Overview: In The Batman and Scooby-Doo Mysteries Volume 2, Batman and Mystery Inc. team up for six more delightful issues, with guest appearances from Ace and Alfred, the Riddler, the Question, the Creeper, and in the finale, the entire Bat-Family!
Editor’s Note: This collected edition includes the second six issues of the maxiseries The Batman and Scooby-Doo Mysteries, which had its seventh issue released in October 2021 and the twelfth issue released in March 2022. This review focuses on the story presented in each issue that, while collected, does not form a combined story. If you are interested in Volume 1 of the series, we previously reviewed it when it was collected in December 2021.
Story #1: “Dog-Gone!” by writer Sholly Fisch and artist Dario Brizuela
Synopsis: The first story in The Batman and Scooby-Doo Mysteries Volume 2 sees that it is the evening at Wayne Manor, and Alfred Pennyworth entertains Daphne and her butler Jenkins, old butler-school buddies, while Scooby-Doo and Ace the Bat-Hound socialize. When Daphne and Jenkins get up to leave, Ace and Scooby are missing, and a strange dark creature haunts the Wayne Estate, leading Alfred to call Batman and Robin, who are fighting a giant cat with the rest of Mystery Inc.
Ace and Scooby wake up and find they’ve been dognapped for ransom.
Alfred and Daphne put their detective skills (and a deerstalker) to use and find a chew toy that sprays knockout gas (which hits Jenkins accidentally). Our stylish duo detectives track down large dog food orders once they realize a gang of dognappers are on the loose.
As Ace and Scooby try to escape, Alfred, Daphne, and Jenkins arrive at the warehouse and get themselves captured as well.
As Batman, Robin, and the Scooby gang approach the giant cat in whirly-bats, they realize it’s a projection by Catwoman, to distract them while she steals some jewels. They capture her, but she has nothing to do with the dognappings – as Alfred, Daphne, and Jenkins are confronted by the real culprit, Catman! Alfred’s bat-tracer leads Batman straight to them, and a giant fight ensues, in which our heroes triumph!
Story #2: “Ghost on the Water” by writer Ivan Cohen and artist Dario Brizuela
Synopsis: The second story in The Batman and Scooby-Doo Mysteries Volume 2 begins in the Mystery Machine van. Scooby-Doo and the gang explore Gotham’s waterfront, but they are scared away from picking up a snack by a ghost. Batman swings in to investigate, but the police warn him off of Jolene Harker’s property. Batman and Mystery Inc. split up to investigate, and Shaggy accidentally notices that a large number of restaurants have gone out of business. Batman is forced off another location by workers who have clout with the mayor, and he meets up with Mystery Inc., who have figured out that the mysterious Jolene is actually Harley Quinn and The Joker. The heroes head out on the water to find Joker’s deadly new amusement park. The Joker drops them into a deadly roller coaster trap, assisted by Harley Quinn, but Batman saves the day with his bat-rope, and they discover Joker’s ghostly accomplice, Dr. Double X. The team captures the villains, and Batman opens Batmanland, leading to Harley’s dreams of fun and Joker’s rage in jail.
Story #3: “Riddle Me This… ” by writer Scholly Fisch and artist Scott Jeralds
Synopsis: The third story in The Batman and Scooby-Doo Mysteries Volume 2 sees Mystery Inc. visits a pirate ship, which is soon taken over by the Riddler, who is looking for the treasure the ship once carried before it sank. An angry pirate ghost named Black Jack also appears, guarding his treasure from the supervillain. Two other tourists, New Hampshire Smith and “Next” Jen DeVice, steal Riddler’s clues to the treasure hunt, leading him to team up with a doubtful Mystery Inc. They head to the nearby lighthouse, followed by the unethical Smith and DeVice, and meet the ghost of Black Jack again. After some bickering and puzzling, they follow the next clue, and Daphne discovers that the ghost is just a projection by DeVice’s drone (seen flying around throughout the adventure). Velma realizes Riddler sent them all on a wild goose chase, and they race back to the ship, where Riddler laughs at his cleverness and reveals the treasure…just as Batman arrives to arrest him (for outstanding crimes, as he hasn’t broken any laws this time).
Story #4: “Question Authority” by writer Ivan Cohen and artist Dario Brizuela
Synopsis: The next story in The Batman and Scooby-Doo Mysteries Volume 2 begins as a mysterious giant shaggy figure terrorizes parties in Florida. Mystery Inc. investigates at Batman’s request, but as they chase the “Bigfoot,” they are joined by the Question (Renee Montoya)! After meeting up and introducing themselves, the detectives team up over shave ice and are joined by Batman. The Caped Crusader has an Icee and points them in the direction of a possible real estate scam, scaring owners into selling. On the Batplane, the detectives put together clues that the real estate is over old military bases, and a mysterious “general” is the buyer. Renee sheds her disguise for a scene to investigate but quickly dons the faceless mask again to fight the Sasquatch and general with Batman and Mystery Inc. Unmasked, the Sasquatch turns out to be Shaggy Man and General Eiling, a Justice League villain. The Question disappears, so that Renee can have some of the shave ice she couldn’t have before because of her mask!
Story #5: “Fright at the Museum” by writer Ivan Cohen and artist Randy Elliot
Synopsis: The fifth story in The Batman and Scooby-Doo Mysteries Volume 2 begins at the Gotham City Museum of Culture opening, Jack Ryder covers the event, interviewing Mystery Inc., but they are called away by Batman, who closes the event because of a mystery. Ryder slips into a vent to investigate himself, as a giant ghost gorilla arrives, followed by the Creeper (Ryder’s alter ego), who causes commotion and lets the ghost escape. Batman tells Mystery Inc. about the Creeper’s powers, methods, and history, and they split up to investigate further. They run into Jack Ryder again, and he storms off.
The next day, Creeper scares museum patrons at the daytime opening, and Batman stops him – but a new ghost interrupts them both. Daphne convinces Creeper to help her with a plan by revealing she knows he’s Jack Ryder. They hold a fake press conference to smoke out the ghost, revealed to be an actor/criminal/museum guide, Guy Bakken, who was frustrated that only the heroes were being celebrated, not the villains, too. Batman agrees and says that Bruce Wayne will help see Bakken’s dream come true.
Story #6: “Too Many Crooks…” by writer Sholly Fisch and artist Dario Brizuela
Synopsis: The finale of The Batman and Scooby-Doo Mysteries Volume 2 begins with Mystery Inc. arriving late at a hotel and answering a call, but they are nearly trampled by escaping guests who claim the lodge is haunted. The team investigates, finding attacking birds, loaded vines, mysterious ice, and a monster in the pool. Outside, they realize they are close to Gotham, so they light up an improvised Bat-signal, then head back in, finding Lord Death Man at the desk. Running into the Ballroom, they discover a supervillain convention full of Batman’s colorful villains. They try to blend in, but the Terrible Trio spot them, and the villains reveal a captured Batman and Robin to their detective friends. A massive fight breaks out, Batman leading his friends to use the villains against each other, before the rest of the Bat-Family arrives (Nightwing, Red Hood, Spoiler, Orphan, Batwoman, Huntress, Batwing, Ace, Bat-Cow, and the Signal)! After the Bat-Family trounces the villains, Velma and Batman recognize the handiwork of Bat-Mite, who wanted the biggest team-up fight of all time. Daphne convinces Batman to forgive Bat-Mite, since they did capture all of the criminals, leading to quieter streets in Gotham for a while, but Batman says there’s always more mysteries to be found, as he pets Scooby-Doo.
Analysis: Writer Sholly Fisch has been working for DC for a long, long time. A PhD in childhood development, he’s also a craftsman of the highest order, and you can tell from the extremely high quality of his work on stories ranging from his backups for Action Comics in the New 52, to his long running work for DC on the Scooby-Doo line of comics – both regular, and teaming up with the DC comics heroes, as we see in this trade collection. He shares writing duties with Ivan Cohen, with art mostly done by longtime Scooby-Doo collaborator Dario Brizuela, but a few fill-in artists provide issues throughout these six comics.
Writing all-ages comics can be a thankless task for many writers, but both Fisch and Cohen show passion for their niche in an interview about this series. It’s quite nice seeing the editor’s notes showing connections between the stories, though a bit sad that there’s no sense of building a story or ongoing relationships that lead to new development as Robert Venditti managed with his Superman: Man of Tomorrow digital-first series.
Sholly Fisch continues to delight (as we pointed out with our review of the Scooby-Doo Team-Up #34) with details and jokes about Alfred’s training in butler school and jokes about Alfred serving in the Royal Marines/Special Forces (a gentle nudge at writers like Frank Miller and others who have tried to make Alfred more badass over the years). The Riddler being a very golden age/Batman ’66 version of himself is quite fun, with some Batman ’66 sound effect jokes too. Ever aware of his duties when writing for young children, Fisch includes some good moral lessons in the new villains cheating and Mystery Inc. following the rules. The joke in the finale about fighting a hydra and having to pull off so many masks is truly hilarious, as are the many, many gags between supervillains – the entire final issue is simply so well-crafted and layered it’s a delight to any longtime Batman fan. Fisch, as always, includes INCREDIBLY deep cuts like the Bat-Squad, the Batman Revenge Squad, and more recent fun like the Batmen of All Nations (who will be featured when this series is revived in October)!
Fellow writer Ivan Cohen’s gags are clever enough but lack the connections to Batman history and general feeling of layers that Fisch provides, though the Sholly’s Fish and Chips diner is a treat. A “who’s on first” joke and the Question’s mask mechanics are nice moments, though not paid off as well as Fisch usually does. It is quite cool to see Renee showing up in an adventure like this, though it’s not particularly well constructed to suit her skills and atmosphere – she feels a bit shoehorned into the story rather than having a specific thematic connection to the case at hand. Seeing the Creeper used again is also quite fun – and better integrated into the story, as well as giving him some warring characteristics, like vanity (that is manipulated by Daphne) and his impulses towards being a hero and scaring people. More than most of the recent appearances of the Creeper (such as in Priest’s Deathstroke #11 several years ago), this gives a sense of who the Creeper is, and some of what drives him – it would be cool to see a deeper look at him, either in these Scooby-Doo comics or in the main continuity! A few gags fall flat, such as the Bat-chrono-spectrometer – unless it’s a reference I failed to find; it’s an incredibly lazy method of progressing the story. Some nice literary detective history and a solid Matches Malone joke with Mystery Inc. wearing the same mask at the museum provide solid elements of enjoyment, but the resolution to the museum caper is sadly very morally shallow in supporting the celebration of villains, and the ending joke about meddling kids HELPING the villain only underlines that shallowness.
Our main artist Dario Brizuela gives the book very clean lines and on-model characters, thankfully quite fun. Scott Jeralds’ issues are simpler and less on model than Brizuela’s. Much less appealing, too, though not horrible. The two new characters, particularly Next Jen DeVice, are nicely designed and executed, though. Randy Elliot’s art has the Scooby Gang reasonably on-model, though Batman looks more like his The Brave and The Bold appearance rather than the late 80s/early 90s style Batman that Brizuela usually draws. Elliot gives his characters strong appeal, a good version of the Creeper, and a nice gag with all the masks – probably the most successful of Cohen’s issues, though held back by the weakness of its resolution.
Using the brilliant cover from issue #12 by Dario Brizuela for the trade collection is an inspired choice, featuring Scooby-Doo and Shaggy flanking Batman, Ace, Robin (who looks like Tim), Babs Batgirl, Huntress, Nightwing, Batwoman, and Batwing. This trade is a very nice value to add to your collection if you enjoy layered callbacks, appealing cute art, and the whimsy of mashing up the Scooby Doo and Batman characters.
Editor’s Note: DC Comics provided TBU with copies of the original issues of this series as they were released, but not of this new edition. You can find this collected edition and help support TBU in the process by purchasing this edition digitally either for Comixology through Amazon or as a physical copy in a paperback form at Amazon or from Things from Another World.
The Batman and Scooby-Doo Mysteries Volume 2
Overall Score
3.5/5
A mixed bag, as to be expected from this type of mashup anthology approach, but Sholly Fisch’s generally excellent contributions and Ivan Cohen’s reasonably solid issues make it well worth checking out. Perhaps the newly announced continuation of the series will result in more continuity and perhaps an ongoing story arc? Unlikely, but a gumshoe can dream.
