Out of Sight... Out of MindScooby Apocalypse #5
"The Siege!"
Origination - Keith Giffen
Extrapolation - J.M. DeMatteis
Delineation - Howard Porter
Augmentation - Hi-Fi
Communication - Nick Napolitano
Accommodation - Brittany Holzherr
Organization - Marie Javins
Inspiration - Jim Lee
Release Date: 09.14.2016
Cover Price: $3.99
Hmm... something's telling me this isn't going to wrap up neat and tidy in six-issues. This is both refreshing and worrying. Refreshing in that I appreciate any books breaking the "done in six" formula... worrying in that I'm not sure how much longer they can stretch this story. I fear the filler.
Is this a "filler" issue... let's find out together.
This issue featured lots of fighting, fleeing, and fortifying... but not a whole lot else.
Last month I spoke about how I was actually beginning to enjoy this book. The characters were starting to get along, and we were breaking through the spoo, as it were. Daphne and Velma had their moment, where it seemed as though they... while not becoming fast friends, were going to be civil to one another. Almost as though they realized they had been projecting a lot onto one another. This issue? We're back to having them fight the entire time.
There was some decent character work done with the fellas. Fred and Shaggy are a breath of fresh air whenever they are on panel. They're just a couple of dudes in a tough situation, and they're trying to make the best of it... and hopefully survive. They aren't playing the blame-game like the others, and seem to understand the potential strength in unity. Scooby is still fun to watch, however, if I'm being honest... I can do without him biting the throat out of a baddie... even if it is rendered quite well by Mr. Porter.
As for the "meat and cheese" of the issue? There's not really a whole lot to be said. The gang is under attack... they barricade the doors, hide... fight... and hide again... and Fred is almost eaten by a schoolgirl monster. As I was reading this I flipped back to the cover and saw it was issue #5... and I gotta say, this feels like an "issue #5"... as in "Part 5 of 6"... as in, we need to fill an issue, so we can fill a trade paperback, ya follow?
As I drew nearer to the end it became clear that this ain't all getting wrapped up in six-issues. We still haven't found out who or what "The Four" are, and we've still got Scrappy-dappy-doo out there... somewhere... and yet, this feels like trade-filler. I suppose that's not to say that there won't be a trade of the first six-issues... but still...
We do get a new piece of information... these particular baddies work on sort of an "out of sight, out of mind" basis. They will only seek out victims if they know they are there... however, if you are silent... they'll forget they were ever tracking you... and better still, will turn on each other to satiate their violent urges. This resulted in several (thankfully) silent pages... which were the only pages in the book in which Velma and Daphne weren't horrid.
I really feel bad not digging this, as it's among the very few things Giffen and DeMatteis have done that I dislike... especially with my optimism following last month's issue. Overall, I gotta say my favorite part of this book is the art. Howard Porter, as we have become accustomed, knocks it out of the park here... everything looks amazing, only made better by Hi-Fi's amazing color work.
Bits and Pieces:
While the art and colors continue to deliver... the story feels like something of a step backwards. It appeared as though we were nearing a breakthrough where the characters would gel and be cool to one another... instead, we're back to bickering. There wasn't a whole lot to move the story forward here, instead much of this issue came across as padding.
6.7 / 10
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