I Reads You Review: SCOOBY-DOO, Where Are You? #41

SCOOBY-DOO, WHERE ARE YOU? #41
DC COMICS – @DCComics

STORY: Scott Gross, John Rozum, Keith Champagne
PENCILS: Scott Gross, Scott Neely
INKS: Scott Gross, Jorge Pacheco, Scott Neely
COLORS: Heroic Age
LETTERS: Saida Temofonte, Sal Cipriano, Randy Gentile,
COVER: Scott Gross
28pp, Color, $2.99 U.S. (March 2014)

Rated “E” for Everyone

I currently subscribe to DC Comics’ most recent Scooby-Doo comic book series, Scooby-Doo, Where Are You? (2010).  I bought the subscription through a fundraising drive by the school my nephew attends.  I just received the third issue of my subscription.

Scooby-Doo, Where Are You? #41 opens with “Annunaki” (written and drawn by Scott Gross).  The story finds Mystery Inc. on the road and lost.  The gang ends up in the small Ohio town of Chillicothe.  There, they discover that an “ancient astronaut,” is terrorizing locals and keeping them away from the area’s pride and joy, local Indian mounds.  Faster than you can exclaim, “Jinkies!” Velma Dinkley has a plan.

In “Chupacabra-Cadabra” (written by Keith Champagne and drawn by Scott Neely), the gang takes a road trip to celebrate Shaggy Rogers’ birthday.  No-thanks to the legendary “El Chupacabra,” which has a penchant for kidnapping, Shaggy is about to have his worst birthday ever!

Once again, I experience the joy of reading a Scooby-Doo comic book.  Scooby-Doo, Where Are You? #41 offers three good stories, although some of this material is not new.  Some of the comics here were previously published in Scooby-Doo (1997) #130 and #140.

Even at eight pages, “Chupacabra-Cadabra” is a complete and fully developed story.  However, “Annunaki,” at 10-pages in length, is the victim of a rushed ending.  The story is a good idea, but it should have been a full-length, single-issue story of at least 20 pages in length.  The last two pages are crunched together, when this last act needs at least six pages.  Talk about compression.

Overall, Scooby-Doo, Where Are You? #41 is a good issue.  And I’m ready for the next issue – as usual.

B+

Reviewed by Leroy Douresseaux

The text is copyright © 2014 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this blog for syndication rights and fees.

Albert Avilla Reviews: Green Lantern #14

Green Lantern #14
DC Comics

Reviewed by Albert Avilla

Writer: Geoff Johns
Pencils: Doug Mahnke
Inks: Christian Alamy, Mark Irwin, Keith Champagne and Tom Nguyen

“Courage” (Spoilers!)

The Guardians are planning to destroy the Green Lantern Corps. Okay, we covered this before. Now, it’s time for the new Lantern to get into some action. The Justice League is on the scene; there is going to be some major throwing-down going on in this piece, yeah, buddy!

Nope! We get some jibber-jabber about helping Simon Baz get his ring off and finding out what happened to Hal Jordan . Once Batman puts his hands on the ring, Sinestro uses the ring’s energy to slap the Justice League off. Baz decides to run; he makes a car and fast and furiously gets his ass out of that situation. Don’t let the cover fool you; not a punch, a lasso, batarang, or trident was used in the making of this comic. How does Baz make his getaway? He confuses the League by making hundreds of cars and driving away.

Simon gets a lead on the van that blew up in the car factory. The Guardians who were guarding the vault are locked in the vault and the First Lantern is on the loose. Now, the Black Lantern shows up trying to find out where he is. Not finished yet; hold on. Some ominous figure shows up in the place where Hal and Sinestro are, and he’s ready to make Sinestro pay for his crimes. There are a lot of things happening in this story. The background has been set for this story. Now, let’s tie up the loose ends; it’s time to rumble. All this crossing-over and the only place that I can find some action is in the Red Lanterns.

The art is good. It is the strength of the book. The Justice League looks good. The artists are carrying their share of the load.

I rate Green Lantern 14 Read a Friend’s Copy. #3 (of 5) on the Al-O-Meter Ranking

Albert Avilla Reviews: Green Lantern #13

Green Lantern #13
DC Comics

Reviewed by Albert Avilla

Writer: Geoff Johns
Pencils: Doug Mahnke
Inks: Christian Alamy, Mark Irwin, Tom Nguyen, Keith Champagne & Marc Deering
Colors: Alex Sinclair with Tony Avina
Cover: Ivan Reis, Oclair Albert, and Rod Reis

“Actions and Reactions” (Spoilers)
This is a “Rise of the Third Army” tie-in and the beginning of the Simon Baz Green Lantern era.

The president and Amanda Waller are discussing their concerns about Simon becoming a Green Lantern. Simon is out in the Florida Keys while the ring is mapping his neural pathways. Simon gets a conflicting message from Hal and Sinestro, but they do agree that the Guardians need to be stopped. The tattoo on Simon’s arm is glowing green and causing him pain.

Simon returns to Dearborn where his sister is being ostracized, because he is a suspected terrorist. Simon meets with his sister to enlist her help in his attempt to clear his name. Then, we get minions of the Guardians assimilating two truck drivers. Okay, they are not very discriminating. Simon is trying to avoid the cameras on a building when he gets sneaked. It’s the Justice League that sneaks him. What ever happened to honor? What about innocent before proven guilty?

We’ve been through the set-up process for two issues now. Now, it’s time for some fighting. I want to see what Mr. Baz brings to the table. Once the League is involved things should jump off nicely. I don’t want Simon talking his way out of this predicament. Drama has its place, but superhero fantasies are about earth shattering action. This is an emotional story, thus far; Johns has done a good job of making us sympathetic to Simon’s plight.

Good art, but it is not the kind of art that will bring that sense of awe. It doesn’t stand out from the crowd. Mahnke does a good job with the characters’ faces; that seems to be his strength.

I rate Green Lantern 13 Read a Friend’s Copy. #3 (of 5) on Al-O-Meter Ranking

Albert Avilla Reviews: Green Lantern #0

Green Lantern #0
DC Comics

Reviewed by Albert Avilla

Writer: Geoff Johns
Pencils: Doug Mahnke
Inks: Christian Alamy, Keith Champagne, Mark Irwin
Cover: Doug Mahnke, Christian Alamy, and Alex Sinclair

Simon Baz, the new Green Lantern, is the boldest move of The New 52. This is a cosmic shift in the comic paradigm. Let's create a hero from the most despised ethnic group in American Society. I can feel the shock waves reverberating through the comic book universe as I write. The haters are gorging themselves on haterade in preparation for their unfounded attacks on Johns for this visionary move. I don't know if this is the first Arabic superhero, but I do know it is the first to be the lead in a major title from an industry leader.

Ultimately, comic's highest aspiration is to inspire readers to live as heroes. Let's live the American creed. My question is why a car thief? I don't know what the ring's protocols are for choosing Lanterns, but why a criminal? The ring had an error in its functioning. All elements that could lead to interesting storylines in the future did, and that is what this story is about; foreshadowing things to come. I would have preferred to have the complete origin told here, but I'm sure this is going to tie into the events of the “Rise of the Third Army” crossover. The story itself does not live up to the social significance of the event. It was slow moving with action that reminded me of the average car chase in any police drama. It’s about what I’d expect from a story that is basically the prelude to a story.

The art was solid comic art. The first page told volumes in five panels; it invokes an emotional response in the reader. The rest was just good art.

On social significance alone I rate Green Lantern #0 Recommend It to a Friend.