Graham Cracker's weekly e-mail lists issue 2 for Wed. Oct. 7th.

Diamond updated it's shipping list for this week. Confirming the book for this Wednesday.
http://www.previewsworld.com/public/default.asp?t=2&m=1&c=6&s=428

Neat, not long to wait for #2.

Just so everyone's aware… Displaced Aggression #2 is out today… I just got the e-mail from my store that its in stock.

I just picked up my copys of #2, i got 2 coovers and GCC is charging 12 for the virgin cover….lame, but i did read the story, not bad but needed more action and it does tell us a little bit more about rachel.

Ectoman57;155374
I just picked up my copys of #2, i got 2 coovers and GCC is charging 12 for the virgin cover….lame, but i did read the story, not bad but needed more action and it does tell us a little bit more about rachel.

That's weird, GCC is only charging $9.99 for the virgin cover on their website.

i should go tell them that, but this cover.. idk if i would pay that for it, im hoping the other variants look better

Got my copy today. Here's my full review with plot synopsis. Don't read if you haven't seen the issue yet.

My review:

Review:

Well, we can be thankful that issue two of “Displaced Aggression” is an overall improvement from the previous installment, but with that one being one of the worst comic books I’d ever read, it would almost have to be.

Peter’s dialogue is nice and snappy and sarcastic. After the humorless “The Other Side” miniseries, it’s actually refreshing to have some comedy injected back into the Ghostbusters (never thought I’d have to ask for a writer to put humor back in the Ghostbusters…). Ray’s in perfect form, too, rambling on with childish glee about crazy arcane and technological subjects that make sense to no one but himself. If Scott Lobdell has succeeded at anything, it’s that (at least so far) he understands how to write each character.

The overall story, though, feels like a retread of issue 1 but with a fancy new hat. It follows all the same beats: “Hey, we’ve got to go back to the future”, “Not until we save these people”, “But we don’t have to because time will reset itself”, “We’re doing it anyway”, “Okay”, and so on. Lobdell just swapped the Wild West and the ghost train with the Middle Ages and ghost dragons. So with that in mind, he gets zero points for the plot. The moronic, hackneyed moment of “OMG is Peter REALLY betraying the Ghostbusters!?” takes his score card deep into the negatives. Really, Lobdell? That trope was ancient back in 1985.

I got a kick out of seeing the freeze beam from “Ghostbusters the Video Game” make an appearance, though I don’t know if it was intentional or not (the way the freeze beam is added to the packs is different from how it happened in the game, so maybe). The off-hand reference to Vigo would’ve been fine if, you know, they hadn’t misspelled it as “Viggo”. And is it “proto-pack” or “mega-pack”? Yet again, IDW proves it doesn’t actual edit or quality check any of its books.

And last but not least, we have the most critically hammered aspect of this mini: Rachel Unglighter. Her introduction in issue 1 was an atrocity to graphic literature. Here, mercifully, we’re offered a few nuggets implying she’s not all that she seems. Whether she’s a malevolent force or a benevolent one: only time will tell. At any rate, I’m pleased that she isn’t a completely transparent Mary Sue, but it doesn’t undo the fact that she still sucks hardily as a character, “mysterious secret agenda” or not.

I failed to really talk about it in my last review, but if this mini has any absolute positive qualities, it would have to be Neil Uyetake’s artwork. His efforts are very expressive and dynamic with characters that are detailed but not to the point of being unattractive. It’s well-executed and professional-looking; a mighty improvement over the artwork from “The Other Side”, which had all the beauty of an ill-conceived webcomic.

Grade: D+ (as in, “Dynamic art doesn’t make up for a recycled paint-by-numbers story we already read one issue ago”.)

There's still a lot of editing problems and the overall story was a duplicate of Issue 1's, but in a different setting.

Art's nice, though.

Well I have yet to read Displaced Aggression #2 yet, but Spengs, you really need to tone down your reviews. They don't even come off as something anyone should put much credence into, because with the hostile tone you choose for each review so far it just looks like you're out to bash IDW and anything Ghostbusters they put out, because its different.

Like I said, I don't know if its any good or not yet, but the fact that you actually call the first issue one of the worst comics you've ever read is taking such a vitriolic stance right from the beginning that it doesn't provide much leverage for your review to have any sort of credence. DA#1 wasn't fantastic, but its by no means the horrific crap-fest that you seem hellbent on making it out to be. It is certainly not one of the worst comics ever written.

Doctor Venkman;155383
Well I have yet to read Displaced Aggression #2 yet, but Spengs, you really need to tone down your reviews. They don't even come off as something anyone should put much credence into, because with the hostile tone you choose for each review so far it just looks like you're out to bash IDW and anything Ghostbusters they put out, because its different.

Like I said, I don't know if its any good or not yet, but the fact that you actually call the first issue one of the worst comics you've ever read is taking such a vitriolic stance right from the beginning that it doesn't provide much leverage for your review to have any sort of credence. DA#1 wasn't fantastic, but its by no means the horrific crap-fest that you seem hellbent on making it out to be. It is certainly not one of the worst comics ever written.

My reviews are, admittedly, violent in their critiques, but I always make it a point to single out and explain each reason why I'm so disappointed in said issue. When I write a review, rage-filled though it may be, I always include substance and cited examples to back up my negative or positive commentary.

Could they stand to be less aggressive? Yes, you've got me there.

But I hold a rather high standard for Ghostbusters and I feel slighted that IDW is putting so little effort into their Ghostbusters output that I can't help but feel irritated whenever I pick up an issue. For Heaven's sake, they won't even take the time of day to edit the thing properly.

And I most certainly don't “hate it just because it's different”.

I've written a number of glowing reviews for the TokyoPop “Ghost Busted” graphic novel, and it doesn't get more different than that.

As for my opinion on issue 1 being one of the worst comics I've ever read, I stand by that for all the reasons I illustrated in my review for said issue. It knelt on the crutch of every lazy writing cliche' known to man, with only its art as a saving grace.


I'm not a guy who “hates everything”. When good Ghostbusters media comes along, I praise it. But IDW's output has been lacking in the effort department so much that I can't help but feel insulted, hence my rather aggressive reviews (which are written immediately after I read the issue, hence a lack of a “cooling off” period; I want my impressions to be as fresh as possible).

Spengs85;155384
I've written a number of glowing reviews for the TokyoPop “Ghost Busted” graphic novel, and it doesn't get more different than that.

The only thing that was different about “Ghost Busted” was the art. That story was a very easy story, and well used. Villain controls ghosts to go after the Ghostbusters and trap them. That was the same plot of Legion pretty much. I definitely wouldn't describe it as “doesn't get more different than that”.