Sunday, January 11, 2015

IDW's Ghostbusters Series

My set of Ghostbusters' graphic novels.
For my first posting of 2015, I thought I would write about something that is near and dear to my heart. And that is the Ghostbusters. Since I was a little kid, the Ghostbusters have been one of my absolutely favorite things in the world. I still have all of my old Ghostbusters' toys in my basement. Plus I have the two movies on DVD and Blu-Ray, the complete series of The Real Ghostbusters on DVD, and the complete series of The Extreme Ghostbusters on VHS. (Recorded off of Chicago's very own WCIU channel 26, with all of the great commercials from 1997.)

This past Christmas I was lucky enough to received IDW's complete series by Erik Burnham on The Ghostbusters. The comic series ran from 2011 till 2014 and encompasses 9 graphic novel volumes. I must say they are OUTSTANDING!!! If you are a fan of the films, cartoon series, or both these are a must read. Burnham does a terrific job of honoring the great mythology of the characters by adding new layers of depth to them. He also expands on the Ghostbusters' legend by introducing new characters that the reader truly cares about.

Plus the Easter eggs!!! If you think the Marvel cinematic universe has Easter eggs, wait till you read this Ghostbusters series. It is filled with Easter eggs that will bring a smile to your face, without distracting you from the story. I can't tell you how many times I've caught myself laughing out loud when I notice one of these Easter eggs.

But I think what I love the most so far about this series (I'm only on volume 3) is that it is fun. The stories are serious when they need to be, but never lose their sense of humor. Much like the films. It truly has action, adventure, and comedy. So if you are tired of the serious, dark nature tone that some comics have embraced, then check out Ghostbusters. This series allows you to have fun!

2 comments:

Matt Maldre said...

I can see how the Ghostbusters would make a great comic book series. Whenever I'm at the comic book store, I'm always yearning for comic books that A) don't involve superheros and B) aren't depressing. It seems most comic books fall into one of those two categories. Most are superhero based. The rest are "real life" comic books that are all edgy and depressing.

The Ghostbusters defies both of those categories. Plus, with they probably can do a lot of fun things with the various types of ghosts and supernatural things. Couple that with the urban feel of Ghostbuster, and their humor, and you have a real hit for a comic book.

Chi-Town Kid 83 said...

I cannot agree with you more Matt. Ghostbusters really lends itself well to comics.

It isn't depressing at all. It's not preachy. It's just a fun read. Additionally, I bet the new movies will have CGI ghosts. The ghosts drawn in the comics are apart of that world and thus look perfect!