Quick Rating: Really Really Rooby Roo
Title: A Broken Winged Dragon
Writer: Rurik Tyler/Terrence Griep Jr.
Pencils: Joe Staton
Inks: Andrew Pepoy/Scott McRae
Colors: Paul Becton and Sno Cone
Letters: Jared K Fletcher
Asst. Editor: Harvey Richards
Editor: Joan Hilty
Nine women are crammed into a VW Microbus, circa 1969. Polyhymnia is driving and she won’t let anyone touch the radio. Calliope is writing in her journal. She has a backpack full of journals. The backpack is army surplus. Clio is lecturing everyone on a variety of counter-culture issues. No one is actually paying attention. At the same time, Erato is reciting an ode to her current inspiration, a college boy with soulful eyes. Terpsichore has happy feet and is kicking the back of the seat in front of her. Euterpe is singing the latest song by the Mamas and the Papas. Melpomene is reading the newspaper, trying to quiet down whoever is being loudest at the moment, and swatting Terpsichore’s feet every time they kick her seat. Urania is plotting her star charts. Thalia is asleep with a smile on her face. Erato takes out her acoustic guitar and starts to sing “Me and Bobby McGee.” She does this a lot.
A van can be seen in the distance, broken down by the side of the road. Polyhymnia slows down beside the other van. A surfer-type guy wearing a red ascot and no shirt is working on the engine. A redhead is sunbathing on the ground in front of the van. Clio asks if they need any help.
“You know anything about engines?” He says, indicating that he does not expect them to be any help.
Clio frowns, but Urania jumps out of the VW and shoves blonde guy away from his engine.
Just then, the back of the van, bursts open, emitting a pungent stream of smoke. An unshaven young man crawls out and blinks at the Muses. A great dane and a short, young woman in a too-heavy sweater follow him. All of their pupils are heavily dilated. “Like, what’s going on, Fred?”
“Nothing, man. Go back to… whatever you were doing.”
Urania punches the surfer dude in the chest and says, “You’re all fixed.” She climbs back in with her sisters. The passengers of the mystery Microbus stare dumbly at the van and its nine occupants.
“Oh, for crying out loud!” Clio exclaims. “Come here, Blondie.” He drags his feet up to her. Clio wraps her arms around his head, leans down to his ear, and whispers, “Mysteries. Solve them. You’ll be good at it. All of you, together.” She releases him and the Muses drive away.
Scooby-Doo 78, like virtually all of its predecessors, contains two tales. The first, A Broken Winged Dragon, concerns the titular monster which has been spotted in Huntington Woods. The second story, The Mine is Mine, finds Scooby and the gang doing some gold prospecting. A weird ghost appears and all and sundry try to determine if it’s a spiritual apparition or man-made.
I know that the Mystery Inc. gang meddles more than is good for them, but if no one ever meddled, we wouldn’t have any stories to tell. I also realize that every single story is exactly the same- variations on a very tight theme. I don’t have a knee-jerk reaction to the repetition. It can be reassuring. The artwork is all right with periodic helpings of pretty good. This is not a comic book that should look realistic or even close. The style is predetermined.
The Scooby Doo aficionado in our household had this to say: “It’s really funny for those people who like funny stuff. You’ll like it. The art was pretty good. I thought the first story was good.” I could not possibly impart more useful information than that, so I’ll just mumble my agreement. Go ahead and revisit your childhood.
March, 2004