Publisher: IDW Publishing
Writer: Erik Burnham
Artist: Dan Schoening, Luis Antonio Delgado
Release Date: 27th Jan 2016

 

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One question that I always had grown up as Ghostbusters fan was, “Do other countries have ghosts appearing?”. This series aims to answer that question.

Following on from the ‘Get Real’ limited series and the introduction of the Sandman in the Annual, we catch up on the team dealing with the aftermath of these events.

Ray is catching up with an old friend (fans of the 1st film should recognise her), who is giving him a tarot card reading. Unfortunately, before they can finish he gets called out to help the rest of the team on a job but we get to see the rest of the cards and it doesn’t look good (I did have to google the meaning of the card we are shown).

The rest of the guys are on a bust at the U.N. during which a couple of things happen; Egon gets injured by acid spit, and the other ghosts appear and start shouting “No!” at the team as they are busting the original, only to disappear after it is trapped (foreshadowing anyone?). After an argument over the bill, the team are later invited to meet with wealthy businessman Erland Vinter.

We then catch up with Janine in the temporary GB HQ (the firehouse got seriously damaged during Get Real), as she catches up with the paperwork she missed while in Japan (see Get Real). Due to all the paperwork she gets the green light to finally hire someone to help her (I hope it is the IDW Eduardo we have previously seen).

Kylie takes a quick visit to Egon’s flat, where he is recuperating from the acid spit and we learn that no-one else has seen the inside of his home. After that detour, we catch up with rest of the guys and Walter meeting with Erland, and it is here we learn why he wants to have a meeting.

Once again the IDW creative team are on point, and no dip in their usual high quality is evident. They set out what has happened in previous volumes with a brief but adequate synopsis before heading straight into the story. Although this is a set up issue for the new ongoing series it doesn’t read like one and just feels like the next chapter in one massive story. (I am surprised no one has approached them to make the IDW series into an animated series, it is screaming out to be made.)

One big fear I had coming into this volume was that the IDW GB universe was growing to big and the stories would end up becoming a quagmire of lore. This isn’t that case in the slightest. The feel so far is that the guys know exactly where the story is going, what beats to hit and where to reference/ expand the previous lore.

There are so many nuanced touches from the Tower tarot card which makes you go digging online for an explanation to the reference about a ghost being released due to non-payment of a bill.

If you want to know how to write, draw or colour a series that stays true to the core idea but never feels tired you need to study IDW Ghostbusters. I could expand my analysis to speak about the story and artwork but I wouldn’t be saying anything I haven’t already said in previous reviews.

This is a great jumping on point to the IDW series if you haven’t already got on board, and if not, why not?

Rating: 4/5.

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PREVIEW ARTWORK
[Click to Enlarge]

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If you want to find out more about Ghostbusters: International, make sure to check out our interview Erik Burnham and Dan Schoening by CLICKING HERE.

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The writer of this piece was: David Gladman
David Tweets from @the_gladrags

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