The nanite plague caused by Velma’s family comes to an end as the final book from the first wave of Hanna-Barbera comics reaches its issue.
Scooby Apocalypse 36
Written by J.M. DeMatteis
Pencils by Pat Olliffe
Inks by Tom Palmer
Colors by Hi-Fi
I’m honestly surprised this book survived as long as it did, considering the books it debuted alongside – including The FLINTSTONES and WACKY RACERS – were conceived as 6- or 12-issue limited series. But SCOOBY APOCALYPSE has survived for three years, bringing the book well beyond the original scope of the series.
The series began as a reimagining of the classic cartoon, with the gang investigating the world after they survive a nanite plague that turned most of the population into monsters. No longer who-done-it lighthearted fare, the SCOOBY APOCALYPSE allowed room for the classic characters to grow well beyond what the original animation offered. The most shocking change was when Fred Jones – the former leader of the gang turned lovesick best friend to Daphne – was killed, only to return as a vessel of nanite monsters who wanted to help the Scooby gang fight off the bad guys.
There were a lot of odd twists and turns in the final year of the comic book.
Probably the oddest was the relationship between Velma and Shaggy, which honestly felt like it came out of nowhere. But it became an important part of the series’ final arc, as the stress of knowing her role in the nanite plague caused Velma to push Shaggy away. And when the Nanite King offers to let her survive when his army destroys the remaining 5000 humans left in the world, she considers accepting his offer, if only as a peach offering to let the others live.
It doesn’t work out that way, though Velma and Fred do discover a way to take out the antagonist nanite monsters to give everyone a (relatively) happy ending. Well, everyone but Daphne, who manages to lose Fred for the second time.
I’m going to miss this series now that it’s completed. It honestly could have continued for a while longer, as a cartoonish homage to The Walking Dead. But I understand ending it at the three year mark. SCOOBY APOCALYPSE was a fun book all the way through, and I’d hate to see it become a shell of what it was at the start.