History is History is a story in Scooby-Doo #129, by DC Comics.
Premise[]
Mystery Inc. helps their former history teacher stop the ghost of John Wilkes Booth from terrorizing her home.
Synopsis[]
Emily Cook, a Coolsville High School history teacher, prepares an exam for her class, but as her husband leaves the room, the ghost of John Wilkes Booth appears, condemning the way she villifies him in her lessons. Later, Mystery Inc. visits Cook in her classroom at the school they recently graduated from, where Cook invites them to her house that night for dinner. She reveals the ghost is attacking her and how she has tried to trick the ghost with false historical information, but the ghost would spot the trick and correct her immediately. She also mentions the ghost would appear when her husband goes out for walks.
Once Mr. Cook leaves, Mystery Inc. looks for clues but immediately encounters the ghost, though Daphne notes his strange behaviour and calls him a "ham" actor. Scooby, mistaking the term for literal ham, attacks the ghost, biting off a piece of his cape. Velma notes the button on his cape and collects it as a clue. The ghost, realizing Mystery Inc. is starting to see through his facade, attempts to escape, but Mr. Cook walks him, accidentally hitting the ghost with the door. The ghost falls to the ground, incapacitated, and Velma removes his fake mustache.
The culprit is revealed to be one of Cook's students, Robert Mitchell, who worked with his classmate, Taylor. Afraid the fail the exam, they used the disguise to scare her, hoping to pressure her into cancelling the exam. Mitchell had been skipping classes the entire week because he could not wash off the glowing dye from his skin, and his costume used a plastic button which did not exist in Booth's time. Cook laments that with the knowledge they displayed posing as the ghost, they could have passed the exam, but nevertheless gives them a week of detention and assigns them a paper on John Wilkes Booth.
Characters[]
Main characters:
Supporting characters:
- Emily Cook (only appearance)
- Walter Cook (only appearance)
Villains:
- Ghost of John Wilkes Booth (only appearance)(Robert Mitchell's disguise)
- Taylor (only appearance)(redeemed)
- Robert Mitchell (only appearance)(redeemed)
Other characters:
- Students (only appearance)(no lines)
Locations[]
- Coolsville
- Emily Cook's home
- Coolsville High School
- Emily Cook's history class
- Hallway
Objects[]
- Books
Vehicles[]
- None
Suspects[]
| Suspect | Motive/reason |
|---|---|
| Walter Cook | The ghost seemed to only appear when he was out on one of his walks or after he had gone up to bed. |
Culprits[]
| Culprit | Motive/reason |
|---|---|
| Robert Mitchell as the Ghost of John Wilkes Booth Taylor |
They were sure they wouldn't pass the exam so they tried to scare Mrs. Cook out of giving it to them. |
Notes/trivia[]
- TBA
Reprints[]
- Scooby-Doo, Where Are You? #24 (August 2012).
- Scooby-Doo, Where Are You? #61 (September 2015).
Coloring mistakes[]
- None known.
Inconsistencies/continuity errors and/or goofs/oddities[]
- None known.
Reception[]
Ray Tate of Line of Fire Reviews said, "John Rozum informs the reader about the life of John Wilkes Boothe. He plausibly connects the Gang to the professor and cleverly throws in a metafictional joke involving their eternal youth. Rozum trips up our ghost with a perfect clue requiring the Gang's acumen. He also gives Scoob and his friends depth that pertains to their behavior outside of the trappings of the mystery. This is something I have always liked about Rozum's take on Mystery Inc. He imagines their life beyond that of unmasking fake ghosts. Artists Roberto Barrios Angelelli and Horacio Ottolini mesh well to forge a spooky drama. They impressed so much that I almost thought Joe Staton had returned to the book."[1]
References[]
- ↑ Ray Tate in Line of Fire Reviews