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Ghostbusters: Spectral Shenanigans #1
Ghostbusters: Spectral Shenanigans, Vol. 1
Troubled by strange noises in the middle of the night? Experience feelings of dread in your basement or attic? Ever seen a spook, specter, or ghost? If the answer is yes, call the professionals!
Psychokinetic energy is on the rise again, business is booming for the boys, and Ray is troubled by what could be a prophetic dream. Plus, the boys head upstate to Schenectady-it's a simple haunted amusement park-what could possibly go wrong? But, New York doesn't have a monopoly on the supernatural, so the Ghostbusters take a road trip to Detroit, New Orleans, Roswell, and Seattle.
Collects issues #1-12 of the Ghostbusters series.
Psychokinetic energy is on the rise again, business is booming for the boys, and Ray is troubled by what could be a prophetic dream. Plus, the boys head upstate to Schenectady-it's a simple haunted amusement park-what could possibly go wrong? But, New York doesn't have a monopoly on the supernatural, so the Ghostbusters take a road trip to Detroit, New Orleans, Roswell, and Seattle.
Collects issues #1-12 of the Ghostbusters series.
- GenresComicsGraphic Novels
336 pages, Paperback
First published November 13, 2018
1 person is currently reading
16 people want to read
About the author
Erik Burnham
692 books75 followersErik Burnham is a Minnesotan writer and artist that first broke into comics with a series of humorous short stories in the Shooting Star Comics Anthology. These stories featured his original creation, Nick Landime, and culminated in a one-shot: Nick Landime vs. the World Crime League, published by Shooting Star in 2005.
Off and on, in this same time period, Erik also produced a short run of an online strip, The Down Side, until technical issues wore him down. He aims to return to the strip one day.
In 2007, Erik found produced work for two other anthologies – a short humor piece for History Graphics Press’ Civil War Adventures #1, and a horror story for Gene Simmons’ House of Horror #3, produced by IDW Publishing.
This lead to several other projects for IDW, up to and including his critically acclaimed run on the ongoing GHOSTBUSTERS comic book.
Erik has worked on other projects not related to comic books, and hopes one day to share those with the public at large. In the meantime, he still lives quietly in Minnesota; any rumors about this being because he’s completely afraid of the forty-nine other states (and Canada) remain unverified at this time.
Off and on, in this same time period, Erik also produced a short run of an online strip, The Down Side, until technical issues wore him down. He aims to return to the strip one day.
In 2007, Erik found produced work for two other anthologies – a short humor piece for History Graphics Press’ Civil War Adventures #1, and a horror story for Gene Simmons’ House of Horror #3, produced by IDW Publishing.
This lead to several other projects for IDW, up to and including his critically acclaimed run on the ongoing GHOSTBUSTERS comic book.
Erik has worked on other projects not related to comic books, and hopes one day to share those with the public at large. In the meantime, he still lives quietly in Minnesota; any rumors about this being because he’s completely afraid of the forty-nine other states (and Canada) remain unverified at this time.
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
December 7, 2020
I have a passing fascination with Ghostbusters; I've seen the movies, and I played the video game a while ago, but otherwise I'm mostly apathetic. That said, I am a sucker for a good ultimate collection, and IDW's Turtles series has me branching out into their other offerings as well, so this seemed like a good place to start.
This volume collects the first 12 issues of the original Ghostbusters ongoing series at IDW, which is the first three arcs of the book.
The first feels like a decent follow-up to Ghostbusters 2, lots of Gozer references and a Stay Puft appearance too. This feels like a good place to start for new readers, since it's most of the familiar with a twist and some new stuff thrown in too. There are references to other Ghostbusters stories that may go over your head like they did mine (I liked the video game reference especially), but otherwise it's easy to dig into. The characters all ring true, and the plot feels like an organic branching off of where we're used to the team being.
At the start of the next three issues, I thought Venkman was really getting on my nerves. As the rest of the arc pans out however, this is all entirely intentional as we dig into his psyche (via amusement park possession ghost), and his role on the team becomes a lot more apparent. I was a little confused as to the whole point of imposing rules on the Ghostbusters only to allow them to break them one issue in, but we'll see how that goes. There's then a one-shot issue about Egon's past which gives us some context on why everything has been going to shit lately that I really enjoyed, especially the six-or-so page back-up story with truly terrifying art from Tristan Jones.
The final arc is mostly just one-and-dones set in different states. These do a little more legwork in establishing different ghost types and such, but this honestly comes across as filler, with the characters wandering away from the main plot in New York for these shorter stories. These would have been a good way to open the series, but not midway through a year of storytelling. There's back-up stories by Tristan Jones as well, but these aren't as good as his previous entry in the series since the conclusion is signposted right from the beginning.
On art for all of these issues bar those I've mentioned otherwise is Dan Schoening, whom I've never seen before, but very much appreciate here. His foreground characters are cartoony without being daft, and I like how he differentiates between the three white Ghostbusters easily with just a few different face shape decisions. The backgrounds are something else entirely - at times they seem almost painted, a bit like how Karl Kerschl and Msassyk handled Gotham Academy and Isola, they're really well contrasted with the characters. I also really loved the ghost effects he gave them, like they're on a different layer of reality as well as the page. Very good looking book.
A good introduction to the Ghostbusters ongoing, I think. I had a lot of fun with it, especially in the earlier 2/3s of the book, and the artwork is great. Shame about the final arc, but not bad overall.
This volume collects the first 12 issues of the original Ghostbusters ongoing series at IDW, which is the first three arcs of the book.
The first feels like a decent follow-up to Ghostbusters 2, lots of Gozer references and a Stay Puft appearance too. This feels like a good place to start for new readers, since it's most of the familiar with a twist and some new stuff thrown in too. There are references to other Ghostbusters stories that may go over your head like they did mine (I liked the video game reference especially), but otherwise it's easy to dig into. The characters all ring true, and the plot feels like an organic branching off of where we're used to the team being.
At the start of the next three issues, I thought Venkman was really getting on my nerves. As the rest of the arc pans out however, this is all entirely intentional as we dig into his psyche (via amusement park possession ghost), and his role on the team becomes a lot more apparent. I was a little confused as to the whole point of imposing rules on the Ghostbusters only to allow them to break them one issue in, but we'll see how that goes. There's then a one-shot issue about Egon's past which gives us some context on why everything has been going to shit lately that I really enjoyed, especially the six-or-so page back-up story with truly terrifying art from Tristan Jones.
The final arc is mostly just one-and-dones set in different states. These do a little more legwork in establishing different ghost types and such, but this honestly comes across as filler, with the characters wandering away from the main plot in New York for these shorter stories. These would have been a good way to open the series, but not midway through a year of storytelling. There's back-up stories by Tristan Jones as well, but these aren't as good as his previous entry in the series since the conclusion is signposted right from the beginning.
On art for all of these issues bar those I've mentioned otherwise is Dan Schoening, whom I've never seen before, but very much appreciate here. His foreground characters are cartoony without being daft, and I like how he differentiates between the three white Ghostbusters easily with just a few different face shape decisions. The backgrounds are something else entirely - at times they seem almost painted, a bit like how Karl Kerschl and Msassyk handled Gotham Academy and Isola, they're really well contrasted with the characters. I also really loved the ghost effects he gave them, like they're on a different layer of reality as well as the page. Very good looking book.
A good introduction to the Ghostbusters ongoing, I think. I had a lot of fun with it, especially in the earlier 2/3s of the book, and the artwork is great. Shame about the final arc, but not bad overall.
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June 15, 2019The IDW run on Ghostbusters has been a great series, introducing many new elements to the mythology, from new and diverse characters and a deeper exploration of the characters’ backgrounds, to new villains that expand the world. If you’ve not read any of the IDW run before, Ghostbusters: Spectral Shenanigans is a good place to jump into it. It might not be the first things that IDW have done with the characters or the universe, but it is the start of their ‘Volume 1’ series, written by Erik Burnham.
The book collects together the first 12 issues of the series and sets the Ghostbusters off on their next big series of events. Things begin with the team having to go up against their first big villain once again, Gozer the Gozerian. Enraged that they were forced to take on the form of the Stay Puft Marshmallow Man when it came to destroy the world, Gozer has come back for a second attempt, this time sending a new minion, Idulnas, to force Ray to pick a new form for Gozer to take.
This story adds some interesting new tweaks to the mythology, and it’s good to start the series by bringing back something that people will be familiar with from the films. It’s also a nice explanation of why Ray wasn’t to blame because he couldn’t clear his mind whilst the others could, but that he was always the one who was going to pick Gozer’s form due to a closer connection to the world of the paranormal. This also explains why Ray was the one possessed by the villain in the second movie, as more than just ‘this keeps happening to Ray’.
From this initial story we discover that the Ghostbusters have also become contractors for the city, and that a side-effect of this is that the city is sending them outside of New York in order to help on other big cases, partially because the city can charge people for this. Thus begins a cross-country road-trip that sees the gang fighting ghosts across America.
It’s a great new addition to the series, one that means the action can easily shift outside of the New York setting without having to have clients come in to hire them; they can just be somewhere else and we know it’s because the city have hired them out. It means that the book has a lot more variety to it, and can even make use of some regional ghost stories. For example, in one of the issues they travel to Roswell and come up against what appears to be alien ghosts, complete with an alien obsessed FBI agent that looks like David Duchovny; whilst in another they delve into the real life ghost story of New Orleans Voodoo Queen Marie Laveau.
Despite showcasing a series of great one-off adventures, the book contains an ongoing mystery that is seeded throughout: a huge increase in paranormal activity. Egon investigates this and believes that he comes up with an answer – an old friend of his from college who should be dead but is somehow still alive. When it turns out that the guy trapped death in a bag when he came to reap his soul, Egon believes this is the reason why there are so many spirits in the world now.
Whilst this situation isn’t resolved by the end of the book, with Egon’s friend demanding proof that him still being alive is causing something bad, before letting death free, it’s sure to be a plot thread that will continue on into further volumes of the series. The companion issue that expands upon this concept by using diary entries from an expedition into Siberia in 1912 is one of the best in the book, with a really creepy tale and dark art-style that makes it stand out from everything else.
A great collection that brings together a year’s worth of adventures from the Ghostbusters team, Ghostbusters: Spectral Shenanigans is a great book for those who have already been reading the IDW series, as well as a perfect entry point for new fans.
The book collects together the first 12 issues of the series and sets the Ghostbusters off on their next big series of events. Things begin with the team having to go up against their first big villain once again, Gozer the Gozerian. Enraged that they were forced to take on the form of the Stay Puft Marshmallow Man when it came to destroy the world, Gozer has come back for a second attempt, this time sending a new minion, Idulnas, to force Ray to pick a new form for Gozer to take.
This story adds some interesting new tweaks to the mythology, and it’s good to start the series by bringing back something that people will be familiar with from the films. It’s also a nice explanation of why Ray wasn’t to blame because he couldn’t clear his mind whilst the others could, but that he was always the one who was going to pick Gozer’s form due to a closer connection to the world of the paranormal. This also explains why Ray was the one possessed by the villain in the second movie, as more than just ‘this keeps happening to Ray’.
From this initial story we discover that the Ghostbusters have also become contractors for the city, and that a side-effect of this is that the city is sending them outside of New York in order to help on other big cases, partially because the city can charge people for this. Thus begins a cross-country road-trip that sees the gang fighting ghosts across America.
It’s a great new addition to the series, one that means the action can easily shift outside of the New York setting without having to have clients come in to hire them; they can just be somewhere else and we know it’s because the city have hired them out. It means that the book has a lot more variety to it, and can even make use of some regional ghost stories. For example, in one of the issues they travel to Roswell and come up against what appears to be alien ghosts, complete with an alien obsessed FBI agent that looks like David Duchovny; whilst in another they delve into the real life ghost story of New Orleans Voodoo Queen Marie Laveau.
Despite showcasing a series of great one-off adventures, the book contains an ongoing mystery that is seeded throughout: a huge increase in paranormal activity. Egon investigates this and believes that he comes up with an answer – an old friend of his from college who should be dead but is somehow still alive. When it turns out that the guy trapped death in a bag when he came to reap his soul, Egon believes this is the reason why there are so many spirits in the world now.
Whilst this situation isn’t resolved by the end of the book, with Egon’s friend demanding proof that him still being alive is causing something bad, before letting death free, it’s sure to be a plot thread that will continue on into further volumes of the series. The companion issue that expands upon this concept by using diary entries from an expedition into Siberia in 1912 is one of the best in the book, with a really creepy tale and dark art-style that makes it stand out from everything else.
A great collection that brings together a year’s worth of adventures from the Ghostbusters team, Ghostbusters: Spectral Shenanigans is a great book for those who have already been reading the IDW series, as well as a perfect entry point for new fans.
September 18, 2022
Clever, funny and very rewarding for fans. A couple of touches don't quite work, but on the whole you can always rely on IDW for fantastic Ghostbusters stories.
July 1, 2023
Sometimes a piece of literature doesn’t have to be super complex in order to earn an A grade from me. It can just be good simple fun like this one was. That’s really all I want from the books I read: to enjoy them and recommend them to anyone else who might be listening. And really, what’s not to love about the Ghostbusters franchise? If you’ve seen the 1980’s films or the cartoon that came out in the same decade, you know what you’re going to get with this series of comics: witty dialogue, paranormal goodness, slime (lots of slime), and main characters who play off each other’s flaws and strengths perfectly. Yes, Peter Venkmann is a creepy ladies’ man, but he’s a likeable creepy ladies’ man with friends who will keep him in check. He’s also a bit whiny when it comes to hard work, which is actually quite relatable. I can’t find any major flaws in this graphic novel, or maybe I really did want to enjoy it and I got my wish.
Even with the simplicity of the various plots, there’s one story that managed to stick out in my mind as kind of a heartbreaker. It’s the one where Egon Spengler tracks down an old college friend who carries death in a little pocket dimension. The friend was killed in a major car wreck, but you wouldn’t know that by the fact that he’s still walking around. The thing is, he doesn’t want to be transported to the other side. He wants to live his life and do all the things he wanted to do before the crash. We as the audience are so used to slimy creatures getting zapped with nuclear lasers that we don’t often see little nuggets of philosophy like this one. Will Egon send his friend to the netherworld like his job entails or will he just let it slide out of sympathy? That’s something you’re going to wrestle with for a while even after that particular story ends.
Another story that caught my attention was the final one where one of the Ghostbusters (I don’t remember which one) picks up a strange woman on the side of the road and tries to take her home. The only thing stopping him from doing that, of course, is the truck driver ghost who keeps stalking her. Nobody ever drove on these roads and lived to tell about it. Even if you believe this story has a happy conclusion, you still get chills from how it ended. You want to learn more about what the hell happened. You might want to pick up volume two to figure things out. These stories are too funny to be legitimately frightening, but this ending story comes pretty close once it draws to its conclusion. I won’t spoil the ending, but you’ve been warned.
One last note before I go: there’s a series of stories that take place when the Ghostbusters drive around America looking for jobs to do. They go to places like Detroit, New Orleans, Area 51, and a city close to where I live, Seattle. The attention to detail and the accuracies of how these cities are portrayed is one way for the author to flex his research muscles. Seattle actually looked like Seattle, Pike Place Market and all. Area 51 had all the aliens you could ask for, but the Ghostbusters knew that they were really ghosts. I love that even in a supernatural environment, aliens are treated with the same skepticism that they are in the real world. That made me chuckle on the inside. New Orleans was a metaphorical gold mine for ghosts given the city’s history with necromancy and voodoo, which is again accurate. These details go to show how important research is to an author’s success. I’m jealous!
As I said at the start of this review, this graphic novel and all the stories within don’t have any flaws that jump out at me. Yes, it’s not the most philosophical or groundbreaking thing I’ve ever read, but then again, it doesn’t have to be. Sometimes I just want to have a good time. Sometimes I just want to escape my reality for a little while. Is that alright with everyone here? This book gets a perfect five out of five. It’s a nice return to reading for me and that’s all I really need.
Even with the simplicity of the various plots, there’s one story that managed to stick out in my mind as kind of a heartbreaker. It’s the one where Egon Spengler tracks down an old college friend who carries death in a little pocket dimension. The friend was killed in a major car wreck, but you wouldn’t know that by the fact that he’s still walking around. The thing is, he doesn’t want to be transported to the other side. He wants to live his life and do all the things he wanted to do before the crash. We as the audience are so used to slimy creatures getting zapped with nuclear lasers that we don’t often see little nuggets of philosophy like this one. Will Egon send his friend to the netherworld like his job entails or will he just let it slide out of sympathy? That’s something you’re going to wrestle with for a while even after that particular story ends.
Another story that caught my attention was the final one where one of the Ghostbusters (I don’t remember which one) picks up a strange woman on the side of the road and tries to take her home. The only thing stopping him from doing that, of course, is the truck driver ghost who keeps stalking her. Nobody ever drove on these roads and lived to tell about it. Even if you believe this story has a happy conclusion, you still get chills from how it ended. You want to learn more about what the hell happened. You might want to pick up volume two to figure things out. These stories are too funny to be legitimately frightening, but this ending story comes pretty close once it draws to its conclusion. I won’t spoil the ending, but you’ve been warned.
One last note before I go: there’s a series of stories that take place when the Ghostbusters drive around America looking for jobs to do. They go to places like Detroit, New Orleans, Area 51, and a city close to where I live, Seattle. The attention to detail and the accuracies of how these cities are portrayed is one way for the author to flex his research muscles. Seattle actually looked like Seattle, Pike Place Market and all. Area 51 had all the aliens you could ask for, but the Ghostbusters knew that they were really ghosts. I love that even in a supernatural environment, aliens are treated with the same skepticism that they are in the real world. That made me chuckle on the inside. New Orleans was a metaphorical gold mine for ghosts given the city’s history with necromancy and voodoo, which is again accurate. These details go to show how important research is to an author’s success. I’m jealous!
As I said at the start of this review, this graphic novel and all the stories within don’t have any flaws that jump out at me. Yes, it’s not the most philosophical or groundbreaking thing I’ve ever read, but then again, it doesn’t have to be. Sometimes I just want to have a good time. Sometimes I just want to escape my reality for a little while. Is that alright with everyone here? This book gets a perfect five out of five. It’s a nice return to reading for me and that’s all I really need.
April 11, 2019
Some interesting stories. I liked the Laura Parr story. Ray is still fun to read about.
January 10, 2020
Great fun reading these again. Glad I bought the trades.
April 23, 2021
Maybe the Ghostbusters “universe” can’t sustain more than just the one movie...
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April 1, 2019Some good parts. Took me a little while to read. A lot of mini stories.
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews