#IReadsYou Review: SCOOBY-DOO, Where Are You? #108

SCOOBY-DOO, WHERE ARE YOU? (2010) No. 108
DC COMICS – @DCComics

STORY: Sholly Fisch, Alex Simmons
PENCILS: Walter Carzon; Leo Batic
INKS: Horacio Ottolini
COLORS: Silvana Brys; Paul Becton and Sno Cone
LETTERS: Saida Temofonte; Rob Leigh
EDITORS: Courtney Jordan; Joan Hilty (reprint)
COVER: Walter Carzon and Horacio Ottolini with Silvana Brys
32pp, Color, $2.99 U.S. (April 2021)

Ages 8+

“The Devil (Dog) You Say?”

Welcome, dear readers, to my continuing journey through the Scooby-Doo, Where Are You? comic book series, which began publication in 2010.  I renewed my subscription (for a second time), and this is the tenth issue of my third subscription run that I have received.

Scooby-Doo, Where Are You? #108 opens with “The Devil (Dog) You Say?,” which is written by Sholly Fisch and drawn by Walter Carzon and Horacio Ottolini.  Mystery Inc.:  Scooby-Doo, Shaggy, Fred, Daphne, and Velma have been called to a “house on the moors.”  The caller is one William Gottrich III, and his home is under siege by the monstrous “Devil Dog.”

Gottrich has already called on three other individuals for help.  There is Tom Katt of Animal Control, whom the dog has trapped in the house since the previous day.  Next, is Professor Rosetta Stone, the county historian, who believes the Devil Dog is really the legendary “Hound of the Moors,” that brings doom to anyone that sets foot on the moors.  Finally, there is Madame Persona Nongrata, a noted psychic who believes that the dog is a messenger from the “demonic underworld” sent to drag its victims back to its “fiery realm.”

So what can Mystery Inc. do?  Well, it seems that this is a case that only Scooby and Shaggy can solve!

The second story, “Prisoner of the Ghost in the Iron Mask,” is, as usual, a reprint story and is written by Alex Simmons and drawn by Leo Batic and Horatio Ottolini.  [This story was originally published as the back-up story in Scooby-Doo #79 (cover date: February 2004).]   Mystery Inc. is in the country of “Morovania,” smuggled there by Princess Adora.  The princess needs to the gang to solve the mystery of the “Ghost in the Iron Mask,” which has been chasing off any man who might marry Adora.  The ghost has been haunting Adora's family, on and off, for generations, but hopefully it won't take Scooby and company that long to solve this ghostly mystery.

Ever since I first saw the 1939 film, The Hound of the Baskervilles (starring Basil Rathbone as Sherlock Holmes), I have been fascinated by the film's story, which was based on the 1902 Sherlock Holmes novel, The Hound of the Baskervilles (written by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle).  I often find myself enjoying other adaptations of the novel, including humorous adaptations or spins on the story, like “The Devil (Dog) You Say?”  Of course, I enjoyed the story and the art by the team of Walter Carzon and Horacio Ottolini.  Actually, I pretty much like any Scooby-Doo story they draw.  I also like that writer Sholly Fisch gave all four guest/supporting characters enough personality and background to make them interesting or, at least, good comic relief.

“Prisoner of the Ghost in the Iron Mask,” this issue's reprint story, is notable mainly because of the slightly offbeat way pencil artist Leo Batic draws the Mystery Inc. characters.  Batic's interpretation of Shaggy, with an expressive rubbery face and wiry, bendable body, stands out.

So, I recommend Scooby-Doo, Where Are You? #108 to fans of Scooby-Doo stories set in haunted mansions and castles.  And until next time, Scooby-Dooby-Doo!

B
6 out of 10

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


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