Just picked up the latest Scooby Doo comic for my 5-year-old. Story number one (SPOILER ALERT!) is about a heating/cooling contractor, down on his luck because of the economy, who has taken to breaking into his neighbors' houses (in the disguise of of snowman). At the end, we are led to believe that he will be forgiven his sins by the neighbors, as long as he gives the stuff back.
Story number two (SPOILER ALERT!!) features a landlord trying to scare a tenant out of a rent-controlled apartment through an ever-changing painting in the lobby. The landlord has forced another tenant, an artist who owes back rent, to paint the pictures for the ruse.
The third case is classic Scooby, just your run-of-the-mill treasure hunters. But I like these stories for the kids that take in to account some of the stresses of life today.
Speaking of stresses of life, and I'm sorry it comes in a diary with Scooby Doo in the title, but Frozen River, nominated for a couple of Oscars, is a tremendous piece of storytelling. It is out now on video. Contrast it to Nights in Rodanthe, a confection from the world where money is so plentiful that it is a non-subject. Those filmmakers could learn a lot from Scooby.
Just picked up the latest Scooby Doo comic for my 5-year-old.