Read this last night, and I agree. I can understand them wanting to put a movie universe spin on Samhain, but it feels a little off to me, because they only went half-way with it. I did like his meaner look. The more shriveled pumpkin and the skeletal, separated body. But, the antlers didn't fit at all imo.

The lack of Winston was also a little bothersome. Other than that, I really liked this. It was well written and quite fun. From looking at the early panels, I thought the art might be a little distracting, but as it went on, I didn't feel that. My favorite of the designs was Egon, Peter being second.

Definitely one of the best comics IDW has produced so far. I also picked up Con-Volution, but didn't like it nearly as much. I hope to get Tainted Love soon and get caught up, before the Infestation series begins.

I think Dr. V's review was dead on. I loved the art and characters. I thought the pacing and comedy were extremely well done. As a long time GB fan, I loved the “hidden picture” mentality with RGB reference. (Speaking of, I don't have the book with me, but we ought to go through and see how many we can find.)

I thought the story itself was good - but they shouldn't have named the ghost Sam Hain. It appeared to me, like Dr. V, that they were changing his backstory. This is not a “powerful creature of the night who no one could stop…oh boy.” I don't have any problems with the ghost persay, and personally love Dan's works on ghosts - MUCH better than the ghosts of past IDW comic books, it just wasn't Samhain.

About the antlers: As a Texan, I can hope that Dan's a ran of the Rangers (even though they are now down in the World Series 2-0). Antlers Up.

And just for fun: (off the top of my head)
Lamp from Janine's Genie
Plant from Ghost Grows in Brooklyn
Goblins from When Halloween was Forever and Halloween 2.5
Painting of Vigo
Mrs. Faversham and the coat rack monster
Wooden Troll statue from Troll Bride
Canary in a cage from Mrs. Roger's Neighborhood
Busts of the guy and a chicken from Chicken, He Clucked
Tobin's Spirit Guide
Murray the Mantis
Poster for Dr. Basingame
RGB Peter Venkman

And simply because I thought it was awesome: the party guest dressed up as Garfield in his pirate costume from Garfield's Halloween Adventure tv special.

What can I say? I loved it, and it was worth the wait… but all over far too quickly.
It's nice to see that Janine is getting enough exposure on her own, she may not be one of the four Ghostbusters, but she is one of the most frequently-seen characters in the property, and this story, and the small tale given to her in Displaced Aggression build off of the stories that have already been given to her in The Real Ghostbusters and Extreme Ghostbusters. It was unfortunate in some aspects that as a result, the Ghostbusters themselves featured more in the background, but that's a understandable effect of a change in focus… it's just unfortunate that out of the lot, Winston only got one line.

The art is wondeful, I'd say probably my favourite out of the whole run… but having been a fan of Dan's work for so long, I'm naturally biased… but it shows that his art could easily be the basis for an ongoing series, or a new cartoon. I definitely look forward to seeing his and James Eatock's contribution to the Haunted Holidays trade paperback when that's released. The comic was a love-letter of references to both the cartoon, and the larger franchise in general, chock full of cameos and homages… a full breakdown of the ones I noticed will follow after my remarks.

Although short, the story was entertaining and the good character development for Janine. Egon stole the show the most in the case of the one-liners, but Peter David managed to show Venkman's “make-a-buck” personality in good form.

Definitely one of the best one-shots to date, and I think in the final analysis, prior to the release of the zombie story Infestation, I'd say that this was my favourite one-shot, with Displaced Aggression being my favourite of the two four-issue miniseries IDW has released to date.

Based on how the series has improved since the disasterous The Other Side, I greatly look forward to seeing more from IDW in 2010, and not that it hasn't already been said… it's about bloody time that a successful Ghostbusters comic series was published.

As for Samhain… I see some people have remarked about the story presenting a “revision” of the Samhain we know and love, well, I view it more as the comic establishing their own Samhain, and doing it with a twist. I doubt David would want to upset things by revising one of the familiar elements of Real Ghostbusters lore. If this had been a RGB comic, then there'd be definite room for concern, but as this is set in a amalgam universe of RGB and movie influences, I think it works. I also apply that view to the “changes” made to the appearance we're used to, it's unlikely we would've seen the original design of Samhain, nor would they likely have used it if they could've, as this wasn't meant to be a RGB comic. I rather like the antlers, as well as the other design elements to this new depiction of the Samhain character.

Thinking back, I think I enjoyed this because it felt like watching an episode of The Real Ghostbusters… a good blend of comedy, horror, emotion and action.

So now, onto the cameos (I know some have already been mentioned… I just want to provide as near a complete list)

The DJ has a copy of the Ghostbusters soundtrack LP.
Spotted before, but a DeLorean can be seen parked beside the Firehouse.
The lamp from Janine's Genie and the Geraniums from A Ghost Grows in Brooklyn are sat atop the filing cabinets behind Janine's desk.
The licence plate on Janine's car reads: “GB1 ZUL”. There's also a Ghostbusters logo sticker on her read windscreen, possibly a “I heart nerds” window sticker, and some sort of crossed logo I can't make out.
Samhain's goblin duo are hidden beside the porch stairs of Lester's mansion.
One of the party guests is dressed as Stay Puft.
A portrait of Vigo is hung behind Lester.
A portrait of Mrs. Faversham is hung in the ballroom of the mansion, above the coat-rack monster from The Thing in Mrs. Faversham's Attic. On a table beside the door is a satue of the bird of Kildarby from the episode of the same name.
A copy of the Necronomicon from The Collect Call of Cathulhu can be seen on the banquet table in the ballroom.
There's a bust of Cubby from Chicken, he Clucked and a chicken behind Janine in the hidden room, in addition to a portrait of Elwin Spaulding from The Old College Spirit.
Amongst the books floating around in the secret room, is a copy of Tobin's Spirit Guide.
On another table in the hidden room is the stone replica of the troll from Troll Bridge, sat beside Mrs. Roger's canary and cage.
The knocker on the door Janine notices is the same one from the Doomsday door in Knock, Knock
A stuffed plush of Murray the Mantis and a poster for Dr. Bassingame can be seen in the basement of the mansion.
A credit for Cynthia Crawford from UBN News is attached to the article on Hain's mansion.
The mansion is dubbed “Tobin's Mansion”.
The device Egon is working on appears to bear some similarity to the Ecto Aroma Eliminator from Masquerade. An alternate proposal is that it's his digital copy of Tobin's Spirit Guide.
Egon has a coffee cup with the periodic symbol for Cobalt emblazoned on it.
Amongst the partiers on the terrace at the back of the mansion are Michael Jackson and a couple of zombies from Thriller, Teen Wolf and his girlfriend, the ghosts from Disney's Lonesome Ghosts (which on more than one occasion has had parralels drawn between it and Ghostbusters), Icabod Crane and the Headless Horseman from Disney's The Legend of Sleepy Hollow, possessed Dana Barrett, sat next to the “Hat Box” ghost from the Haunted Mansion and the Real Ghostbusters design of Dr. Peter Venkman, dressed as the wolf from the old Droopy cartoons. A man dressed as Garfield in a pirate costume is chatting to Lester.

I'm sure the pint-sized Witch is also a reference, but it escapes me.

I can't say for certain without seeing the uncovered art, but I believe the poster of Samual Hain states that that particular performance was being conducted at the Sedgewick Hotel.

The gravestones in the second to last panel contain quotes from the first movie.
The closing panel of the story includes a Terror Dog, a couple of the Domovyen from The Spirit of Aunt Lois, the cactus ghost from a Ghost Grows in Brooklyn, Tolay from Egon's Ghost


Minor continuity note, despite noticing she didn't have a Trap, Janine has a visible Ghost Trap in several panels prior to her discovery, although I suppose it could be rationalised that it was dropped when the books began to fly.

Well, this being Halloween I finally sat down and read this thing.

Spoilers Ahoy:

The Art:

I admit, I'm not as huge a fan of Dan Schoening as some in the GB Community. I mean, yeah, he's a hell of a lot better than me, which goes without saying, but I think Too Zuul for School summed it up better than I could.

That being said, if we have to have “Sorta like the movie actors but not close enough to get sued” likenesses, Dapper Dan's art this issue is hard to disagree with. We can even tell Ray and Venkman apart pretty easily, which other artists have struggled with. The fact that Dan obviously knows and loves the cartoons, and keep sneaking in little in-jokes to them–including two panels of the “real” Venkman wearing a Winchester Wolf hat!–brings an energy to the story that has been missing in some of the previous IDW books.

Egon and Janine both use PKE Meters that show the influence of the cartoon meter. The swing arms look more like the movie prop, but their location recalls the cartoons. Very nice touch.

I didn't really care for Janine's custom costume this issue, being composed of a shirt with a bare midriff and short shorts (though at least the short shorts were slightly more practical than the mini-skirt on the cover), and of course I wish Dan had chosen a different haircut–this one is basically the GB2/1989 RGB look that I inevitably associate with the absolute nadir of her characterization. But darn it, other than that, she's as cute as a button, and that goes a long way.

I realize that a sexist uniform for her is precedented though–they stuck her in a vomitous pink flight suit in the cartoon. I guess this is the tan equivalent of that. At least she's wearing sensible boots instead of stiletto heels or something, right? :roll:

The Story:

Peter David is one of my favorite comic writers of all. I didn't read much of his Incredible Hulk but soaked up the awesomeness he brought to DC's Star Trek adaptations, and of course his two awesome runs on X-Factor (the latter of which is still ongoing); actually, X-Factor #210 came out the same week as What In The Samhain Just Happened?, so I got a Peter David double dose!

“Reality” TV gets savaged here, with a slimebag producer trying to make money off of his problem; he's kind of a thematic descendant of Artie Grendel, Julio Ramanajan (from the Now Comics run), or the guys from 20/40/60. Like Venkman says: "Of course we know his type! I am his type!“ Makes me wonder if Lester knows ol' Charlie…

One major attraction of this story is the spotlight it gives to Janine. This is the most active she's been since…well, hell, come to think of it, this is the most important she's been to a story since the whole ”Revival“ started in 2004! She was barely even in any of IDW's stuff up until now, so this featuring role was more than overdue.

And even better…Peter David handles the character well. She may have the GB2 haircut, but we see the same firey, gutsy character we grew to love in GB1 and the JMS era. Maybe she's a little reckless in taking on this job singlehandedly, but she isn't stupid about it (other than maybe the trap flub), and keeps her cool the whole time. Yeah, sure, the guys have to help out at the end, but it is their name on the comic, I guess, and the rest of it was so good I'll overlook that.

Strangely enough, of the male Ghostbusters, the one who seems most prominant in this story is Egon. But since he's the one of the four with the closest personal connection to Janine, this is as it should be: even if you don't count the cartoons, where he clearly falls for her eventually, there's still GB1. He materializes for the first time when she's arguing with Lester, and responds to her distress with obvious focus and determination.
In other words, there's nothing an Egon/Janine shipper here could complain about.

And even when Janine isn't involved, he gets some great moments. I think Peter David channelled just a little bit of ”Pietro Maximoff Syndrome" here; just like Quicksilver can be an insufferable jerk because his dealings with everyone else are like dealing with snails in an ATM line, Egon shows some snarkiness which could be justified by the fact that he really is smarter than everyone else. But again, notice how quick his annoyance at being interrupted evaporates when he finds out why Lester called…

I guess that it's inevitable that, in a one-issue story concentrating on a character who hasn't had much spotlight lately, somebody had to get the short end of the stick: in this case, Winston spends most of the story on vacation. I can't exactly approve of it, but the strength of the rest of the story means I can forgive it.

All in all, I enjoyed it a great deal.

bought it today (Halloween). Was awesome. Loved the nods to the cartoon and other ghostly-related shows and movies. Hope the artist gets to do more, really liked his style.

Did anyone notice that one of the graves says St. Jerome?

I bought the Haunted Holidays TPB the other day, for Guess What's Coming To Dinner. I enjoyed it. A low key, but funny little story. I wasn't a big fan of it's ending, however.

Tainted Love was also in that. I'll still get the single issue at some point, but now there's no rush to do so. It was more of a mixed bag imo.

Kingpin;166629
I'm sure the pint-sized Witch is also a reference, but it escapes me.

That was a nod to Lucy and Charlie Brown's Halloween costumes from Peanuts. http://media.photobucket.com/image/lucy%20charlie%20brown%20halloween/5BizzyBs/CharlieBrownHalloween.jpg

Kingpin;166629
the series has improved since the disasterous The Other Side

You said a mouthful!

..only it was more of a debacle than a disaster. A fiasco, maybe? An abomination? How about a miserable, execrable, calamitous ruin?