby re-runs and reading beat up copies of old Gold Key Scooby Doo comics and remembers ol’ Scoob fondly… maybe I’m not the target audience?
I’ve read the first four issues and I’m enjoying it so far. I saw every one of the original series as a kid and still appreciate for their goofy, comedy-horror vibe. This reboot has a darker tone but I feel, despite this, it captures the general mood of the TV cartoons and the Scooby gang group dynamic fairly well. I like the tech explanation for Scooby’s ability to speak. As a kid, I didn’t question it. As an adult, I chalked it up to an internal dialogue in Shaggy’s head. Reinterpreting Daphne as a reality TV host is certainly more relative today then keeping her the same vapid, prom queen she appeared in the cartoon. Her primary role was falling into traps.getting kidnapped. Fred’s character in Apocalypse is much more complex than the hipster jock portrayed in the cartoon. He’s with Daphne but not just along for the ride. He questions her behavior and motivations even her stubbornness prevents her from considering other options. Velma works as a scientist. She’s got the intelligence and focus for the job and the writers have given her a dysfunctional social interaction that partially explains her isolation and obsessiveness about her work.
I’m willing to give it a chance and see how it develops.
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