Infestation #2

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Infestation #2 is the second and concluding issue of IDW Publishing's Infestation crossover event, released April 6, 2011. Written by Dan Abnett and Andy Lanning with pencils by David Messina and Elena Casagrande, it wraps up the overarching story of the zombie plague spread across IDW's licensed universe by the vampiric CVO agent Britt. Cover A of this issue pays direct homage to a scene from the original Ghostbusters film, and the interior pages incorporate imagery borrowed from the Ghostbusters-specific tie-in issues.

Publication Information

Publisher: IDW Publishing

Release Date: April 6, 2011

Writers: Dan Abnett and Andy Lanning

Pencilers: David Messina, Elena Casagrande

Inker: Gaetano Carlucci

Colorist: Scarlet Gothica

Letterer: Robbie Robbins

Editor: Bobby Curnow

Series: Infestation (IDW Publishing crossover event)

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Background

The Infestation event was a crossover spanning several IDW Publishing series. A zombified vampire agent named Britt opened four interdimensional portals to spread a zombie virus across alternate realities, each corresponding to one of IDW's licensed titles: Ghostbusters, Transformers, G.I. Joe, and Star Trek. The Ghostbusters' role in the event was told across Ghostbusters: Infestation #1 and Ghostbusters: Infestation #2, written by Erik Burnham.

Infestation #1 (the first bookend issue, released before the tie-ins) established the CVO headquarters story and Britt's role. Infestation #2 closes the event after all four franchise tie-ins have concluded.

Plot Summary

A firefight is ongoing at the Kirtland Underground Munitions Storage Complex in New Mexico. CVO vampire agent Bools recommends destroying the base to contain the zombie outbreak; the team hears jets overhead executing that very airstrike. Director Overmars authorizes the strike to prevent the zombies from reaching the Artillica stockpiles.

CVO team leader Cross and Bools rescue Overmars and Nikodemus by using a trans-gate to teleport everyone to CVO headquarters. There, Britt, now possessed by the Undermind (the zombie gestalt), is hooked up to diagnostic equipment to extract intelligence. Occult scientist Benny the Smith wears the Centurion Helmet, an Artillica artifact once belonging to Longinus at Golgotha, which keeps him immune to the Undermind's influence. Benny determines that Britt has become living Artillica: a being capable of opening interdimensional gateways, with vampire and zombie power fused at a fundamental level and amplified by the Undermind's sentience.

Britt awakens, summons her avatars from across the four realities, and announces the world is ready to be consumed. Cross proposes a radical counter: have Benny bite him, turning Cross into a vampire/zombie hybrid capable of matching Britt. Nikodemus contributes a vial of demon blood with protective properties to help Cross resist the Undermind's influence. Cross takes the Centurion Helmet from Benny, allowing Benny to revert to a savage state, then fights his way to Britt at CVO HQ.

Cross stabs Britt but she tells him he is too late. Rather than attempt to fight the Undermind directly, Cross uses his newly fused Artillica magic to rewrite the laws of magic entirely, erasing the Undermind from existence. The team considers the act suicidal.

In the aftermath, the magical whiteout destroys all remaining zombies, renders all Artillica inert, and effectively reboots the rules of magic across the IDW universe. Britt is left in a deathlike fugue state in the CVO Medicenter. Cross is presumed dead. The epilogue reveals he is alive, visiting his own grave at Arlington Cemetery: "Stephen Cross, Captain U.S. Army, Aug. 1967-June 2002, Medal of Honor."

Ghostbusters Connections

Cover A depicts Peter Venkman in the background and is composed as a homage to the Sedgewick Hotel sequence in Ghostbusters (1984), specifically the moment when Peter spots Slimer and radios Ray Stantz.

Page 4 of this issue contains imagery borrowed directly from page 10 of Ghostbusters: Infestation #2, showing zombies infecting the Stay Puft Marshmallow Man. Page 10 of this issue borrows a scene from page 9 of Ghostbusters: Infestation #1, depicting Winston Zeddemore shooting a zombie with his Proton Pistol. These borrowed panels serve as visual callbacks tying the bookend issue to the franchise tie-ins without requiring the Ghostbusters themselves to appear in the main CVO narrative.

Key CVO Characters

Britt: CVO vampire field agent; infected by the Undermind and turned into a living Artillica conduit capable of opening interdimensional portals.
Cross: CVO team leader and vampire; sacrifices himself to rewrite the laws of magic and destroy the Undermind.
Bools: CVO vampire field agent; pragmatic, advocates for maximum force.
Benny the Smith: Head of CVO's Occult Scientific Research; a "good" zombie kept immune to the Undermind by the Centurion Helmet.
Overmars: CVO Director.
Nikodemus: Demon operative; contributes protective demon blood to Cross's transformation.

References

IDW Publishing Comics: Infestation 2 (Fandom wiki)
IDW Publishing Comics: Ghostbusters Infestation 1 (Fandom wiki)
IDW Publishing Comics: Ghostbusters Infestation 2 (Fandom wiki)

Infestation #2

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Infestation #2

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Background

Plot Summary

Ghostbusters Connections

Key CVO Characters

References