“Gotham’s Got Talent”
Writer: Amanda Deibert
Artist: Dario Brizuela
Color Artist: Franco Riesco
Letterer: Saida Temofonte
Review by Lauren Fiske
Ta-da! The Batman & Scooby-Doo Mysteries #2.7 has come back with a whole bunch of new talent! Well, maybe not new talent, but Mystery Inc. does get to show off some of their gifts in a whole new way. Bruce Wayne appears as an esteemed judge and Batman helps protect the show’s competitors as they disappear one by one. Overall, it’s the usual hijinks with a twist.
You can read all previous reviews of The Batman & Scooby-Doo Mysteries here!
Talent Show Go
It turns out that Daphne’s self defense skills are not only useful and effective, but impressive! It’s neat to see how far Daphne’s character has come and how she’s not just the pretty girl of Mystery Inc. Her martial arts skills turn out to be so spectacular that the head judge of “Gotham’s Got Talent” wants to take her with them on tour. Whaaaat? It’s fascinating to try and picture any of the Mystery Gang splitting off to do their own solo thing, at least in comic form (anyone else remember the movie from 2002?).
Velma and Shaggy both express some discomfort with the idea of Daphne leaving. Obviously, the gang stays intact, but the talent show does turn out to be a successful showcase for at least one of our heroes!
Meanwhile, it’s entertaining to watch poor Batman/Bruce Wayne have to flit about so much. Our hero’s used to keeping his identity secret and probably performs as many quick changes as most Broadway leads, but it’s never seemed so back to back before. Bruce genuinely has a difficult time keeping up with his dual responsibilities in this issue, but, true to form, he never complains. The fact that the main guy trash talking his frequent disappearances is the Joker adds that last little bit of flavor to the overall Batman storyline this go around.
Speed
So, maybe I was imagining it or enjoying the issue or something, but this tale flew by. The storyline was very quick to reveal a conflict with little middle content and wrapped up neatly with next-to-no fanfare. There also just seemed to be fewer pages. Overall, I was just confused by how quickly I got through the issue. I’m a pretty fast reader, to be fair, but it was still surprising.
I’m not saying there’s anything wrong with a quick read comic, in fact I actually really appreciated that it wasn’t as bogged down with dialogue and backstory as previous chapters in the series. I cannot express enough how much I appreciated getting to read an issue that didn’t require extra research or too much stretching of the imagination. It just felt abrupt when it didn’t seem to last long. It’s also just disappointing to have such a short issue when it’s a fairly enjoyable concept and storyline.
Conclusion
This issue was fun! I actually really enjoyed The Batman & Scooby-Doo Mysteries #2.7, it just wasn’t long enough. A talent show, an appearance by Joker, and Batman/Bruce Wayne constantly having to swap roles all form part of a recipe for a good time. That time was just brief, so, sadly, I can’t rank this issue as highly as I would’ve liked.
What sort of talent do you think Bruce Wayne might have? Do you think any of the protagonists have more hidden talents? Let us know in the compliments!
Images Courtesy of DC Entertainment
