Laff-A-Lympics #1

History

The television series Scooby's All-Star Laff-A-Lympics premiered on ABC on September 10, 1977, itself inspired by both the 1976 Montreal Olympics and the primetime celebrity competition show Battle of the Network Stars; Marvel moved quickly to capitalize, shipping issue #1 to newsstands on December 13, 1977 with a March 1978 cover date. Mark Evanier — who wrote every issue of the 13-issue run — also served as editor of the series and laid out the cover for #1, with Jack Manning on interior pencils, Scott Shaw! on inks, Carl Gafford on colors, and Mike Royer on letters; Archie Goodwin served as Marvel's editor-in-chief overseeing the title. The creative team drew heavily on artists who had worked directly in the Hanna-Barbera studio system, lending the book an on-model authenticity that purely outside-hire Marvel artists might not have achieved. The series ran from March 1978 through March 1979, producing 13 issues before concluding.

Trivia · 8 facts

• First comic-book appearance of Captain Caveman (and Teen Angels Brenda Chance, Taffy Dare, and Dee Dee Skyes), who had debuted on television September 10, 1977 as part of Scooby's All-Star Laff-A-Lympics on ABC.
• First comic-book appearance of the Creepley family (Mr., Mrs., and Junior Creepley), original characters created for the Laff-A-Lympics TV series.
• Written and edited by Mark Evanier, with pencils by Jack Manning, inks by Scott Shaw!, colors by Carl Gafford, and lettering by Mike Royer; Archie Goodwin was Marvel's editor-in-chief.
• The lead story, 'The Meet at Mount Ono,' introduces all three competing teams — the Scooby Doobies, the Yogi Yahooeys, and the Really Rottens — and stages the first official Laff-A-Lympics competition at Mount Ono.
• The issue also contains a Mark Evanier-written feature article, 'The Funtastic World of Hanna-Barbera: Laff-a-Lympics,' providing in-universe and behind-the-scenes context for new readers.
• Spider-Man and related Marvel characters (including Mary Jane Watson and Conan the Barbarian) appear in the issue via a Hostess Cup Cakes house advertisement and Bullpen Bulletins filler pages — not as participants in the Hanna-Barbera story itself.
• The Really Rottens' co-captains, Dread Baron and Mumbly, were stand-ins created because Hanna-Barbera could not use Dick Dastardly and Muttley (co-owned by Heatter-Quigley Productions); the Marvel comic series later canonized Dread Baron as Dick Dastardly's brother in issue #13.
• The series ran for 13 issues (March 1978 – March 1979); two TV-show characters, Scooby-Dum and Sooey Pig, were omitted from the comic's roster throughout the entire run.

Cast · 40 characters

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