Sometimes the mall isn’t the best place to spend an afternoon … especially during the apocalypse!
Creative Staff:
Writer: Keith Giffen and J.M. DeMattis
Artwork: Howard Porter
Colorist: Hi-Fi
Letterer: Nick Napolitano
What They Say:
The world is a monster madhouse, and Scooby and the gang have been fighting for their lives, for every sunrise, for every moment. But they’ve had enough-it’s time to stop reacting and start solving the mystery of who turned all of humanity into mindless hordes of bloodthirsty creatures. A single clue leads the gang and their Mystery Machine to Seattle, on the trail of one of the four scientists who infected the world with nanites. Where to start? Velma has a plan, and watch out, because whenever Velma has a plan, things get very dangerous very fast.
Content (please note that portions of a review may contain spoilers):
Now that they are trapped in the local Mall-Mart, Daphne has no choice than to protect Velma as she tries to enact her plan: log into the Complex’s servers and see if she can find any help. But of course, the fiery redhead has no love for this obstinate scientist and being stuck with her is tough on both of them. Though as they argue for the best course of action, their enlightening conversation is rudely interrupted by the guys and a new problem – a demonic invasion. The calm of their discussion has now been replaced by running for their lives once again, but this time, instead of vampires, it’s now as if the depths of Hell has vomited up a horde of minions. The endless aisles of shelves and goods prove no hindrance as the imps give chase, hunting down their quarry to the very bowels of the store. The gang is now trapped.
But as they contemplate what now appears to be the end, suddenly a side door opens and Velma yells at them to get inside. The logical doctor has found her way into a storehouse and now ushers her friends into the safety of this abandoned room. However, in their panic to save their own lives, the Gang somehow forgot that they lost sight of the glasses wearing technician and are amazed to see her. As they exchange biting remarks about their friendship, Fred takes charge and starts barricading the door. It does not take them long to soon to realize that there is more than one way into the warehouse, and decide to split up. They must secure every entrance if they want to survive, but as Fred and Scooby close the docking bay, someone surprises them. A little girl has taken shelter in this back area, and now she is all alone, her mother being slaughtered by the monsters. Perhaps the Gang are not the only survivors in this cataclysmic world?
In Summary:
I know everyone handles the end of the world differently, but when Daphne and Velma get together, you know something is going to happen – and this issue is no exception. J.M. DeMattis and Keith Giffen have once again crafted an exciting story around the conflict between these two women, only this time we find them in the midst of a demon invasion. While these contrasting personalities do make for interesting banter, you cannot but wonder if they, or more importantly Daphne, is doing this to cope with the whole apocalypse. Having to face off against monsters suddenly becoming real, the Gang maybe being the last humans, having to kill monstrosities that were once human and of course, the need of finding other survivors would bring anyone to the brink, but it seems to have affected our newshound the most. She does touch on this in the story and being an investigative reporter makes her naturally suspicious, but then to add to the coincidence of Velma working for the scientists, of course, she is the natural outlet for her frustration. However, this storyline has been with the series since the beginning and it is getting a bit tiresome, but at the same time, the same paranoia keeps the story fresh with a new conspiracy theory every month. I am just afraid that this theme is taking too much away from the true premise of the story: finding the truth behind the Elysium Project. But of course, by doing so they also add more fuel to Daphne’s fire and thus we have become enveloped within the current vicious cycle.
I have always liked the artwork in this series, but for some reason when I started reading this issue, I immediately thought of this being a cross of the video games Dead Rising and Doom, but instead of the walking dead we have the demon horde. While this would be a bad thing for most stories, Howard Porter immediately seizes on the intensity of the idea and uses it to his advantage – thrusting us into this demanding world with all of his high action panels. Then add Hi-Fi’s amazing grasp of colors and we have a visual presentation reminiscent of those high-energy spectacles. The drab opening scene is the calm before the storm and then we have the first wave of monsters – accompanied by the neon blue of the light behind the swarm; if you let your mind wander, it is almost as if they are bursting out of a video screen, taking all of their primal anger out on the Gang. Then by carrying on that comparison, every page following is our players rushing through the maze, guns blazing, until they finally reach the safe room at the end. All we need to do is add voice actors and sound effects and we will have an astounding experience. Isn’t this how this type of media should be presented?
They always say you hurt the ones you love, and if that is the case, then Daphne must really be enraptured by our coke bottle bespectacled scientist! It seems that with every issue, the two go at it with ever more intensity than before and the fight is never settled, with Velma getting the worst of the verbal abuse. If this is the case, how much longer will it be before she snaps and lets our favorite red head have it? However, if it does come to that, I can only imagine that she will have to spend the latter half of the issue explaining the insults she used in the first half! After all, how effective will her counterargument be if the other doesn’t understand the results?
Grade: A
Rating: T (Teen)
Released By: DC Comics
Release Date: September 14th, 2015
MSRP: $3.99
