Review: Scooby-Doo! Where Are You? #104
[Editor’s Note: This review may contain spoilers]
Writer: Scott Cunningham, John Rozum, Sholly Fisch
Artists: Scott Jeralds,Karen Machette, Matt Jenkins
Colors: Rock Candy, Heroic Ages
Letters: Saida Temofonte, Mike Sellers, Rob Clark Jr.
Reviewed by: Carl Bryan
Summary
Usually, when skateboarders talk about a “gremlin,” they mean a skateboarding newbie. But not when the death-defying extreme sports of the Z-Games are sabotaged by a gremlin that seems all too real! Who’s really behind the boarding bogeyman? To solve the mystery, Scooby and the gang will have to trade in the Mystery Machine for kickflipping, nosegrinding skateboards of their own. Can their sick tricks help the gang unmask the gremlin…before Scooby and Shaggy wipe out once and for all?
Positives
Scooby-Doo! Where Are You? has gone back to its formula of two to three solid stories that provide the reader some amusing mysteries and some comic renderings of Scooby, Shaggy, Fred, Daphne, and Velma. The comic is in a comfortable position as well as it should be in that young readers are given some clues, some suspects, and then a big reveal.
The artwork is always solid in these issues and the artists vary from issue to issue, but the clarity of pencils never does. At no point does Scooby never look like Scooby as all characters are drawn with precision to their older counterparts.
The additional portion where a young reader can pick the path of one of the characters to solve the mystery is great! I’d give Scooby-Doo! Where Are You? #104 to classrooms around the nation as I love that the comic is celebrating being smart! Kudos to the Gang!
Negatives…(Or a Strong Suggestion)
Issue #104 falls back into a more interactive story telling mode. This is far from negative as we need this for every issue. This needs to be a constant in this comic as the more young readers can interact with the experience in tracing, drawing, or solving mysteries, the more they will get hooked on reading!
Verdict
I think it is great that DC is carrying a line for it’s junior audiences. Scooby-Doo! Where Are You?, Scooby-Doo Team-Up, Looney Tunes and Teen Titans Go! It’s great as a parent to see that kids have a place to go for some fun and some challenging reading and sleuth skills. And the artists make these characters so “traceable” that you can see how these books become the building blocks to a new age of fans, artists, and writers!
