Oh man, this is killing me. Dude, nowhere, in any story, ever should it be put “The events have been jumped forward to present day”. The WRITER'S made the decision to jump everything forward to present day. If they remade Ghostbusters in comic book form it would take place in present day. The events are made in present day. Present day. Present day.
This is not part of the story, no event made it suddenly become present day. In the comic books story everything happened in… Present day. Also Ghostbusters 2 never happened, and never will happen. If the comic book was made a movie maybe it would have happened but this is a comic and it never did. The same people who wrote the movie didn't write the comic. The comic is a different form of media, it is a different platform.
I don't know how much more I can hammer this point down. It is a comic book, it is different, if you don't like it, tough, don't read it.
As for the spelling error, I'm sorry that not everyone can be as perfect and learned as you. Oh, lord help me, I'm sorry.

Okay, so you pick up a comic book based on the movie “The Three Musketeers” (the Salkind production).

But the author has decided that the action takes place in 1952. However, all the visual clues are the same, they all speak the same, and the technology with which they combat hasn't changed. But you haven't been informed of the difference.

Suddenly, Porthos references his “really cool Studebaker”.

This doesn't make you stop and wonder what the heck is going on?

That's an extreme example, but valid nonetheless.

First, I never said that there should be a statement in the story such as “The events have been jumped forward to present day”. You put those words out there. When you write a story, there's a certain amount of tale-telling craft that is applied. You have to inform your audience so they don't get confused. You didn't think for a moment that the author could have placed some reference to the date in the story? Could have even just begun the whole thing with “April 24th, 2004… six months after the events of Gozer”?

“If they remade Ghostbusters in comic book form it would take place in present day. The events are made in present day. Present day. Present day. ”

Just sitting there typing “PRESENT DAY PRESENT DAY” doesn't make your point any clearer or valid. You present your argument as though just by virtue of being a comic book, we should automatically assume that the story is present day. How clairvoyant do you expect your audience to be? You're talking about a comedy movie that's been out of the mainstream popular culture for 20 years.

So now GB2 WILL NEVER happen? Now you're not just talking about moving events forward, you're talking about completely erasing the motion picture sequence of events. Sure, I can see that. Yeah…that's TOTALLY obvious. Riiiight.

I am aware that the comic is a different media. But you've made the assertion that because it is a different form, the story MUST be changed because of that. I am afraid that's untrue. That's like saying that the game Diablo II MUST become a deer hunting game instead of a medieval fantasy game because it's being played on a MAC instead of a PC. You can “hammer” the point all you like but when something is broken, hitting it with a hammer is usually not the way to fix it. And hitting it multiple times will be wasted effort.

And as for the vocabulary error, yes, I am proud to be a native speaker of the English language. I relish the written word. It pains me to see it messed up by someone who is a professional. Even in the unassuming form of a comic book story. Like I said, when my comic hits the shelves, feel free to check my grammar.

-Gordon

spcglider
You have to inform your audience so they don't get confused. You didn't think for a moment that the author could have placed some reference to the date in the story? Could have even just begun the whole thing with “April 24th, 2004… six months after the events of Gozer”?

Actually, it's a common comic book technique of a “sliding timeline.” It's used by Marvel and DC. It's not important to the story, so it has been ignored.

Hey spcglider, care to tell me why you're claiming to not have known any of this and have so many issues with the book and think you're all sly with this sarcasm bit, yet in another thread you claim to know Steve Kurth. I would think if you're so into the book and have posed for sketches as you claim, that sometime during that point you would've talked to Steve about the book. He never told you that? You guys never discussed anything? Cuz that I just won't believe. If I knew someone involved in this book, and I was posing for sketches for the book, I would talk to them about the book a bit, and learn things about it.

Nope, you're a very poor scientist, Dr. Venkman. Assumptions like that get you tossed off campus.

Steve and I never discussed the jump forward in time.

In fact, we never discussed much in the way of script at all. You're assuming that I would take advantage of my friendship with Steve to pump him for info about the comic.

Quite frankly, its Ghostbusters. What is there to talk about? The general idea is exactly the same. Its four guys who vaguely resemble the movie actors doing the same kinda stuff they did in the movies. All the trappings are the same, unlike the obvious changes made for REAL Ghostbusters. Steve expressed the desire to make all the art as accurate to the movie as possible, so I offered up my gear for photos.

As far as Ghostbusters goes, I like the movie(s). I was never into REAL Ghostbusters or EXTREME Ghostbusters. I don't read fanfic. The source material is good enough for me.

I was under the mistaken impression that this was a continuation of the movie timeline. The only thing I knew was that the “events of the Legion storyline take place between the events of GB 1 and GB 2”. Thats it. Why else would I walk away with the idea that I had caught the 88MPH crew with their pants down? (not a mental image I enjoy, so lets not dwell on it)

Really, guys, you make me out to be some kind of demon who wants to ruin your GB fun. I'm sorry I stepped into your playroom and made some unpopular and obviously uninformed comments. In the end, I could have avoided all of this flack by reading two unobtrusive words and a number on the interior cover of Legion: “New York 2004”. From that I should have inferred that the entirety of the events of GB had been slid forward over 20 years, the continuity of the universe had been changed up, and that the events of the films upon which the comic were based had been all at once strictly adhered to and yet ignored. Because, like you say, its a “common comic book technique of a ”sliding timeline“”. Seems logical to me.

Two words and a number… gotta remember that.

“New York 2004” would not imply a shift in the timeline. It would imply that its present day and all the GBs would be like 50 years old. Putting that in the comic would just confuse more people than it would help. Then there would be so many complaints as to why the guys aren't older, and why they wouldn't be getting ready to retire and train a new team.

BTW, I wasn't saying you would “pump” Steve for info, but I would think if you're a fan of GB, and you're getting to pose for the comic as you claim you did, you would discuss the book a bit with the artist.

And there you have my point.

Because I didn't delve entirely into the set-up of the comic, I approached it, read it, got the wrong impression, and shot off my mouth here on the board.

“”New York 2004“ would not imply a shift in the timeline. It would imply that its present day and all the GBs would be like 50 years old. Putting that in the comic would just confuse more people than it would help.”

But that's exacly what is at the head of the issue recap in #3. Once again, I picked up the magazine (issue #1), read the story part, noticed some inconsistencies with what I percieved as how things were going to run and ignored them. By the time I reached issue #3, it seemed that the writer was pretty far off target for a story taking place in the late 1980's. I didn't read the interior cover in any of the issues. I had the impression that it was the usual recapping the first movie in issue #1 and then reminding me about what I had already read in issues #2 and #3.

“BTW, I wasn't saying you would ”pump“ Steve for info, but I would think if you're a fan of GB, and you're getting to pose for the comic as you claim you did, you would discuss the book a bit with the artist.”

And that I did. We did discuss, but the subject never came up. Why in the universe would I even THINK to ask if they'd done some sort of “time switcheroo” or “update” with the story? That's just not a natural question to ask when you've been told that they're trying to stay as true to the film as possible. Compound that with the fact that there's nothing within the script itself, other than the non-period references and jokes, to indicate the change and you will hopefully see where I was coming from when I made my statements.

You all are correct. My satements (all but the “per say” item) were off-track with what the writers had intended with their take on the property. That I admit freely and without reservation. Having no contextual information to make me aware of that only compounded the problem. I voiced my perceptions based on incomplete information. However, it is still my stand that the writing could have (and should have) facilitated the information in a way that would bring the reader up to speed without having to explain it elsewhere. Potentially somewhere the reader wouldn't read.

Can't you stop your lips from flapping for two little minutes?! Listen up, budgey brain, and listen good ‘cause I’m only gonna say this ONCE…

Multiple artciles, creator comments and hundreds upon hundreds of other sources from mid 2003 until the first issue came out stated that the events of the first movie have been SHIFTED forward in time. Now, had you asked nicely the first time and stated your confusion instead of going into an all-out bitch fest, you could have been pointed towards the threads in which Dabb, Blond and Clavet himself have talked about the comic both on here and on GBHQ.

Timesliding is NOT as big a deal as you're making it out to be. Without it, characters would age the same as us and within the whole Spider-Man run we'd have a senior citizen Spidey web-slinging around. What it basically does is takes the surrounding areas and updates them periodically within the book. If a comic came out in 1961 and is still running in 2004, gonna be a little wonky to see a Studebaker rolling around instead of say an H2. And with this being the case, I've already pointed out that they're using the wrong license plate on Ecto-1, but I digress.

Now, it's great you have a love for the source material. Fantastic. But guess what? It doesn't END there! Everything that came after is just as important because it takes the source material and expands on it. As unimportant you think the cartoons, comics and whatever have been, you are horribly wrong. All you're basing your opinions on are 4 hours of celluloid which is a closed minded way to view such a creative medium.

Finally, it was a creative choice to ignore everything that came after the first movie. It frees a lotta things up so the crew is able to cut loose and tell stories without having to adhere to any particular set frame of events or what have you. And GB2 DESERVES to be erased. Regardless of how many people liked it (excluding the ones who like it simply because it's GB), there are 5 more who hated it. It was weak, it was a reheash, and it deserves to be erased and replaced with something more deserving of the title.

You posed for Kurth? Fantastic. You're a GB fan, you shoulda asked some questions. He IS allowed to tell you some things while keeping others under wraps. It's how they get their main audience by word of mouth. So don't tell us that bullshit you didn't wanna take advantage. You ASSUMED your ass off, and read these books with said assumptions and therefore feel you have the right to bitch. So, sit back, relax, and take a moment to EDUCATE yourself BEFORE you post another long-winded reply that makes everyone ASSUME you're the asshole you appear to be.

'Nuff said!

Okay,

Mabe not for you, but my life is too short to spend it arguing about why you can't understand my point. I'm also not here to be called names.

I like Ghostbusters. But not this much.

Have a good life, all. I'm out of here.

AND THE CROWD GOES WILD!