Booknote: The New Ghostbusters, Vol.1

Eric Burnham, Dan Schoening, et.al., The New Ghostbusters, Vol. 1. San Diego: IDW, 2013. ISBN: 9781613776780.

Genre: Graphic novels and comics

The story starts with the original Ghostbusters getting kidnapped by a hostile ghost and sent to some other dimension. Janine Melnitz, their secretary, is the only left along with Kylie, Ray's manager at his occult bookstore. A federal agent, Melanie, steps in to help, and Ron, a convicted hacker and con man is drafted by the city (he is apparently the only one available who can somewhat provide maintenance on the equipment). The New York City officials remain as obnoxious and clueless as ever. Ron's character, to be perfectly honest, is a bit of a jerk, which was a bit of a turn-off for me in reading the comic. If I had my choice, I could have done without him.

So, the new team is trying to figure out where the original team is. However, hauntings are still happening in the city, and the city expects the Ghostbusters to remain open for business. So they have to balance the business, a new obnoxious city official trying to get the Ghostbusters to do more merchandising and celebrity opportunities, and trying to find the original Ghostbusters. The story is entertaining enough in spite of the issues I had with Ron's character. There are some humorous moments. As an additional feature, there is a small comic within a comic about a ghost inside the Ghostbusters' containment unit. It's cute, but it is mostly a filler piece that, in this compilation, seems to break the main narrative more than anything else. Overall, this is a quick and light comics read that takes off close to where the movies ended. In the end, it was "ok." Fans will probably like it. It is optional for more casual readers.

Public libraries may want to acquire it for their comics and graphic novels collections. This is a teen level comic.

If you ask me, 3 out of 5 stars. 

Disclosure note: This review copy was provided by the publisher via NetGalley as an e-book copy in exchange for an honest review. There, we have appeased The Man once more. The book, as of this review, is scheduled for publication this week, so it should be out by now.