Erik Burnham

Ghostbusters, Volume 8: Mass Hysteria! Part 1 by Erik Burnham is the start of the next arc, but it might as well be the perfect description for the reaction to an unsavory and misogynistic component to the Ghostbusters fandom — a set I will hereby dub the "fake geek fanboys."

So before delving into Erik Burnham's latest offering, which continues to be excellent, thought provoking, yet entertaining, let me take a moment to talk about the recently announced Ghostbusters 3 to be directed by show more Paul Feig and written by Katie Dippold, and featuring a yet-to-announced all female lead cast. Just scroll down to read the comments and you'll see that many of the comments sporting white, male avatars are the ones saying the most negative, racist or misogynistic.

So what the fake geek fanboys are saying is that their fandom is the only fandom and anyone who isn't like them has no valid voice when it comes to being fans of Ghostbusters.

While the initial, rather sophomoric, sex-joke laden movie set off the franchise, it was the peripheral stuff — the non-sex gags that built the world and gave it enough life (or afterlife) to not only spark a sequel but to spark the cartoon series and the comics. Why not revisit the world without trying to recreate the original characters? How is this any different than reimagining Shakespeare or relaunching a comic book series with a completely new backstory?

Okay... deep breath. We're not here to watch the fake geek fanboys thrash around. We're here because of Ghostbusters, Volume 8: Mass Hysteria! Part 1, which ironically revisits the first story to see where they all are now. It begins with Dana Barrett once again being the target of another paranormal attack. Interestingly, she doesn't go running to the boys for help — she goes to Janine because Janine is more discrete.

Take a moment to breath this is: the main source of sex gags from the first movie doesn't want to be harassed by the male Ghostbusters. From a quirky but frat boy comedy has evolved into a world where stories can be told that not only pass the Bechdel test, actually embraces it. show less

Ghostbusters, Volume 6: Trains, Brains, and Ghostly Remains by Erik Burnham explores the circumstances and consequences of Ray, Egon, Winston, and Peter's return. While they were gone, the five boroughs of New York got rather comfy working with the New Ghostbusters (because they are easier to boss around and are cheeper to hire). Meanwhile, Janine, is perfectly happy to go back to manning the front desk, except that the supernatural powers that be have their eyes set on her.

It's the Janine show more plot that's especially interesting. Why was she drawn to this ridiculous job, given that the Ghostbusters go from feast to famine on a regular basis. It's apparently in her blood, and not in a good way. She's not Raven but she does have some supernatural ties, ones that might end up costing Janine her life.

Rescuing Janine from a situation she put herself in, though her own interpretation of ancient and mystical rules, requires the work of the two Egons. Well, it's actual Egon and Janine's English professor boyfriend, Rodger. I call him the other Egon because he's drawn to resemble Egon from The Real Ghostbusters.

Now while it's exciting to get a Janine backstory, having her take (even for a brief moment) the role of damsel in distress is frankly distressing. It's just not in her character sheet. Janine does not need rescuing and the fact that it had to be from an ancient deity, tells you just how sturdy and street smart a person she is.

And then there's the potential love triangle of Egon and Roger. Let's just not go there. Janine in this version (and more or less in the movies, too) isn't interested in Egon. That her boyfriend bears a passing resemblance to the odd ball character sheet that was the cartoon Egon is more for the fans than for Janine. Let's hopefully leave the love triangle out of the plot; she's not the protagonist in a YA paranormal romance. show less

Access a version of the below that includes illustrations on my blog.

In this volume, the zombie infestation spreads to two more universes, those of Star Trek and Ghostbusters. Turns out that I don't give a crap about Ghostbusters (saw the first movie when I was a kid, enjoyed it, haven't really thought about it since and don't care to, and Kyle Hotz's artwork made the characters difficult to distinguish), but Star Trek-does-zombies is just perfectly nailed by the Tiptons, Casey Maloney, and show more Gary Erskine. Kirk, Spock, McCoy, and two security guards end up stranded on a Federation colony that's been infested by zombies, and have to stay alive long enough to make it to their shuttle and/or send off a distress signal. It's a perfect little slice of the zombie genre infused into the Star Trek universe, down to the predictable but utterly satisfying moment where McCoy scans a guy, says "He's dead, Jim," and then he lurches back to life. (And guess which of the five Starfleet characters end up as zombies?)

Add in computers with reel-to-reel tape decks, and a comedy robot, and you basically have everything I could want out of this kind of tale. You even get Captain Kirk fighting zombie with a wrench and Doctor McCoy with a zombie-cure-serum gun. And I don't really understand what's up with the sexy vampire lady who appears in all four realities-- but when her form adapts to the Star Trek universe, it's of course in the form of a woman in a TOS miniskirt.

I had thought that the finale issue would involve all the different series coming together in some way, no matter how small, to provide a final solution. Like, I didn't expect Captain Kirk, Optimus Prime, Bill Murray, and whoever the hell leads G.I.Joe to meet, but I did think all four side stories would somehow contribute to the end of the story. Well, they don't; all there is is a single shot of the four universes through a portal. Instead it's a bunch of tedious supernatural nonsense to wrap it all up, and I don't care. But at least this misbegotten mess gave me a good Star Trek zombie tale.

The Transformers by IDW: « Previous in sequence | Next in sequence » show less

I am, as I've admitted many many times, terrible at reading series in order. Whatever special sense most bibliophiles have that a new series is starting, and what order books in said series are published (or will be published), I don't have it. Even if I am a diehard fan of franchise, I'm still oft-times clueless!

Take for instance the Ghostbusters comic by Erik Burnham that started a few years ago. I only just heard of it last fall with the release of a partial egalley of Volume 5 of the show more omnibus version. I loved the story and, though I wanted to read more, it sort of slipped out my mind until earlier this year. I was at my local indie, The Book Shop of Hayward and noticed on the hold shelf, a giant omnibus with a gorgeously drawn containment center. I recognized it immediately and just as quickly had them order a copy for me!

So — Ghostbusters: Total Containment by Erik Burnham is an omnibus of omnibuses, featuring volumes 1-4 (which in turn feature the first sixteen issues of the comic). These are stories that lead up to the disappearance of the original Ghostbusters.

I'm not going to try to describe the epic amount of plot that happens in 430 pages (counting the back of book awesomeness, and various side stories). Let's just say that for people (like me) who grew up watching the movies and the cartoon, The Real Ghostbusters, The first two volumes (or eight issues) fills in the gaps between the films and the cartoon. Sure, there's enough inconsistency between them to make the task a daunting one, but Erik Burnham does a very satisfying job.

But he also makes improvements by picking and choosing the best character traits from the movie and cartoon versions of these characters. Ghostbusters and Ghostbusters II were rated PG because of their sophomoric humor, with a lot plot filler coming in the form of idiotic sex jokes. The Real Ghostbusters (now rated TV Y7) was pretty much a G rated cartoon Ñ meaning that there was no obvious T. and A. humor (though Janine's utter romantic fascination with Egon was explored in nearly every episode). To fill the gaps left by removing the sex gags, there was actual world building.

Erik Burnham has kept the world building from the cartoon and expanded up on, extending out threads back to the movies. The characters in the comics aren't as sophomoric as their film counterparts but they are still more adult than their cartoon ones. Egon remains the engineer and pragmatist, Ray is the information gatherer, Peter is the guy who gets the jobs and funding, Winston is the bravest, and Janine is the glue. show less