GHOSTBUSTERS CROSSING OVER TP

by Erik Burnham, Dan Schoening (Artist)

GHOSTBUSTERS CROSSING OVER TP

Contains issues #1-8 plus the 2018 Annual

Genres: Comics, Graphic Novels, Fantasy

240 pages, Paperback

First published January 29, 2019

About the author

Erik 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.

Reviews

[Benji's Books · Rating 5 out of 5]

What it all comes down to is this: fan-service and a multiverse that feels like the Spider-Verse. This was a lot of fun. Much more so than Ghostbusters 101: Everyone Answers the Call (EATC). In EATC, the Ghostbusters from the first two and the forgettable 2016 remake meet up and it's fun, but this one sees all different teams from films, shows, toys, games and of course, the comics together at the same time.

I'm sure if you get someone to look at it and find plot-holes, there may be plenty, but listen. I'm in it to shut my brain off. At least with this anyway. Erik Burnham and all involved did a wonderful job with this. And props for making it eight issues long, instead of the usual four or six crossovers tend to be given. The story was a large enough scale for this length and it allowed room for good humor as well.

There is actually a timeline to all of these books, too, which include the TMNT crossovers in continuity, but for me to try and remember that is for another day.

Recommended

[Chris Lemmerman · Rating 5 out of 5]

[Smash Bros. Announcer voice] Everyone is here!

That's more like it. I was disappointed in the ATC/Original Flavour Ghostbusters crossover, but Crossing Over (great title) is exactly what I wanted from a mega-Ghostbusters event. This volume collects the 2018 Annual prelude and all 8 issues of the crossover which pulls in every iteration of the Ghostbusters imaginable in a parade through the greatest hits of the IDW Ghostbusters, reaching back as far as the Scott Lobdell issues from ages past.

Pretty much every issue I had with Everyone Answers The Call is resolved here. There's a great, high stakes reason for all the Ghostbusters to get together, including a revisit from one of the biggest enemies that the 'Busters have faced so far. All the characters are together almost from the get-go, rather than taking half the story to get there. And there are consequences that will hurt the OG team for a long time after this.

As someone not overly familiar with Ghostbusters lore, there were a lot of things I likely missed here (like why there's a golem and a robot Ghostbuster now?), but the fan service is never turned up to the point that the story loses its cohesion. If you've read the rest of the IDW Ghostbusters books, then you're golden in terms of story continuity, but I expect there's a mountain of things to mine otherwise if your Ghostbusters knowledge is as encyclopedic as writer Erik Burnham.

And of course, Dan Schoening continues to shine as the go-to Ghostbusters artist. There are multiple art styles at play on a page here, with different dimensions getting their own sheen and even different characters in the same panel having a different feel to them. It must have taken him ages, but the effort is well worth it, because it gives a great feeling of the coming together of all these disparate 'Busters.

Crossing Over was everything I wanted it to be. It's the Endgame of Ghostbusters books, and all this bustin' made me feel good.

Yeah, I went there.

[Rocky Sunico · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a pretty fun crossover comic, albeit it only crosses over with different iterations of its own franchise. This is the Ghostbusters version of Spider-Verse, to some degree, but not necessarily with as far-reaching implications. The first story in the collection feels like too much of an isolated one-off, but the second, longer arc is one that really celebrates the different versions of the Ghostbusters across time and space and has a lot of fun with them.

[Juan · Rating 4 out of 5]

As indicated, I really liked this volume but I wish I was able to truly love it. There are a few things that helped out my rating, the first being that this volume was 8 issues in total. The story was definitely long enough to tell but I did feel that the very last issue was rushed to conclude. There were so many teams involved that, for a very select few, I wish they would have given more story time. I am specially calling out the robot, golem, and 8-bit ghostbusters team. I instantly fell in love with the fact that this volume dug deep in its IDW Publishing roots and included characters written over 10 years ago during the Displaced Aggression story line. I definitely want to say that this volume was totally on point with its humor. There are so many priceless moments in this volume that I feel were very well written and executed.... I want to single out a chess game against Death.

Ron Alexander is a total douche bag and I have certainly wondered why he is even kept on staff. Luckily, by the end, there may have been a resolution on how to properly deal with him. There is definitely an emotional story line ending that reflects elements of the Mass Hysteria story line with, what we all hope will be, a more positive ending.

Overall I want to say that I have loved the majority of Erik Burnham's writing for the Ghostbusters franchise. I feel he is smart, funny, and knows how to deliver great dialogue with whatever iteration of the team he has given us. I always look forward to his new stories.

[James Bowman · Rating 3 out of 5]

This takes the previous two multi-Ghostbuster crossovers (Get Real and Ghostbusters 101) and turns it up to 11, featuring every member of every major Ghostbusters team: all three IDW teams, the 2016 team, the Real Ghostbusters, the Extreme Ghostbusters, and the Sanctum of Slime Ghostbusters. Plus a number of lesser-known (and often obscure) additional Ghostbusters. Then they mix them all up for maximum fun!

The sheer number of characters makes it tougher to get the little moments that these crossovers thrive on, but the larger number of issues helps, ensuring that at least the teams as a whole get time to shine. The story overall also relies heavier on the earlier IDW series than Real or 101 did, so readers may want to check those out first. (They're worth it.) There are a few problems with the ending, and I'm not sure the villain's plan had time to properly unfold, but neither of those issues ruin the rest of the story. If you're a long-time Ghostbusters fan, this is a must-read. (B+)

[Kyle · Rating 3 out of 5]

I know this involved Ghostbusters from multiple universes but I didn't realize how small a part the Answer the Call GBs would play. I thought it was just them and the "main" comic like the previous comic. But this pulls in lots of other GB teams but still clearly considers the ongoing comic to be the primary continuity and story readers would be familiar with rather than the AtC that I came to see.

In short: needs more Holtzmann.

[Matthew Fleming · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fun and meticulously plotted adventure. Perhaps the best bit for Ghostbusters geeks is the case files section at the back that makes sense of and convincingly justifies all the convoluted timelines and separate dimensions.

[Robert · Rating 1 out of 5]

It's given itself the Green Lantern problems from DC - a cast so large that only the most devoted of followers has a chance of understanding, as well as the necessity to forcibly overpower the villains for any kind of conflict, all of which comes at the expense of a sensible plot.

[Shelley · Rating 2 out of 5]

I enjoyed the Holtzmann scenes.

[Calvin Daniels · Rating 3 out of 5]

I jumped into this not having followed the series which meant this one was populated with too many characters that just couldn't keep straight, made worse by the cartoon art.

[Matt · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fantastic! One of the best crossovers I’ve ever read.

[Nicholas Talio · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is fun for all Ghostbusters fans. If there was a way for it to be made into a movie it would probably please fans of every film.

[Miles Lynch · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ended with a bit of a whimper, but what could be better with like 9 teams of ghostbusters.

[Sarah Sammis · Rating 4 out of 5]

When there is more work to do than the current staff on hand can handle, what do you do? You call all the Ghostbusters.

http://pussreboots.com/blog/2019/comm...

[Brittany · Rating 5 out of 5]

Always a fun read. I love the self awareness of the crossover/multiverse concept. This one came out in the early years of it becoming an overused trope, and more media using multiverses of multiple IP should take notes from it. It just reminds me that I need to read more ghostbusters comics….

[Peter · Rating 5 out of 5]

So fun!!!