Legend of the Silver Scream is the first of two stories in Scooby-Doo #5 by DC Comics. It was followed by The Best Laid Plans...
Premise[]
When Fred's grandfather invites the gang to his monster movie festival, where he plans to premiere a never-before released classic monster film, the gang has another mystery on their hands when the movie is stolen and real monsters start appearing.
Synopsis[]
Mystery Inc. meets Fred's grandfather, Theodore, to visit his film festival, where he plans to screen his film Return of the Monster Hunter!, a classic lost film that has been unseen for decades. As the film is now priceless, Alphie Hitchplot (the film's director), Karlos Boroff (an actor), and Roy Horrorhausman (the special effects artist) all fight over the film, believing it is rightfully theirs. During the screening, however, they witness through the project's shadows a monster stealing the film from the projectionist. They run to the projection room to stop the thief.
The projectionist leads them outside the theatre where the thief ran. There, they find both Boroff and Hitchplot; Boroff left the theatre so he would not be framed for the theft, and Hitchplot followed Boroff because he suspected him. After locking the doors to prevent any suspects from leaving, Mystery Inc. splits into two groups to investigate. Velma, Daphne, and Fred return to the projection room to investigate the crime; Velma finds another film, but they are attacked by the monster, who chases them back to the auditorium.
Meanwhile, Shaggy and Scooby are tasked with guarding the concession area, but they are soon attacked by a second monster, a werewolf. The werewolf chases them towards Fred's group in the auditorium, and Daphne gets the idea to use the film to wrap around both monsters. Both monsters become tangled in the films.
The monsters turned out to be Horrorhausman and the projectionist. Even though Horrorhausman was in the seats when the monster first attacked, the projectionist faked the initial monster attack by adding the monster's silhouettes to the films. They hid the film in one the monster statues by the theatre entrance, wrapping the entire statue with bandages to refashion it into a mummy statue. After the culprits are handed over to authorities, Fred scares Shaggy using the silhouette films.
Characters[]
Main characters:
Supporting characters:
- Theodore Jones (first appearance)
- Alphie Hitchplot (only appearance)
- Karlos Boroff (only appearance)
Villains:
- Projectionist (only appearance)
- Roy Horrorhausman (only appearance)
- Movie Frankenstein (only appearance)(no lines)(Roy Horrorhausman's disguise)
- Movie Werewolf (only appearance)(no lines)(projectionist's disguise)
Other characters:
- Police officers (only appearance)(no lines)
Locations[]
- Movie theater
Objects[]
- Roy Horrorhausman's pipe
- Popcorn
- Movie reel
- Hot dog
- Hot dog bun
Vehicles[]
Suspects[]
| Suspect | Motive/reason |
|---|---|
| Alphie Hitchplot | He claimed the priceless movie reels of Return of the Monster Hunter because it was his creative genius behind the work. |
| Karlos Boroff | He felt he should have the reels, because his performances as the monster is what made Teddy Jones's films a success. |
| Roy Horrorhausman | He felt entitled to the reels because of his contributions to the film. |
Culprits[]
| Culprit | Motive/reason |
|---|---|
| Roy Horrorhausman as the Movie Frankenstein Projectionist as the Movie Werewolf |
To steal a valuable old film. |
Full credits[]
The following credits try to match how they are displayed in the comic as much as possible:
- Dan Slott - writer
- Joe Staton - pencils
- Andrew Pepoy - inks
- Ken Lopez - letterer
- Trish Mulvihill - colors
- Bronwyn Taggart - editor
- Special Thanks to: Mike Brisbois
Notes/trivia[]
- There is a rare instance of smoking from Roy Horrorhausman.
Miscellaneous[]
- Disguises: Shaggy and Scooby as concession sellers.
- "Ruh-roh" count: 2.
- "Zoinks" count: 2.
- "Jinkies" count: 1.
- "Jeepers" count: 0.
Cultural references[]
- The name "Alphie Hitchplot" parodies director Alfred Hitchcock.
- The name "Karlos Boroff" parodies monster-movie actor Boris Karloff.
- The name "Roy Horrorhausman" parodies special-effects expert Ray Harryhausen.
- Before the film starts, Cartoon Network's then current logo appears, with the letters in yellow and black squares, instead of white and black.
Coloring mistakes[]
- In the second panel of page 8, Shaggy has blue eyes.
Inconsistencies/continuity errors and/or goofs/oddities[]
- When the projectionist is unmasked, he looks nothing like he first did.
Reception[]
In Ray Tate's review for Comics Bulletin, he thought Dan Slott "breathes surprising life into that old formula", and that Joe Staton and Andrew Pepoy of the Simon and Ajax comic strip "enhance the clue finding with dead ringers of the gang, and caricatures of some of the famous involved in monster filmdom."[1]