Scooby-Doo...Where Are You! - Gold Key - Issue 2 - Comic

Scooby-Doo...Where Are You! - Gold Key - Issue 2

Released June 1970

Episode Premieres

Galleon Ghost - Original to the Comic

Phantom of the Castle - Hassle in the Castle - September 20, 1969

Stories

Galleon Ghost

My favorite image from the episode. It wasn't in the comic.

A pirate ship appears from a swamp with a ghost pirate crew. The ghost crew is revealed to be a family of gypsies who found the ship and are trying to protect their claim on it.

This is the first original story.

The gang retains their pink Mystery Machine. In general, the colors are a bit wonky. The choice may have been a compromise to address the limitations in their printing process.

The writer tries to create the woman's accent through phonetic spelling and it doesn't work. The characters are exagerated. The family members have very pronounced confusing accents and are portrayed as somewhat impoverished. They are repeatedly referred to in the text as gypsies. They're not strictly villainous. Their intent in capturing Shaggy and Scooby is defined by their treatment of Shaggy. They just want to kick them off the ship. They are poor and need the money.

Shaggy has the most understated reaction to thinking Scooby died. "Poor Scooby" That's his best friend! Unless Shaggy is on his knees and wailing in grief, it's too understated.

Scooby attempts the disguise deception on the kids pretending to be pirates and it fails immediately and that's a great subversion.

Phantom of the Castle

The gang investigates Vasquez Castle on Haunted Isle and meets the Phantom. It's an adaption of Hassle in the Castle.

There's a gag where Shaggy winds up in the sawn in half trick. Velma is momentarily confused when it's revealed the head in the box isn't Shaggy's. The art in the comic works a little better because it looks a little like Shaggy but it is clearly not identical like in the cartoon.

The original episode is a slow burn creepy story. The comic loses the atmosphere. It also drops the detour of a riddle that just leads to a room in the castle. Overall it retains the story beats. It's a simple story to streamline because of the abundance of visual gags and jokes.

Rogue's Gallery

The Ghost Pirate Crew

The Phantom