[Never Lag at Laser Tag!]
Scooby-Doo
/
cover /
1
page
| Script: | ? |
| Pencils: | Derek Fridolfs (credited, signed) |
| Inks: | Derek Fridolfs (credited, signed) |
| Colors: | Silvana Brys (credited) (signed as Sil Brys) |
| Letters: |
- Genre:humor; anthropomorphic-funny animals; detective-mystery
- First Line of Dialogue or Text:Zoinks! Laser Tag shouldn't be a LITERAL blast!
- Keywords:Laser Tag; monster
- Synopsis:
- A monster dubbed by Shaggy as "The Freaky Fright Stalker" takes aim at the gang in a Laser Tag arena.
Indexer Notes
The cover creator(s) are credited in "white-lettering-along-a-black-strip" at the bottom or side of the UPC code box. In this case, the artist and colorist have also signed the cover.
Oddly, this story's monster is given no "official" name (like "The Miner 49er" or "The Creeper"), leaving it to Shaggy to come up with "The Freaky Fright Stalker" - a good name, but having no connection to the game of Laser Tag at which it manifests itself. ..."The Laser-Blast Light Stalker", anyone?
Issue Data
- Publisher's Brand:
DC [circle and serifs]
- Indicia / Colophon Publisher: DC Comics
- Indicia Frequency: bimonthly
- Publisher's Age Guidelines: Ages 8+
- Printer: ?
- Barcode: 761941298122 12711
- Keywords:change in indicia information
Indexer Notes
This is the second issue in which, the page count decreases from 36 to 32 pages inclusive of cover. No pages of story content are lost. This configuration will be assumed for all issues going forward.
The issue provides the usual mix of ten pages of new material followed by ten pages of reprint material, however a noticeable change in the indicia is the omission of the source of the reprint material. This information was handy to readers in that it indicates that only HALF of the Scooby-Doo material found therein is new and original. It is also useful to GCD indexers to more easily identify and log the reprints, without a detailed scanning of prior indexes or using Advanced Query to find the source.
In recent years, the identification of reprint source material as published in the indicia has sometimes been inaccurate (such as in this issue... https://www.comics.org/issue/2587424/), so it is possible that DC editorial has simply ceased to publish such information - or it may be a simple omission for this issue alone. Next issue will better indicate which is the case.
All advertising in this issue is for DC or Warner produced or related product. No non-house ads, text pages, or activity pages appear. Of those ads, all four are for DC Graphic Novels for Kids.
No editor credited in indicia. Editors are credited for the individual stories, but not for the issue overall. Printed by Transcontinental Printing Interweb Montreal, a division of Transcontinental Printing, Inc., Boucherville, QC, Canada 3/22/2024 (per indicia).
Dog Tag
Scooby-Doo
/
comic story /
10
pages
| Script: | Derek Fridolfs (credited) |
| Pencils: | Walter Carzon (credited) |
| Inks: | Horacio Ottolini (credited) |
| Colors: | Silvana Brys (credited) |
| Letters: | Saida Temofonte (credited) |
| Editing: | Courtney Jordan (credited) |
- Genre:humor; anthropomorphic-funny animals; detective-mystery
- First Line of Dialogue or Text:Fred? Daphne? Velma? Anyone? Scooby-Doo... where are you?
- Keywords:Laser Tag; monster; mystery
- Synopsis:
- A monster dubbed by Shaggy as "The Freaky Fright Stalker" haunts a Laser Tag arena.
Indexer Notes
New story.
Con Games
Scooby-Doo
/
comic story /
10
pages
| Script: | Sholly Fisch (credited) |
| Pencils: | Scott Neely (credited) |
| Inks: | Scott Neely (credited) |
| Colors: | Heroic Age (credited) |
| Letters: | Dezi Sienty (credited) |
| Editing: | Alex Antone (credited) (editor) |
- Genre:humor; anthropomorphic-funny animals; detective-mystery
- Job Number:DCCO28387
- First Line of Dialogue or Text:I never thought that someone would ask us to speak at a convention! [See Notes]
- Keywords:creator references; dialogue balloon pointing error; fantasy convention; genre parody or tribute references; mystery; phantom; tropes
- Synopsis:
- Woody K. Wackerstein's "MonsterCon" convention is haunted by the regularly-recurring "Phantom of the Con".
Reprints (1)
from Indexer Notes
In the story's first panel, it would appear that Daphne's and Shaggy's dialogue balloons are pointing to the opposite character. Daphne should have the first balloon, while Shaggy should have the second and fourth. The third balloon, pointing to Scooby-Doo, is positioned properly.
Parodies of notable genre figures abound: "Woody K. Wackerstein" = Forrest J. Ackerman, but is also drawn to look slightly like comic book legend Stan Lee.
"Walt Palace" = Gimmicky horror film producer William Castle.
"Eddie Allenshmoe" = Historic horror author Edgar Allen Poe.
"I.M. Creepy" = Harry Potter author J.K. Rowling (?), if only in the pronunciation cadence of the character's name.
"Ron Zamboni" = Horror makeup master Tom Savini - with an unnamed assistant drawn to look like a cleaned-up version of makeup master and producer Greg Nicotero.
GOOD BITS: A tour de force of genre humor by writer Sholly Fisch and the story's artists...
The "Gort" cosplayer parodies the immortal phrase "Klaatu barada nikto" from "The Day the Earth Stood Still" as "Hava Nagila Nicto" - referencing the traditional Jewish folk song "Hava Nagila".
The "cosplayers-as-aliens" reveal themselves as human to a scared Shaggy and Scooby (ever steeped in their own tropes):
SHAGGY: "Oh, I get it! They're like COSTUMES! I'll bet you guys are trying to STEAL somebody's inheritance! Or are you, like, PIRATES trying to cover up your SMUGGLING OPERATION?"
COSPLAYER: "Huh?"
VELMA: "Actually, I think they're science fiction fans dressed up for fun."
Scooby gives a thumbs-up to a kid in a Scooby-Doo T-shirt.
THREE movie posters on display - in the SAME PANEL - represent the same 1950s sci-fi/horror poster trope. One shows a bulge-headed alien carrying off an unconscious woman. A second, in a parody of the influential 1956 film "Forbidden Planet" titled "Don't Go Here", shows a Robby the Robot-like automaton carrying off an unconscious woman. The third shows a werewolf (you guessed it) carrying off an unconscious woman.
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/
preview (from the publisher) /
7
pages
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