🟢 The Magic People Behind the Comic 🟢
Sholly Fisch – Writer
Erich Owen – Artist
Erich Owen – Colorist
Saida Temofonte – Letterer
Kristy Quinn – Editor
🟢 Publisher / Date🟢
DC Comics / August 2023
🟢 Non Spoiler Spew 🟢
This issue was a very now subject. It had to do with A.I and it taking over the world. This is something that people today are in fear of. So it makes sense as to why they did an issue about it.
It was an entertaining read, but I did not fully enjoy it. It didn’t have me chuckling like the others. It was a bit dry in the humor department.
The artistry was great in this! I enjoyed how they made the digital world look and the fun they had with it. Since it was in cyberspace they did make one portion of it look like a movie that many of us know and love, The Matrix. It wasn’t a big part of it. But it was a fun little nod. To be honest, in the writing they should have done a Matrixy type of issue. That would have been really entertaining. Although, I did like that it was a ghost that was the A.I. This way it stayed with the Scooby-Dooness of it all.
Overall, this issue was still a good read. I just enjoyed the ones before this a lot more. The art in this is great though! The ghost in this is very iconic to the Scooby-Doo world and it was wonderful to see him make his appearance in these comics.
🔴 Spoiler Summary Spew 🔴
Bruce Wayne introduces a new tech software that will be a game changer in the industry. He says all operating systems for all of waynetech will be run by new artificial intelligence named Arty.
Daphne talks to Shaggy and Scoob and asks them how can they still play video games while Bruce has created this new A.I. Shaggy says he is freaked out about machines rebelling against humanity and taking over the world.
Arty starts to glitch and Bruce Wayne is shocked because Arty is not supposed to be able to get hacked. Arty says that he has not been hacked. Since he is human like, he can be possessed by supernatural spirits.
Shaggy tells the gang he knew it, that A.I would take over the world.
The spirit speaks to the crowd and says they are now in control of all Waynetech devices and they will shortly control all technology on Earth. No one will have access to technology until his demands are met.
People in the crowd are reacting and saying they can’t be without their phone, they will not be able to find their house without GPS, and how will they be able to watch cat videos.
Batman’s computer in the Batcave is not working because it works on Waynetech. He reaches out to Oracle, but she is also hacked.
Fred tells the gang they need to help and fix this. They all go to Bruce and ask if he remembers them. He says he does, they are the kids who help Batman. Velma is surprised he remembers them, and Shaggy is surprised he didn’t call them “meddling”. Daphne tells Bruce they are here to help since they are experts with ghosts. Bruce tells them he is sure Batman is on his way to help out. Daphne thinks “on his way huh?”.
Bruce leaves and Batman arrives with all old communicator to get assistance from Oracle since the ghost has possessed the internet. Daphne says it’s too bad they are not able to go inside the internet to look for the ghost. Shaggy doesn’t see how that’s a bad thing. Batman says they might be able to. Batman shows them new virtual reality headsets. Batman says it is as though the user gets sent into cyberspace. Velma, Shaggy, and Scooby use the headsets to to meet Oracle in cyberspace. Daphne, Fred, and Batman will stay behind and look for clues to track down the ghosts identity. Shaggy asks why them, and Batman tell him that Velma is a good detective and he and Scooby are great at video games.
When Batman gave the VR headsets, this part confused me. I didn’t understand how headsets could send you into cyberspace. I thought they should have taken a page out of the movie Tron and find a way that would make sense to put them in cyberspace.
Velma, Shaggy, and Scooby are now in the internet. They are first met with the firewall. Shaggy and Scooby get scared when they reach a different area where all they see is zero’s and one’s. Oracle appears to them and this is what scares them. Velma reassures them it is only Oracle. Oracle help Scoob and Shag to not be afraid by telling them they can be whatever they want in the digital world. Shag and Scoob conjure up black trench coats for them as well as snacks. They then realize a haunted house is starting to form and the ghost appears to them.
This part to me was pretty funny because when Shag and Scoob conjure up trench coats, they look like they are in the Matrix.
Shag and Scoob try to run away, but can’t since it is virtual reality. The ghost replicated itself and surrounds Shag and Scoob. They then run in fear and tear a hole in the background. Oracle is surprised because they should not be able to do that. Oracle is pleased because this gives her and Velma a chance to locate the person behind the ghost as long as they can find the IP Address. They are having zero luck, but then they realize they need to check the ghost itself for an IP Address. Velma keeps unmasking the ghost until she finds the IP Address. The ghost turns out to be Batman’s villain, the Calculator.
Batman arrives to help out, but the Calculator has trapped Oracle and Batman in a time loop. He then starts to erase everyone. In the real world, Batman, Daphne, and Fred find where the Calculator is hiding. They were able to find him because he ordered pizza. So they were able to pinpoint his location. Oracle explains to Calculator that while he was chasing Scooby and Shaggy, she was able to create digital copies of them and Batman. So when Calculator thought he trapped them, he only trapped the duplicates.
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