From Friendly Ghosts To Gamma Rays, no.183
Welcome back to our all-ages comics column, Friendly Ghosts To Gamma Rays! Across the numerous years of comic book history there is one gimmick that holds up to the test of time, and that is the team-up! From as recent as heroes like Arrow and Flash appearing on each other’s TV shows, to really the base of one of the things that made Marvel Comics cool in the first place when they appeared on the scene, everyone loves a good team-up. It would only make sense that somewhere in all-ages titles there would be a steady equivalent to Marvel Team-Up or The Brave and The Bold, right? Well there is, and that title happens to be the never disappointing Scooby-Doo Team-Up!
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Scooby-Doo Team-Up #9
Publisher: DC Comics
Story: Sholly Fisch
Art: Dario Brizuela
Scooby-Doo Team-Up, for those who haven’t heard, is a bi-monthly title from DC Comics that’s been going for over a year now and doesn’t show signs of slowing down, which is awesome. From Batman to Superman, to even other Hanna-Barbera favorites like the Flintstones and the Jetsons, every other month we see our favorite sleuths and canine shoulder to shoulder with some other greats, solving mysteries and saving the day.
This month’s issue of Scooby-Doo Team-Up is an especially awesome blast for both Silver Age fans and modern readers alike. At the Daily Planet after Perry utters his famous line “Great Caesar’s Ghost!”, the ghost of Caesar appears. Superman, caught between a busy schedule of fighting villains and unsure of how to start solving the mystery, calls in Mystery Inc. to get on the case. Very quickly the mind behind this mystery is revealed, but not before Superman is exposed to some red Kryptonite, turning him this time into a monster! From there the Silver Age references grow heavy, including Krypto coming to help, Jimmy Olsen pulling out his old powers and his fan club, as well as Scooby and Shaggy accidentally getting some temporary powers of their own, all in the pursuit of subduing the transformed Man of Steel.
Sholly Fisch hit a stride of grade-A writing on this issue, peppering so many old school references, as well as mastering the voices of all the characters, on a perfectly balanced issue with action and laughs. Likewise, the art and layouts by Brizuela look great. This duo has normally hit it out of the park so far with this series’ run, but this issue especially was wonderful because it was as entertaining of a Scooby-Doo tale as it was a Superman tale, reminding us of just how fun and wild Superman comics once were years ago, and proving that under the right circumstances they still can be today.
Scooby-Doo Team-Up #9 is on stands now, high recommendation for all across the boards.
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That’s it for this week! See you soon!
Drew McCabe
drew@comicattack.net
