The New Ghostbusters #1
Written by Erik Burnham
Art by Dan Schoening
Colors by Luis Antonio Delgado with Andrew Harmon
Backup Story by Erik Burnham and Luis Antonio Delgado.
Review by Adam Shaw
Let’s start off and get this out of the way. When there’s something new in the comic shop, who you gonna call? The New Ghostbusters!
Yes, there is a new Ghostbusters series out, but it does not focus around the original crew of Peter, Ray, Egon, and Winston. They each appear, but are soon abducted by supernatural entities; their disappearance being the major plot point of this new series. Heading up the new team is Janine Melnitz, who fans of the movies will remember was the Ghostbusters’ secretary. She is joined by Kylie Griffin, Melanie Ortiz, and Ron Alexander.
I have never read or played any other Ghostbuster stories, so these are all new faces for me. Burnham uses the first page to give each character their own panel and provides us with the relevant information we need on them. I never felt lost or the need to check a wiki to understand any of this story. All the important backstory stuff is slipped in nicely throughout the issue.
The story is fairly light and slightly comical in tone. We have three smart women adjusting to their rather new roles as ghostbusters, and seeing them work together for the first time is a little humorous. The girls would like to focus their efforts on finding the other lost ghostbusters, but due to some legal technicalities they are now required to be on call for the city. The pages that deal with the legality of the Ghostbusters slow the story a little, but this isn’t something that is new to the series. It was a pretty big part of the original movies as well. For you fans of the original characters, we do get to see what is going on with them in the place where they are trapped.
Schoening has worked on Ghostbuster comics before, so fans of the comics will recognize his art. I liked his art style and felt the cartoony nature fit with the story. It reminded me of watching Saturday morning cartoons as a kid. Some of the characters featured slightly elongated necks and rather angled jawlines; very reminiscent of Humberto Ramos.
The Verdict
If you are looking for a light, fun story to read with several lead female characters, then you might want to give this a shot. If Ghostbusters isn’t your thing then pass this up. IDW does a great job with providing fans of different licenses some fun adventures. Fans of Ghostbusters should enjoy seeing the adventures continue in The New Ghostbusters.
