The Answer the Call Ghostbusters Get Back to Busting!

IDW Publishing is releasing a new single-issue Ghostbusters comic each week this month to celebrate the 35th anniversary of the beloved Ghostbusters franchise. This week the Ghostbusters team of Patty Tolan, Abby Yates, Erin Gilbert and Jillian Holtzmann are featured in an intense story written by Devin Grayson with art from SL Gallant and colors by the seasoned Luis Antonio Delgado.

This issue represents the third illustrative incarnation of the Answer the Call Ghostbusters team and their second dedicated story after IDW's phenomenal Ghostbusters 101, which transported Holtzmann, Yates, Gilbert and Tolan to the same dimension as the Prime Ghostbusters team of Ray Stantz, Winston Zeddemore, Egon Spengler and Peter Venkman. Ghostbusters 101, written by Erik Burnham with art by Dan Schoening and colors by Luis Angonio Delgado, was also featured in the groundbreaking Ghostbusters: Crossing Over story arc which brought together several other Ghostbusters teams from various dimensions including The Real Ghostbusters and Extreme Ghostbusters.

An amazing five-issue Ghostbusters: Answer the Call comic series, written by Kelly Thompson with art from Corin Howell and colors from Valentina Pinto was the new Ghostbusters team's first dedicated comic foray and explored the deepest, darkest fears of Patty Tolan, Jillian Holtzmann, Abby Yates and Erin Gilbert while Kevin Beckman ultimately earns a surprising new role.

Grayson, Gallant and Delgado do a wonderful job bringing the team back to life for this 35th anniversary one-shot issue titled In Loco Parentis. The story begins with an intensely dark cult ritual reminiscent of themes explored in Real Ghostbusters episodes like The Collect Call of Cthulhu and Ragnarok and Roll.

The characters are very well represented and the opening dialogue between Kevin Beckman and Abby Yates is hilariously heartwarming and on point. While Erin Gilbert responds to a walk-in appointment, Jillian Holtzmann is seen with a ghost trap and excuses herself to empty it into the containment unit. Many fans will remember the prototype unit referenced in the end credits of the 2016 Ghostbusters film and will be happy to know all the busters have their hair in-tact. This detail really leaves you hoping the team will #AnswerTheSecondCall in a future film as they potentially learn what Zuul is while operating from their newly established Ghostbusters Firehouse HQ.

The story continues as the team loads up the car and encounters a canine specter while introducing themselves to a young family that has been taken over by a class six free-floating reactive. After the bust, Abby Yates, Patty Tolan, Erin Gilbert and Jillian Holtzmann discover the origin of the haunting and encounter a massive and terrifying deity named SAHAQ. As Kevin reunites with Erin, Abby, Patty and Jillian at GBHQ, the team hatch a plan to defeat the monstrous class seven ectoplasmic entity.

Overall Devin Grayson does a wonderful job balancing the tension of a story that is constantly oscillating between dark subject matter and lighthearted humor. The artwork is great and while unique in its own right, seems to be somewhat inspired by Dan Schoening's initial comic rendering of the Answer the Call team from Ghostbusters 101 and Ghostbusters: Crossing Over.

We highly recommend you pick up this comic and add it to your 35th anniversary Ghostbusters collection today!

With Extreme Ghostbusters hitting shops next week and the long-anticipated Transformers / Ghostbusters crossover due this summer, now is the perfect time to add IDW Ghostbusters to your comic pull list. If digital is your preferred method of delivering comics into your brain, you can't go wrong exploring the massive library of Ghostbusters comics direct from IDW Publishing.

Preview the first five pages below.