IDW's Ghostbusters Discussion Options

[Database]

I can't believe this hasn't been posted already:

http://issuu.com/idwpublishing/docs/ghostb...ewMode=magazine

And cameos! Gozer, Buster the ghost, the Banshee, and Jake Blues.

This post has been edited by Database: Mar 24 2012, 11:14 AM

[DrSpengler]

Gah!

Must... fight urge... not to spoil.... first issue for self...

[Bigbot]

Yeh I can see me enjoying that series

[Spark]

Okay, that was good. I'm sold. Is the deleted Ghostbusters 1 stuff about Winston being ludicrously overqualified in terms of military stuff not canon?

Also, I find myself reading Ray and Winston in their movie voices, but Egon and Peter in their original cartoon voices. Is that odd?

[DrSpengler]

Okay, that was good. I'm sold. Is the deleted Ghostbusters 1 stuff about Winston being ludicrously overqualified in terms of military stuff not canon?

I haven't read the preview yet, so I dunno the context, but Winston's military background originated from the Ghostbusters film novelization. I think the only other time it has ever been utilized was in the TokyoPop "Ghost Busted" graphic novel, where it was... pretty random, and if you weren't already aware of that part of his background, he ended up looking like a lunatic that carries dozens of AK-47s in his trunk.

[Spark]

The military stuff is something Harold Ramis talks about on the Ghostbusters 1 commentary during a deleted interview scene and says that Winston was basically interviewing for the job of "ghostbuster/go-fer/driver", but the joke was that his resume is absurd with Winston being like a Marine and a Navy SEAL and such, which is the only way I know about it.

[Database]

he ended up looking like a lunatic that carries dozens of AK-47s in his trunk.

What you mean everyone does carry around heavy artillery for emergencies? (IMG:style_emoticons/default/icon-bee.gif)

[UnicronusPrime]

Nah, I just carry a nuke. Anyone know if this will see a digital release?

[Matthias Phage]

I went into my LCS today and started my first monthly pull list, just to make sure I can consistently get a copy of this. I love the style, the writing (so far) and the direction.

The store owner told me they were getting a special edition with he himself drawn as a Ghostbuster for the cover, I know it's a pretty good sized store, and has two locations (in different states) and he seemed dead serious about this, and he isn't the kind of guy who pulls my leg on this sort of thing, so I have no immediate reason to distrust him telling me this.

With that in mind, is this something they're doing as an incentive to get some LCS's to carry the comic, or is he just incredibly lucky? Anyone else heard of this?

--

Found it, it's a retailer exclusive cover. Looks like they did it for Godzilla #1, too for both of their locations.

(IMG:http://i82.photobucket.com/albums/j244/mphage/GDZ_KOM_01_COV_RE_CLEMSWASH.jpg) (IMG:http://www.bleedingcool.com/wp-content/uploads//2011/02/GDZ_KOM_01_COV_RE_CLEMSJEFF.jpg)

This post has been edited by Matthias Phage: Aug 27 2011, 07:06 PM

[TM2-Megatron]

Is he the guy on 'Cover RE' in the preview linked in the OP?

[Matthias Phage]

Sadly, that's not him. Looks like if a retailer agrees to order 500 copies of a cover (at least for Godzilla it was 500) they do the exclusive cover. I haven't seen his yet, he couldn't get it to load on the store's computer for some reason when he tried to show me.

[DrSpengler]

Ghostbusters #1 is out!


Dear god, if IDW could have just done THIS coming from the very beginning...

This was just a great mix of everything Ghostbusters. Burnham has the characters on point and I've been a fan of Schoening since he was just a guy doing sick art on DA.

But what I think is best, though, is that from start to finish this comic is FUN. IDW's earliest efforts tried way too hard to be "dark" and "gritty" and "epic". Ghostbusters is a lot of things, but first and foremost it is a COMEDY. If you don't think the Ghostbusters should be fun, then you shouldn't be writing Ghostbusters.

Schoening's "animated" style and the crazier humor really gives this a "Real Ghostbusters" kind of vibe, which is a high compliment (Janine's design is straight out of the cartoon). I purposely avoided the preview (in this thread) because I didn't want anything spoiled for myself, but I love all the Easter eggs thrown into the art; Buster the Ghost, the Banshee, Dopey Dog (to name only a few; Schoening's stories are practically "look n finds")... and a great effort at replicating scenery and equipment from the movies. I just love looking at these pages.


If you look at a taxi cab, you can see that the issue takes place in 1992 and there are references to both Ghostbusters the Video Game and Ghostbusters Infestation (the Stay Puft Marshmallows ad agent talking about how Stay Puft keeps coming back and going on rampages). I dunno if making it take place squarely in the past was entirely necessary; they coulda just used the standard coming book "sliding timeline" where instead of hard dates the referenced events were only "a couple years ago", but they're being discrete about it, so it's cool.

The sketch book at the end tells us the name of the villain, though beyond that, we don't know exactly what the conflict is going to be aside from a "third" something. But cliffhanging or not, this issue just felt so good.

Tristan Jones's back-up was cool and it covers the more serious/technical side of how city officials would regulate something as dangerous and abnormal as a "ghostbusting" business. Of course, we've got Walter Peck in charge of the whole thing. As much as I enjoyed Ghostbusters the Video Game, I don't think the story really allowed him to be the political and legal threat that he's supposed to be (it WAS a video game, after all; if you can't shot him, he isn't a very exciting villain). Comics seem a better outlet for his scheming; where he uses "the system" against the Ghostbusters to make a threat more difficult for them to deal with than simply blasting a monster to pieces.

Anyhow, this is the Ghostbusters comic I'd been wanting for I don't know how long. I loved IDW's holiday-themed oneshots and the Infestation two-parter was enjoyable. But one issue in and I'm already in love with this title.

Between this and TMNT, IDW has really turned its creative output around. Makes me almost want to read their Transformers comics again. Almost.

[rodimus primevil]

IM sorry but what the hell did they do to Stay Puff? He's jolly looking, not obese!

[Spectre]

Mega Man, TMNT, Ghostbusters, Transformers looking good once Barber takes over...

I might be buying comics on a regular basis now!

This post has been edited by Spectre: Sep 28 2011, 11:42 PM

[Database]

IM sorry but what the hell did they do to Stay Puff? He's jolly looking, not obese!

Stay Puft in this issue is part of Ray's dream, his subconscious guilt for creating him and so in his dream Stay Puft looks more like him, until Jake Blues shows up and reaffirms his feelings from the game about how Stay Puft was actually a good thing becuase other then size he's not much of a threat.

Like Spengler I loved finding the Easter Eggs in this, did a double take on the next to last page of the main story when I realized the toy flying through the air is demonic monkey toy from "Ghosts R Us" I believe. Not to mention laughing at Venkman using the Ghost Sniffer once more.

With Darkwing Duck ending soon, Ghostbusters seems to be keen on being a replacement for a fun series full of easter eggs to find.

[ZacWilliam1]

Ok, so I'm really late reading the preview. But "There IS no right answer to that Question!" just totally sold me the first issue.

That was a perfect Ghostbusters line.


-ZacWilliam, now I'm gonna have to find it at retail. Well at least BN carries IDW now.

[Matthias Phage]

I adored the first issue, so glad I put this on my pull list. Looking forward to the second issue.

[DrSpengler]

Ghostbusters #2 is out!

Burnham's really going the extra mile to make sure this arc feels like a compliment to the movies and the video game (not only referencing Gozer's return in the Game, but explaining how Slimer wound up in the glass case).

But I think what I love best is what IDW's first two minis were missing: Ghostbusting. Janine gets a call, they pile into the Ecto-1, they deal with the bizarre and unique case when they get there. It's "classic" Ghostbusters, but even though it's familiar, it isn't boring or dull. The best thing about the Ghostbusters is that they don't have a single arch enemy that they always fight; no Decepticons, no Cobra. It's a brand new threat in every story (with the ocassional return of some older villains) and their conflicts are limited to the author's imagination. So even with a "formula", Ghostbusters almost never gets stale.

And I have to say, I'm digging in the dynamic between Peter and Winston. The obvious choice for years has always been to match Peter with Egon, as their dueling sensibilities play off each other's to the extreme, but there's just as much potential in pairing the level-headed everyman Winston with the head-in-the-clouds "celebrity" Peter. And, to be blunt, I'm just pleased that Burnham is willing to give Winston something to do and say and let his personality develop. So many writers ignore him because they too easily gravitate toward the "eccentric" Ghostbusters, but Winston is just as much a goldmine for comedy and character if the authors are willing to pay attention to him.

Getting back the the Video Game, the Wander Hills Orphanage sequence really did feel like an unused level from the game. And that's a compliment; I'd love to have played this level. And the sight of Ellen Gold hurling dead orphans at Egon and Ray was the perfect mix of frightening and hilarious that defines a good Ghostbusters story (and, again, she'd have made a kickass boss battle).

Its hard to find new ways to say how awesome Shoening's art is, but that guy is just on FIRE. God, I love searching for all the Easter eggs. Even when I think I've found them all, I notice a chalk board in the orphanage kitchen with "Chef Sargossi" written on it and I know that there's STILL more in there somewhere.

To give credit where credit's due, colorist Luis Antonio Delgado really rocks this book. It's bright, it's dark, its colorful, it's spooky, the ectoplasm practically glows off the page. As much as I love Shoening's art, it wouldn't have half it's oomph without such fantastic colors.

AND Tristan Jones' character files in the back of the book are a treat. Again, feeling like the Tobin's Spirit Guide from the Video Game (one of my favorite features).

Between reading the story, hunting down the Easter eggs, digesting the character files AND enjoying the bonus sketch pages, this is one of the few comics on the rack that really feels like it's giving you your $3.99's worth.

[Database]

So, has everyone forgotten about this series? I'm just catching up as I've been behind on a lot of comics due to RL issues. I love that in issue three we see a prototype version of the EGB trap, looking like the backpack version from the Deluxe Kylie toy. Even a few references to Filmation Ghostbusters and the old Real Ghostbusters comics. Even a more direct reference to the Video game with the experimental pack and having to vent it.

And with issue 4 we reach the end of 'The Third' arc, and another nice throwback to the cartoon, the Ecto Grenades they used against the Boogeyman being used against The Third.

[DrSpengler]

Here's my full review from when issue #3 came out.

Probably not going to write a full review for #4, but this is what I posted at the IDW forums and Burnham was kind enough to respond to clear some of my questions up:

This was a great, great arc.

One thing I really want to compliment is that each issue felt like a complete story with its own conflict to be met and resolved, but each segment fed the larger arc resolved here in #4. That is exactly how I like my comics; the whole thing just reads so well.

And I dig that Schoening knows when to dial back the Easter eggs (which I LOVE, btw) when the mood requires it. He doesn't get carried away so that it spoils the atmosphere.

Now that this Idulnas arc is through, I'm hoping we can get away from Gozer and callbacks to the first movie for a little while. Love them as I do, but between this arc and the video game I'm filled to the brim on my movie nostalgia and ready for some fully original stories.

Tristan's file on Stay Puft was interesting, though I'm not sure what to make of it.

The claim is that Stay Puft ISN'T Gozer but merely a mindless avatar. I must be confused, because didn't the whole plot revolve around Stay Puft being the vehicle for Gozer's return, so he must be occupied by the Traveller, right? It states Stay Puft is just a mindless body awaiting ANY possession, and though Gozer has possessed him four times to this point, any spook can get behind the wheel if they want... But Gozer WAS in control of him for the past few appearances, right? Infestation kinda hinged on that, too (collecting a portion of Gozer's essence from zombie Stay Puft and all).

Just a little confused on that point.

Loving this series so much.

This post has been edited by DrSpengler: Dec 21 2011, 08:54 PM