Scooby Apocalypse #2-7 Review

Ratings:

#2: 2½/5
#3: 2½/5
#4: 2/5
#5 2/5
#6 2½/5
#7 3/5
Overall Rating: 2/5

So I was going to review these issues seperately, but after reading them, I decided against it. Because what was a promising start has turned into a mediocrity more dull than Shaggy & Scooby taking a nap. I didn’t expect a book about the apocalypse would be so darn boring. But let’s dive into it, shall we?

Issue two picks up where #1 left off the gang escaping the safe zone and attemping to find a way out of The Complex. They discover the nano-virus has turned regular humans into hidious monsters. We get a nice moment here of Scooby saving Shaggy from one of the monsters, which is immediately brought down by Daphne punching out Velma (this will continue to be a problem for the character). They eventually come across a experiment one of Shaggy’s scientist friends was working on, a “Mystery Machine”(or is it a tank?). But before they can make their escape, they are surronded. Fred is injured by one of the monsters during their escape.

And this is where the book begins to lose its traction. Have any of you seen The Walking Dead? You know how the characters get stuck in one location every season? That’s the first seven issues of Scooby Apocalypse in a nutshell. The gang spend the majority of #3 at a gas station getting supplies, while their escape from The Complex is told through flashback. We then spend three agonizing issues trapped in the Mall-Mart so Velma can find a laptop to hack into one of the other Complexes. Usually I welcome a slower pace. It allows for better character development. But what we got here is two issues of Daphne getting angry and punching people and throwing laptops at Velma, Velma claiming that The Four(who we find out in #6 that they are actually Velma’s sibilings) twisted her work and it “wasn’t her fault”, and Fred…wait, what has Fred done again? I forget. By the time we get to Velma’s backstory, I just don’t care anymore. Really these first five or so issues could have been condensed into three or four. If I had read this as a trade, it would be extremely underwheming. There’s no well defined story arc here. Just the same story beats over and over again.

In issue six, we finally get Velma’s backstory, about how she grew up a loner and an outcast. How her four brothers recruited her for an organization that would serve the greater good. Velma pitched Project Elysium as a way to elminate mankind’s destructive tendincies. But she soon discovers that The Four had twisted her work so that they could control mankind. This is all fine and good. I don’t have any real issues with this backstory. I just don’t care enough by the time we get here. By this point, I was just wanted the plot to move along.

In #7, the wheels finally start turning as the gang make a plan to escape the Mall-Mart. Scooby distracts the monsters so they can escape to a nearby hostipal so they can patch up Fred’s leg. It will be interesting to see where this goes, and if we’ll be stuck in the hostipal for multiple issues.

I haven’t even mentioned Scrappy yet, mainly because he’s mostly non-exsistant. If you thought Scrappy was going to be the villain of the first arc, you’d be wrong. We have Scrappy and his gang of dogs chasing down the gang because the technology that makes them smart wears down over time. We have a scene of him turning into Monster -Scrappy from the first live-action movie. I didn’t mind it there, however it’s completely unoriginal and dumb here. I know the joke is nobody likes Scrappy, but it’s like WB/DC can’t up with a arc for Scrappy other than “he’s evil”. I don’t like Scrappy, but even when he was annoying (and oh yes, he was annoying), he was a member of the team and served a purpose. But ever since WB took over the franchise, the he has become nothing but a punchline. I would like to see something original done with the character.

Now Apocalypse did get one thing right, and that’s Shaggy & Scooby. Unlike the other three, I can look at them and recognize them, even if they don’t look like their cartoon counterparts. What I like about Scooby is that he’s not just a coward. Often timws in modern Scooby, they like to overdo the Shaggy and Scooby being scaredy cats thing. In the original series, it’s not like they were scared all the time, they still had moments of bravery. I do think Scooby is underutilized here in favor of the other characters. Hopefully we’ll get more of him in future issues. Velma is…okay. Fred is just sorta there. Daphne is the worst of the bunch. She literally has no character development at all. I think the intention was to give her PTSD. But even when we get nice moments with her, like her moment with Scooby in issue three, she immediately reverts back to being angry and punching everyone in sight. It comes off more like overkill.
There are a few easter eggs for Scooby fans spread throughout, sadly it’s just not enough to keep me interested.

CI know it sounds like I hate Scooby Apocalypse. But I don’t. I see the potential here, but it’s just taking forever to get to that potential. Now that we’re out of the Mall-Mart, maybe the pace will pick up. It needs to, because these last six issues have really sucked the energy out of me.

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