The Ghost of Redbeard

 

(NOTE: Two weeks ago, I wrote that I would begin a look at the Legion of Superheroes "Great Darkness Saga" today, but life is uncertain and confusing and that will actually begin next week.]

Gold Key's adaptation of Saturday morning's Scooby Doo... Where Are You? was a mixture of original stories and adaptations of the TV episodes. Scooby Doo #6 (June 1971), for instance, had one adaptation and one original story. In both instances, the writer or writers are unidentified and the art (both cover and interior) is by Warren Tufts.

Today, we'll look at "The Ghost of Redbeard," based on the episode "Go Away Ghost Ship." In two weeks, we'll examine this issue's completely original tale.

"Redbeard" is sometimes a beat-by-beat adapation of the orginal episode, though there are some interesting differences. The gang is at a malt shop when they hear news about ships (all belonging to the same guy) being hijacked by a pirate ghost. On TV, they read this in a newspaper. The comic book story changes this to listening to a radio report. It's a minor change, but it actually makes sense. Adding dialogue from the radio announcer conveys the same information, but makes the scene a little more dynamic (and adds a gag in which the announcer reacts directly to something Shaggy says).

The gang needs to pull off a wacky scheme to get past a creepy butler and talk to the shipping magnate, but this works. They learn that one of the magnate's ancestors captured Redbeard, so now the pirate's ghost has returned and is looking for revenge.

At one point, we see the creepy butler listening in. This is an effective red herring that also sets up a nice twist at the end when "Redbeard" is unmasked.

The gang head out in a motorboat, looking for the pirate ship. A mysterious fog rolls in, followed by the pirate ship. The gang's small boat is rammed and they all climb aboard the ship, though Shaggy and Scooby have been seperated from the others.

Slapstick shenanigans ensue. At one point, Velma thinks she's been shot after a door slams with a loud bang. This is another interesting change, as it's Shaggy that thinks he's been shot in the cartoon and a dramatic "death scene" is more fitting for his personality. It was suggested to me that the writer was working on an early version of the script and that at first made sense. But then I realized this issue was published well over a year after the episode aired. I suppose the writer liked the gag, but the flow of the story in a comic book format required changing it to Velma.

The action eventually moves to a large cave in which the loot from the various ships is stored. After some more slapstick shenanigans, the bad guys are captured and unmasked. Redbeard is really the shipping magnate, who needed the loot to pay off his gambling debts. In the cartoon, he was selling the loot for money he needed to save his company. Changing this to "gambling debts" was probably just to make his confession more concise and cut down on the number/size of word balloons. 

It's here that the comic book story adds a nice new twist to the story. At this point in the cartoon, the Coast Guard is called in to make the arrests. The butler is mentioned in passing as having been a suspect.

In the comic book story, the butler shows up again and turns out to be an insurance investigator who was also after the shipping magnate. I like this change a lot. It changes him from a throw-away red herring into a more interesting character.

Warren Tufts art work is dynamic and fun, as well as faithful to the look of the characters and the show. 

That's it for now. Next week, we begin our look at the "Great Darkness Saga." I promise for real this time.