DC COMICS – @DCComics
[This review was originally posted on Patreon.]
STORY: Sholly Fisch
ART: Dave Alvarez
COLORS: Dave Alvarez
LETTERS: Saida Temofonte
COVER: Dario Brizuela with Franco Riesco
EDITOR: Kristy Quinn
32pp, Color, $2.99 U.S. (March 2017)
Rated “E” for “Everyone”
“Nothing is Impossible”
Scooby-Doo, that famous Saturday morning cartoon dog, and his human companions: Shaggy Rogers, Velma Dinkley, Daphne Blake, and Fred Jones, first appeared in the Saturday morning animated series, Scooby-Doo, Where Are You! (1969-1971 from Hanna-Barbera). This quintet is known as Mystery Inc. (or the “Mystery Inc. gang” or the “Scooby gang”).
The second Scooby-Doo animated series was “The New Scooby-Doo Movies,” which premiered on September 9, 1972 and ran for two seasons on CBS until 1974. It was the first Scooby-Doo cartoon series that I ever saw. [I saw “Scooby Doo, Where Are You!” in reruns not long afterwards.]. “The New Scooby-Doo Movies” began my life-long love of Scooby-Doo and his pals.
An hour-long show, “The New Scooby-Doo Movies” featured a rotating series of special guest stars. Each episode guest-starred a real-life celebrity or well-known fictional character that joined Mystery, Inc. in solving the mystery of the week. Some celebrities were living at the time of an episode’s first airing (Don Knotts, for instance). Some were deceased or retired (The Three Stooges and Laurel and Hardy). There were also real-life celebrities who would become cartoon characters in other series (Harlem Globetrotters). Some guests were stars of other Hanna-Barbera animated series (Josie and the Pussycats, Speedy Buggy).
Three years ago, DC Comics debuted the comic book series, Scooby-Doo Team-Up, as a sort of follow-up to The New Scooby-Doo Movies. It has been three years since I wrote my only review of the series, a review of Scooby-Doo Team-Up #1. That issue united Mystery Inc. and Batman and Robin to take on tragic Batman adversary, Man-Bat.
I only read the first five issue of Scooby-Doo Team-Up, but I recently picked up two recent issues of the series. One of them really stood out to me, so much so that I decided to talk about it in a review.
Scooby-Doo Team-Up #22 unites Scooby, Shaggy, Fred, Daphne and Velma with Frankenstein Jr. and The Impossibles, stars of an old-school or classic Saturday morning cartoon series. Frankenstein Jr. and The Impossibles was produced by Hanna-Barbera Productions in 1966. It ran for two seasons on CBS from September 1966 to September 1968.
Each episode contained two segments. “Frankenstein Jr.” starred a giant heroic robot named “Frankenstein Jr.” and focused on his adventures fighting supervillains with his creators, Professor Conroy and his son Buzz Conroy. The other segment, “The Impossibles,” started a trio of superheroes, “The Impossibles” (Multi-Man, Fluid Man, and Coil Man) who posed undercover as a Beatles-like rock band, also called “The Impossibles.”
As Scooby-Doo Team-Up #22 (“Nothing is Impossible”) opens, Fred, Daphne, Velma, Shaggy and Scooby-Doo are enjoying a stadium concert performance by The Impossibles. Suddenly, a shadowy, giant robot attacks and starts tearing apart the stadium. It's Frankenstein Jr.! But isn't he supposed to be a good guy? His pal and co-creator, Buzz Conroy, appears on the scene to explain how an old adversary, the Mad Inventor, is responsible for Frankenstein Jr.'s new destructive attitude, and the villain is proving practically impossible to stop... with Frankenstein Jr. under his control.
What made me want to review Scooby-Doo Team-Up #22? Frankly, I was stunned by the art, colors, and page design work on this issue by Dave Alvarez. Alvarez is one of the best Scooby-Doo comic book artists in recent memory. His coloring for this issue and the page design form a combination that reminds me of the color and design aesthetic of Hanna-Barbera's sci-fi and superhero animated series of the mid to late 1960s. That's it, ladies and gentlemen. As I started reading this comic book, I wondered if Alvarez had merely reproduced actual, vintage animated cel art for this issue.
But no, he is just a comic book artist who is exceptionally good at Scooby-Doo comic books. The cover artist for this issue is Dario Brizuela, another comic book artist who is really good with Scooby-Doo comic books.
You know, reading Scooby-Doo Team-Up makes me think that I need to become a regular Scooby-Doo comic book reader again. The story by writer Sholly Fisch is fun, and uses some meta-fiction to poke fun at both the Scooby-Doo franchise and at “Frankenstein Jr. and The Impossibles.” After all, only the most clueless person could not figure out that “The Impossibles” rock trio is the same as “The Impossibles” superhero trio.
A-
Reviewed by Leroy Douresseaux a.k.a. "I Reads You"
The text is copyright © 2017 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this blog or site for syndication rights and fees.
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