A recent copy of a script from "The Warlock of Wimbledon" purchased by a frequent commenter on this blog, ScoobyDooUK, lists the warlock's name as "Amthos," rather than Anthos. It's unknown if this is an early version of the script, or we've actually been getting the name wrong all these years. Either option seems like it could be a possibility, as it's also mentioned in the script that the Devil Hound is black, when the final design used in the episode was a dark brown dog. Thanks to ScoobyDooUK for contributing the fun fact for this week!

We've been doing these setting polls since back in February, but now it's finally time for the thrilling conclusion of this poll series! The winner for each series is being pitted against each other in this Winner's Circle poll. There are multiple winners here from A Pup Named Scooby-Doo and What's New, Scooby-Doo?, as both of those polls ended in ties. We had a lot of incredible contenders for last week's poll, but as expected, Zombie Island was way ahead of the others and is our winner of last week's poll. However, I was shocked that Krypto Too somehow made it to second place, especially given two classics like Alien Invaders and Legend of the Vampire got no votes!

Zombie Island - 20
Krypto Too - 9
Witch's Ghost - 7
Boo Brothers - 5
Straight Outta Nowhere - 5
Camp Scare - 4
​Scooby Goes Hollywood - 3
Ghoul School - 3
​Where's My Mummy? - 2
Chill Out - 2
SCOOB! - 2
Cyber Chase - 1
Monster of Mexico - 1
Loch Ness Monster - 1
Scooby-Doo 2: Monsters Unleashed - 1
Pirates Ahoy - 1
Goblin King - 1
FrankenCreepy - 1
Moon Monster Madness - 1
Curse of the Speed Demon - 1
Shaggy's Showdown - 1
Gourmet Ghost - 1
Curse of the 13th Ghost - 1

0 votes: Reluctant Werewolf, Arabian Nights, Alien Invaders, Scooby-Doo (2002), Legend of the Vampire, Aloha, Samurai Sword, Mystery Begins, Abracadabra Doo, Curse of the Lake Monster, Legend of the Phantosaur, Music of the Vampire, Big Top, Mask of the Blue Falcon, Mystery Map, Stage Fright, WrestleMania Mystery, Rock and Roll Mystery, Haunted Hollywood, Blowout Beach Bash, Brave and the Bold, Daphne & Velma, Return to Zombie Island, Happy Halloween, Sword and the Scoob, and Trick or Treat

Apologies this post was a bit delayed, as I just discovered this news was announced on Tuesday and I missed it. Typically, the site I get these solicitations from, GamesRadar+, always posts the solicitations on the third Friday of the month, which was last Friday. For whatever reason, they did not publish anything last Friday, so I had assumed perhaps they were delayed to this Friday since this was a bit of an unusual month in the sense we had five Fridays instead of the usual four. However, apparently the solicitations were posted in the middle of the week, without any explanation as to why it wasn't posted on the usual day, so who knows what happened.

Our only solicitation this month is for the final issue of The Batman and Scooby-Doo Mysteries, which will mean there will be some changes to the comic publishing schedule. Beginning in October 2023, we will only be getting Scooby-Doo comics bimonthly, as opposed to the current schedule where we've gotten 1-2 Scooby comics every month. The final The Batman and Scooby-Doo Mysteries​ comic will be released on September 12, 2023.

​THE BATMAN & SCOOBY-DOO MYSTERIES #12
Written by IVAN COHEN
Art and cover by DARIO BRIZUELA
$2.99 US | 32 pages
ON SALE 9/12/23
In our time-twisting final issue, Mystery Inc. meets Batman Beyond! Can the retired Batman and his protegé, Terry McGinnis, send our crime-stoppers back from the future? Maybe, but first they’ll have to save Neo-Gotham from the Royal Flush Gang and solve a particularly challenging mystery. (And not just the one about safely parking the Mystery Machine with its very expired plates!)

Way back in 2019, it was announced at the Scooby's 50th Birthday Bash Comic Con event that the Figures Toy Company would be coming out with some new action figures for each of the villains from "A Gaggle of Galloping Ghosts." Oddly, that was the last we ever heard of the figures, even though they were supposed to be released soon after. It's unknown if the pandemic delayed the figures getting released, but I'm happy to share that these figures finally were released, as well as a few others. Dracula, Carlotta, Frankenstein's Monster, and the Werewolf were released, as well as two surprise bonus figures that had not been previously announced to my knowledge, the Snow Ghost and Redbeard (as well as The New Scooby-Doo Movies variant of him). All of the figures are unmaskable, although it's worth noting that The New Scooby-Doo Movies variant of Redbeard has the culprit being C.L. Magnus again, even though the culprit for that version of Redbeard was an unnamed oil pirate (I suppose it makes sense, as come to think of it, I believe this version of Redbeard was taken to jail with his mask on so we don't get to see what he looked like). There is additionally a Scrappy-Doo figure that was released. As of writing this, each of the figures are currently on sale for $29.99, which is $10 off of their usual $39.99 list price. The Scrappy figure is more expensive, however, it is $69.99 but is currently on sale for $44.99. Here are images of each of the figures:

A brand new book solely about Velma is coming this August! The book, titled What Would Velma Do? Life Lessons from the Brain (and Heart) of Mystery, Inc. by Shaenon K. Garrity will be released on August 22, 2023, and is now available for pre-order for $18 on Amazon. The book features fun facts and trivia of Velma, a detailed history of the character, and answers to the title question of "what would Velma do?" It's worth noting that the official description mentions the Velma series in future-tense, meaning it was written before the show came out. Here is the book's official description:

A clever illustrated ode to the breakout star of Scooby-Doo, exploring the life lessons this iconic nerd girl teaches us and why we should all aim to be the Velma of our friend group.

From the moment Scooby-Doo, Where Are You! premiered in 1969 and through the many Scooby movies and shows since, it has cemented its place as one of the greatest cartoons of all time. But there is one character in particular who has risen to icon status: a smarty-pants who can't see without her glasses named Velma Dinkley.

As the nerdiest member of the Mystery, Inc. gang, Velma might have been a wallflower or an underdog. Instead, she's become a fan favorite, a fashion legend, a standout role for Linda Cardellini in the live-action movies, the inspiration for countless Halloween costumes, and soon the star of her own animated series from Mindy Kaling. But why, exactly, do we love this brainiac so much? What Would Velma Do? explores the answers to that question, as well as the many inspiring takeaways we can learn from her, the history of the character, and enough fun facts and trivia to make you say Jinkies!

Will Henry Pratt, a side character from "Rocky Mountain Yiiiii!" (The Scooby and Scrappy-Doo Show), may be a reference to famous horror actor Boris Karloff, who's real name is William Henry Pratt. Boris was most famous for playing the Universal Monsters, including Frankenstein's Monster and the Mummy, who were used as villains many times throughout the Scooby-Doo franchise. Boris had died seven months before the franchise began, on February 2, 1969. No one who worked on the episode has officially confirmed that Will's character was a reference to Boris's real name, but it is very likely that it was.

This is our last settings poll before we do the final Winner's Circle round next week! Here are the results from last week:

The Scooby-Doo Project - 16
Where Are You Now? - 12
Spooky Scarecrow - 12
Haunted Holidays - 8
Night of the Living Doo - 3
Mecha Mutt Menace - 3
Ghastly Goals - 2
Beach Beastie - 2
Spooky Games - 1
Knight Time Terror - 0

New information about Velma was announced today at Warner Brothers-Discovery's panel at Annecy Festival in France. Season 2 of the show has been confirmed to be in production. In addition, it was announced season 2 would be released sometime in 2024, although no specific date has been announced yet. The show was also confirmed to still be considered a Max Original, which debunks previous rumors that season 2 might air on the Tubi streaming service due to poor audience reception. You can read more about the other shows that were announced at the festival in WB's press release.

So I've heard that this news has been out for a little while now, but I am just hearing about this now. A brand new Scooby-Doo picture book, Scooby-Doo and the Mystery of the Haunted Library, is being released on August 8, 2023. The book is marketed as being for a preschool reading level, and will be 32 pages. The book is being published and distributed by Running Press Kids. The story was written by Matthew K. Manning, and the illustrations were done by Pedro Riquelme. Here is the description of the book:

When Shaggy and his pup Scooby-Doo sneak into Crystal Cove Elementary School's library after hours, they discover the reason it's been closed—there is a ghost living in it! At least that's what the librarian, Miss James, believes. Now the Mystery Inc. Gang must try to find out who is actually ripping pages out of library books—and they suspect it's not a real ghost. Join Shaggy, Scooby, Velma, Fred, and Daphne in this Mystery Inc. picture book mystery as they check another spooky case off their list.

The book is now available for pre-order on Amazon for $18.99.

It's seemed like a switch flipped when Velma stopped airing and most everybody collectively agreed to cease talking about the show, but after four months, we have our first tidbit of news on the series. The first season of the series has been given a release on digital platforms, including Amazon, Apple TV and Vudu. Each episode is available for $1.99, or the full season could be bought for $14.99. Note that there was no direct link to the Apple TV page, as their main web browser page doesn't actually let you purchase anything. If you have the Apple TV application, you can search the series on there. 

​On a separate note, there are a few oddities/mistakes with the wide streaming release.

• None of the streaming services seem to agree on the title of episode 9. HBO Max calls the episode "Family (Wo)man," Vudu and Amazon call the episode "A Family (Wo)man," and Apple TV calls the episode "Familyman."
• Another interesting inconsistency is the fact that none of the airdates listed on Amazon are correct; they just listed random dates.
• There's a very odd description listed for episode 5, which is "Velma has to spend the night with band geeks...and Fred." I don't think there was anything strange happening in that episode with Fred, so I'm not sure why the added suspense in the description was there lol.
• While this last one is up to interpretation, Vudu's "parental guide" has the oddity that it says foul language in the series only includes the words "bitch" and "hell," which is strange as the language was far stronger than this at many points, notably in the song in "Velma Kai" in which the f-word is repeated over and over as the hook of the song. You could also argue their positive message and role model rankings were far too high, but that's just my opinion haha.