Scooby Apocalypse #28 – Keith Giffen, JM DeMatteis, Writers; Pat Olliffe, Penciller; Tom Palmer, Inker; Tom Mandrake, Backup Artist; Hi-Fi, Colorist
Ray – 6/10
Ray: The new era continues in Scooby Apocalypse #28, as the surviving members of the Mystery Machine crew battle to survive in their mall fortress while Daphne’s mental state continues to unravel and she picks up a tentative new ally. The issue begins with an extended, graphic segment as she wanders out of the safe zone and begins picking off monsters, luring them to their deaths and winding up covered in their blood while thinking about her hard upbringing and talking to her late father about how she misses Fred and how she’s going to be had and ruthless now. Back at the base, Velma continues to feud with her assistants the Kubelskys and vent to Fred. This entire plot seems to be moving in circles, and while Velma comes to a realization about why they make her so angry, it ends with her realizing she needs to unload on them for stress purposes. Not all that much going on here, and the same goes for Daisy and Cliffy. Their bonding is a nice touch in a very grim issue, but that’s it.
Things get a little more interesting in the second half, when Daphne finds out that she’s being followed. It turns out to be Scrappy-Doo, the most violent member of the heroes. He wanted to do some monster-hunting too, and he admires Daphne’s ruthlessness. His awkward attempts to reach out to her and find out how she’s doing after Fred’s death are met with violence and threats of murder, but she eventually agrees to let him tag along and kill monsters with her. Despite several more threats on his life, they do eventually form some sort of partnership – although it’s one that is likely to make Daphne’s deteriorating mental state even worse. The cliffhanger, revealing that Fred has been transformed somehow and is stalking them, at least provides some serious plot advancement in this new era, although we’ve been given relatively little reason to care about anyone here. Secret Squirrel…well, you know what to expect by now. This penultimate issue provides lots more animal jokes followed by a big explosion.
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GeekDad received this comic for review purposes.
