Covers
Cover A and Cover RI-A were illustrated by Dan Schoening and colored by Luis Antonio Delgado. Cover B and the backup story were produced by Tristan Jones. The RI-A cover is a homage to "The Exorcist."
Cover B is a dense reference piece: it includes the Eye Visor Ghost and Mee-Krah from "Standing Room Only" in the letter "R," the Stylized version of Azetlor from Ghostbusters: The Video Game in the "I," Psychomagnotheric Slime behind Ecto-1, Gremlins from "Don't Forget the Motor City" and "Grease" on the Ecto, the Gremlin from Merrie Melodies on the bumper, and written references to Generous Motors and Walter Peck's PCOC address. One of the stamps references Ghostbusters II. A portion of Cover B appears in the background of Ghostbusters #14, page 22.
Cover RI-B was an unprecedented 250-copy hand-drawn sketch cover run by Tristan Jones, with each copy custom-drawn for a specific comic shop. See the full list below.
Cover A
Cover B
Incentive Cover (RI-A)
Development
Editor Tom Waltz suggested Detroit as one of the road trip destinations specifically because of the haunted army base (Fort Wayne) located there.
The development timeline for the issue was unusually public, with both Burnham and Jones sharing progress on social media throughout early 2012:
- January 15, 2012: Tristan Jones completed lines on the first cover and counted 19 easter eggs on it, all from the same Real Ghostbusters episode, with three from non-Ghostbusters sources.
- January 18, 2012: Jones submitted Cover B to Luis Delgado for coloring, noting it contained 23 gremlins, 14 ghosts, Ecto-1, and a city skyline covered in goo.
- January 23, 2012: Jones posted Cover B publicly.
- February 23, 2012: Erik Burnham began writing the script for issue #9.
- March 1, 2012: Burnham noted one of Dan Schoening's ghost designs is "really creepy."
- March 3, 2012: Burnham (in a prerecorded interview) revealed Waltz requested Detroit as a setting.
- March 5, 2012: Burnham confirmed the story would also be set in Fort Wayne.
- April 2, 2012: Burnham read the proof; Jones posted a colored panel from his backup story and finished another page.
- May 10, 2012: Release date moved from May 16 to May 23.
- May 14, 2012: AJ Quick of GBFans.com posted the RI cover variant by Mike Henderson. Dan Schoening confirmed the issue would come with a custom-drawn postcard from Tristan Jones depicting each local comic shop's home city.
- May 17, 2012: Burnham confirmed another delay to May 30.
- May 25, 2012: A preview of the A, B, and RI-A covers, credits page, and first seven pages was posted.
- May 30, 2012: Luis Delgado posted unlettered versions of pages 5, 6, and 17 on release day.
- June 4, 2012: Burnham revealed the story takes place in mid-June, noting the post-Memorial Day release felt thematically appropriate.
- June 26, 2012: Dan Schoening detailed the page production process from research through final colors. The Crybaby Bridge in the story was based on one near Doylestown, Ohio, in an area known as Rogue's Hollow.
RI-B Sketch Covers
Tristan Jones produced 250 hand-drawn sketch covers, each custom-designed for a specific retail store. These shipped separately, with a tentative release date of June 13, 2012. Jones started a Tumblr gallery to track them as they were completed.
On March 24, 2013, Dan Schoening revealed a special cover he made to help raise money for Paul Rudoff (Spook Central) and his family following Hurricane Sandy damage. It sold for $350 on eBay and featured cameos by Slimer, Sandman, Wat, Samhain, Grundel, Hob Anagarak, Boogieman, Zonk, Slug, Snarg, the Big with Mean Teeth Ghost from the Real Ghostbusters intro, and the chair from Kenner's Ecto-1.
On January 7, 2013, Jones reported some sketch covers were lost in transit.
Full list of RI-B sketch cover recipients (in order of reveal):
- All Star Comics, Melbourne, Australia
- Graham Crackers Comics (10 covers): St. Charles, Plainfield, Edgewater, Wheaton, Lakeview, Downers Grove, DeKalb, Naperville, Chicago Loop, Illinois; Online (pre-ordered for Tristan Boutros of Kitchener, Ontario, Canada)
- Jim Hanley's Universe, New York, New York (features Ecto-2 in homage to The Real Ghostbusters "Adventures in Slime and Space")
- Midtown Comics (4 covers): Times Square; New York City; Grand Central; Downtown, New York, New York
- Carolina Comics Inc., Durham, North Carolina
- Austin Books and Comics, Austin, Texas
- Things From Another World, Milwaukie, Oregon (Portland cover)
- Wade's Comic Madness, Levittown, Pennsylvania
- Mail Order Comics, Gretna, Nebraska
- G-Mart, Chicago, Illinois
- Discount Comic Book Service, Fort Wayne, Indiana
- P.P.F. Comics, West Palm Beach, Florida (features Janine Melnitz, Kylie Griffin, and the Bad-To-The-Bone Ghost)
- GBFans.com (2 covers, see below)
- Funny Books, Comics & Stuff, Lake Hiawatha, New Jersey (features the Jersey Devil)
- Amazing Stories Comics, Saskatoon, Canada (3 covers; one features the Marr Residence in Saskatoon)
- New World Collectibles LLC, Detroit, Michigan
- Tyson Schneider, Inc., Oviedo, Florida (features the giant Werechicken, a Werechicken ghost, and chickens from "Chicken, He Clucked")
- Lone Star Comics: Plano, Texas (features the city logo and water tower); Hurst, Texas
- Drawn to Comics, Glendale, Arizona (features the Earp Gang)
- Spook Central, Long Island, New York (features Kylie Griffin, Janine Melnitz, Slimer near Janine's Car, the "GB1 ZUL" license plate from "What in Samhain Just Happened?!", the original retro Spook Central logo, the No Ghost logo ghost, and the Radioactive Ghost)
- Phoenix Comics and Toys, Sterling, Virginia
- Sci-Fi Genre LLC, Durham, North Carolina (features the Tombstone Tackle toy from Kenner's Haunted Humans line)
- Zapp Comics and Cards, Wayne, New Jersey (features the New Jersey Parallelogram)
- That's Entertainment, Worcester, Massachusetts (features the Boogieman and Junior Ghostbusters)
- "All the Pretty Ponies" (My Little Pony themed; posted September 26, 2012)
GBFans.com has a direct tie to this issue. On May 14, 2012, AJ Quick of GBFans.com was the first to publicly post the RI cover variant drawn by Mike Henderson. Additionally, Tristan Jones created two custom RI-B sketch covers specifically for GBFans.com. One of them, posted August 5, 2012, features several GBFans.com staff members and regular community members, alongside Ghostbusters Wiki admins Devilmanozzy and Mrmichaelt, holding a copy of Tobin's Spirit Guide.
The Midtown Comics variants include a cover featuring Venk-Man, Tempus, and a Superman homage; and another featuring Boogaloo and Ray's Occult Books.
Trivia
Page-by-page references:
- Page 1: Behind the Mayor's word balloons is "Gainsborough's Blue Boy," referencing Ghostbusters II when Janosz Poha compared Vigo to it. Walter Peck's line about being underestimated echoes a previous appearance.
- Page 2: The Crybaby Ghost is a reference to the Crybaby Bridge urban legend found in several states, including Ohio.
- Page 3: When Winston boards Ecto-2, a mini dry-erase board lists the animated Containment Unit parts Egon read off in "Citizen Ghost." The same list appeared on Egon's board in issue #8, but this time the transwarp drive is crossed out.
- Page 4: Egon has a Crunch bar in his back pocket. Background items include the SCEP-TECH from "The Treasure of Sierra Tamale," the Spectral Differentializer from "Who're You Calling Two-Dimensional?," the animated Containment Unit shut-off switch from "Ghosts R Us" / "The Revenge of Murray the Mantis," and the Fail Safe scanner from "Mrs. Roger's Neighborhood."
- Page 5: Features the Spirit of Detroit statue, the Goddess of Belle Isle, and Gremlins from "Don't Forget the Motor City" and "Grease." The flags on Ecto-1a and Ecto-2 as they pass the Spirit of Detroit are for OCP (Omni Consumer Products) from the RoboCop franchise. The footprints by the statue reference a local prank. Part of the Winston Car's face from "Don't Forget the Motor City" appears to the right of the Gremlins.
- Page 6: The Prosecutor from Ghostbusters II appears as one of the Mayor's aides. A portrait of Mr. Abernathy from "Don't Forget the Motor City" hangs behind the Mayor. An ED-209 (Enforcement Droid Series 209) from RoboCop is on the shelf to Peter's left, and a RoboCop bust sits under the television.
- Page 7: A portrait of Aretha Franklin is on the wall. The Mayor references a Red Gnome incident, meaning the Nain Rouge from Detroit lore. The Generous Motors logo from "Don't Forget the Motor City" appears on a book on the Mayor's desk. Peter mentions the Detroit Red Wings.
- Page 8: Ron tests equipment on a Crash Test Dummy based on Larry the Crash Test Dummy, voiced by Lorenzo Music (one of the animated Peter Venkman voices). The dummy bears the Filmation Ghostbusters logo. Nearby is a figurine of the Walley World mascot from National Lampoon's Vacation and the pig costume head from National Lampoon's European Vacation. On the table behind Jimmy is a hat from "The Three Amigos!" The pop art painting is based on the Walley World logo.
- Page 9: Egon is reading "Who's Who in the Spirit World" from "Revenge of the Ghostmaster."
- Page 10: The two ghost guards at Fort Wayne are based on Eugene Levy and Ben Stein. Levy appeared in a deleted scene of Ghostbusters II as Louis Tully's cousin Sherman Tully; Stein played a Public Works Official. Ray poses as Colonel John Hall from the late 1950s TV show "The Phil Silvers Show" (portrayed on screen by Paul Ford). Burnham noted this is a reference to the Sgt. Bilko movie, in which Dan Aykroyd portrayed Colonel John Hall.
- Page 11: In panel 4, the ghost by the cannon is Luis Delgado himself as an easter egg. Three other ghosts near Ray are based on Delgado's friends Lu, Camilo (also his cousin), and Polo. Near the munitions pile is Luis Delgado's "15" easter egg.
- Page 12: Egon uses the Ecto-Aroma Eliminator from "Masquerade."
- Page 14: Halliwell from "Masquerade" appears to the left of the ghosts.
- Page 15: Three community cameos: Chris Stewart of Proton Charging appears as a ghost on Ray's immediate left. Mrmichaelt of Ghostbusters Wiki and Devilmanozzy of Ghostbusters Wiki appear as ghosts surrounding Ray.
- Page 17: One ghost mentions serving with General Custer, a reference to the Battle of the Little Bighorn (1876).
- Page 18: The American flag shifts from full mast to half mast.
- Page 21: Peter mentions getting Coneys; Coney Island Hot Dogs were founded in Detroit and have many Midwest locations. Ray references a past bust where Peter trapped the ghost of Gandhi.
- Page 24: A radio DJ mentions Kiss' "Detroit Rock City" from the Destroyer album, with the single released July 28, 1976; the song references a real fan killed in a car accident en route to a Kiss concert.3
- Page 25: The radio DJ makes a "Haul'n" pun referencing Hall and Oates. Laura listens to "I Cheat the Hangman" by The Doobie Brothers (from Stampede, 1975; released as a single November 12, 1975), a song about a Civil War ghost who does not know he is dead.4
- Page 28: Peter references the Rookie from Ghostbusters: The Video Game (both Realistic and Stylized versions), raises the idea of Ghostbusters franchising, and alludes to the White River Monster of Arkansas lore.
- Page 29: Peter is dressed as his animated counterpart was in The Real Ghostbusters episode "Camping it Up." Behind him are posters for the 1971 film "Duel" (a motorist stalked by a mysterious tanker truck driver) and IDW's "Road Rage" (a motorcycle gang pursued by an unseen assailant in a big rig), both foreshadowing the Laura Parr backup story.
References
Some content on this page was researched using the Ghostbusters Wiki on Fandom.
Comic
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Ghostbusters #9 (IDW Publishing, May 30, 2012). Writer: Erik Burnham (main story), Tristan Jones (backup story); Pencils: Dan Schoening; Colors: Luis Antonio Delgado; Letters: Neil Uyetake; Editor: Tom Waltz.
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Ghostbusters Volume Three: Haunted America, Part 1 (Spotlight, 2013). ISBN 978-1-61479-493-6. Library binding collecting Ghostbusters #9-12.
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"Detroit Rock City," Wikipedia, accessed 2026-06-13, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Detroit_Rock_City. The Destroyer album was released March 15, 1976; the "Detroit Rock City" single was released July 28, 1976. Paul Stanley: "somebody coming to the arena was killed in an accident. And I thought how bizarre that somebody on their way to something so life affirming loses their life."
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"I Cheat the Hangman," Wikipedia, accessed 2026-06-13, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/I_Cheat_the_Hangman. Patrick Simmons on the song: "a ghost who doesn't realize he's dead returning to his home after the Civil War." Single from Stampede (Warner Bros., 1975), released November 12, 1975.
