According to the solicit, big things are supposed to be going down in the latest issue of Scooby Apocalypse. Is it good?
Scooby Apocalypse #6 (DC Comics)
The Lowdown
It’s time for a flashback! We get to learn about the history of this universe’s Velma Dinkley and what got her to the point she is at currently. We see her family life, school, isolation, and more. Also, we get a bonus backup story in a tale about what Scrappy-Doo and his gang have been up to since we last saw them.
Since there are two different stories in the comic, we’ll discuss them both separately.
The Secret History of Velma Dinkley
This is essentially Velma’s origin story, from her birth (that she believes she remembers) to right when she realizes The Four’s real plan for humanity. She narrates/monologues the entire way through, showing how she became the socially awkward and very reserved character that she is. On a character-level, this issue is pretty solid, exploring her as a person, seeing her issues with her dad and brothers and the world around her. It does paint her in sympathetic light or at the very least, allows you to understand where she is at mentally. Story-wise, there really isn’t much here… except for one revelation that I thought was absolutely great. It put everything into a new perspective and why Velma has been talking about The Four in a certain way through the run thus far.
On a writing level, it was okay but with a few snags. The story is told completely through narration boxes, with small exceptions for dialogue, and it can be a bit overwhelming. Almost every panel is stuffed with one to three textboxes that go on and on. The language of it fits well with the type of character Velma is, but it feels too long-winded at points and brings the story to a crawl. It felt like the artwork should been allowed to show more instead of us being told what is happening. Otherwise, the characterization here was pretty solid.
The artwork is handled by Wellington Alves and he does pretty well here. Outside of the odd stiff facial reactions at points, the characters are all drawn well and never have any off-model body proportions. The story flows well in the panels and layouts and there’s never any odd continuity hiccups (besides a very small, non-story important one). Most of the backgrounds were actually filled in and drawn, and the colors by Hi-Fi were nice as usual. It’s rather standard comic book artwork, but it gets the job done regardless.
Scrappy’s Self-Improvement Plan
This story is about Scrappy and his dumber dog minions having wandered in on a bunch of monsters attacking and devouring non-turned humans (apparently still quite a few left out there) and… that’s it. It’s just Scrappy monologuing for the entire story and it’s rather underwhelming. It’s not particularly engaging, since it’s mostly just Scrappy saying the same things as when we heard him. The only difference here is a small revelation at the end that reminded me of the first live-action Scooby Doo film in a way. There was also artwork provided by Dale Eaglesham and it was good. Layouts, monster design/carnage, and all of that stuff looked pretty good here. He just didn’t really get to stretch himself or his art skills that much since the story was mostly just a lot of talking.
Is It Good?
Scooby Apocalypse #6 has two stories–one is good and fills in the backstory of one of the leads and the other unfortunately is and underwhelming villainous rant. The artwork, done by various artists, is pretty good, and the writing is generally decent, but flawed. In the end, Scooby Apocalypse has been an interesting series so far and with the small revelations we got in this issue, it’s going to get weirder and wilder as time goes on.
Join the AIPT Patreon
Want to take our relationship to the next level? Become a patron today to gain access to exclusive perks, such as:
- ❌ Remove all ads on the website
- 💬 Join our Discord community, where we chat about the latest news and releases from everything we cover on AIPT
- 📗 Access to our monthly book club
- 📦 Get a physical trade paperback shipped to you every month
- 💥 And more!
