Sholly Fisch

Access a version of the below that includes illustrations on my blog.

The book features six stories: team-ups with the original Green Lantern (Alan Scott), Aquaman, Hawkman, Jonah Hex, and Zatanna, plus a more offbeat one I'll get to later. Writer Sholly Fisch, as any DC reader with discerning taste knows, is the king of fun superhero comics, and these stories are all solid adventures; in most, he's teamed with Rick Burchett and Dan Davis on art, two kings themselves. (Burchett is one of show more those artists who is impressively adaptable: he's done very adult stuff like the 1980s Blackhawk revival, classic superhero stuff like Justice Society and Justice League America in the 1990s, and kid-focused stuff like this; Dan Davis has done a lot of good work as well, most relevant is probably is run as inker on Stargirl.)

Of those five stories, my favorite was the first one, which is actually a flashback story to the early days of Batman's career: a retired Alan Scott takes an interest in this new superhero who's appeared in his home turf of Gotham. Fisch gets some good dynamics out of this team-up, with Batman seeking Green Lantern's approval, but Green Lantern disapproving of Batman's propensity for terror. An excellent done-in-one story of Batman's early days, and if you're willing to squint, I think it would fit just fine into the post-Crisis/pre-Flashpoint iteration of the DC universe. My other favorite was the Zatanna team-up, which makes good use of the classic House of Mystery characters Abel and Cain. The art is by Ethen Beavers; back in the day he illustrated a few installments of Dark Horse's Clone Wars Adventures, but my favorite stuff by him are his truly excellent illustrations for Little Golden Books' Star Trek tie-ins.

The oddball story is the title story, "Help Wanted." This is told from the perspective of a perpetual henchman: he works for the Toyman, then the Clock King, then Ocean Master, and so on; each time, the supervillain he works for is defeated by a superhero teaming up with Batman. How can this guy get back on his feet? Does he deserve another chance? A really charming look at the flipside of superheroics, and my favorite story in the book.

If you like DC not for its complicated continuity and endless events, but for its fun characters and interesting histories, this book is a perfect little slice of it. Highly recommended. show less

This is a surprisingly fun read. It's easily enjoyable by kids, as its full of Scooby-Doo and DC's superheroes, but it's got a ton of little gags that adults will enjoy. It pokes fun at Scooby-Doo, DC's cartoons, and DC's comic books, but always in a fun, loving way, never in a mean or crass way. It doesn't look down on its subjects, in other words, but has fun with them while still respecting them.

Loved this! Scooby and the gang team up with DC's batman and robin, the teen titans, wonder woman and the super friends. There is also some bat mite/scooby mite action in one issue. The art styles mimic the different shows and books perfectly and the writing is true to character. It's very easy to imagine the lines with the voices that we are accustomed to hearing on television. I love that it occasionally pokes fun at itself, mentioning the old television shows and referencing how Robin show more seems "different" around the Titans. The Daphne/Velma/Wonder Woman cover made me ridiculously happy and the reference to "danger prone Daphne" made it even better for me. It's silly and fun and completely worth the read. show less

Loved this! Scooby and the gang team up with DC's batman and robin, the teen titans, wonder woman and the super friends. There is also some bat mite/scooby mite action in one issue. The art styles mimic the different shows and books perfectly and the writing is true to character. It's very easy to imagine the lines with the voices that we are accustomed to hearing on television. I love that it occasionally pokes fun at itself, mentioning the old television shows and referencing how Robin show more seems "different" around the Titans. The Daphne/Velma/Wonder Woman cover made me ridiculously happy and the reference to "danger prone Daphne" made it even better for me. It's silly and fun and completely worth the read. show less