Are We Scared Yet?

Are We Scared Yet?
Description
Publisher	DC Comics
Date published	November 18, 1998
Part of	Scooby-Doo #18
# of pages	10
Writer	Chris Duffy
Penciler	Manny Galàn
Inker	Mike DeCarlo
Colorer	Paul Becton
Letterer	John Costanza
Editor	Dana Kurtin
Chronology
Previous story	The Ghost of Christmas Presents
Next story	Sound Stage Spook

Are We Scared Yet? is the first of two stories in Scooby-Doo #18, by DC Comics. It was followed by Sound Stage Spook.

Premise

Shaggy, Velma, and Scooby-Doo are driving to meet the others. While Velma naps, a frightening gremlin menaces Shaggy.

Synopsis

Shaggy, Velma, and Scooby travels along Route 1313 to reach a ferry, but as Velma sleeps, a gremlin leaps on the windshield of the Mystery Machine, frightening Shaggy and Scooby. After passing through a toll booth, they continue to travel on the road, but the gremlin reappears, climbing on the side of the vehicle, but hits a construction sign. As they stop at a nearby gas station to replace food lost in the attack, Velma finds a Texas-shaped magnet on the side of the car. When they enter, they meet the owner of the gas station, Zeke, and the owner of a nearby souvenir shop, Marty. Marty searches for snacks but fails to find any.

Shaggy, Velma, and Scooby return to the road without snacks, with Velma sleeping again, but encounter the gremlin again, this time chasing them driving his own car. Scooby starts driving the Mystery Machine, but swerving out of the way of an oncoming truck. However, the gremlin does not see the truck and crashes, incapacitated but unharmed as the truck was full of Scooby Snacks.

The gremlin is revealed to be Marty, and the toll booth officer identifies himself as Officer Tollin, an undercover police officer pursuing the gremlin. Angry at the traffic on Route 1313, Marty used the gremlin disguise to attack vehicles on the road, using magnets from the store to climb onto vehicles. As Tollin arrests Marty, Shaggy and Scooby return to the road, but when they arrive at the ferry, Velma suddenly wakes up with realization, solving the crime with other clues she noticed.

Characters

Main characters:

• Mystery Inc.
  • Scooby-Doo
  • Shaggy Rogers
  • Velma Dinkley

Supporting characters:

• Officer Tollin ^{(only appearance)}
• Zeke ^{(only appearance)}

Villains:

• Gremlin ^{(only appearance)(Marty's disguise)}
• Marty ^{(only appearance)}

Other characters:

• Fred Jones ^{(no lines)(cameo)}
• Daphne Blake ^{(no lines)(cameo)}

Locations

• Route 1313
  • Tollbooth
  • Zeke's Quik Stop
  • Marty's souvenir shop

Objects

• Scented candles

Vehicles

• Mystery Machine
• Truck
• Terror Island Ferry

Suspects

Suspect	Motive/reason
Officer Tollin	Creepy appearance.
Zeke	He was one of the only two businessmen left on the road.
Marty	He was one of the only two businessmen left on the road.

Culprits

Culprit	Motive/reason
Marty as the Gremlin	He was sick of all the traffic on the road.

Notes/Trivia

• The title sounds like "Are we there, yet?," a typical expression of impatience on long trips.

Miscellaneous

• Disguises: None.
• Traps: None.
• Clues: A Texas-shaped magnet, the gremlin's "BEWARE" sign, and red paint on Marty's hands.

Cultural references

• A gremlin clinging to the outside of a vehicle suggests the famous Twilight Zone episode Nightmare at 20,000 Feet.

Reprints

• Scooby-Doo, Where Are You? #3 (January 2011).

Coloring mistakes

• In one panel in his souvenir shop, Marty has blond hair, but in other panels, he has brown hair.

Inconsistencies/continuity errors and/or goofs/oddities

• None known.

Reception

Ray Tate of Comics Bulletin's Line of Fire Reviews thought the mystery was "too obvious" even by classic Scooby-Doo standards, and the running gag of sleeping Velma "gets old really fast."