TV Tie-ins, Part XIV: The Real Ghostbusters #6 & Ghostbusters: Legion #1

  

Whom are you going to call?

As the multiplex beckons with another version of Ghostbusters opening this weekend, I thought it time to look back on two of the comics spinning out of the original franchise.

The movie was the brainchild of Dan Aykroyd, owing to his fascination with parapsychology. Originally conceived to star himself and John Belushi, much of the first draft was scrapped because it contained too many costly effects including a time travel element. Once Harold Ramis started working with Aykroyd on the second version of the script, things started to gel. Peter Venkman's role was rewritten to fit Bill Murray's comedic style. Aykroyd once joked that the green ghost "Slimer" was "the ghost of John Belushi" and was based on his party animal persona.

Whatever the case of how the movie came about, the resultant box office score numbered nearly $300 million, an unheard of sum for a movie that cost $30 million to make in 1984. The flood of pressure to make a sequel from the studio became intense and would ultimately cause the actors to give in, with results that were less than stellar.

In the meanwhile, Ghostbusters became a brand that could be exploited, specifically for kids who admittedly some of the humor of the original movie should rightly be lost on. But it was bright and shiny and featured guys with proton-packs melting marshmallow men. Thus Columbia Pictures Television, DiC Enterprises and Coca-Cola Telecommunications spit out "The Real Ghostbusters" animated show in 1986.

"The Real" titling had to be added because rival Filmation had a little-known property called "The Ghost Busters", a live action children's show from 1975 featuring Forrest Tucker, Larry Storch, and Bob Burns in a gorilla suit. 

Filmation decided to attempt to cash in on the action by producing a new animated show based on the property at the same time, so kids had to choose between The Real Ghostbusters, featuring characters from the movie, or Ghost Busters, featuring two guys and a gorilla from a show a generation ago that only lasted 15 episodes. It was a confusing time to grow up.

While Filmation's Ghost Busters would last only one season, a staggering 65 episodes were produced. In comparison, The Real Ghostbusters lasted seven seasons and in that time only produced 140 episodes. Clearly there was a quality over quantity element at work here. It is also of note that TRG had a spinoff Slimer show that ran after the program from seasons 4-7 and a followup animated series dubbed Extreme Ghostbusters in 1997 that lasted 40 episodes.

The comic book of the animated show began two years into the TV show's run, starting in 1988. The first volume produced under the NOW comics banner, lasted two years, all but one issue written by James Van Hise. The one I hold in my hot little Crapbox hands is penciled by John Tobias and inked by Bran Thomas. It feels kidish and light on pretty much everything thing Ghostbusters.

By that I mean the jokes aren't really funny…

And the characterization of the cast don't gel with the movie personas.

Maybe I'm being a little too hard on the book, as I never watched the TV show. The story is understandable, but lacks any real tension. Ghosts take over a television station. The Ghostbusters realize something is wrong half-way through the book. They meet the jerky station owner, who asks them to save his station. They arrive, split up and some silliness occurs…

And the Ghostbusters do some of the familiar things that they usually do…

Then it is revealed that the menace that gathered all these ghostly things together was a mummy called "The Nameless One" they fought in a prior issue.

They quickly convince him to guard his king's tomb at the museum and the issue wraps up like so…

 

The Real Ghostbusters leaves me feeling a bit bored. The property has all of its adult themed fangs pulled and, while that isn't necessarily a bad thing, in this instance I found the book a bit too juvenile. Not to mention not nearly as funny as it should have been. Ghosts taking over a TV studio and running their own versions of popular shows sounds like fertile ground for comedy. However TRG doesn't deliver on that promise, instead relying on a wacky station manager and a few unfunny set pieces to ram the story home.

Luckily the property reverted to Quebec-based 88MPH Studios in 2004 for the four issue Ghostbusters: Legion miniseries. THIS was more my style. Writer Andrew Dabb, Penciller Steve Kurth and Inker Serge LaPointe served up a tale that looked to include both the adultish comedic elements as well as some of the spine-tingling thrills of the movie. Set in then present day 2004, the book ignored everything after the first movie, moving the time stamp for that adventure to 2003.

Where we open is six months after the Gozer incident, with the Ghostbuster's fame having faded and everyone getting back to the normal grind. We begin with a cold open of a man in an insane asylum talking to an unseen someone while staring at clippings of the Ghostbusters. The guards think he is one of their crazier patients. 

We quickly shift to Peter Venkman, looking very unlike Bill Murray, doing an interview for a cute brunette from an Mtv ripoff. 

Peter appears to lap up her attention, until Louis Tully's name is brought up. Later on it is explained that while the Ghostbusters have faded into obscurity, Louis Tully has used his 15 minutes of fame to attach his name to a host of business opportunities, such as the background poster here showing "Keymaster Cologne."

Note that we keep lots of the signature comedy stylings of the movie here with the interplay between the characters. I'd say that 88MPH hit that part on the nose. Like this brief exchange between Egon and Peter.

 

They channel the humor of Ramis and Murray in exactly the way the original movie did. Additionally the writers get that they need to create character moments before putting them into jeopardy, which is where we are headed after a bit more setup. First comes an appearance by Janine who is still after Egon.

And they play this spot on. Egon always seemed uninterested in the opposite sex (or in any sex at all, for that matter). Love that they understand the dynamics of the original movie. From there we move on to Peter taking out Dana for a double-date with Louis Tully and his arm candy, a model from Slovenia.

When the model exits because the conversation bores her, Peter gets a call – as in "who ya gonna…" – and makes a hasty exit. It also sets up an interesting subplot of a possible Dana / Louis relationship abudding.

Peter meets up with the boys for the job of the evening, which is stopping a ghost onboard a runaway subway train. The only issue appears to be getting on a moving subway train.

Egon's method is to leap from an open manhole cover, which sounds completely crazy to me, but for some reason works. Once the crew is on board they chase this fellow between cars hoping to trap him.

 

Neat scene there with the kid.

When the quadro reaches the final car, the ghost sort of gives up. They trap it but Ray mentions that his instruments read like the phantom went brain dead at the last moment. A fact that will some way tie into the final page back at the insane asylum where the fellow from page one has let himself out…and done something to the guards that left them on the floor. Seems like he is going after foursome next.

Okay, so it's fair to say I enjoyed the heck out of this book and wished the Crapbox had yielded up the entire four issues for me to peruse. Not often that I say that, but this one sunk its hooks in deep.

Sadly 88MPH ran into trouble making this an ongoing. Rights to the title were passed to IDW in 2008 and they did numerous one shots with different writers and artists. Eventually they decided to crossover with other titles in their lineup, leading to books I will now have to find for Strange Team-Ups. The lure of books like Ghostbusters/Mars Attacks, Ghostbusters/X-Files and Ghostbusters/Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles couldn't keep me away. They should not exist, but somehow they do.

As for the new movie, I'm unenthused. Not because the 'busters are now female, either. Mainly because it is a completely unnecessary reboot. In fact the Ghostbusters II movie was also unnecessary, prompted only by studio greed. Remaking the property was a mistake and I don't like throwing money at studio mistakes. There are some things best left alone. Or left only for the comics to expand upon.

Ch-Ch-Ch-Ch-Changes, Part V, Manhunter #0

If a hero you've never heard of changes, does it make a difference?

Maybe I underestimate my audience.

This is one horrible change that I don't think anyone will remember. Manhunter was never a top tier character. 

I think the Manhunter that most folks would know is Kate Spenser, a lawyer who decides to take justice in her own hands by cobbling together an outfit made from a grabbag of heroes leftover gadgets. She goes after those who have escaped the court system on technicalities. While her 2004 unlimited series was canceled back in 2006, it pulled in enough fan support to get a second chance in 2007 but still shuttered in 2008, a mere 38 issues in.

She comes after this version, however.

Before this 1994 Zero Hour tie-in series began, Manhunter was associated with one of two versions that were pretty much the same. 

The more popular Archie Goodwin and Walt Simonson's update of the golden age crimefighter who used weapons to take down bad guys. This was Paul Kirk, a resurrected lawman who worked for a secret organization. He used a pistol, throwing stars and a katar to fight crime, encountering Gotham's Batman in a few tales. He bounced around a bit in the early to mid-70's and then dropped off the radar.

 

The character reemerged in 1988 prior to DC's Millennium event. In the most confusing of setups, Manhunters are the name of the Guardians of OA's first attempt at policing the galaxy. They were androids who appeared human. Soon they turned evil and the Guardians drove them into hiding, replacing them with the Green Lantern Corps. It was these evil robot/androids who drafted a young man by the name of Mark Shaw to help them sway Earth's heroic population to their side of the battle. Mark eventually turned on his masters and adopted a different identity.

Both of the above were non-powered humans and both carried the mantle of Manhunter. Then the 90's happened and DC was in a tizzy.

Image comics was likely the big driver here. Since it burst on to the scene in 1992, it created a huge buzz in the customer base and it drained talent from both of the big two. By 1994, DC had a sales strategy that it hoped would win it back customers. Along with mucking up the big names, DC started revamping the minor characters. Remember that it was at this time Dr. Fate dropped his doctorate and became "magic Cable."

As for the non-powered, crimefighter Manhunter? He became Spawn.

Spawn's whole premise is that the character dies and then, through a deal with a demon, is bought back to life with very loosely defined power set and a mission that requires him to send evil souls to hell. The demon is the one who names him Spawn.

You're about to see how DC gets away with ripping this off completely. Let's start with a typical Spawn setup. A record-producer guy is found dead with his chest ripped open in a car crash that takes place in a bad neighborhood. Ruthless street toughs are looting his car when they come across something that peaks their interest.

 

That's right! A hot shoe means a hot chick. And she is beating feet away from the scene. While the mean looking guys chase her, yelling for her to stop, she trips. That's when this demonic looking guy jumps the gentlemen tailing her.

If any of that has a familiar look, it's because the artist is none other than Vincent Giarrano, who would one day write/pencil that crapbox favorite  undead ninja vs demon tale called Redblade. His current paintings are still going gangbusters and he recently won an award for his piece "Tribeca" from The Butler Institute of American Art.

He shows off all his strengths here. Same sense of visual storytelling style, same presence in his figures and pacing. In all, it is a good marriage for this material. The words and story to our pictures are provided courtesy of Steven Grant, a guy I know from First Comic's Psychoblast and the Lobo limited series that pop up once in a while in the Crapbox. Grant is better known for writing the first Punisher mini, Whisper, a handful of Defenders and helping co-write Marvel's Contest of Champions. Grant also penned work outside of comics including several Hardy Boys and Tom Swift books under pseudonyms. 

Getting back to the work at hand, Manhunter beats up a few of the tough guys and then sees to the young lady. He knows her name is Brenna. She witnessed the producer getting his heart ripped out and it has completely unsettled her. Apparently, Manhunter knows the young lady personally. She was a singer that the dead guy represented.

 

Everybody, meet Chase Lawler. Although you don't know it now, Chase is a musician friend of Brenna, who through mysterious circumstances now has a rather ill-defined set of superpowers. More on that in a bit.

 

Right now though, they've got trouble coming. Trouble in the form of this guy on this huge two page spread. Meet the Wild Huntsman, a demon-like creature who preys on the souls of the lonely and abandoned. It appears he knows Chase too.

The street toughs turn out to be sympathic characters, and who wouldn't be humanized once the book turns up the heat by sprinkling in demon dogs and monstrous men? First they rush off to an abandoned apartment building leaving chase to face down this new foe alone.

So Chase/Manhunter digs in to protect Brenna from the hellhounds and their Huntsman master.

A few things leak out of this. Like the fact that Chase knows the Wild Huntsman and what he does. Like the fact that the Huntsman lets it drop that something called him here to collect a lonely soul. Something that as the book goes on, it becomes more and more likely that it was Chase doing the calling. 

Meanwhile the conscience of the gang members gets the better of them and they rush out to defend Brenna from the dogs, one of them getting injured in the process. They succeed in dragging her to safety, however. 

I kind of like that they are presented with more than a thimble-full of humanity. In lessor books this would be a pretty cut and dried storyline, yet here Grant creates some tension and draws out some character instead of leaving them as stereotypes.

 

Chase has a scene with the Huntsman where he gives him his name, stating that he is his little Manhunter. The longer the story goes the more beats this has in common with McFarland's creation over at Image.

Manhunter uses his knowledge that the Huntsman has no power over groups of individuals and rushes over to the gang for protection. The Huntsman glowers at the entrance, feeding off the gangmembers fear until they begin to bicker over letting Manhunter stay inside. The Huntsman says he will let everyone go if they give up Manhunter. Manhunter explains it is a bluff and that the Huntsman can't attack them even if he wanted to. A brief argument occurs followed by a very unfortunate accident.

Which the Huntsman can use to his advantage.

 

Without warning, Lewis is swept from the building by a mystical wind, sucked right out. It appears that being a murderer singles you out for special attention by the Huntsman and new rules apply to how he can treat you.

 

Well, this book is going to the dogs quickly. 

Lewis is turned into a hellhound, part of the Wild Hunt. Surely there were some dogs at the pound the Huntsman could have adopted instead? I guess it is more menacing than say a twelve year old lab or a heard of dachshunds. Still, seems a bit harsh.

In a bit of altruism, Manhunter decides to take on the Wild Huntsman and the guy that is dying of stab wounds takes off to lead the pack away. This ends with the poor guy calling all his neighbors to take to the streets and chase the Huntsman away. After which he is forced to eat a bullet when they don't show up in time. Manhunter tries his best to contain the Huntsman, but it is too little to stop him.

It's neat that a side character gets to carry so much of the story. It is unexpected and a good twist on the heroic tale. There is menace added to the Huntsman as well as a feeling that his power is that of a natural force. Manhunter is still shown as courageous, but unable to completely defend against the Huntsman's onslaught. I love where this story is going. Pity the run will end very quickly.

So the neighbors do show up, many toting weapons and the Huntsman is forced to retreat. We leave the issue with a bunch of unresolved questions and a slight hankering to see where this goes. If you did want to find out, you'd have to make it quick, as Manhunter's run in this incarnation lasted a year. Most of it was explained away as delusion by the time the series ended at issue 12.

Which is kind of sad. Yes, they are riffing off Spawn. However Grant has the chops to make a good story and Giarrano knows how to make a fun ride in this genre of superheroing. Obviously the experiment failed to make sales targets though.

Which is kind of sad, if you ask me.