What Mask Of The Blue Falcon should have been.
Scooby-Doo Team-Up #38
DC Comics (July, 2018)
“It Was A Dark And Gritty Knight…”
WRITER: Sholly Fisch
PENCILER: Walter Carzon
INKER: Horacio Ottolini
COLORIST: Silvana Brys
LETTERER: Saida Temofonte
EDITOR: Kristy Quinn
When Blue Falcon goes all grim and gritty Dynomutt is sure he’s possessed and thus calls his old friends at Mystery, Inc. As they try to figure out what’s happened to the hero they have to rescue Mister Hyde from his rampage, but end up getting captured themselves. Taken to the Falcon’s new lair they find the old Falcon. This was really a plot by Manyfaces to ruin Blue Falcon’s reputation, but this being a 2000s comic during the reign of DiDio he actually gains new fans. The gang helps capture the villain and his pals, putting the real Blue Falcon and Dog Wonder back together. I’m not sure which is worse for Big City.
What they got right: I wasn’t kidding about this being what the Mask Of The Blue Falcon movie should have been, Mystery Inc teaming up once again with Blue Falcon and Dynomutt. What it lacks in mystery it makes up for in having them join up again and being a decent story. There are nods to the Dynomutt: Dog Wonder villains, jokes about Blue Falcon’s similarities to Batman (even a dedication to Adam West, whose portrayal was partly responsible for Blue Falcon’s design and characterization), and nods to the current style of superhero.
What they got wrong: I get what they’re going for by having “gritty BF” using dialog boxes even when talking to people but it just seems dumb to me, even when they try to explain it as his lips not moving (you’d think Manyfaces would design a better mask).
What I think overall: Not a great story but a decent one, if only to see them get the relationship between the two groups right, unlike the aforementioned direct-to-video movie and the theatrical Scoob! film.
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