The Goal Line Ghost of Terrible Terry is the first of two stories in Scooby-Doo, Where Are You? #7, by DC Comics. It was followed by the reprint, The Curse of the Scary Scarab.
Premise
Shaggy and Scooby are in their glory as their favorite football team is poised to enter the playoffs for the first time in many years. But an all too familiar ghost of the past is planning to place a hex on the Clevertown team. Has a rival player actually come back from the grave, or is something else afoot?
Synopsis
Shaggy and Scooby are in their glory as their favorite football team is poised to enter the playoffs for the first time in decades. Since they often overeat, they get sleepy then miss the game's final score, only to hear the results announced on their favorite radio program, Marty the Maniac. Shaggy, like many other people in Coolsville, is looking with anticipation towards an upcoming game against Pittsland, who is Clevertown's big rival. Shaggy remarks that Pittsland has been in a slump these past few years, and it is too bad they no longer have "Terrible" Terry Harris on their rolls. Just then, Shaggy's radio is overtaken by the voice of "Terrible Terry", who says that Clevertown is doomed.
At the radio station, Marty's boss says that they need to get to the bottom of this, or else the superstiousness will get out of hand. Not only will Marty and his boss lose their jobs, the football team could become disenchanted. Marty's boss hires the Scooby gang to find out what is going on. Marty's boss gives the Scooby gang the background on everything: The Clevertown-Pittsland rivalry goes all the way back to the 1970s. One of the players for Pittsland, Terrence Harris, a.k.a. "Terrible Terry Harris", staged a successful play called the "ridiculous recovery" during a game that deep-sixed Clevertown's chance at a Super Bowl bid in 1980. Since then, it had been many years of dismal seasons until now when Clevertown has had a good season and Pittsland has fallen on hard times, not being able to muster players with the skill of Terrence Harris.
Marty remarks that he is unsure why Terrible Terry is doing this, considering he retired from professional football in 1983 and has not been in the papers much since enjoying his retirement in West Palm Beach. Marty's boss tells Marty that Terrible Terry made the papers again recently: the obituaries, as he died of cancer in Florida two years ago! Marty's boss is not ready to believe that Terrence Harris has actually come back from the grave to harass Clevertown. He offers the more plausible explanation that some joker is hijacking the airwaves during Marty's show.
Velma and Fred believe that someone is emitting a radio frequency signal of such magnitude it can drown out Marty's show. They use an RF tracker, finally getting a spike in one residental area. The group bursts into a house where Pittsland fans are watching a game, making them the chief suspects. However, this only serves to put egg on the face of the Scooby gang, as the police find no evidence of wrongdoing and it culminates into a press conference where the mayor chides the group and apologizes to those suspects, saying it is not a crime for Coolsville natives to appreciate Pittsland.
After being served humble pie, the group tries again. Velma says that maybe the target is not Clevertown football; it could be Marty. Velma asks Shaggy who was Marty's predeccesor in regards to the time slot; Shaggy says it was some girly radio show about having a nice home with candlemaking, quilting and such. While Marty is making his show, the group waits at the studio. True to form, "Terrible Terry" appears, saying that Pittsland will slaughter Clevertown. They see the light in on in one booth, and burst in, seeing that the voice of Terrible Terry is in actuality Susan Stewart, who was looking to damage Marty's credibility and popularity as she lost her show to him.
Marty's boss thanks the group and the following week having Marty's radio show, saying Clevertown easily beat Pittsland and is looking good for a championship playoff.
Characters
Main characters:
Supporting characters:
- Marty (only appearance)
- Marty's boss (only appearance)
Villains:
- Ghost of Terrible Terry Harris (only time heard)
- Susan Stewart (only appearance)
Other characters:
- Terrible Terry Harris (only appearance)(no lines)(flashback only)(deceased)
- Pittsland fans (only appearance)
- Newscaster (only appearance)
- Mayor (only appearance)
Locations
- Clevertown
- Clevertown Sports Radio
- Pittsland fans' home
- Pittsland (mentioned)
Objects
Vehicles
- The Mystery Machine
- Police cars
Suspects
| Suspect | Motive/reason |
|---|---|
| Pittsland fans | Conduct psychological warfare against Clevertown fans by getting them to think Clevertown will lose. |
Culprits
| Culprit | Motive/reason |
|---|---|
| Susan Stewart as the Ghost of Terrible Terry Harris | To ruin the sports show in hopes of getting her cooking show slot back. |
Notes/trivia
- This ghost is unusual because there is no disguise, it's just a voice taking over the radio channel.
Cultural references
- "Jabberjaw and the Neptunes" are a reference to Hanna-Barbera's Jabberjaw cartoon.
Coloring mistakes
- None known.
Inconsistencies/continuity errors and/or goofs/oddities
- The gang apparently live in Clevertown, when DC Comics had already clearly established they live in Coolsville, before and after this. However, it could also be possible that this is set in Coolsville and Clevertown is the nearest big city to have a professional football franchise, which is common in suburbia.
- The roof of the Mystery Machine has two orange vertical lines and one green vertical line painted along the center.
Quotes
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