Real Ghostbusters Omnibus, Vol. 1 Preview

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Forget Egon's rules–the streamshave been crossed, the dead have risen, and a free-roamingapparition is part of the gang! It's The Real Ghostbusters, ladiesand gentlemen, and in Volume 1you can score issues #1–14 ofthe classic comic series originallypublished by NOW Comics. Be there as Ray, Peter, Egon, and Winston keep doing what they do. After all, they ain't afraid of no ghosts!

O M N I B U S

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Cover by Ken Steacy

Collection Edits by Justin Eisinger & Alonzo Simon

Collection Design by Tom B. Long

THE REAL GHOSTBUSTERS OMNIBUS, VOLUME 1. OCTOBER 2012. FIRST PRINTING. The Real Ghostbusters ™ & © 2012 Columbia Pictures, Inc. All rights reserved. IDW Publishing, a division of Idea and Design Works,LLC. Editorial offices: 5080 Santa Fe St., San Diego, CA 92109. The IDW logo is registered in the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. Any similarities to persons living or dead are purely coincidental. With the exception of artworkused for review purposes, none of the contents of this publication may be reprinted without the permission of Idea and Design Works, LLC. Printed in Korea.IDW Publishing does not read or accept unsolicited submissions of ideas, stories, or artwork.

Originally published by NOW Comics as THE REAL GHOSTBUSTERS Issues #1–14.

www.IDWPUBLISHING.com

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Ted Adams, CEO & PublisherGreg Goldstein, President & COORobbie Robbins, EVP/Sr. Graphic ArtistChris Ryall, Chief Creative Officer/Editor-in-ChiefMatthew Ruzicka, CPA, Chief Financial OfficerAlan Payne, VP of SalesDirk Wood, VP of MarketingLorelei Bunjes, VP of Digital Services

IDW founded by Ted Adams, Alex Garner, Kris Oprisko, and Robbie Robbins

ISBN: 978-1-61377-493-9 15 14 13 12 1 2 3 4


Table of Contents

The Real Ghostbusters #1 (August, 1988) ........................................................7Writer: James Van Hise • Penciller: John Tobias • Inker: Brian Thomas

Lettering: Jim Massara & Ken Holewzcynski • Cover Artist: Ken Steacy

The Real Ghostbusters #2 (September, 1988) .................................................31Writer: James Van Hise • Penciller: John Tobias • Inker: Brian Thomas • Coloring: Rich Powers

Lettering: Jim Massara • Cover Artist: Ken Steacy

The Real Ghostbusters #3 (October, 1988) .....................................................56Writer: James Van Hise • Penciller: John Tobias • Inker: Brian Thomas • Coloring: Rich Powers

Lettering: Jim Massara • Cover Artist: Ken Steacy

The Real Ghostbusters #4 (November, 1988): “Ghost Gangsters”.........................83Writer & Penciller: Evan Dorkin • Finishes: Ken Steacy & Andrew Pratt • Coloring: Ken Steacy

Lettering: Andrew Pratt • Cover Artist: Ken Steacy

The Real Ghostbusters #5 (January, 1989) ...................................................109Writer: James Van Hise • Penciller : John Tobias • Inker: Brian Thomas • Coloring: Rich Powers

Lettering: Kurt Hathaway • Cover Artist: Ken Steacy

The Real Ghostbusters #6 (February, 1989): “Video Nasties” ............................136Writer: James Van Hise • Penciller: John Tobias • Inker: Brian Thomas • Coloring: Rich Powers


The Real Ghostbusters #7 (March, 1989): “The Secret Empire”.........................160Writer: James Van Hise • Penciller: John Tobias • Inker: Rich Rankin • Coloring: Rich Powers


The Real Ghostbusters #8 (April, 1989): “Toad Island” .....................................185Writer : James Van Hise • Penciller: John Tobias • Inker: Rich Rankin Lettering: Kurt Hathaway • Cover Artist: John Tobias & Marc Hansen

The Real Ghostbusters #9 (May, 1989): “The Father-Thing Trilogy, Part One: Rising Son”...............................................................................................211Writer: James Van Hise • Penciller: John Tobias • Inker: Rich Rankin • Coloring: Barry PetersenLettering: Dan McKinnon • Cover Artist: Gary Fields

The Real Ghostbusters #10 (June, 1989): “The Father-Thing Trilogy, Part Two: The Empire of the Son” ...............................................................................236Writer : James Van Hise • Penciller: John Tobias • Inker: Rich Rankin • Coloring: Suzanne DechnikLettering: Kurt Hathaway • Cover Artist: Ken Steacy

The Real Ghostbusters #11 (July, 1989): “The Father-Thing Trilogy, Part Three” ....262Writer: James Van Hise • Penciller: David Schwartz • Inker: Brian Thomas • Coloring: Suzanne DechnikLettering: Dan Nakrosis • Cover Artist: Ken Steacy

The Real Ghostbusters #12 (August, 1989): “A Cat Named Tarantula” ................289Writer: James Van Hise • Penciller: Howard Bender • Inker: Brian Thomas • Coloring: Suzanne DechnikLettering: Dan Nakrosis • Cover Artist: Howard Bender & Patrick Owsley

The Real Ghostbusters #13 (September, 1989): “Blizzard Queen” ......................312Writer: James Van Hise • Penciller: John Tobias • Inker: Rich Rankin • Coloring: Suzanne DechnikLettering: Dan Nakrosis • Cover Artist: Rich Rankin & John Tobias

The Real Ghostbusters #14 (October, 1989): “The Lost and the Lonely”...............335Writer: James Van Hise • Penciller: Howard Bender • Inker: David Mowry • Coloring: Suzanne DechnikLettering: Dan Nakrosis • Cover Artist: Howard Bender


When I slipped the first issue o f NOW Comics’ The Real Ghostbusters out ofits slot in the spinning comic book rack atthe local drugstore where I worked back inthe summer of 1988, I immediately stoppedand gave pause—I was truly impressed at the obvious quality of the [new] title thatI held in my hands. The cover was glossy,the ink was printed on paper stock that feltthicker and sturdier than what was the industry’s standard, the publisher (CaputoPublishing, Inc.) chose to include an excitingpin-up poster in each and every issue of themagazine, and the colors the companymixed to formulate their high-quality inkseemed to just leap off the printed page. Sothen, where was the harm in picking up justone more title a month? In August, 1988,the price of the average newsstand comicbook ranged from 75¢� to $1.50; it wasrare for a newsstand comic to cost morethan a buck. Working six days-a-week atRook’s Drugstore (I picked up a few otherodd jobs to support my collecting habit[s]),this job allowed me to buy between fifteento twenty comics each month, paying $15-$20 to indulge my craving and still have agood amount left over for action figures, ofcourse. Rook’s Drugstore was one of thosefascinating slices of Americana that was unintentionally anachronistic: it was a placeout-of-time; a throwback. Rook’s was an old-school, independently-owned drugstorethat was popular in the late 19th and early20th century (think Gower’s Drugstore inFrank Capra’s It’s a Wonderful Life), repletewith all the accoutrements from a better-vanished time: a lunch counter in theback of the building that hosted a hamburger grill, an ice cream parlor with swivel stools, a soda fountain with its requisite syrup dispensers. And a huge selection of comic books that were displayed on three large spinning racks.

At this point in my collecting career, I was asuper-hero junkie: I bought up nearly everymajor super-hero book that I could at a timemany pundits considered to be their heyday. In August of 1988, Todd McFarlane andDavid Michelinie were the superlative creative team attached to Amazing

Spider-Man, while McFarlane began weaning himself off of Peter David’s magnum opus, The Incredible Hulk (McFarlane contributed pencils to BOTHbooks that month). Bernie Wrightson tackled Batman in the caped Crusader’s pivotal deluxe mini-series, The Cult, while thevery first “Warner Edition” softcover tradepaperback of Frank Miller and David Mazzucchelli’s masterpiece of the DarkKnight’s re-told origin, Batman: Year One,was released. David Michelinie’s secondmonthly Marvel title partnered him with BobLayton—my all-time favorite artist of the Armored Avenger—and the two workedtheir storytelling magic on Iron Man. KeithGiffen, J.M. DeMatteis, and Kevin Maguiretickled my funny bone with their award-winning team book, the revitalized JusticeLeague America. Underappreciated writerMike Baron and former Uncanny X-Menartist Wilce Portacio nailed down The Punisher on a monthly basis—and thisAugust, 1988 issue just happened to feature the infamous “crossover” tie-inwith this month’s fabulous Daredevildeftly handled by John Romita Jr. and Anne Nocenti. Andy Helfer and Kyle Bakerput their own ingenious spin on the enigmatic Lamont Cranston in DC’s The Shadow. The much-lauded “revamp” expert, John Byrne—who cut his teeth onthe [Uncanny] X-Men and Fantastic Four titles for Marvel—busied himself resuscitating Superman. Chris Claremont,Marc Silvestri, and Dan Green treated fans of Marvel’s mutants with the characters’ flagship title, The Uncanny X-Men. ReveredHulk scribe Peter David and throwbackartist Alex Saviuk gifted us Web of Spider-Man. And finally, über-talentedGeroge Perez wrote and drew Wonder Woman to much fanfare and critical acclaim.

So then, in August of 1988, it was fairly DIFFICULT for a non super-hero book to succeed in the comic business. Heck, Neal Adams was drawing and writing the D-grade title Captain Power and the Soldiers of the Future, while Jim Lee waspenciling Alpha Flight. That’s right… ALPHA FLIGHT [!]. Talented writers and

INTRODUCT IONby MARK W. BELLOMO


artists were just about everywhere, and although it was a great time to be acomic book reader, the competition withinthe industry was fierce. Thankfully, becauseof the obvious quality work that NOW Comics demanded from their creativeteams—and in almost in spite of their hefty$1.75 price tag (which mimicked DC Comics’ high-quality “Prestige Format”series of the time)—The Real Ghostbusterswas a smash success as well as many of the company’s other titles (The GreenHornet, Married… With Children, RalphSnart Adventures, etc.).

How successful were they?

During the years 1986-1990, the owner of NOW Comics (Tony Caputo [of CaputoPublishing, Inc.]) expanded his businessfrom a tiny, one-man operation into a massive, multi-million dollar internationalcorporation (!); in May of 1990, remarkably,NOW Comics held the #3 slot in comic bookmarket share. Of course, this is all relative:Marvel Comics owned 45% of the market,DC Comics was a safe 25%, while NOW Comics held a “mere” 3%; but thiswas a small percentage of a very large pie.NOW Comics was quite judicious when acquiring their licensed properties for translation into comic books.

Timely is a word I use sparingly when describing a comic book tit le, butThe Real Ghostbusters was certainly that.For NOW Comics to obtain a license as coveted as the Real Ghostbusters—one thatI’m sure Marvel, DC, or Dark Horse wouldhave paid a pretty penny for at the time—was in every way a coup. Kenner was pumping out Real Ghostbusters action figure products in a mad frenzy, but it wasn’tjust those little pl astic homunculi that fedKenner’s coffers—it was the magnificentrole play items that they produced in tandem with the figures that made theirReal Ghostbusters franchise a powerfulforce in the retail toy aisle.

NOW Comics uti l ized all the finest aspects of the animated program The Real Ghostbusters (1986-1991, 147 episodes total)* developed by ColumbiaPictures Television & DiC Enterprises: eachof the four main characters wore their ownunique jumpsuit, every member of the

Ghostbusters team utilized technology anddevices that were more similar to the Kenner toy company’s Real Ghostbustersrole-play toys (the colorful Proton Pack, PKE Meter, etc.) than the intimidatingpseudo-scientific devices featured in 1984’s live action Ghostbusters film (NOTE:Ghostbusters II did not premiere until June16th, 1989), as in the animated series,Slimer became an important supportingcast member of the Ghostbusters team—rather than portraying the character as theadversarial “Green Ghost” (the manner inwhich he is denoted in the film[s]), and finally—there were also many allusions to both the film and cartoon re: referencesto Gozer, other specific ghosts, etc. Furthermore, writer James Van Hise maintained the personalities of all fourGhostbusters, refusing to deviate from theiressential characteristics: Peter Venkmanfunctions as the “mouth” of the Ghostbusters, Egon Spengler exists as the team’s “brain,” Ray Stantz portrays the group’s “heart,” while Winston Zeddemore—with his devout religious beliefs—is the compassionate“soul” of the Ghostbusters.

For the uninitiated who’ve never read a Real Ghostbusters comic book… those of you who are picking up this omnibus anthology because you’ve watched Ghostbusters and Ghostbusters II over-and-over, and—like myself—can quote famousscenes at the drop of a hat (from “No, we’reexterminators… someone saw a cockroachup on twelve,” to “We had part of a Slinky.But I straightened it,” or even “Whoa, whoa,whoa! Nice shootin’ Tex!”), this collection isfor YOU—for every fan of the franchise whosimply WANTS MORE GHOSTBUSTERS. Or better yet: if you’re a parent who’s introducing their beloved children to thesecherished Ghostbusters characters for thevery first time, this anthology is just perfect.

— MWB

*More on the relationship between the cartoon, the films, and the NOW Comic will be revealed in the second anthology.

After writing the flavor text for IDW’s The Art of Transformers:Fall of Cybertron (Autumn, 2012), prolific author Mark Bellomois presiding over Krause Publications’ bestselling Toys & Prices:The World’s Best Toy Guide (Spring, 2013), all the while providingnotes and commentary to IDW’s Transformers: Classics and G.I.Joe: The Complete Collection.


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