Aw, cmon, admit it! You always wanted to see it!
SCOOBY-DOO WHERE ARE YOU? # 19 (DC Comics, Cover Date: May, 2012) may be as close as we ever get to THIS...
Our Favorite Phantom's EYES are even GREEN, as on that original comic book cover above!
Besides, if Scooby can't quite OUTWIT the Blot...
...He can, at least OUTRUN him!
20 comments:
…the Phantom Blot does look good with glowing eyes, doesn't he?
Neat find! You know, there's a semi-Disney character (he's printed in the Disney comic books, but not actually owned by Disney) in France, Matt Lamite, who's a brown anthropomorphic great dane and professional detective — much more human than Scooby-Doo, but there is a resemblance — and in a special anniversary issue he did fight the Phantom Blot, so there's that also. Can't find an image of the Matt vs Blot story itself, but here is, at any rate, a picture of Matt Lamite himself:
https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/51nNBBkCyZL.jpg
Citizen Torcivia, we do not know this individual "Scooby-Doo" of whom you speak… and if he is as proficient at forcibly removing people's rubber masks as the Google search engine suggests, we shall avoid him for the foreseeable future… but his chances of "outwitting" the Phantom Blot are by any analysis unspeakably limited. Even we have kept respectfully out of that Master Criminal's way, and he has been enough of a gentleman to do the same for us. So far.
In truth, only the individual designated Michael T. Mouse has ever posed a credible threat to the power of the Phantom Blot. And since the Mouse has vexed us as well, an alliance is out of the question. We would brainwash it into serving us, only, well, have you seen the size of that guy's ears? He doesn't fit into our fiendish brainwashing devices! Believe us, we've tried!
Eh… looks a bit bulky to be the Blot, in our opinion. Lucky too. That guy is not to be messed with, lemme tell you. Are you sure it's not just one of our operatives? His eyes are green, and that crouched stance of his looks Gorilla-like enough to me.
Achille:
Matt Lamite, too, is a “neat find”… at least for us in the USA, where we get so pitifully little… and what “little” we DO get from our Disney comic book publisher of late has proved to be quite “pitiful”! (Sorry! Can't resist!)
HERE’S the link! Everyone check it out!
To me, this looks like the type of character who would have a popular TV series, of which Scooby and Shaggy would be huge fans! If there were a “Franco-American” (…why am I thinking of spaghetti right now?) version of the soon to be late and lamented SCOOBY-DOO TEAM-UP, Mystery Inc. could help Matt solve a supernatural case!
After all, that character in the case-file photo at the far right looks like an evil version of Ricochet Rabbit… and Scooby and the gang have met him before!
Horde of the Violet Hare:
“We would brainwash it into serving us, only, well, have you seen the size of that guy's ears? He doesn't fit into our fiendish brainwashing devices! Believe us, we've tried!”
Have you considered a GIANT Q-TIP dipped in chemically-brainwashing mineral oil? If not, try a power-washer!
Yes, you bunny-clad cadre, since Scooby and the gang have “pulled the masks off” of literally many thousands of villains over the last 50 years (less a month-and-a-half – and especially so, if you count all 50 years of endless reruns), they might be an even greater threat to your secret identities than the Mouse!
As for dealing with The Phantom Blot, the Scoob-Crew would prove to be less effective precisely *because* their forte is “pulling off masks” and today’s Blot operates successfully with or without a mask, or hood!
And say… Aren’t you guys the ones who started all the “Secret Society Stuff” in the first place? …Unleashing upon this Blog scores of unusually-named, adjective-laden, color-coded, animal-themed, and similarly-secret societies in your wake?
I don’t know whether to THANK YOU for making this humble Comments Section more entertaining… or BILL YOU for all the labor I’ve had to apply for replies!
Gangrene Gorillas:
You write: “ Eh… looks a bit bulky to be the Blot, in our opinion. Lucky too. That guy is not to be messed with, lemme tell you. Are you sure it's not just one of our operatives? His eyes are green, and that crouched stance of his looks Gorilla-like enough to me.”
Ya know, that could very well be the case!
And Scooby HAS tangled with your kind before… both good and not so much!
…Oh, and I’m billing The Horde of the Violet Hare $1.00 for the labor of this reply and setting up its links!
Keep those comments coming and we’ll bankrupt those Hares into oblivion!
We here at the Secret Society of Scarlet Sea Serpents believe that the whole unusually-named, adjective-laden, color-coded, animal-themed secret society field is getting much too crowded lately, and wish to announce that we hereby disband. Not only is there too much competition, between that mouse and his goofy pal and that Great Dane and his meddling teenage friends, there are too many people out to stop our fiendish plans for world domination (and our monthly meet-n-greet/pizza parties). You win this round, Joe Torcivia! But we won't be back...wait, that isn't threatening at all. Scratch that last line. No, don't type it, you stupid phone! What, no, this isn't Mervin on Debbie's phone...this is the Secret Sea Serpent Society or Something....GAH! These names are too complicated to remember...)
Quadruple “S”s
I’m sorry to see you go, slither-off, swim-away… or whatever it is you do, even if you inhabit a “Scarlet Sea” (Are the SERPENTS supposed to be “Scarlet”, or is it just the SEA?) that’s only in Mervin’s mind!
Mervin! You are hereby ordered to report back to Debbie, and return to work in the comic you share with Fluffy! …This world needs MORE HUMOR, and I can’t do it all verbally at this Blog – no matter how hard I try!
Debbie! You are hereby ordered to begin work on the re-re-re-re-rehabilitation of Mervin (he’s rapidly gaining on The Beagle Boys) and to purchase a safety-lock for your phone that does not come from either the “Krusty-Brand” or “Acme” warehouses!
…Oh, and I’m billing The Horde of the Violet Hare for another buck! Ka-Ching!
What's this we here? The Horde of the Violet Hare is being billed each time a Secret Society comment is made? Finally, we at the Band of the Bookkeeping Bactrians have a chance to use our skills! Hares, we implore you to hire us to do your accounting! We'll record all of your payments to Joe Torcivia's blog in our ledgers - including the one you'll surely have to make once Joe responds to this post! Take that, Dromedaries - we told you we aren't completely useless, didn't we!
BBBs - CPA, LLC, PC, Member FDIC, and LMNOP:
Who better to do bookkeeping for a Secret Society, than ANOTHER Secret Society! That way, you can avoid scrutiny by… “keeping the books secret”!
If you DO get the gig, be sure to log the payment due for THIS “Secret Society Comment and Corresponding Reply”!
…I shoulda thought o’ this bit years ago!
So our arch-nemeses, the Horde of the Violet Hare, are being charged for these comments? We at the Mob of the Maroon Magpie see a new opportunity to steal from the Horde - steal money from them indirectly, that is! Bwa-ha-ha! Bactrians, log another payment!
Noooo! At this rate our glorious Horde will be bankrupt in no time! If only we still had that bologna-loving Italian billionaire to fund us! Curse you, Citizen Torcivia! Bactrians, we just may take you up on your offer - but that will cost us more money, won't it? NOOOOOO!
Torcivia, we like this idea/
Of charging those vile Violet Hares/
So log another payment, courtesy of/
The Society of the Rhyming Dove!
Considering the many face-offs with the Phantom Blot that we have considered over the years, including Annette for crying out loud, it would only be natural for him to have an encounter sooner or later with Scooby Doo! In fact, the Blot fits neatly into the world of Scooby Doo precisely because he is the sort of masked villain who proliferates in that environment. The best reason the Blot "belongs" in Mickey's universe is precisely because he is such an anomaly, such a departure from the more conventional Mickey villains such as Peg-Leg Pete or Sylvester Shyster, and so therefore comes as a bit of a surprise or even shock when he "invades" Mickey's world. He is a glimpse of the kind of villain that is generally reserved for sensational literature, and thus "belongs" in Mickey's world by virtue of his being "unexpected" and a bit "daring" in that landscape.
But let's consider another possible adversary for the Blot. How about Popeye? Can't you just picture an alliance between the Sea Hag and the Blot? (And I'm sure the Sea Hag would not stoop to call him "Blotsy.") I think the Sea Hag and the Blot would make good partners in crime, and of course neither one would hesitate to double-cross the other when the situation arose. The Blot could kidnap Olive Oyl and deliver her into the hands of the Sea Hag, and Popeye would have to use more than his spinach and his fists to overcome these two foes. Seems like a good premise to me.
Magpies:
“We at the Mob of the Maroon Magpie see a new opportunity to steal from the Horde - steal money from them indirectly, that is!”
Steal away, as long as you don’t compromise MY coffers, that is! Besides,“stealing money” from one group, solely to benefit another, seems to have become “The American Way”! So, go… Practice your new brand of patriotism!
By the way, one of your former associates says hello!
Good heavens! I think I’m seeing quintuple!
Hares:
You exclaim: “ Noooo! At this rate our glorious Horde will be bankrupt in no time! If only we still had that bologna-loving Italian billionaire to fund us! Curse you, Citizen Torcivia! Bactrians, we just may take you up on your offer - but that will cost us more money, won't it? NOOOOOO!”
Well… You COULD do us all a favor and wipe out all those other (all together now) “… scores of unusually-named, adjective-laden, color-coded, animal-themed, similarly-secret societies”, and then disband yourselves!
You save money, I save “reply and link labor”… Think about it!
Meanwhile, you owe me three more bucks – for the Magpies and this reply, and the one that follows!
Rhyming Doves:
I’ve asked the Hares to do some purging/
No doubt that it is true/
But the list of those that we want gone/
In no way includes you!
…And thank you for allowing me to bill the Hares for another buck! Wheeee!
Scarecrow:
Thank goodness that it’s YOU, and not another one of those Secret Societies!
Oh, they CAN be fun and creatively entertaining, and such! And they DO add to the overall enrichment of “whatever it is we do here”… But it’s kinda like having Mr. Mxyzptlk standing on one shoulder, and Bat-Mite standing on the other – if you get my dazed and confused drift!
Yes, I’d like to see The Phantom Blot vs. Scooby-Doo in some form, because it would be a real golly-wower! Alas the closest we will ever get is the Blot’s (intentional or inadvertent, you decide) appearance on that SCOOBY-DOO cover! And, that’s why I highlighted it here.
I really love your idea of having The Blot invade the Segar/Sagendorf world of POPEYE!
We’ve even bumped-up against that twice. A hint of what the “Blot/Sea Hag association” would be like is found in THIS COMIC, illustrations from which I’ve included in THIS POST!
And, as for a quasi-image of The Blot himself, look no further than Dell’s POPEYE # 50, the first several pages of which are reproduced at THIS LINK! (…If it’s still there! Links that are “not-my-own” can be funny that way!)
Oh, and in fairness, since this is (FINALLY!) not a “Secret Society Comment”, I will not be billing the Hares for this one!
Oh, that Popeye link is just brilliant. Daytime ghosts being black to fit in with nighttime ghosts being white! That's just utterly brilliant.
Achille:
That’s the genius of Bud Sagendorf!
I know E.C. Segar was both the creator of THIMBLE THEATRE and POPEYE, and was a true pioneering genius of the comic strip medium… but sometimes I feel that Bud Sagendorf (Segar’s one-time assistant) gets far too little credit of his own!
Sagendorf was a marvelously creative fellow who, for decades, mastered both the comic strip and comic book formats… and they ARE two different “aminals”, as Popeye would say!
Oh, and for the record, POPEYE # 50 was one of my original Grandma Millie comics! In fact, it’s even pictured in this link!
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