Something Spooky: Batman And The Scoobies Meet The Ghost Of The Batcave In ‘The Batman & Scooby-Doo Mysteries’ #2
by Tony Thornley
Sometimes this time of year, we need a gentle level of spooky. What’s better for that than Scooby-Doo and the gang? And when you add Batman and Robin in the mix, it’s even better as The Batman & Scooby-Doo Mysteries #2 shows.
I’m already on the record as a massive fan of Scooby-Doo, and the long tradition of Scooby-Doo comics is one of my favorite things. Unfortunately, Scoob and the gang hasn’t had a series for a couple years, but at least they went out on a high note with the absolutely delightful Batman & Scooby-Doo Mysteries series.
Each issue saw the gang team up with the Bat-family. It was usually Batman (though not always) and a different member of the Bat-family – Ace, Alfred, Robin, Batwoman, Nightwing and Batgirl. They faced the Arkham crew, time travellers, and corrupt real estate developers. And in issue #2 from Sholly Fisch, Randy Elliott, Silvana Brys, and Saida Temofonte, they met a very Scoob-coded villain, the Ghost of the Batcave!
We begin the story en media res, as the gang’s latest mystery led them to a haunted fun house in Gotham. Naturally, considering it’s Gotham, the haunting is actually the Joker and his goons! Thankfully Batman and Robin showed up just in time to help them. As a thank you, the dynamic duo welcome the gang to the Batcave (with precautions), and just in time too, as a ghost reveals himself!
This is a Scooby-Doo story, and from an era in which Scooby typically had less frightening adventures, so it’s not really scary. But it does what a great crossover should — it plays with the tropes of both franchises, gives readers an introduction to their worlds (like the Batcave’s trophy room), and gives both sets of characters a time to shine.
I was also impressed by the solution to the mystery. While not totally a “playfair” mystery, most of the clues were there. A sharp reader would have been able to put it together before Batman and Velma did (naturally in this series, it’s usually Batman and Velma getting to it first).
If you’re a Scooby-Doo fan, or a Batman fan, this will be a delight, and this is the issue of the series closest to the classic Scooby-Doo formula. It’s collected in The Batman & Scooby-Doo Mysteries volume 1, still available from DC Comics.
