The Batman And Scooby-Doo Mysteries #6 - DC Comics

THE BATMAN AND SCOOBY-DOO MYSTERIES No. 6, May 2023

Crafting a genuine sense of bewilderment, courtesy of Mystery Incorporated refusing to assist the Caped Crusader in pursuing a team of bank robbers, Ivan Cohen’s script for Issue Six of “The Batman And Scooby-Doo Mysteries" must have hooked the vast majority of its readers with its surprising opening. True, such utter puzzlement doesn’t last particularly long, once Fred Jones and his gang return to Madame Xanadu’s fortune telling store and the audience are treated to a flashback sequence summarising the amateur gumshoes’ previous visit. But for a while, it appears the likes of Shaggy Rogers and Daphne Blake might be being blackmailed, threatened or mystifyingly mislead by some malignant force for evil.

Somewhat disappointingly, arguably none of these explanations prove valid though once it’s revealed that Velma Dinkley suspected foul play straight from the start, and only had her friends play along with the unsuccessful ruse so as to lure the criminal culprit behind the ploy out into the open. The Dark Knight too appears disconcertingly quick to guess what his ‘fellow sleuths’ are up to, especially once it’s made clear to him that the real female magic user has previously left Gotham City to reside along the Mississippi River; “She hasn’t been around in months. Last I heard she was in New Orleans. Or maybe Maine. One of those Places.”

Cohen also pens an unexpectedly dislikeable incarnation of Batman, who starts moaning to Alfred Pennyworth about how he has to deduce the identities behind the thefts all on his own..? Naturally, his much more grounded butler puts the billionaire straight as to his whinging behaviour. However, this bizarre moment of petulance is debatably so out of character for someone “revered as the world's greatest detective” that it will infuriatingly remain firmly in the mind’s eye of any bibliophiles for the rest of the twenty-page periodical.

Perhaps therefore this publication’s biggest selling point lies with Erich Owen’s layouts, which are cleverly pencilled to provide a pseudo realistic 3D image of Bruce Wayne’s metropolis. Some of the sketches of Fred, Daphne and Velma are a little rough-looking at times. Yet when placed over the incredibly detailed backgrounds admirably seem to provide each panel with an impressive amount of eye-pleasing depth.

Written by: Ivan Cohen, Art by: Erich Owen, and Letters by: Saida Temofonte