IDW has made available this five-page preview PDF (1.5 Mb) of the Ghostbusters: Con-Volution! comic book that comes out tomorrow, June 23rd. Unsurprisingly, there are not two covers - as writer Jim Beard and IDW's own solicitation had both said - but three covers! In addition to Covers A & B, there's a Retailer Incentive cover, which is simply Cover A without the titling. Such a cheap ploy to garner more sales from the collectors. Apparently IDW has no faith that their Ghostbusters books will sell well simply on the Ghostbusters name alone, otherwise they wouldn't need to pull this cheap trick. The least they could have done was come up with new artwork for the RI cover. The reused untitled artwork just adds insult to injury.

Anyway, as usual, you can buy all three covers of Con-Volution! from Graham Crackers Comics and Mile High Comics or your local comics shop, if you have one.

[UPDATE - 6/30/2010]
Now that my copies of the comic have arrived in the mail, and I've read the whole thing, I can give it a quick review. In short, it's very disappointing. It reads like fan fiction, not an official story. Although all of the other IDW comic stories weren't epic, they didn't feel as "fan fiction-ey" as Con-Volution! does.

The story is WAY too short, clocking in at a mere 22 pages long. It would barely be 10 minutes if made into an animated show. We should be getting stories that would be 22 minutes long if animated - you know, like a full-length Real Ghostbusters episode. This is one of the problems of doing one-shots instead of a mini-series or - better yet - an ongoing series.

Oh, and artist Josh Howard made Peter and Ray look near-exactly alike. They both look like "Peter" to me. I think Josh was aware of this because he provided a handy headshot guide on the third page:

Yet another one-shot Ghostbusters holiday special from IDW, this one due out in late June, with the holiday essentially being "Independence Day at Comic-Con". That's the United States' Independence Day on July 4th, for those of you playing along outside of the States. Below is the solicitation and two covers directed from IDW. Thankfully, there's only going to be two regular-priced covers (no limited, thus overpriced, retailer incentive cover), though IDW should just do one cover and let the books sell on the Ghostbusters name alone.

Ghostbusters Holiday Special: CON-volution! (late June 2010)
Keith Dallas & Jim Beard (w) * Josh Howard (a) * Josh Howard, Nick Runge (c)
What can be more patriotic than spending the Fourth of July at... a comic book convention? That's Ray's thinking at least, although his fellow Ghostbusters think they're in for a boring day of cosplay. But when a dastardly demon with delusions of grandeur unleashes the fireworks, the Ghostbusters must stage a revolution of their own! Written by Keith Dallas (Omega Chase) and Jim Beard (Star Wars), with art by fan-favorite artist, Josh Howard (Dead@17).
* 2 regular covers will be shipped in a 1-to-1 ratio.
FC * 32 pages * $3.99

Last year James Eatock gave me (and by extension - you) a sneak peek at something he was working on with "Dapper" Dan Schoening. I couldn't tell you anything at the time, but that secret project was a Ghostbusters comic book written by James and illustrated by Dan. They submitted the pitch to IDW last year (since they are the current holders of the Ghostbusters comic book license), but they foolishly passed on it. Dan has now uploaded the Ghostbusters comic book pitch to his deviantART page, so go check it out.

Here James Eatock and I present specific pages from the Ghostbusters comic book pitch we worked on together back in 2009. Sadly IDW were not interested in publishing our material. We wanted our comic to focus heavily on the Ghostbusters themselves, and keep them grounded. In other words we didn't want to see the evil ghosts coming up with their Saturday Morning Cartoon plots; more importantly we wanted to keep the Ghostbusters in New York, and not have them crossing over into Dimension X to fight yet another God. We looked at these characters as exterminators NOT superheroes. We were both incredibly proud of our work on this pitch and hope that you all enjoy it, too! :)

Please bear in mind that we still would like to keep some things a secret in the slim chance that a company may one day want us to produce this Ghostbusters comic.

James Eatock will be publishing the four sequential pages in a future issue of the glossy eighties animation magazine cereal:geek

[UPDATE - 3/6/2010]
Feel free to post your comments on the pitch on the Facebook page created for it. The response from the fans has been incredible. Hell, even the rest of the world has stood up and taken notice. The New York Daily News - yes, THAT New York Daily News - has written up an story about the pitch - and in less than a week since it was released to the public!

[UPDATE - 3/8/2010]
It looks like all of the fan support worked. James just sent over this message:

With regards to recent events both James Eatock and Dan Schoening have spoken to IDW and all involved are in complete understanding as to why the ten-issue Ghostbusters comic book pitch wasn't pursued. The GREAT news is that James and Dan are now working with IDW on future Ghostbusters-related projects. We would like to thank everyone for their support and advise them to be on the lookout for IDW's Ghostbusters comics!

(click to enlarge)

More details, along with a response from IDW, can be found over on Proton Charging.

It has been known for a little while that IDW is putting out a Valentines Day one-shot entitled Tainted Love next month. We've gotten a look at the cover by Salgood Sam, who's also posted some preview images to his Flickr account, but now I have the solicitation for everyone to read. Thankfully, there will only be two covers this time, and not the three that IDW has been raping collector's wallets with for the past series and one-shot. Still, it would be nice if IDW would just do one cover per book - to show the fans that they care about more than just bleeding their wallets dry.

Ghostbusters Holiday Special: Tainted Love
Dara Naraghi (w) * Salgood Sam (a) * Salgood Sam, Nick Runge (c)
Love is in the air - literally! - as Winston befriends an attractive woman with a ghostly problem in her apartment. But trapping the love-struck apparition proves to be more complicated than the Ghostbusters originally thought. Can Winston step up and save the day? Just how far will Peter go to find a date? And do Ray and Egon ever stop to think about girls, or is it always about trans-dimensional ectoplasmic anomolies with those two?
* 2 regular covers will be shipped in a 1-to-1 ratio.
FC * one-shot * 32 pages * $3.99

If you missed out on the Displaced Aggression series, IDW is collecting the story into trade paperback form, set to be released on March 29th. You can pre-order it at Amazon. The solicitation is below.

Ghostbusters: Displaced Aggression
Scott Lobdell (w) * Ilias Kyriazis (a) * Nick Runge (c)
In this collection of the latest Ghostbusters adventure, the 'Busters have been defeated by the pan-dimensional demon lord Kozar'Rai - Father of Gozer - and the villain has separated them across the time stream! Now Peter, Ray, Egon and Winston must find their own way to return to present-day Earth and free all of humanity from the Rule of Kozar'Rai!
TPB * FC * $17.99 * 104 Pages * ISBN: 978-1-60010-610-1

IDW Publishing, makers of the Ghostbusters: The Other Side mini-series from last year, are back with a new Ghostbusters mini-series, and even a one-shot holiday special. I've gathered up all of the solicitations that I got from AnnaMaria White at IDW, so here's everything you need to know about where your money will be going for the last few months of 2009. You can purchase these as they become available from the IDW Store and Graham Crackers Comics websites. All of the images and outside links have been moved to the Comic Books page.


This 4-part mini-series features the Ghostbusters - with a new female Ghostbuster named Rachel - split up across the time stream, along with a bonus Janine story at the end of issue #4. It appears from the information and pictures I've gotten that there will be two variant covers per issue. At the very least I can confirm three covers for each of issues #1 and #2 - two regular and a retailer incentive. I can't confirm any variant covers for issue #3, but the cover I have says "Cover A" on it, so there has to be a "Cover B" planned. Man I wish IDW wasn't pulling the variant cover crap that 88MPH is famous for with their Legion series. It seemed that IDW would be taking the high road, sort of speak, when they only had one variant for The Other Side series. Now it looks like they're going down that slimey road of milking the collector fans dry by selling multiple versions of the same product.

Before I get to the info, let me take a minute for a personal comment. Although this new story sounds interesting, I would have much preferred for IDW to have used the 25th anniversary as an opportunity to do a comic adaptation of the first movie instead - and saved Displaced Aggression for next year. We got a Real Ghostbusters-style comic adaptation of Ghostbusters II, but nothing at all for the first film. Besides, the 25th anniversary logo that will apparently appear on the covers of the Displaced Aggression series would have looked so much sweeter on a movie adaptation instead.

Ghostbusters: Displaced Aggression #1 (September 2009)
Scott Lobdell (w) * Ilias Kyriazis (a) * Nick Runge, Ilias Kyriazis (c)
Part 1: "Go West, Young Venkman!" In chapter one of this all-new Ghostbusters adventure, the 'Busters have been defeated by the pan-dimensional demon lord Kozar'Rai - Father of Gozer, the villain has separated them across the time stream! Dr. Peter Venkman is trapped in 1886, and his only chance to return to present-day Earth and free all of humanity from the Rule of Kozar'Rai has him teaming with a very unexpected (and very beautiful) ally!
* 2 regular covers will be shipped in a 1-to-1 ratio.
* Retailers: See your order form for a special incentive
FC · 32 pages · $3.99

Ghostbusters: Displaced Aggression #2 (October 2009)
Scott Lobdell (w) * Ilias Kyriazis (a) * Nick Runge, Kyriazis (c)
Part 2: "A Ray By Any Other Name..." Peter and Rachel (the newest Ghostbuster) arrive in the days of King Arthur, only to learn his trusted advisor Merlin has been replaced by... a bearded, sword-wielding Dr. Ray Stantz! All that and the ghost of Morgan LeFey, too!
* 2 regular covers will be shipped in a 1-to-1 ratio.
* Retailers: See your order form for a special incentive
FC · 32 pages · $3.99

Ghostbusters: Displaced Aggression #3 (November 2009)
Scott Lobdell (w) * Ilias Kyriazis (a) * Kyriazis, Nick Runge (c)
Part 3: "Here Today, Egon Tomorrow." When Peter, Ray and Rachel arrive in the near-distant future on a Mars colony where they've located the chronologically displaced Dr. Egon Spengler, they discover the base is under the thumb of an imposing and mostly benevolent dictator - Egon himself! It's Ghostbuster vs. Ghostbuster... with the fate of modern-day Earth in the balance!

Ghostbusters: Displaced Aggression #4 (December 2009)
Scott Lobdell (w) * Ilias Kyriazis (a) * Kyriazis, Nick Runge (c)
Part 4: "A Win-Winston!" While Peter, Ray and Egon were trapped in the time stream, Winston has been waging a guerilla war against Kozar'Rai and his demonic stormtroopers. But before the four of Ghostbusters can celebrate their reunion, they need to stop Kozar'Rai from reassembling Stonehenge in the heart of Central Park! Also, a bonus 8-page back-up story starring Janine, from *Ilias* *Kyriazis* and artist *Mike Dialynas*!


This single issue comic (aka "a one-shot"), which will be released in December 2009, is a holiday special in which the Ghostbusters go up against a ghost of Christmas past, present, and future. Are these the actual Dickens ghosts? Mmmmaybe, but you'll need to read to find out for sure. The book's written by Rob Williams and drawn by Diego Jourdan, who is also doing a cover. Nick Runge is also doing two covers: a Dickensian image, and a Norman Rockwell-inspired image. (source) So I guess this means that this ONE issue will have THREE covers! Great, IDW is turning into 88MPH will all of these damn variant covers. As a rule of thumb, there should never be more variant covers than there are number of issues in the series. When will these comic publishers learn that? Anyway...below is the solicitation, courtesy of Proton Charging.

Ghostbusters: Past, Present, And Future (December 2009)
Written by Rob Williams, art by Diego Jourdan, covers by Jourdan and Nick Runge.
It's Christmas Eve and the grumpiest man in New York (and that's saying somethin') hires the Ghostbusters. Each year he's visited by spectres who want him to change his ways and he's had enough. Now Venkman, Ray, Egon and Winston have to proton pack the actual ghosts of Christmas Past, Present and Future. But what does that mean for the spirit of Christmas itself?
32 pages, $3.99.

Cereal:Geek issue #5 is available now. The list of Real Ghostbusters contents inside the magazine has been graciously provided by editor James Eatock and added to the RGB In Print page. He also gave me the sample pages below. UK and European customers can purchase the magazine from the cereal:geek website. Everyone else can purchase it from Graham Crackers Comics.

Time Inc., the folks who publish People magazine, have done something really cool. They have made every issue (from issue #1 on March 4, 1974 to about a month ago - with some missing in between) available for free viewing on their website. They're in text and page scans, with even the ad pages scanned in, and searchable to a very limited degree. You can even download each magazine in its entirety in PDF format! All for FREE! They've also done something similar with their flagship publication, Time Magazine, only without the PDF's and page scans. I wish all publishers would do this. You can imagine the vast amounts of information, knowledge, and human history sitting in their vaults never to be seen again.

Below are some of the People and Time articles I found about Ghostbusters and/or cast and crew from the movies or animated series. There are probably more, but this was all I could find. The search engine on the People site is woefully inadequate. It only pulled up the GB2 premiere article. Everything else I found manually by browsing and looking through the pages. If you find something that I didn't, post a comment with the links. Be sure to state what issue and "page" number (the last set of digits in the file name is the "page" number I'm going by, not the actual page numbers in the magazines). FYI: If you have a program that can extract images from PDFs (most are shareware), you're better off extracting the page scans out of the PDFs rather than downloading them from the site (the PDFs are on the main page for each issue). The images in the PDFs are roughly 1680x2200, which is MUCH larger than anything on the site.

• May 28, 1984 - The Hot New Flicks (pages 43 & 44)
  The kings of comedy this season may be Dan Aykroyd, Bill Murray and Harold (Stripes) Ramis, soon to be known as Ghostbusters. The trio play three parapsychologists who lose their grant and moonlight, if you will, as eccentric exorcists. Recalls Ramis of the filming, "Danny, Bill and I had to act against characters who weren't there. 'Look scared' was the main direction. Then, 'Look more scared.'"


• June 4, 1984 - GB1 Ad, page 101


• June 18, 1984 - GB1 Review, page 11


• April 3, 1989 - Kristy McNichol Describes the Breakdown That Nearly Killed Her Career
  (Kristy was the blonde girl in the sub in the EGB ep "Dry Spell", though you probably know her best from the television series "Empty Nest" and "Family".)


• July 3, 1989 - GB2 Review, pages 15 & 16


• July 3, 1989 - GB2 1989 Premiere


• Celebrity GB Fan - Ashley Tisdale (Oct. 27, 2008)
  Does High School Musical's resident diva believe in the supernatural? "No, not really," she says. "I love ghost movies, though. Ghostbusters was a good one."


• Celebrity GB Fan - Michael Cera (June 27, 2009)
  "Ghostbusters is kind of like the reason I wanted to be an actor." - The Year One star Michael Cera, when asked about his favorite Harold Ramis (who played Egon) movie, to E! News

• May 6, 1929 - Science: Ghostbusting
  Yes, about 50 years before Filmation had a television series with the name, and 55 years before the famous movie, the words "Ghostbuster" and "Ghostbusting" appeared in Time Magazine - possibly for the very first time anywhere. If Filmation never copyrighted the name, Columbia Pictures never should have paid up, as this shows precedent that Filmation didn't create the word/name. Anyway, the article isn't about catching ghosts, but rather busting fake mediums.


• Jan. 3, 2005 - The Many Faces of Bill [Murray]


• July 7, 2009 - Radio Host Casey Kasem Retires
  I though he retired a few years ago when Ryan Seacrest took over. Anyway why would he retire on the exact 39th anniversary of his show, when pushing it one more year and retiring on the 40th anniversary makes much more sense. After all, the show is called American/Casey's Top 40.

The latest issue of Toyfare Magazine (August 2009, Issue #144) has several articles on the Ghostbusters toys and video game, and even an interview with Harold Ramis. This is all part of the issue's theme of 1984 (the year, not the Orwell book).

The magazine is currently in stores, though you can also buy it online. If you'd like to know if it's worth buying - and with such an awesome cover, that thought really shouldn't have crossed your mind - you can preview the magazine by viewing scans below or in this gallery. Big thanks to Randy Henderson for the scans.

You can read the unedited Harold Ramis interview on the Toyfare/Wizard Universe website (the one in the magazine is edited). Don't miss the second page - it's a very subtle link at the end of the first page.

The first scan below (the Venkman brick poster) is from the "Coming Next Issue" page of the previous issue, July 2009, Issue #143. Also note the photo caption on the "Incoming!" page - who's Peter Vakeman?

Although the release date is still listed as May 29th, the Ghostbusters: The Other Side trade paperback is currently listed as "in stock" over at Amazon.com. Considering that Graham Cracker Comics has it in stock as well, with the release date listed as May 6th, I can only assume that the May 29th date was changed and Amazon never corrected it. So if you put off buying the individual issues, go and order the trade paperback right now at either of those retailers.

While I'm on the subject of IDW's Ghostbusters comics, the big news is that they are going to be putting out a second mini-series. Entitled Ghostbusters: Displaced Aggression, and written by Scott Lobdell and Ilias Kyriazis, this new four issue series finds the boys in grey at the mercy of a pan-dimensional warlord known as Kozar'rai. The fiend banished each Buster to a different time, as he felt that killing them off would just allow them to reunite "on the other side". According to writer Scott Lobdell, "Peter Venkman is trapped in the Old West, while Dr. Ray Stantz appears to be a member of the Round Table in good standing. Egon Spengler seems to have settled into a future where Flash Gordon might have wound up in, and Winston Zeddmore looks like he's trapped in an Escape From New York type of reality."

IO9 has the first three pages of the first issue along with the each four part cover, as well as your first look at the new female Ghostbuster. Credit also goes to IO9 for the text and details in the previous paragraph.