The Batman And Scooby-Doo Mysteries #11 - DC Comics

THE BATMAN AND SCOOBY-DOO MYSTERIES No. 11, October 2023

Unashamedly tapping into both the look and feel of the American cyberpunk media franchise “The Matrix”, Sholly Fisch’s script for “Bark Or Byte?” probably provided its readers with some genuine giggles and guffaws. True, the twenty-page periodical’s premise is rather straightforward in its depiction of Shaggy Rogers and Scooby-Doo donning black overcoats and shades in an effort to spot 'a series of numbers with periods in between them' amongst all the computer code surrounding them. But the tale’s delivered with such a tongue-in-cheek attitude that many a bibliophile would be hard pressed not to at least smirk at the duo’s desperate headlong dash through the ghost-possessed simulated reality.

Foremost of these laughs is probably found with the cowardly pair’s ability to immediately dream up a huge pile of Scooby-snacks and stuffed sandwiches, just as soon as they realise “you can be whatever you want” in the virtual world. This joke is later continued at the end of the comic’s conclusion, when the amateur sleuths are shown to be trying to physically force their way out of the criminal’s computer screens once they’ve somehow seen a pizza delivery guy enter the villain’s secret headquarters in the physical universe; “Could someone, like, get us out of here?”

Furthermore, Batman appears to play a secondary role throughout this book’s narrative, with the superhero spotlight firmly falling upon “the data broker Oracle”. This change of focus is both enjoyable and understandable, as the storyline follows a mysterious ghost somehow manipulating “one of the world's most complex and powerful computer systems” for their own ends. In addition, it provides Barbara Gordon’s alter-ego with an opportunity to educate those readers unfamiliar with Internet Protocol (IP) addresses, and how a person’s internet signal can be bounced “through a different country to mask his true location.”

Definitely helping imbue this publication with a Matrix-vibe are the layouts and colours of Erich Owen. The cartoonist’s number-infested, fluorescent green backgrounds and sketch of online hero Oracle’s face genuinely draw the audience into the Ghost in the Machine’s simulated world. Whilst his sketches of Mystery Incorporated make the characters look as if they’ve just stepped across from one of Hanna-Barbera’s classic animations.

Written by: Sholly Fisch, Drawn & Coloured by: Erich Owen, and Lettered by: Saida Temofonte