Just finished reading it last night, I wanted to just say that im impressed with this comic/art/storyline as it's progressing! As many have stated the charactor's where alittle more intune along with what I found to be aittle better art with the storyline. Shocked that Vankman was actually the one to rip the demons intestines out lol. Hell of a way for someone to do it, but none the less it got the job done and looked f#&king sweet at the same time. Totally caught me off guard, I thought it was Winston haha. But yeah so far im getting really intrested in this series, and hope like hell they pick it up for a ongoing monthly book. Like others im awaiting for Janine's introduction providing they have one for her, on a personal note how ever I would be hightly intrested in a full detailed shot of the Ecto-1. I know we seen it already in a few panels, but i've always loved seeing that car tear down the streets, lights ablazing weather it's Movies, cartoons, Video Games or Comics. Love that car man! But anyways im excited for issue 3! Can't wait lol

Peace

Definately an improvement on the first issue, so whilst it's still not perfect it's getting better.

Spoilers

It was definately an interesting idea to have a old granny lead a team of ghosts against the Ghostbusters, and I've been slowly getting the feeling that “Fred” is rather bored of the politics his bosses are trying to instate, that he figures they have bigger fish to fry then still playing at being mob bosses seeing as they're now long dead.


And the page-turner aspect was dead on, it leaves me feeling hopeful for the next two parts, and it should be interesting to see how things progress for the three dead Ghostbusters, Venkman and what appears to be the spectral equivilant of the Untouchabales. I wouldn't be surprised if Elliot Ness is amongst that group.

What made me lol hard about that was Egon being the one to put the old lady down. Guess she pushed the wrong buttons that Peck pushed in the movies, and good lord, I'm glad I didn't go to the school that Ray did, he must've had a bad childhood, heh.

I hate to be the lemon in the fruit bowl here, but I guess I didn't enjoy this issue as much as you guys did. At first I thought it was too corny (even for my tastes), but after a second read, it's not as bad as I first thought. It's still pretty goofy though. Here's my take:

PROs:
The artwork is better. Great coloring especially. I learned a new word; “shunted.” The “apple-dumpling gang” was kinda cool, and a nice surrealist touch. The mean granny seems like a nod to Mrs. Rogers of RGB. I loved seeing a spirit-possessed Ghostbuster (Venkman) saying "I ain't afraid of no ghosts“ - that was a brilliant piece of badass irony. When Fred/Venkman said he's going to pick up a dame, my first thought was that he's gonna go rape and/or sexually harass some woman, and then Peter will end up being blamed for it, and maybe arrested. I think that'd be a cool plot twist.

The writers are starting to get a feel for the characters, the dialogue is getting pretty good. The line ”Careful, Ray. It's been scientifically proven that negative thinking brings back negative results" struck me as pure, spot-on Spengler talk.


CONs:
I still don't like Egon's punk-rock hair, and the uniforms are seriously lacking. I mostly hate all the plot-holes in this story-arc. I'm usually pretty good at suspending my disbelief, but when you have bloated, bullet-riddled Ghostbuster corpses, rotting at the bottom of the lake (along with Ecto-1), I have to be skeptical. I don't see any plausible way they could possibly survive this one. I also hate the countless metaphysical plot-holes & questions that come with the idea of purgatory, which is why I prefer that stories stray away from the concept. But alas, they strayed thither, and just had to make things even worse by drawing more attention to it, and unnecessarily complicating things with the mosquito sequence, in a vain attempt to be “deep.” Would it have been so hard to make the damn things ectoplasmic & indestructible? Now they have to pull a rabbit out of the proverbial hat, and explain “death within death.”

I also found it extremely obnoxious when the crazy-granny kept saying “dears” every other sentence. I think the general rule of thumb for using that stuff is 3 times max. Any more and it ceases to be cute. In fact I think the bitchy-grandma gag in general was a bit over-cranked. The whole “gang” really. Their squabbling and snarling seemed like something out of the sixth season of RGB. All that was missing were some obfuscatory Looney-Tunes dust-clouds.

Also, I thought it was way too over-the-top when Venkman turned into Conan the Barbarian. I could see him impaling or decapitating the guardian-demon, but performing a medieval-tonsillectomy was just too much.


MINOR-CONs:
Their legs are tired after walking down a stairway? Having the gratuitous half-naked girls conveniently composed in full-view for apparently no other reason than sexual-objectification was a bit hard to swallow. I wonder if Tom Nguyen is a woman.


It seems to me like most of the cons are born out of a crisis of aesthetic. I think the writers of this comic have yet to decide on a certain balance between “realistic” and “cartoony.” At first I thought they were aiming for more of an XGB level of realism, which is great, but now it seems they're leaning more toward the cartoony side, which isn't necessarily bad mind you. I just wish it was more clear is all.

I suspect you'll probably get why some “Bikini-clad lovelies” were included were you to take a cursory glance at Tom's website.

The bodies didn't seem that bloated or rotten, seeing as they're fresh kills.

However the point stands that they've just about done all they can to make it nigh-on impossible for the Ghostbusters to be alive again, so It'll be interesting to see if they can pull that plot twist off without a major Deus Ex Machina.

I'll admit it, the bikini ladies in purgatory made me laugh actually. I wonder what they were doing when they died, and why they were posing like that. They did it for the lulz.

I do have to agree with Kingpin though, it'll be interesting to see how they get the bodies and Ecto-1 out of there without something totally unnecessary happening.

Well, so, how was The Other Side #2?

I'm not sure if it was better, or I had a better idea what to expect after #1. I definitely think the art was better.

It's the story I'm still not sure about. One the one hand, the heroes have certainly been put in probably the tightest spot they've ever been in. It can be inspiring to watch characters you care about triumph over adversity, and it doesn't get much more adverse that being shot full of holes and/or evicted out of your own body.

On the other hand…how in the Hell are they going to get out of this? This situation is so bad it's gonna be tough to reverse in a way that makes sense. Venkman, at least, could theoretically evict “Fred” from his body and get it back–Ray, Egon, and Winston are dead and their bodies are literally sleeping with the fishies.

I will withhold judgement until this story is done, but this is gonna be a tough corner to write out of without dragging in some corny deus ex machina. I hope I'm wrong. I hope Kieth Champagne comes up with a twist that completely knocks our socks off and makes it all worth it…I'm just not sure I feel expectant of that, though.

And Venkman pulling the demon's spine out through it's mouth–“nine different kinds of gross” indeed.

Honest opinion? It's just rubbish really. I can't find a single redeeming feature, particularly when i compare it to the Tokyopop Manga - at least that set out its stall and stayed with it, RGB humour all the way with dark overtones. This IDW line is so all over the place that it is just failing to make me care about what will happen next.

I'm dumb enough to keep buying it because it's Ghostbusters and I'd hope a different story further down the line could be better, but i'm really, really disappointed.

That really isn't to rain on anyone's parade, it's just the truth my taste dictates.