I Reads You Review: SCOOBY-DOO, Where Are You #96

SCOOBY-DOO, WHERE ARE YOU? No. 96
DC COMICS – @DCComics

STORY: Ivan Cohen; Brett Lewis
PENCILS: Walter Carzon; Anthony Williams
INKS: Horacio Ottolini; Dan Davis
COLORS: Silvana Brys; Paul Becton
LETTERS: Saida Temofonte; Ryan Cline
EDITOR: Harvey Richards; Joan Hilty
COVER: Walter Carzon and Horacio Ottolini with Sylvana Brys
32pp, Color, $2.99 U.S. (February 2019)

Rated “E” for “Everyone”

“Boardwalk Vampire”

I am continuing my journey through the renewal of my subscription to the Scooby-Doo, Where Are You? comic book series.  Join me, will you?  I recently received the eleventh issue of that renewed subscription.

Scooby-Doo, Where Are You? #96 opens with “Boardwalk Vampire” (written by Ivan Cohen and drawn by Walter Carzon and Horacio Ottolini).  Mystery Inc.:  Scooby-Doo, Shaggy, Fred, Daphne, and Velma are visiting the popular theme park, “The Boardwalk,” via invitation.  The gang is attending the “75th Annual Hot Dog Eating Contest,” when the “Boardwalk Vampire” strikes.  Now, Amy Judd, head of “The Boardwalk Preservation Society” and the person who invited our heroes, reveals that this vampire is the reason she invited them.  There is a new mystery afoot, but Mystery Inc. is running out of time to solve it.

The second story is “Good Ghost Haunting” (written by Brett Lewis and drawn by Anthony Williams and Dan Davis).  It was originally published in Scooby-Doo #42 (January 2001), and it was recently reprinted in Scooby-Doo, Where Are You? #89 (cover dated: March 2018).  This is what I wrote about it in my review of that issue:

The story finds Mystery Inc. at Plymouth Institute of Technology for its annual technology fair, where students compete for scholarships and research grants.  Fred, Daphne, Velma, Shaggy, and Scooby-Doo are attending the fair, hoping to find new technologies to help them in their crime fighting.  The problem is that the ghostly “Salem Witch Hunter” is stealing at the fair, and so it is another ghostly mystery for the gang to solve.

“Good Ghost Hunting” also deals with the “rightful owners” theme.  The crooks' method of operation is clever, although many readers will solve the mystery of that ghost pretty quickly.

“Boardwalk Vampire” is a nice story because, even at only 10 pages in length, it offers multiple sub-plots and elements; it even has backstory concerning two of the guest characters.  One of the ways I judge the quality of these Scooby-Doo, Where Are You? tales, which are really short stories, is if they would make a good plot for one of those direct-to-DVD Scooby-Doo movies.  “Boardwalk Vampire” does.  I really enjoyed this story, and I also liked the cover illustration that went along with it.

See you next issue!

B
6 out of 10

Reviewed by Leroy Douresseaux a.k.a. "I Reads You"


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