Big Girls Don't Sneeze is the second and final story in Scooby-Doo #149, by DC Comics.
Premise
When Velma gets sick in the middle of a case, the rest must press on without her.
Synopsis
In an old bayou in Louisiana, a man who lives in a manor house calls a staff meeting and tells one of his servants, Niles, to contact the mechanic about his Rolls Royce, another servant Maizy to prepare for a late lunch with guests, and a third servant Roland to round up his dogs for breakfast. Roland goes out but the dogs are stampeding and barking loudly. He wonders why, and speculates that it's the neighbour's cat, only to find a large green creature. Some time later, Roland has drawn a picture of the monster and shown it to the gang, who doubt it's real. The owner of the manor says that he's never had problems before despite living there all his life, and when Fred asks if he can talk to the staff, he reveals that they've all quit. Velma, meanwhile, is coughing and sneezing and when Shaggy asks if she's okay, she replies that she is coming down with a cold or the flu. Daphne puts Velma to bed in the owner's (revealed to be Mr. Hollander) bedroom with his permission, but she is disappointed because she wants to help investigate and believes herself to be necessary. Fred asks Mr. Hollander if he is sure that all his employees have resigned and Mr. Hollander is, but admits that his ex-groundskeeper, who lives outside the property, might be around. So they leave to interrogate the ex-groundskeeper, leaving a sulky Velma in bed. The ex-groundskeeper reveals that when Mr. Hollander was a child, his brother would tell tall tales about a swamp monster. Velma walks in and starts asking questions, but they take her back to the mansion. Shaggy and Fred catch a glimpse of the monster, but it escapes. To prevent Velma from getting out of bed again, Daphne tells Shaggy and Scooby-Doo to guard the bedroom. Meanwhile, Velma, feeling useless, reads the books and finds a will and legal documents about the mansion. Shaggy and Scooby become bored and hungry, so they go to the kitchen and make giant hoagies, but the monster appears. Velma comes in and reveals the "monster" to actually be Mr. Hollander in costume, who dressed up to scare people away from his secret treasure he keeps in a second, flooded mansion.
Characters
Main characters:
Supporting characters:
- Roland (only appearance)
- Groundskeeper (only appearance)
Villains:
- Swamp monster (only appearance)(Mr. Hollander's disguise)
- Mr. Hollander (only appearance)
Other characters:
- Mechanic (only time mentioned)
- Niles (only appearance)(no lines)
- Maizy (only appearance)(no lines)
- Cook (only appearance)(no lines)
- Mr. Hollander's dogs (only appearance)(no lines)
- Mr. Hollander's mother (only time mentioned)
- Mr. Hollander's brother (only time mentioned)
Locations
- Old Louisiana Bayou
- Hollander Mansion
- Living room
- Bedroom
- Kitchen
- Groundskeeper's cabin
- Mr. Hollander's mother's flood-submerged second mansion
- Hollander Mansion
Objects
- TBA
Vehicles
- None
Suspects
| Suspect | Motive/reason |
|---|---|
| Groundskeeper | He was the only former employee who still lived outside of Mr. Hollander's property, and claimed to have seen plenty of strange things in the swamp for the sixty years that he was there. |
| Mr. Hollander | Velma found papers tucked away in an old book that were a will and legal documents about the mansion, which proved that he had something to hide. |
Culprits
| Culprit | Motive/reason |
|---|---|
| Mr. Hollander as the swamp monster | To scare people away from the swamp because that was where his treasure was hidden and he didn't want anyone else to find it first. That treasure was his mother's second mansion, submerged by a flood! |
Notes/trivia
- Velma was also put out by a cold in the What's New, Scooby-Doo? episode There's No Creature Like Snow Creature.
Reprints
- Scooby-Doo, Where Are You? #17 (January 2012).
Coloring mistakes
- None known.
Inconsistencies/continuity errors and/or goofs/oddities
- None known.
Quotes
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