Comic Review: Scooby Apocalypse #27

Scooby Apocalypse #27

DC Comics

Writers: J.M. DeMatteis & Keith Giffen

Artist: Patrick Olliffe & Yvel Guichet

Scooby Apocalypse is a book I thought would’ve been canceled after no more than one story arc. “Scooby-Doo in the apocalypse? That’s dumb.” Now a little more than two years later, Scooby Apocalypse is still delivering an interesting, and engaging narrative, completely different from any version of Scooby we’ve seen before.

In a direct continuation from the last issue, Scooby Apocalypse #27 opens with Shaggy in the sewer under “Jonestown” investigating the possible monster activity. The activity as we learn was Scrappy-Doo! We last saw Scrappy sacrifice himself so the mystery gang could escape from an overwhelming pack of monsters, back in issue #18.

Now, for reasons we have yet to learn, Scrappy is back, and more hostile than we knew him. He demands to see Scooby, but we see him interact with most of the gang in their new camp full of survivors. He still respects Shaggy for treating him like more than a lab rat when he was in captivity, but he won’t tolerate any more of his jokes. Cliffy, the boy he protected, is at best tolerated. It’s understandable, in Scrappy’s eyes, they found a safe haven and completely forgot about him after he seemingly gave his life for the mystery gang.

The only action we see in this issue is from Daphne, who is out on a monster killing expedition alone in the city. She’s still feeling guilty about Fred’s death and is feeling careless, if not outright suicidal. Whereas Velma, Shaggy, Scooby, Daisy, and Cliffy have integrated themselves in the day to day of Jonestown and its people.

Being a slower issue, Keith Giffen & J.M. DeMatteis are doing an interesting job so far in exploring the fallout of Fred’s demise. We’ve really only seen Daphne’s reaction and gotten glimpses of everyone else’s. With the time skip, we also see a different environment than before. The members of the gang are the “leaders” in this new world. This issue isn’t filler, considering it has good plot development, but it sort of feels like filler. But I am interested to see where this arc will take us. And if the safety of Jonestown lasts with the Scrappy-Doo wildcard in the mix.

New series artist Patrick Olliffe does a pretty good job. The characters look and feel the same as they did, with most close-ups looking pretty great. Backgrounds have some good details. The floors are scattered with paper and look dirty, as they should be in the post-apocalypse. Once there’s crowd shots or multiple people in a panel the detail is lost though. Nobody gets melded into a blob or shadow outline, but faces do get a little simpler. And at times Scrappy loses muscle definition and looks kind of like a chubby dog and not the strong cyber-canine he is.

Of course, we can’t bring up Scooby Apocalypse without bringing up the ever-entertaining Secret Squirrel backup story! This installment, Secret Squirrel, and Doctor O explain to Agent Bea and Morocco the secret government experiment to instill a human intelligence on to helpless, expendable animal soldiers. Of course, Secret Squirrel is only playing along to get the upper hand against Doctor O. Who would really believe such a wild tale of animal soldiers with human intelligence? Certainly not Agent 000, Secret Squirrel himself.

Yvel Guichets art is good. I don’t have any real complaints. Secret Squirrel looks like a squirrel, Morocco Mole like a mole, and every human character looks human, with no odd proportions or faces. Writer J.M. DeMatteis gives us another interesting chapter, exploring the origins of Secret Squirrel and Morocco. It does feel like the story is coming to a conclusion, with the mission of bringing down Doctor O almost being finished. Hopefully not for good, though.

This issue of Scooby Apocalypse is light on action, but there are more plot and character developments than a filler issue would have. The art is good and isn’t a completely new visual style, so everything feels familiar. And Secret Squirrel, while not strong enough for a solo book, has found its place in the pages of the Scooby Apocalypse. When all is said and done, this is another solid entry in the series.