Doctor Venkman;154712
Why was Clavet's post deleted?
He deleted it himself, but I felt it was worth keeping because there was no real reason to delete it.
Onto the review… Let's face it, in no uncertain terms,
The Other Side was a disaster. The conclusion was sloppy and trite, the art alright, but nothing to write home about, and Keith Champagne never had a grasp of the characters.
Displace Aggression #1 is definitely a marked improvement.
The artwork is definitely one of the big plus factors for IDW's second Ghostbusters miniseries, taking a slightly more stylised approach but handling it well. The Ghostbusters are displayed in a way which evokes the actors who portrayed them, but doesn't go to the point of needing likeness rights. It's especially good to see a more traditional depiction of Egon and Ray, who (whilst unmistakeable) had been given rather poor depictions by Nguyen.
The colouring is also better in my opinion. Whilst TOS was alright in terms of colour, there was no use of any form of dynamic lighting, which is used too good effect here, from the supernatural green of necto-plasmic (necto? Typo?) flame, to the deep oranges of the sunset to the sinister red of the Rudely Mallard Gang. The colouring also benefits from not being overly-detailed like a lot of comics are, giving you the vibe that this could be a new animated series.
One element in particular benefits from Illas Kyriazis: the proton streams. In this comic they crackle with energy and likewise give off a lot of illumination, it's great to see the power of the streams returned after such a wimpy depiction in the last miniseries.
As a final remark on the art side, that final panel concerning the reinforcements is nothing sort of brilliant. It really takes into account the fact these things are made of ectoplasm, and ectoplasm is slimey.
As for the story, it's so far prooving to be enjoyable. I concur with remarks about a welcome return of ‘smart’ Venkman, as the man does have his own brand of smarts even though they aren't in the same particular vein as Ray or Egon. I also felt that his exposition doesn't seem to ham-fisted, but much more forlorn.
However his character does pop in every now and then, hamming up the fact he's in the old west a treat.
There's also a nice little reference (both visual and dialogue) to the bust at the Sedgewick, which gained extra points for including the ‘cockeroach guy’.
It can't be denied, though, that Unglighter is through and through, a Mary Sue. The points have all been pointed out, and it does make you wonder for how long her character can go before possibly becoming a parody.
I'm hoping that the only reason she has these traits is because what we know about her is a lie, and that she's a demon with an alterior motive in helping the Ghostbusters. It's not a impossible plot point to conceive, and I hope it'll be true.
If it isn't, well, even being a Mary Sue she probably wouldn't go down as the worst character in Ghostbusters history.
So far, a good start. Some room for improvement, but at this current time I look forward to the other three issues.