IDW Publishing Forums

[Spengs85]

I had forgotten about this thing entirely for, I dunno, the better part of ten years. I was filing my IDW books in my long boxes when I noticed them and decided to fish them out for my first reread since they were released in 2004.

I wrote up a more in-depth review of the comic.

But suffice to say, they're... not very good. Though I'll admit, rereading them flooded me with all the memories and emotions I felt back in 2004, waiting for each damn issue to come out 4 or 5 months late.

Ignoring the controvery/publisher incompetence of the title, though, it's interesting to see how differently this attempted comic book revival of the franchise did things than IDW. The idea of only following the events of the first movie (overwriting Ghostbusters II) and taking place very firmly in the present... a totally different tactic than what IDW's doing.

What got me more, though, was how... "grimdark" it tried to do things. Ray is bipolar and constantly going into chainsmoking depression. Louis is a creepy stalker trying to steal Dana from Peter. Ray loses his crap at the end and gets in a fist fight with the villain to save the day.

It's all so... It's just trying WAY to hard to be "dark". It feels really inauthentic to the universe. I much prefer how guys like Burnham have been handling things; there's a since of drama going on (Egon's one-shot issue was a great example) but it never overcomes the humor. Ghostbusters is first and foremost a COMEDY, after all.


I will say, I liked Kurth's pencils and Blond's coloring (saving the 1-color ghosts). The comic LOOKED really good, even if it wasn't written so well.


Anyhow, I imagine that it's locked up in rights hell due to Sebastian Clavet's less than stellar handling of his company, so I can't imagine IDW will make an effort to collect this thing like they've done for other older stuff from the 80s nostalgia book, like Devils Due's G.I. Joe or Dreamwave's Transformers. Probably for the best, anyway; I'd forgotten how lousy this comic was and how frustrating the delays were.

I supposed I should just count myself lucky that I wasn't one of the fans that got ripped of on those hardcover preorders.
_________________
TMNT Entity: The place for Ninja Turtle comic reviews and research articles!

[FoxZerro]

Being one of those people who was screwed on the preorder of the Hard Cover seeing this was like having that knife in my heart twisted a little bit.

That being said when I was cleaning out my room and in turn my long boxes I found these and couldn't help rereading them. I think it was interesting where he decided to set them and part of me liked the whole we are set in modern times gimmick he used because it made the series more of a reimagination than a continuation. Still the overly dark overtones of the stories, combined with the Danny Phantomesque origin for the villian make this an unfortunate product of its era and haven't given it a whole heck of a lot of longevity, poor management aside.

Still back then I was as pleased as punch whenever I went out to the comic store and there happened to be a new copy of GB: Legion on the shelves...

The best part about your post though, good doctor, is that in reminding me of the horror show that was Ghostbusters Legion, it also reminded me of what a joy the novel Ghostbusters the Return was. Sure that also fell by the wayside due to poor brand management, but as soon as I was made aware of it I was able to get a copy on Amazon and enjoy it. I wish there were someway that book could see the light of day again, it was a joy to read.
_________________
"Keep your friends in your heart, your money in your wallet, and your package in your pants... and I won't disown you ~ Dad"

[joezlo]

Legion was great in 2004. I mean what else did we have? Ghostbusters the Return was great too! We were grasping at straws for something as fans. I re-read The Return every year, and it has its moments, but not the best idea for a villain, or could have been done better.

Legion's erasing of everything past the first movie and changing the time was a bad move. But the illustrations and coloring were great. I always thought the proton streams were boss. As far as their plot, I thought Draverhaven was an interesting idea, but having Ray get into a fist fight, not so much. IDW has taken GB to a new level with their series and it's obvious the people involved are die-hard fans which makes a huge difference in how its presented. 88 didn't have that.

[DK2]

I couldn't say I hated GB Legion that badly. I suppose I should re read it as I've only read it back then. The contemporary setting to '04 was OK. I do remember re reading issue #1 though after #2 came out because of the long gap. I also actually pursued the UK's GB: Legion trade by Titan books just for the "Winston" Comic Con short issue added to it. Can honestly say this is vaguely better than The Other Side from IDW IMO. That was just nasty. Legions "5th GB" was just hard to take though. I really liked the GB The Return novel as well. That was a fun read. It should get adapted into comic form. Can't see why IDW couldn't reprint Legion. I'd assume the rights belong to (through the GB license) Sony Pictures and that IDW could easily reprint this if they wanted to. I mean this is the case with IDW reprinting the Marvel and DC Star Trek, GI Joe and Transformers comics. That should be the same case theoretically. Whether they'd want to is the question. It may not fit in with IDW's GB comics for now and may cause confusion for the story's setting to casual readers. Sebastien Clavet should not have the complete rights to this at all anymore I'm assuming. 88 Miles' Tron comic didn't come out and it got released by Slave Labor Graphics later on. You think a small publisher would get to keep the rights/efforts to licensed properties?