Plot
The original Ghostbusters finally come face to face with the Answer the Call team. Inter-dimensional travel is not new to the original crew, but this is the first time two dimensions have overlapped and threatened to merge. The ATC Ghostbusters wake up to find New York subtly wrong: landmarks in the wrong place, Slimer in an ionized-glass containment tank, and four strangers who look like them but have very different equipment.
At the original team's firehouse, Egon Spengler is studying the dimensional interference using his measurement devices. Ray Stantz notes they have encountered travelers from other dimensions before, including the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and the Real Ghostbusters animated counterparts. The teams meet, exchange notes on their versions of the Containment Unit and equipment, and begin working together to understand what is causing the dimensional overlap.1
The issue ends with a vision of the Gozer encounter from the first film, as the multiverse instability threatens to bleed dimensional memories across realities. Kylie Griffin speculates that if Gozer were to manifest in the ATC dimension it would be an echo of the original, since most of Gozer's essence was already stored in the Containment Unit after being trapped in the IDW ongoing series.1
The back-matter features a Tobin's Spirit Guide-style field report on ectoplasm variants: standard, yellow (distressed ghost), Psychomagnotheric (Vigo-associated), Necrotic (zombie-producing), Red, and Purple (Tiamat-associated). Peter Venkman's editorial commentary is woven throughout, in the tradition of the Tobin entries available to players in Ghostbusters: The Video Game.1
Characters
Answer the Call Ghostbusters (comic debut):1 Abby Yates, Erin Gilbert, Jillian Holtzmann, Patty Tolan, Kevin Beckman
Animated counterparts (cameo): RGB Peter Venkman, RGB Egon Spengler
Referenced/Visions: Vigo, Gozer, Vinz Clortho, the Stay Puft Marshmallow Man, Zuul, Slimer
Supporting cast: Jenny Moran, Cait Banner, Zoe Zawadzki, Garrett Parker, Evan Torres, Ms. Zeigler (based on Florida fan Ziggy Zeigler)
Cover Variants
Regular Cover: Part three of the six-interconnected cover set by Schoening and Delgado. Features Egon Spengler holding a PKE Meter, Patty Tolan with the Ghost Chipper, and Zoe Zawadzki. The background map highlights the Mercado Hotel, Times Square, and the Empire State Building.
Subscription Cover: A homage to Cannonball Run II. Peter Venkman wears his orange jacket from the first film (the one he wore when speaking to Dana Barrett outside Lincoln Center). The cover features Kenner vehicles with the Ghostbusters in their counterparts' Screaming Heroes suits: Egon and Ray in the Ecto-3, Janine in the Highway Haunter, Peter in the Ecto-2, and Winston in the Ecto-500. Note that Special Agent Melanie Ortiz, Ron Alexander, and the Rookie appear on the subscription cover but do not appear in the main story.
RI Wraparound Cover: Front features Abby wearing the helmet from her first appearance in the 2016 film (Chapter 3). Back features Ray suited up during the first Ghostbusters film, circa the first bust sequence.
Development
The creative team documented the issue's production publicly across several months:
- December 29, 2016: Tim Lattie posted a work-in-progress snippet of the cover, showing Janine and Abby.
- January 26, 2017: Tom Waltz confirmed the subscription cover was a nod to Cannonball Run II.
- February 22, 2017: May solicits revealed the synopsis and regular cover.
- March 15, 2017: Dan Schoening posted a Holtzmann work-in-progress.
- March 29, 2017: Schoening announced he was 92% done. Waltz posted a colored panel of Holtzmann and Ray.
- April 7, 2017: Waltz announced the issue was off to the printers.
- April 13, 2017: The RI Wraparound Cover was posted. It features Abby and Ray from the first movie.
- May 6, 2017: Schoening posted a comparison of thumbnails to final color for one page.
- May 20, 2017: A cover, credits page, and five-page preview were released.
- May 23, 2017: Schoening posted a Gozer and Vinz Clortho teaser image.
Easter Eggs and Notable References
This issue is densely layered with references to Ghostbusters media, Kenner toys, and fan tributes. A selection of the most notable:
Page 1: The ghost in panel 1 is visually based on the Soar Throat Ghost from the Kenner Real Ghostbusters Fright Features Egon figure. Ms. Zeigler in panel 3 is based on Florida fan Ziggy Zeigler. The cardboard box in panel 4 contains The Real Ghostbusters: Pinball Game (U.S. version by Sharon Industries). Cait Banner's flightsuit name label reads "Cadet," a nod to the Rookie's nickname in Ghostbusters: The Video Game.
Page 2: The Ecto-500 from Kenner appears in front of Cait in panel 4. Behind Zoe in panel 2 are papers posted during Ghostbusters: The Video Game (Realistic Versions) on the firehouse second floor. The contaminated flight suits from The Real Ghostbusters episode "Citizen Ghost" appear in the bottom right of panel 2.
Page 3: Janine's outfit is from a deleted scene in the first movie. Panel 4's background includes the East Coast Memorial (a WWII monument at Battery Park). In that same panel, a trio of bystanders is visually based on Gary, Wyatt, and Chet from Weird Science, and Lyta from the RGB episode "No One Comes to Lupusville" makes a non-canon background cameo. Jeffrey Shreck Junior, a Ghostbusters fan, appears as the man in the grey hoodie; his son carries a Stay Puft Marshmallow Man plush in real life.
Page 4: Holtzmann's bedroom is packed with 2016 film props and memorabilia. On her laptop is Abby's recording of the Electrocuted Ghost from Chapter 7. Above the bed is a 2016 PKE Meter and Holtzmann's Screw U necklace. A can of Pringles references Holtzmann eating them in the Aldridge Mansion case. The ornate lights near the laptop are from the team's headquarters at Zhu's Authentic Hong Kong Food. Jim (in panel 3) is visually based on fan Tom Gebhardt, and the apartment set is based on the main set of Friends. Luis Delgado's recurring "15" easter egg appears on the Pringles label near the "W" in "Wake Up" (panel 2).
Page 11: Holtzmann identifies that the Containment Unit uses ionized glass to hold Slimer, a detail first established by Egon in the IDW ongoing Volume 1 Issue #2.2 The Phoenician Plague Vase is visible where it appears after the Rookie collects it in Ghostbusters: The Video Game (Realistic Versions). The second floor layout still matches the Video Game, including the green carpet, Periodic Table, and New York City poster.
Page 12: The cork board behind Holtzmann includes an advertisement for the UK Rainbow Communications cassette release of The Real Ghostbusters stories, and the first page of the Slimer! show bible. The Hi-C Citrus Cooler (precursor to Ecto Cooler) appears on the kitchen counter. Egon appears to use a device based on Doc Brown's stopwatch from Back to the Future, previously seen in Volume 1 Issue #8. Ray Stantz mentions they have met travelers from other dimensions, referencing the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and the Real Ghostbusters animated counterparts.
Page 15: The "stable alternate" dimension reached by the portal is the one occupied by The Real Ghostbusters. RGB Egon is shown in his stock pink shirt. RGB Peter mentions Gruyere cheese. Holtzmann advises RGB Egon to cut his rat-tail; fans have long theorized this version of Egon influenced Holtzmann's hairstyle in the 2016 film.
Page 16: Ray reveals the name of the No Ghost logo character: "Mooglie."1 This name was revealed during the 2016 film press tour by Dan Aykroyd and Ivan Reitman, who had kept it secret until then.
Page 17: Panels 2 and 3 recreate the arrival of Gozer from Chapter 26 of the first film: Ray steps up to talk to Gozer, Gozer pets Vinz Clortho, and the Temple of Gozer is visible.
Page 18: Panel 1 recreates the crossing-the-streams moment from Chapter 28 of the first film, with the Stay Puft Marshmallow Man watching in horror. Ray and Egon discuss the "splintered Multiverse theory," a concept first raised by RGB Egon in Ghostbusters International #10.3
Page 19: The green numbers (408346 and 4332) on Holtzmann's pack are based on prop pack photographs posted by director Paul Feig on June 30, 2015.
Page 23-24 (back-matter): The ectoplasm reference guide notes that "Smells Funky" is a nod to Peter's recollection after being slimed by Slimer in the first film. Yellow Ectoplasm volunteers are offered "up to five bucks," echoing Peter's offer to ESP test volunteers at the start of the first movie.
Continuity Notes
This issue marks the ATC Ghostbusters' first comic book appearance anywhere, having debuted in the 2016 film. Photos from this issue (page 20, panel 4 and page 18, panel 2) were later reused in Ghostbusters: Crossing Over Issue #1's character reference pages.5 In Crossing Over Issue #2, Holtzmann explicitly names the events of Ghostbusters 101 as when she first met the Prime team.6
The "What Came Before" recap page reuses three panels from Issue #2. Images from this issue are also reused in the "What Came Before" page of Ghostbusters 101 #4.
References
Some content on this page was researched using the Ghostbusters Wiki on Fandom.
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Ghostbusters 101 #3 (IDW Publishing, May 24, 2017). Writer: Erik Burnham; Penciler: Dan Schoening; Colorist: Luis Antonio Delgado; Letterer: Neil Uyetake; Editor: Tom Waltz. Diamond Order Code MAR170477.
Ghostbusters (IDW Ongoing Series) Issue #2 (IDW Publishing, 2011). Writer: Erik Burnham; Penciler: Dan Schoening. First appearance of the ionized-glass Containment Unit detail established by Egon Spengler.
Ghostbusters International #10 (IDW Publishing, October 19, 2016). Writer: Erik Burnham; Penciler: Dan Schoening; Colorist: Luis Antonio Delgado. RGB Egon introduces the splintered Multiverse theory referenced in Ghostbusters 101 #3, page 18.
Ghostbusters: Crossing Over #1 (IDW Publishing, March 2018). Writer: Erik Burnham; Penciler: Dan Schoening; Colorist: Luis Antonio Delgado. ATC character photos on page 22 are taken from Ghostbusters 101 #3.
Ghostbusters: Crossing Over #2 (IDW Publishing, April 2018). Writer: Erik Burnham; Penciler: Dan Schoening; Colorist: Luis Antonio Delgado. Page 3: Holtzmann states that Ghostbusters 101 is when she first met the Prime team.
