Scooby-Doo Team-Up #40

Those meddling kids of Mystery Inc., along with Scooby-Doo, take to the Louisiana bayou to investigate the report of a Voodoo Queen. In her command are dozens of zombies: mindless townsfolk kidnapped from a neighboring parish. When it looks like the Cajun witch is just about to capture the teenage detectives, to their rescue comes the legendary Swamp Thing. But can he save the day when another unexpected player enters the swamp. One so rotten, so evil, the only side he’s on is his own!

Scooby-Doo Team-Up! #40
Written by Sholly Fisch
Art by Dario Brizuela
Published by DC Comics

Yet another entry in the Scooby-Doo Team-Up series that proves why I love this all-ages crossover so much! The opening page reads like a lost Alan Moore tale of the Green. The art of that page and several other panels involving the mutated body of former scientist Alec Holland look like never-before-seen works by the late Bernie Wrightson! And this is coming from what is traditionally thought of as a kid’s book.

SDTU offers some much more than the same old Scooby-Doo plot. Yes, some of the earlier issues ran the gamut of having Shaggy and Scooby act as bait for the villain of the month. But the series has evolved into one that reflects the lore of the DC Universe and the nostalgic fun of multiple Hanna-Barbera properties. I’ve even gotten to where I enjoy the running joke about pulling masks off bad guys as it’s done so creatively now.

Writer Sholly Fisch (Teen Titans Go!) has become a master at scripting the DC kids titles. His brilliant has allowed for him to trim off any rough edges of his writing talents. In return, Fisch has smoothed those quirks out into this diamond of a book that awaits my pull box every month!

As for Dario Brizuela, I once was upset that he reused characters and set pieces ad nauseum. But Brizuela has really upped his game in the past year adapting his art style to match that to some of the great artists who created the monthly guest star of SDTU.

Next Month, the series returns to the Hanna-Barbera side of things with a pairing with Penelope Pitstop. But I am really looking for to the issue after that as the Mystery Gang will be matching wits against some of the most feared gorillas of the DCU! Start saving your pennies. It’s an issue not to be missed, no matter how old you are!

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 10 out of 10 stars.

This review was also published concurrently at Outrightgeekery.com.