Sound Stage Spook is the second and final story in Scooby-Doo #18, by DC Comics. It was preceded by Are We Scared Yet?
Premise[]
Theodore Jones, grandfather of Fred, requires the gang's assistance again. This time, a ghost is haunting the sound stage of his new giant crab movie, Bisque, Horror From the Deep.
Synopsis[]
Mystery Inc. visits Fred's grandfather, Theodore, at a sound stage for his new film, but they see the production crew running away after witnessing a ghost. According to Tom Burden, the director of Theodore's film, the ghost is that of Clayton Lonney, a silent movie actor who previously used the sound stage. Burden also explains he is making a horror movie about a crab called Bisque, Horror From the Deep, but his rival, Lucas Spiegel, is directing a similar movie, Claws.
As the screening begins, Mystery Inc. takes their seats in the theatre to watch the film. However, during the movie, Lonney's ghost appears in a puff of smoke, but Velma quickly notices it is merely a projection. They return to the sound stage to investigate, meeting makeup artist Tim Sevine and actor Nick. Nick refuses to wear the makeup scar as he thought it was unattractive, to which Sevine says Lonney would be disgusted by actors like him.
Suddenly, the ghost on the catwalk above makes a stage light fall, narrowly missing Mystery Inc. As Mystery Inc. chases him through the catwalk, Velma notices the ghost's footprints, noting the shoe used to make the prints were released after Lonney's death. Fred operates the giant crab puppet to attack the ghost, startling Shaggy and Scooby. As they collide with the ghost, the ghost falls off the catwalk and into a stack of tires, where he is trapped.
The ghost is revealed to be Spiegel, who wanted to sabotage the production of Burden's movie to promote his own. He used special effects to fake the first attack, including smoke and the ghost projection. As he is handed to authorities, Theodore thanks Mystery Inc. for their help and Burden thinks of a new film idea based on the attacks, naming it Sound Stage Spook.
Characters[]
Main characters:
Supporting characters:
- Theodore Jones (final appearance)
- Tom Burden (first appearance)
- Tim Sevine (first appearance)
- Nick (only appearance)
Villains:
- Ghost of Clayton Lonney (only appearance)(no lines)(Lucas Spiegel's disguise)
- Lucas Spiegel (only appearance)
Other characters:
- Actors (only appearance)(miscellaneous speaking)
- Clayton Lonney (mentioned)(deceased)
Locations[]
Objects[]
- Speaker
- Crab puppet
Vehicles[]
- None
Suspects[]
| Suspect | Motive/reason |
|---|---|
| Tim Sevine | He said Clayton Lonney would be disgusted with actors today. |
| Nick | He was unhappy with the large fake scar he had to wear to play the race car villain. |
Culprits[]
| Culprit | Motive/reason |
|---|---|
| Lucas Spiegel as the Ghost of Clayton Lonney | To mess up his rival's movie, so that his movie would reach theaters first. |
Continuity[]
- Theodore Jones previously appeared in Legend of the Silver Scream.
Notes/trivia[]
Miscellaneous[]
- Disguises: None.
- Traps: None.
- Clues: A ghost projection and footprints.
Cultural references[]
- In the beginning, Shaggy gets directions from Zandor of the Herculoids, while Igoo looks on (as an unmasked actor).
- Clayton Lonney seems to be an reference to Lon Chaney, a famous horror movie actor.
- Lucas Spiegel's name is a play on filmmakers George Lucas and Steven Spielberg, and also resembles the former, somewhat.
- Claws is a parody of the film Jaws, directed by Spielberg.
- Cartoon Network Studios is a real animation studio, which produces content for its own channel, Cartoon Network. It was originally a subsidiary of Hanna-Barbera, but after H-B was folded into Warner Bros. Animation, Cartoon Network Studios branched off as a separate facility from Warner.
- Tom Burden, the director, and Tim Sevine, the makeup artist, are recurring characters of John Rozum that he has used in several other stories, but he says "they didn't always look the same."[1]
Reprints[]
- Scooby-Doo, Where Are You? #5 (March 2011).
Coloring mistakes[]
- None known.
Inconsistencies/continuity errors and/or goofs/oddities[]
- Fred mistakenly says "Tom" as the first name of Tim Sevine, but the latter is correct, as seen in the short How to Make a Monster. There's already a Tom Burden, and it would be odd to have two Toms in the same story.
Reception[]
Ray Tate of Comics Bulletin's Line of Fire Reviews, says Joe Staton does a "smashing storyboard."[2]
Quotes[]
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