The Scooby Doo franchise was no stranger to comic book settings prior to "The Schnook Who Took My Comic Book". There were also 'Scooby Doo and Scrappy Doo's' "The Scarab Lives" and 'The 13 Ghosts of Scooby Doo's' "Scooby in Kwackyland". Both still very enjoyable episodes, with the edge for the better episode going to the former for the much better villain. Considering the primary target audience for 'A Pup Named Scooby Doo', a comic book-centric setting was a perfect one for a mystery.
Despite its issues and that some episodes and villains are better than others, this reviewer has always liked 'A Pup Named Scooby Doo' better than most. And on rewatch, "The Schnook Who Took My Comic Book" was much better than remembered. Wasn't all that grabbed by the mystery on first watch years ago, but it is different now. What was one of the more forgettable early 'A Pup Named Scooby Doo' episodes on first watch turned out on rewatch to be one of the show's best episodes.
Fred is still annoying (surprise, surprise!), have never found his conspiracy theories funny and instead beyond dumb and same goes for his baseless and rash conclusion jumping. They are not as bad here compared to most episodes of the show, but they are still there.
While liking the solution on the whole, the perpetrator is a very obvious one in a case with only two real suspects. Partly because Charlie Adler, a great voice actor and who does do fine here, voices both the monster and the culprit and in two voices that are rather too distinctive from using the same or similar voices in other roles (especially for the culprit, which is one of his most used voices). And also because of the accidental slip up of the culprit as observed in the reveal.
Actually still did find the reveal very well done in spite of that. Not just the summing up of the suspects and the clues and the fourth wall breaking that had an interactive viewer feeling included feel. Standing out even more is the motive, that was a real surprise and had completely forgotten how creative and different for the franchise it is. Not to mention that it is a much more mature motive than most from the show. Loved the villain Dr Croaker, who was creepy, creatively designed and cool.
Loved also the comic book setting, which was very nostalgic and will hit home for anybody who grew up reading comics and/or has comic book collecting as a hobby (had plenty of friends like that in school and the episode captures the essence very authentically). Shaggy and Scooby delight as usual, and loved that they played bigger roles in the mystery and that they were more determined than usual in a personal situation for them rather than them being the scaredy cat kind of characters. Daphne and Velma are fine, though not as frequently utilised. Red Herring is the bully character that also amuses, what happens to him at the end did make me laugh but somewhat guiltily.
The animation is bright and colourful, especially loved it for the character design of Dr Croaker and for the wacky facial expressions and reactions. The music is very catchy, with the theme tune being the most memorable and fun one of the 80s Scooby Doo incarnations. John Debney always delivered on providing music that made one sing along and toe tap and that is the case with the songs featured.
The writing didn't come over as childish, apart from with Fred, actually thought it was quite clever and witty and actually liked its increased broadness and goofiness. The humour is at its best though when it's more self-aware, seen in the fourth wall breaking with the clue finding and the summings up in the reveal. The mystery is lively and wacky, personally didn't think it was too baby-ish even with it being more geared towards younger viewers with the gang as kids. Actually, this is one of the mysteries that would have worked equally as well in the earlier incarnations. The voice acting is fine.
Concluding, very good. 8/10.
Despite its issues and that some episodes and villains are better than others, this reviewer has always liked 'A Pup Named Scooby Doo' better than most. And on rewatch, "The Schnook Who Took My Comic Book" was much better than remembered. Wasn't all that grabbed by the mystery on first watch years ago, but it is different now. What was one of the more forgettable early 'A Pup Named Scooby Doo' episodes on first watch turned out on rewatch to be one of the show's best episodes.
Fred is still annoying (surprise, surprise!), have never found his conspiracy theories funny and instead beyond dumb and same goes for his baseless and rash conclusion jumping. They are not as bad here compared to most episodes of the show, but they are still there.
While liking the solution on the whole, the perpetrator is a very obvious one in a case with only two real suspects. Partly because Charlie Adler, a great voice actor and who does do fine here, voices both the monster and the culprit and in two voices that are rather too distinctive from using the same or similar voices in other roles (especially for the culprit, which is one of his most used voices). And also because of the accidental slip up of the culprit as observed in the reveal.
Actually still did find the reveal very well done in spite of that. Not just the summing up of the suspects and the clues and the fourth wall breaking that had an interactive viewer feeling included feel. Standing out even more is the motive, that was a real surprise and had completely forgotten how creative and different for the franchise it is. Not to mention that it is a much more mature motive than most from the show. Loved the villain Dr Croaker, who was creepy, creatively designed and cool.
Loved also the comic book setting, which was very nostalgic and will hit home for anybody who grew up reading comics and/or has comic book collecting as a hobby (had plenty of friends like that in school and the episode captures the essence very authentically). Shaggy and Scooby delight as usual, and loved that they played bigger roles in the mystery and that they were more determined than usual in a personal situation for them rather than them being the scaredy cat kind of characters. Daphne and Velma are fine, though not as frequently utilised. Red Herring is the bully character that also amuses, what happens to him at the end did make me laugh but somewhat guiltily.
The animation is bright and colourful, especially loved it for the character design of Dr Croaker and for the wacky facial expressions and reactions. The music is very catchy, with the theme tune being the most memorable and fun one of the 80s Scooby Doo incarnations. John Debney always delivered on providing music that made one sing along and toe tap and that is the case with the songs featured.
The writing didn't come over as childish, apart from with Fred, actually thought it was quite clever and witty and actually liked its increased broadness and goofiness. The humour is at its best though when it's more self-aware, seen in the fourth wall breaking with the clue finding and the summings up in the reveal. The mystery is lively and wacky, personally didn't think it was too baby-ish even with it being more geared towards younger viewers with the gang as kids. Actually, this is one of the mysteries that would have worked equally as well in the earlier incarnations. The voice acting is fine.
Concluding, very good. 8/10.
