Ghouls Night at the Opera is a story in Scooby-Doo #128, by DC Comics.
Premise[]
Mystery Inc. are called to a Seattle theatre for a punk rock musical, where a ghoul is trying to cancel the show.
Synopsis[]
Mystery Inc. visits the Seattle opera house, called to investigate a mystery by the show's director, Eduardo Formanini. All the actors except the lead girl, Amara Aria, had seen a mysterious ghoul on the catwalk. They immediately begin investigating.
Fred and Velma search the dressing room of the male lead, where they find the ghoul's costume and makeup inside. Meanwhile, Daphne, Scooby and Shaggy meet with the other cast members, including the male lead, Rudy Fortissimo, who Aria claims stole the role from her fiancee. They encounter the ghoul who chases them away, but they later meet with Aria in the makeup room, where she explains that her fiancee, Devon Barton, auditioned, but the role was wrongfully given to Fortissimo.
As the two groups reunite, they eliminate Fortissimo as a suspect, as he was seen with the ghoul. However, they begin to suspect Aria, who may have sabotaged the show as revenge for cutting Barton out of the show. Before they could finish the investigation, Formanini starts the show, so Mystery Inc. pauses the investigation, planning to question her when she goes offstage. However, the ghoul interrupts the performance, swinging down from the catwalk and revealing himself to the entire audience.
The ghoul reveals himself to be Barton, who wanted to expose Fortissimo in front of the entire crowd for stealing his role. He worked with Aria to access the stage so he could appear in front of the audience. As he performs his confession to the audience, the audience applauds, but Fortissimo demands Barton and Aria be arrested for their actions. However, Formanini, enjoying the ghoul's performance, decides to replace Fortissimo instead. One week later, he invites Mystery Inc. to the show's reopening, where Barton takes the lead role and Fortissimo is made a janitor.
Characters[]
Main characters:
Supporting characters:
- Eduardo Formanini (only appearance)
- Rudy Fortissimo (only appearance)
Villains:
- Opera Ghoul (only appearance)(Devon Barton's disguise)
- Amara Aria (only appearance)(redeemed)
- Devon Barton (only appearance)(redeemed)
Other characters:
- Miscellaneous punk opera singers (only appearance)(miscellaneous speaking)
Locations[]
- Seattle Opera House
- Auditorium
- Rudy Fortissimo's dressing room
- Backstage wings
- Amara Aria's dressing room
Objects[]
- Wigs
Vehicles[]
Suspects[]
| Suspect | Motive/reason |
|---|---|
| Rudy Fortissimo | Unpleasant attitude. |
| Amara Aria | Upset that Rudy stole the lead role from her fiancé. |
Culprits[]
| Culprit | Motive/reason |
|---|---|
| Devon Barton as the Opera Ghoul Amara Aria, helped him hide his costume in her dressing room |
To ensure that Devon get back the lead role. |
Notes/trivia[]
- This words in this comic are meant to be in song.
Miscellaneous[]
- Disguises: None.
- Traps: None.
- Clues: The ghoul's makeup and wig.
Reprints[]
- Scooby-Doo, Where Are You? #20 (April 2012).
- Scooby-Doo, Where Are You? #43 (March 2014).
Coloring mistakes[]
- None known.
Inconsistencies/continuity errors and/or goofs/oddities[]
- Velma recognizes a black wig and green makeup as belonging to the ghoul, but she had not seen the ghoul yet and would not know what it looked like.
- Although Fortissimo is portrayed as the villain, he is not guilty of any true wrongdoing. Also, Barton is redeemed, even though he committed a crime (terrorize the opera) for a selfish cause (for a role he personally felt entitled to).
Reception[]
Ray Tate of Line of Fire Reviews said, "In the first, the Gang go to a punk rock musical to investigate a haunting. Vito Delsante and Mick Purpura turn the story into a musical. Not an easy thing to do when the comic book is actually a mute object. The writers create melody in the dialogue and include refrains leading to the numbers.
As to the mystery, Delsante and Purpura give the readers plenty of suspects, and hide the culprit well enough. The ghoul reveals himself in the denouement, and they add a novel twist to the typical curse spat by all the frauds the gang have uncovered.
Tim Levins and Dan Davis dramatize Mystery Inc. in a boisterous form that suits the subject matter. They also create some imaginative designs for the punk players of the opera, and the on model Shaggy, Scooby, Fred, Daphne and Velma investigate fully dressed sets that help sell the cadence."[1]
References[]
- ↑ Ray Tate in Line of Fire Reviews