Comics Review: "SCOOBY-DOO, Where Are You? #129" - Don't Look Back in Anger

SCOOBY-DOO, WHERE ARE YOU? (2010) #129

DC COMICS

STORY: Derek Fridolfs; Ivan Cohen

PENCILS: Valerio Chiola; Walter Carzon

INKS: Valerio Chiola; Horacio Ottolini

COLORS: Valerio Chiola; Silvana Brys

LETTERS: Saida Temofonte

EDITORS: Courtney Jordan; Rob Levin (reprint)

COVER: Valerio Chiola

32pp, Color, $2.99 U.S. (October 2024)

Ages 8+

“Dine & Dash”

Welcome, dear readers, to my continuing journey through the Scooby-Doo, Where Are You? comic book series, which began publication in 2010.  I continue to renew my subscription so that I can continue to review this series for you, dear readers.

Scooby-Doo, Where Are You? #129 opens with “Dine & Dash,” which is written by Derek Fridolfs and drawn by Valerio Chiola.  The story finds Mystery Inc.:  Scooby-Doo, Shaggy, Fred, Daphne, and Velma coming off their most recent case which I guess could be called “The Case of the Goblin Golfers.”  Fred decides to treat everyone to dinner at his favorite place, but his favorite place is now a sports-themed bar and restaurant called “Munch Madness.”

Before there was Munch Madness, there was the “Pizza Playhouse,” Fred's favorite... haunt when he was a boy.  The restaurant even featured a band of anthropomorphic animal performers, “the Pizza Pack.”  Although the performers were animatronic, Fred loved them, especially “Elliott the Elephant.”  Fred is feeling a nostalgic sense of loss when a phantom version of Elliott suddenly strikes, so now Mystery Inc. has a new mystery to solve.

As usual, the second story, “Magic Hassle,” is a reprint story.  It is written by Ivan Cohen and drawn by Walter Carzon and Horacio Ottolini.  [This story was originally published in Scooby-Doo, Where Are You #79 (cover date: May 2017).]  The story opens at night as the Mystery Machine drives up a mountain road to “Mystic Mansion.”  It is “the world's most famous magicians' hangout,” and Fred, Daphne, Velma, Shaggy, and Scooby-Doo are invited guests to an event being held there.

Tonight is special, as the magician, “Rickey D,” is debuting a new trick in order to tests the skills of Mystery Inc.  Surprisingly, there is something going on between Rickey D and another popular magician, “Murdstone the Magnificent.”  However, that is put aside after some tools-of-the-trade disappear, and a vampire arrives to break-up the show.

Scooby-Doo, Where Are You? #129 has as its theme nostalgia.  The focus is specifically on how people resent the change or disappearance of things they loved fiercely in the past.  In the first story, “Dine & Dash,” Fred is disappointed that his childhood pizza restaurant slash playground has been replaced by an adult sports bar that is now a clubhouse which emphasizes buffalo wings and sports.  In the reprint story, “Magic Hassle,” Murdstone the Magician resents his young rival, Rickey D, and his flashiness and prefers a legendary and groundbreaking magician and escape artist whose act lost favor with audiences decades in the past.

Nostalgia and resistance to cultural change are timely subjects, especially after at least a quarter-century of the rise of so-called “toxic fandom.”  That aside, nostalgia as a theme here makes for highly entertaining stories.  I will say, though, that “Magic Hassle” has an awkward ending.

Many of the recent new stories in Scooby-Doo, Where Are You? Have been written by Derek Fridolfs, who is also a comic book artist.  He often draws the cover art for the issues for which he has written a story.  For issue #129, Valerio Chiola draws the opening story and also draws the cover art.  So it is both odd and delightful to see Chiola's quirky graphical and illustrative style featured as the cover art.  Also, “Magic Hassle” is drawn by one of the very best modern Scooby-Doo art teams, Walter Carzon (pencils) and Horacio Ottolini (inks), and the art features the brilliant colors of Silvana Brys.  The art is a big reason why I am giving this issue a high rating.

Scooby-Doo, Where Are You? #129 may have the highest rating that I've every given an issue of this series, but the last year or so has featured some really good individual issues.  So grab your “Scooby Snacks” and read this issue, and maybe watch a Scooby-Doo movie, later.  And until next time, Scooby-Dooby-Doo!

A

[This comic book includes a seven-page preview of the DC Comics original graphic novel, “Lois Lane and the Friendship Challenge” by Grace Ellis and Brittney Williams.]

Reviewed by Leroy Douresseaux a.k.a. "I Reads You"

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