The Good
The Ghostbusters we all know and love have been kidnapped by ghosts and sent to another dimension. In their place, four new Ghostbuster rise up, under Peck's watch mind you, to stop ghosts from destroying people's lives.
If there's one thing I can say about Erik Burnham & Dan Schoening's last volume of Ghostbusters, it's that it was a ton of fun, and it did a great job of bringing characters we know an love from our past into the future while providing an entertaining story. With this new volume, the original team is whisked away and a new team takes their place. To me, it sounded like a really bold decision, and I wasn't sure how to feel about it. About halfway through the issue, I found myself loving this idea. Burnham changed my mind quickly.
What's an awesome thing about this book? It's very new reader friendly. You don't need to be a super-fan of the last volume to truly enjoy this new series. The opening pages introduce us to what will become the new team, and we get a big of background on the characters and how they're connected to the original Ghostbusters team. We also catch a quick glimpse of what happened to the original team. The opening is compact, informational, and Burnham's writing keeps it comical and entertaining. If you've ever wanted to jump onto the GHOSTBUSTERS series, this is the time. Also, buy the old issues.
I really like the new team, and the opening scene, with them capturing ghosts, is very reminiscent of the first film where the team tries to take down Slimer in the hotel, with a lot less overall destruction. I enjoy the idea of a new team of busters coming into their own and learning the ropes. In addition, Peck is a big part of this issue, and overall story, and I'm a big fan of how awful of a person/idiotic he is while remaining pompous and arrogant. And while a few of you are wondering, "I want to see the old Ghostbusters!" Well, you get to see what's going on with them as well, even though they're not the focus of the book, in this issue.
I have always been a big fan of Dan Schoening's art on Ghostbusters books. He's like a county fair characture artist, except he has tons of talent and no one is on roller skates. I love the exaggerated faces, and it reminds me so much of the "out there" cartoon styles from cartoons in my past. Schoening's art makes me feel like a kid again.
The Bad
I really didn't like the two-page back-up story. It felt like filler, and the art came off way too "clip-art" style for my liking. I could have done without it, or I would have liked it to be longer. Two pages is too tough to get someone hooked into a back-up story.
The Verdict
Well, this new GHOSTBUSTERS series is awesome. It may be a new team shooting down the ghosts, but it still has the same heart and appeal as the last series. Burnham and Schoening do a great job and keeping old readers entertained, while making sure issue one is easily accessible to anyone who has never read a GB comic in their life. I really enjoyed this first issue, with the only downside being that I didn't like the back up.
Overall, this issue was a ton of fun and I highly recommend it.