Finished it. The book has its high and lows. I didn't care for the artwork in Chapter III to V. (Especially IV and V, Egon looks much too young in those.) Which is a shame, I really liked the story in IV and V. I think the best artwork was definitely in I and VI. (Love the stubble that Delk gave Peter in VI.) Chapter I had this very goofy Monkey Punch-esque quality about it that made it so appealing to me.

As for the storyline, I liked the whole thing. Shockingly enough, the dialogue was actually pretty well written, not to mention funny, and the story was mildly interesting. (I think it was pretty cool that they brought back a certain GB2 character.)

All in all, I liked it. It'd be cool to see it continue.

EDIT: Oh and I was pretty surprised to see that the book is sized as a comic book instead of a traditional manga. I liked that.

I bought it, it was pretty enjoyable. I really didn't care for the first story, so I was worried what I was in for, but it picked up pretty nicely after that. I thought the story about Ray was probably the best.

I'm not a fan of anime, so I try not to hold that against the book. Overall, it felt very much like RGB, but with more adult themes. It also horribly failed in the storytelling department and leaned a bit in the RGBUK direction. Spoilers follow.



The first and last stories have absolutely nothing to do with the subplot of Hardemeyer returning and forming a ghost army with stolen GB equipment plans (which is never revealed just HOW he got). Hell, Hardemeyer turned out to not even BE the mastermind, rather it was a random ghost from one of the stories! Also, Winston drives around with semi-automatic weapons in his trunk? In NYC? Post-911? Uh, yeah, that's an incident waiting to happen…PLUS he expected them to work on the ghosts? Or their equipment which they obviously, uh, didn't?

The first story was very disjointed and lost its purpose quickly. It went in one direction, then did a complete 180 into a new one. The last story was very UK. The villain was just ridiculous.

Overall, there were some good stories and funny moments, but this is something that's probably more enjoyed by manga fans.

Just to clear up one point you made - the book, by my understanding, is supposed to take place between Ghostbusters 2 and the video game, making it sometime in 1990/1991. The thing you mentioned though did seem out of character.

I will preface this by stating that I am not a fan of anime, I do not read Manga, and I was not looking forward to this book by any stretch of the imagination. However, I received a good deal from my comic book guy and decided to give it a go and thoroughly enjoyed it.

This manga had a wonderfully engaging story. People have mentioned that it was very RGB-esque and I would agree. It was almost as if I were watching an episode as I read. I thought that the writing popped and the jokes were funny and original. Most importantly, I felt that the writing captured the spirit (no pun intended) of the Ghostbusters in ways that the the IDW series has thus far failed. Either the writers of the manga are as avid fans of the franchise as we are, or they really did their homework. The relationships were genuine and that really makes the book feel authentic and new at the same time.

I also enjoyed the book ends of the story, as the first and last chapters have nothing to do with the main plot. They were fun little RGB-esque tales. However, I will agree that Winston's course of action against some ghosts in one scene is rather outrageous and out of place.

One of the reasons I was not looking forward to the book was the art. I really didn't like what I was seeing in terms of character designs. And even though I still think the cover art is very lacking and amateurish looking, by the end of the graphic novel, I found myself really enjoying the different in-book art styles because they presented the Ghostbusters in a fresh and novel way. When you have been obsessively following the GBs for your entire life as I have, sometimes you need a change. This was the perfect thing for me.

If you are still on the fence about whether to spend the $13 for this book, take the plunge, you may be pleasantly surprised. The story is fun, funny, and fresh. A great read for any avid GB fan. A great read for any casual fan. A great read for any comic reader or 80's nostalgia fan. Pick it up. I hope there's more where that came from.

I like what im reading of it so far, I havn't totally finished it yet. But I must say i am enjoying it, and humor so far is great! The art took me a few pages to get use to,but after the re-adjustment took course I found myself accepting the art work. The panels with the Ecto-1 are breath taking, I found the artist who had drawn the car payed attention to the details and the car itself just looked fantastic! So far im very happy with this comic and urge alot of people to give it a chance and read it. Very impressive stuff indeed!

This is much more like it! A ghostbusters comic that is genuinely funny!
Well done to all involved, I thoroughly enjoyed this one.

I read thru this but did not buy it. I thought the story was tepid and the art was lousy. I say that as someone who is not a manga fan, but who is into black and white indie comics. I guess from Ghostbusters, I expect strong writing, interesting stories (like the first movie, and the first couple seasons of the cartoon), and decent art. This failed to deliver.

I wish the writers would lean more on ancient myths and legends, even some of the Lovecraft-type stuff they stuck into the old cartoon. I wasn't impressed with the inclusion of Hardemeyer from GBII.

Also, I think it's silly that each time the Ghostbusters are licensed for a comic book, they have to change the hairstyles. I think it's time Sony decided to either let their licensees use the Real Ghostbusters designs (if they don't own those rights, I'm sure they can be purchased from Dic or whoever they are nowadays) or come up with some identifiable licenseable versions of the characters.

Bativac;130452
I read thru this but did not buy it. I thought the story was tepid and the art was lousy. I say that as someone who is not a manga fan, but who is into black and white indie comics. I guess from Ghostbusters, I expect strong writing, interesting stories (like the first movie, and the first couple seasons of the cartoon), and decent art. This failed to deliver.

I wish the writers would lean more on ancient myths and legends, even some of the Lovecraft-type stuff they stuck into the old cartoon. I wasn't impressed with the inclusion of Hardemeyer from GBII.

Also, I think it's silly that each time the Ghostbusters are licensed for a comic book, they have to change the hairstyles. I think it's time Sony decided to either let their licensees use the Real Ghostbusters designs (if they don't own those rights, I'm sure they can be purchased from Dic or whoever they are nowadays) or come up with some identifiable licenseable versions of the characters.

Sony owns the rights to RGB and the looks not DIC. They only look like this in this series so as they can't look like the actors. When something is licensed or something along those lines, its the owners that own the property in all its form. This goes for Superman & Batman Filmation cartoons, Superman & Batman old movie serials. The characters are owned by Warner Bros so they own all these, not Filmation or Columbia, etc. Same with Paramount on the Star Trek cartoon. Filmation made them but doesn't own it, Paramount does. The only exception to this is the 1960's Batman show. Witch is altogether another story! Whoever Sony gives the GB license to they probably can interpret the GB characters anyway they want so long as Sony OK's it in th end.

ECTO-1 Wrote:

Uh, yeah, that's an incident waiting to happen…PLUS he expected them to work on the ghosts? Or their equipment which they obviously, uh, didn't?

*I believe that the “apparitions” you speak of were demons of some sort, and not ghosts, which is why he ran for the artillery…If you remember he was firing both the guns and the particle thrower…As there were ghosts in Hardemyer's “army” as well…

*As for my reactions, I really enjoyed it…Most if not all the stories brought a smile to my face, and that's more than I could've asked for…Granted the first and last of the lot of stories were kinda silly ala some of RGB , and even some of the art was lacking, however this was done by multiple artists, and as such - I overlooked that and concentrated on the stories at hand…

*But the book overall, as someone else put it “Captures the spirit/essence of the franchise” perfectly - Even if it wades back and forth between GB the movies and RGB the series tone wise, and in my opinion - Even if one looks different from the other - Is one in the same continuity to me…

*Having said that I do tend to discount sillier fare like “Baby Spookums”, the “Slimer!” spin-off , and most if not all of the Marvel UK stuff myself…But that's just me…But the sillier fare here didn't put me off completely as did some of the above…

*All in all it was a fantastic read…Now if the IDW guys can accomplish the same in the future, then I'll be a happy Ectofiend:-)…

*Cheers.

*EDIT - The ghost's weapons were made out of solid matter, and not the ghosts themselves , and that's why Winston was using the heavy weaponry - To take out their packs…My bad…Oh and as to WHY he has those? I believe it may be a nod to his Vietnam experience from the first couple of drafts of the GB1 scipt…Though it could be a happy coincidence :-)…