Mystery

The Batman & Scooby-Doo Mysteries #11

/ / Comics

Returning to the Gotham Museum of Culture, where the series began, Batman and Mystery, Inc. reunite for another case. Our detectives are forced to shutdown a gala at the museum prematurely when a mask from the Detectives Exhibit is stolen and ghosts appear to scare off the guests. “Helping” on the case is the Creeper who was in the neighborhood to cover the gala as reporter Jack Ryder but transforms into super-hero trouble-maker/detective to solve the case.

The Creeper fits into the comic’s oddball characters even if the reveal our baddie (a former criminal, now working at the museum), is a little odd. Turns out he is responsible for the theft and appearances of ghostly apparitions inspired by classic detective story characters to scare off others from the exhibit.

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Death on the Nile

/ / Movie Reviews
  • Title: Death on the Nile (2022)
  • IMDb: link

Writer/director/star Kenneth Branagh returns to reprise his role as Hercule Poirot in this follow-up to 2017’s adaptation of Murder on the Orient Express. The adaptation of Agatha Christie’s Death on the Nile isn’t as successful, in part due to source material not being as strong this time around and in part for some questionable creative decisions.

It takes far too long to get to the setting for our murder mystery, let alone the murder itself. By the time the body has dropped more than half the film seems to have already passed. In a somewhat defiant attempt to justify the character’s look in the previous film, Branagh opens with a flashback explaining the reasoning behind Poirot’s ridiculous mustache. After jumping forward, we are given multiple scenes setting up various characters, both in London and in Egypt, before finally get them all together on a ship sailing down the Nile River.

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The Mystery of the Fiery Eye

/ / Books & Magazines
  • Title: The Mystery of the Fiery Eye
  • wiki: link

Throwback Tuesday takes us back to a mystery involving the Three Investigators whose mantra of “We Investigate Everything” leads them on a search for a priceless gem known as the “Fiery Eye.” When his great-uncle dies leaving him clues to fortune, the Three Investigators take Gus’ case which involves solving a series of riddles which may eventually lead to the discovery of the cursed gem that many others as searching for as well.

Part of the hunt takes a page from the Sherlock Homes story “The Adventure of the Six Napoleons,” when Jupiter Jones, Pete Crenshaw, and Bob Andrews believe, in one of the story’s many red herrings, that the Fiery Eye might have been hidden in one of the busts which made its way to the Jones Salvage Yard. However, things turn out to be much more complicated as clues will need to be deciphered before the case comes to a satisfactory conclusion.

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The Human Target #4

/ / Comics

Christopher Chance‘s investigation into which member of the Justice League International may have murdered him continues as he spends the day with Blue Beetle and Ice. Most of the day is spent watching the two heroes team-up to stop a number of threats across the country, and with each one Chance finds himself falling more for Tora.

We don’t get the clue Chance is looking for to lead him in a new direction until near the end of the comic, when a drunken Ted Kord points him in the direction of another member of the JLI. However, the comic is far from fruitless as Tom King and Greg Smallwood continue to balance the nostalgia and film noir themes perfectly. There’s a reckoning coming, but the journey to get there continues to be a hell of a lot of fun. I don’t want this comic to end.

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The Batman & Scooby-Doo Mysteries #10

/ / Comics

When a number of resorts are terrorized by a series of creatures all resembling a sasquatch, Batman enlists the help of Mystery, Inc. and the Question to solve the case. The reason for the attack comes from the land each of the resorts were built on, as General Eiling was making use of the Shaggy Man for his own devious ends in order to put each of the resorts out of business so he could then plunder an old military cache buried deep underground.

Renee, appearing both as herself and the Question, is a fun addition that fits right in with Scooby-Doo and the gang. Unlike the gang’s usual traps, the one Batman sets captures both Shaggy Man and the General without a hitch (although I don’t know if Batman really needed to surf in able to pull that off, but to each his own). 

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