#IReadsYou Review: THE BATMAN & SCOOBY-DOO MYSTERIES Extravaganza #1

THE BATMAN & SCOOBY-DOO MYSTERIES EXTRAVAGANZA #1
DC COMICS

STORY: Ivan Cohen; Sholly Fisch
ART: Dario Brizuela; Randy Elliot
COLORS: Franco Riesco; Silvana Brys
LETTERS: Saida Temofonte
EDITORS: Michael McCalister
COVER: Dario Brizuela with Franco Riesco
40pp, Color, $4.99 U.S. (August 2021)

Ages 8+

Batman created by Bob Kane with Bill Finger

“Glove Story” and “Going Bats”

The Batman & Scooby-Doo Mysteries was a 12-issue comic book maxi-series that DC Comics published began publishing in 2021 and concluded this year (cover dated:  June 2021 to May 2022).  The series brought the characters from both the Scooby-Doo, Where Are You? and Batman comic book series together.  Over the past five decades, Mystery Inc.:  Scooby-Doo, Shaggy, Fred, Daphne, and Velma have joined Batman and (often) Robin to solve mysteries across various entertainment mediums.

The first few issues of The Batman & Scooby-Doo Mysteries sold well enough that DC Comics published The Batman & Scooby-Doo Mysteries Extravaganza #1.  This one-shot comic book reprinted The Batman & Scooby-Doo Mysteries issues #1 and #2 (cover dated June and July 2021) under one cover as a double-sized issue.

The Batman & Scooby-Doo Mysteries Extravaganza #1 begins with The Batman & Scooby-Doo Mysteries #1 and the tale entitled “Glove Story.”  It is written by Ivan Cohen and drawn by Dario Brizuela.  “Glove Story” opens inside the “Gotham City Museum of Culture.”  Batman has called Mystery Inc. to help him with a mystery that even he cannot solve.  It seems that an exhibit featuring Batman's different costumes over the years has been robbed.  What's missing, you ask?  The gloves on one of the costumes are not the original ones.  So how can Scooby and the gang help Batman?  Well, it is a question of time in a story that guest stars Robin and Alfred Pennyworth.

Next up is The Batman & Scooby-Doo Mysteries #2 and the story, “Going Bats.”  It is written by Sholly Fisch and drawn by Randy Elliot.  “Going Bats” opens with Mystery Inc. helping Batman and Robin capture The Joker in order to stop his latest plot.  As a reward, Batman takes Scooby, Shaggy, and the gang to visit the trophy room in the Batcave.  The visit is ruined when a ghost shows up in the Batcave and starts agitating the bats that live there.  Can Mystery Inc. and Batman and Robin solve this mystery before all the secrets of Batman and the Batcave are exposed.

THE LOWDOWN:  As a child, the most important characters in my life were Batman and Robin and Scooby-Doo and company (and Josie and the Pussycats).  Two of my all-time favorite animated television episodes are the team-ups of Batman and Scooby-Doo in two Season One episodes of “The New Scooby-Doo Mysteries” (1972-73).  They are “The Dynamic Scooby-Doo Affair” (Episode 2, September 16, 1972) and “The Caped Crusaders Affairs” (Episode 15, December 16, 1972).  So I'm always excited about such a union, except that I never got around to reading any issues of The Batman & Scooby-Doo Mysteries until now via The Batman & Scooby-Doo Mysteries Extravaganza #1.

“Glove Story” is a nonsensical tale of time travel, but it is drawn by one of my favorite Scooby-Doo comic book artists, Dario Brizuela.  “Going Bats” is the better of the two stories.  It is written by one of my favorite Scooby-Doo comic book writers, Sholly Fisch, and drawn by one of my other favorite Scooby-Doo comic book artists, Randy Elliot.  It is also a very clever Joker tale, which I won't detail, for you, dear readers, in order to avoid spoilers.  I can say that it is the reason that I am giving this issue the grade I am.

Colorists Franco Riesco (“Glove Story”) and Silvana Brys (“Going Bats”) dress these stories in beautiful hues; they helped to make The Batman & Scooby-Doo Mysteries one of the prettiest DC Comics of 2021.  And it would not be a Scooby-Doo comic book without the lovely lettering of the great Saida Temofonte.

The first issue of a second The Batman & Scooby-Doo Mysteries series recently hit comic book shops.  Fear not, dear readers, I have gone the subscription route this time, so I'll start posting reviews as soon as the issues start arriving.

I READS YOU RECOMMENDS:  Fans of the union of the worlds of Batman and Scooby-Doo will want The Batman & Scooby-Doo Mysteries Extravaganza #1.

B+
★★★½ out of 4 stars

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


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