Ghostbusters: The Other Side #2 – Review

By Keith Champagne (writer), Tom Nguyen (pencils), Drew Geraci (inks), Moose Baumann (colors), Neil Uyetake (letters), Nick Runge (cover)

The Story: After their death, the Ghostbusters, like all good people, expected to go to Heaven. Unfortunately for them, the Ghost Mafia had different plans, and following their murder the boys ended up in Purgatory. The Mob also picked who stays and who crosses over, so Peter, Ray, Egon and Winston better get comfortable. Further complicating things, the Mob put a hit out on our heroes. Things have never looked worse for the GB’s. Unless they can escape purgatory, it’s gonna be one LONG eternity.

What’s Good: Ray’s enthusiasm. Like in the movies, his enthusiasm walks that line of endearing and annoying. Granted, being so excited for being in purgatory seems like a bit much, but I see where he’s coming from scientifically.

What’s Not So Good: As interesting as the plot is, it’s missing that little something extra to make it Ghostbusters. Honestly, things have gotten so bad so quickly it’s hard to see any way out. Yes, you’re supposed to stack the odds against your protagonists, but not so much so where a plausible solution seems out of reach. How will they escape purgatory and re-animate their bullet-riddled bodies? More importantly, how will they do it and not instantly die again because of the aforementioned bullet-holes? Given the universe the story takes place in, it’s possible to accomplish all that, but I’m not holding my breath.

Conclusion: While it remains an interesting read, The Other Side does little to argue that it’s just using the license. There’s nothing that really adds to the Ghostbusters story. There are many departures from the source material and none of them are for the better. And while no particular fault stands out enough to make the book “suck,” we as Ghostbusters fans should want, and deserve better.

Grade: C

-Ben Berger

Ghostbusters: The Other Side #1

By Keith Champagne (writer), Tom Nguyen (pencils), Drew Geraci (inks), Moose Baumann (colors), Chris Mowry (letters), Nick Runge (cover)

The Story: A routine ghost-bust goes horribly wrong and the Ghostbusters find themselves up against the Ghost Mafia. When Venkman’s soul is separated from his body, the remaining GBs’ must race against time to get his soul back to his body before it’s lost forever!

What’s Good? At the core, it’s a very interesting story. The introduction of the Ghost Mafia is a good idea, even if it was done on the cartoon. Keith Champagne does a good job adapting the Ghostbusters to comics, making the comic darker and less silly. Even though the humor isn’t quite the same, the story still manages that Ghostbusters feel.

What’s Not So Good? Egon’s hair.  Actually, the character designs of all the Ghostbusters is pretty weak. I’m sure it came down to not getting the likeness rights, which is understandable; but it’s a little distracting with how different everyone looks. And while the Ghost Mafia is a good idea from a plot perspective, visually none of them are very interesting. Slimer, Gozer, Stay-Puft, and the Librarian all had very interesting looks, and having normal looking ghosts isn’t the way to go. It’s a nod to the films which is severely lacking in the books design. The overall lack of detail in Nguyen’s style is a bit of a sore-spot. Obviously the focus will be on the characters and the foreground so it’s expected that the backgrounds have less detail, but it shouldn’t be this much. This only works for a few panels where purgatory is depicted. That said, I feel it’s more of a coincidence than intent.

Conclusion: This is a solid read for any Ghostbusters fan. The writing is good, and the story has some real potential. Without giving away the ending, it’s pretty clear that the GBs may start to see things from “the other side.” Artistically the book does suffer, and takes a pretty large step away from the look of the films. Still, it’s got a good grip on the world of Ghostbusters.

Grade: C+

-Ben Berger