Review: Scooby Doo Team-Up #37

Scooby Doo Team-Up #37 came out this week, guest starring Supergirl and Streaky. It is a near perfect book to give a Supergirl fan, both new and old. It is practically a primer for her Silver Age adventures with just a splash of Bronze Age thrown in for good measure. As such, for an old timer like me, I was absolutely tickled pink.

Not that I should be surprised by this. Sholly Fisch is writer here and Mr. Fisch has always been able to put together a good yarn. Whether it is all ages like this or the backup stories in the Grant Morrison Action Comics, he seems to grasp the core of characters and put things together in a nice package.

In particular, he must be a Supergirl fan given all he was able to stuff into this issue. Even with the presence of the Scooby Gang and their mandatory shenanigans, we still get major parts of Supergirl's classic history here. I mean it ... I was floored.

Dario Brizuela is on art and brings a nice consistent feel to the proceedings. His Supergirl is young and powerful. I would love a cartoon appearance with this look.

But honestly, if you have a Supergirl fan of any age and you want to show them what the Silver Age for Supergirl was like, buy them this book.

I rarely include a whole page but this was available as a preview so I don't mind sharing it.

But smack dab, right there, on page one, we know we are in a Silver Age state of mind.

Supergirl lives in Midvale.
She rocketed from a domed Argo City.
And she has been adopted by the Danvers.

So that is all Silver Age.

But it is a Scooby mystery.

Supergirl seems to be haunted by the ghosts of those who died on Argo.

Right there in the Danvers house, everyone sees Argo City and spirits. Even Zor-El and Alura are there!

Now all old school Supergirl fans should have got a sense of the villain based only on the title ... "Nasty Tricks".

There is only one of Supergirl's rogues that this could have named.

Supergirl even has a super-powered pet in Streaky. He is a tomcat. And he is powered by X-Kryptonite stuck in a ball of yarn.

That is pure Silver Age ripped right from Action Comics #261. Unreal.

Now Scooby, exposed to the X-Kryptonite, gets super-powers as well.

So Scooby and Streaky, both sassy and ... of course ... being a dog and a cat ... go straight to fighting.

In a wonderful meta-moment, Daphne tell the two to cool it.

After all, it is common in comics for two heroes to fight and then team up.

She literally says that is what happens. Streaky says it is a rule.

I love this panel.

Things get even scarier.

Now the ghosts include images of Supergirl, in the arms of her father.

And, of course, it is in the classic Crisis #7 cover pose.

In the middle of all the Silver-y goodness, just a hint of bronze.

I have come to almost half-smile whenever I see a COIE #7 homage. Wonderful.

It turns out that the ghost images are being projected from a machine tacked to Supergirl's cape. Using her abilities, Supergirl seems to be able to pinpoint the signal and flies off.

With her gone, the real villain of the piece strolls in. It's Nasty Luthor. But we knew that from the title, right??

She was out to prove Linda Danvers was Supergirl (like she did throughout the Adventure Comics run) and with her signal pinpointed to the Danvers house she knows who Supergirl really is ....

It's Daphne!!!

Ha! Never underestimate the ability of a Luthor to miss the mark!

To prove that Daphne is Supergirl, Nasty pulls out a gun and fires at the redhead. Luckily, Streaky and the super-powered Scooby block the bullets.

Then Linda, complete with Campus Cuddle Bun hairstyle, joins them in the back yard. The only reason for Streaky to be at the Danvers is if Linda is Supergirl.

But the smart pets have flown off and use the Supergirl welcome sign from page one as a decoy.

Now Nasty is really confused.

It only gets more murky when the rest of the gang begin floating and in an 'I am Spartacus' moment begin flying and saying they are Supergirl. Confused, Nasty runs off.

The gang all used X-Kryptonite to temporarily get powers to trick Nasty, a decent feint from the gang.

And to think, Nasty would have finally learned who Supergirl was if it wasn't for those meddling kids!

Now you would think all this would be enough to make me happy but Fisch throws in one more moment.

As Supergirl thanks the gang, she says that while she loves the Danvers she still misses her super-parents.

And now we see that they are there in spirit watching over her. Maybe one day they can tell her how proud they are of her. This isn't a haunting ...

That's because long time readers know that in the Silver Age, Zor-El and Alura went into the Survival Zone, a sort of Phantom Zone, to escape the destruction of Krypton. Eventually they are freed and reunited with their daughter.

Perhaps Fisch has a sequel already in mind in which the gang help Kara from more apparitions, this time her actual parents!

Argo, Midvale, Streaky, X-Kryptonite, the Danvers, Nasty Luthor, Zor and Alura in the Survival Zone? This has everything from the Silver Age except Comet and a Stanhope mention.

Add to that a little Crisis splash and you have one super-comic for Kara fans. Amazing since their isn't another active Supergirl book right now.

As always, thank you to Sholly Fisch for giving us such a Supergirl treat at our moment of greatest need.

Overall grade: A+