Stories
New Ghostbusters Part Three
New York has embraced the New Ghostbusters, and PCOC liaison Jack Hardemeyer sees an opportunity: he wants the replacement team to scale back their search for the missing original Ghostbusters and instead devote their time to the public goodwill they are generating. Janine Melnitz is not pleased with that arrangement. The team is soon pulled away from politics entirely when a Geat ghost arrives at the firehouse seeking Janine by name. Its dialogue, which translates to "I am looking for Janine Melnitz," delivers a warning: Grendel is coming. The ghost itself appears to be visually modeled on Beowulf, the famous Geatish hero from Old English epic poetry, and the monster it warns of corresponds to the creature that Beowulf killed in the poem. Grendel manifests in Times Square at 6 p.m. local time, an apparent timezone miscommunication: the ghost apparently meant midnight Central European Summer Time (CEST), not midnight Eastern Standard Time, since the Netherlands runs six hours ahead of New York.
Kylie Griffin deploys the Extreme Ghostbusters-era PKE Meter and an Ecto-Visor to track the situation, while Ron Alexander reintroduces an upgraded Compact Pack not seen since Issue #1 and dons his Boson Pack from the first arc of the ongoing series. Janine Melnitz leads the field response, and the issue follows the team through a Times Square rendered in dense detail, including storefronts and advertisements drawn from episodes of The Real Ghostbusters and Extreme Ghostbusters. A brief scene at Parkview Psychiatric Hospital shows Janosz Poha in his room attended by an orderly recognizable from the opening cut scene of Ghostbusters: Sanctum of Slime.
Meanwhile, in the Collectors' limbo dimension, Egon Spengler and Ray Stantz believe they have identified a possible means of escape from their extradimensional prison. The walls of Egon's area in limbo are covered in Gozerian letters that, as noted in the trivia, spell out the names of the four original Ghostbusters. The issue ends with story threads seeded for the subsequent arc: Erik Burnham later confirmed that many elements introduced here return in Issues #5 and #6.
The issue also places the villain Idulnas in the background of events and gives Peter Venkman a scene in limbo alongside the other trapped Ghostbusters: Winston Zeddemore, Ray Stantz, and Egon Spengler.
In The Box Part Three
The backup story continues inside the Containment Unit, featuring the Icon Ghost, Ralph, and Samhain, who appeared in the backup chapters of the previous two issues.
Covers
The issue was published with three regular covers. Cover A was previewed by Erik Burnham on December 19, 2012; it features Janine Melnitz in a standard flight suit holding the severed head of an entity. The retailer incentive (Cover RI) was drawn by Danny Cruz as separate 8x11 images. Cruz noted that the Ghostbusters figures and skulls took approximately three very long days to draw, the entity on the left took about a day, and the remaining two entities on the right took a few hours each. Proton Charging previewed Cover RI on January 18, 2013, sourced from Cruz's deviantArt account, and Cruz posted the original black and white version the following day. A regular cover with a "work in progress" companion version was posted by Chris Ryall on April 15, 2013, and a preview of the credits page and the first seven interior pages was released on April 16, 2013.
Development
Development notes documented for this issue are notably dense given Erik Burnham's active social media presence during production.
- December 19, 2012: Burnham previewed Cover A.
- January 25, 2013: Burnham tweeted that Issue #3 contains some of the funniest lines in the entire series, attributing the assessment to editor Tom Waltz.
- February 8, 2013: Burnham revealed that Kylie Griffin appears in his favorite scene of the book.
- February 9, 2013: Dan Schoening posted character design roughs of Kylie for the issue.
- March 7, 2013: At a Crossing the Streams roundtable recorded in February, Burnham revealed that page six of "The Real Ghostbusters" backup had just finished inking and that Schoening was working on the final pages of Issue #3.
- April 1, 2013: Burnham hinted that elements from the upcoming #5-8 arc would be foreshadowed in Issue #3.
- April 15, 2013: Chris Ryall posted the regular cover alongside a "work in progress" version. Burnham noted that "lots" from this issue return in Issues #5 and #6.
- April 16, 2013: A preview covering the credits page and first seven interior pages was posted.
- April 18, 2013: Luis Antonio Delgado posted unlettered versions of pages 12 and 20. Burnham revealed that Dan Schoening had requested a famous Velma line (from Scooby-Doo) for page 12, but Burnham decided against using it at the last minute.
- May 31, 2013: Schoening posted initial character design art for the two Norse-mythology ghosts introduced in this issue.
Trivia and Easter Eggs
The issue continues the series' tradition of embedding references to the wider Ghostbusters multimedia universe throughout its backgrounds and incidental details. Key items include:
- Page 2: Behind Special Agent Melanie Ortiz is the Skull of Ivo Shandor from Ghostbusters: The Video Game (Realistic Versions). Behind the skull is a Stacy's Department Store bag from The Real Ghostbusters episode "Killerwatt." On top of the side cabinet is the Ectoplasmic Frequency Monitor from Extreme Ghostbusters' "Grundelesque." In front is the Ghost Vacuum from Extreme Ghostbusters' "Sonic Youth," and part of the Vigo painting is visible to its right.
- Page 3: The Geat ghost's dialogue translates to "I am looking for Janine Melnitz." The ghost warns of Grendel, a monster killed by Beowulf in lore, and appears visually modeled on Beowulf himself. Ron dons the Boson Pack from the first arc. A box behind Janine and the ghost contains the Pagan Rituals and Ceremonies tome from Extreme Ghostbusters' "Casting the Runes" and the Book of Annoying Beings from The Real Ghostbusters' "Short Stuff."
- Page 4: Peter's shelf still holds the Barometric Analyzer from The Real Ghostbusters' "Flip Side."
- Page 5: Kylie uses the Extreme Ghostbusters-era PKE Meter and the Ecto-Visor from The Real Ghostbusters' "Cry Uncle." The walls show Gozerian letters and sketches of the Gozerian dimension seen in "Making Ghostbusters."
- Page 6: Ron presents an improved Compact Pack, last seen two issues prior. The golf clubs reference "Caddyshack," which featured both Chevy Chase (on whom Ron Alexander is visually modeled) and Bill Murray. The second-floor ladder and cloth from Ghostbusters: The Video Game (Realistic Versions) appears to Janine's left. The Real Ghostbusters Firehouse alarm rings. On the table below Ron is the Quasitronic Nuclear Inverter from The Real Ghostbusters' "Captain Steel Saves the Day."
- Page 7: The Makeshift Proton Pack from The Real Ghostbusters' "Play Them Ragtime Boos" appears as a dismantled Proton Pack. In panel 2, a see-through canister appears to be the main component of the Dimensionometer from The Real Ghostbusters' "Egon on the Rampage."
- Page 8: One of the Parkview Orderlies from the opening cut scene of Ghostbusters: Sanctum of Slime is visible in Janosz's room.
- Page 9 (Times Square): The George M. Cohan statue appears in the far left of the first panel. A Stay Puft Marshmallows advertisement and a Granny's Yum Yum Candy ad (from The Real Ghostbusters' "Egon's Ghost") are visible near Janine. Granny's stands in for the Hershey's store at Broadway and West 43rd Street. The Blody and Caste ads reference The Real Ghostbusters' "The Halloween Door," and the "Give Someone Time" ad is from "Three Men and an Egon." The Molta ad comes from Extreme Ghostbusters' "Darkness at Noon, Part 1." A Manhattan City Bank ad (from the first film) appears to the right of Molta. The Father Duffy statue stands behind Ron Alexander, and behind Duffy is an ad for the Sceptre of Donar from Extreme Ghostbusters' "Bird of Prey." Al Czervik (portrayed by Rodney Dangerfield in "Caddyshack") passes by Ron, and Ron argues with Judge Smails, also a "Caddyshack" character.
- Page 10: Below the Granny's Yum Yum Candy sign is an ad for Sol's Tanning Salon from The Real Ghostbusters' "A Ghost Grows in Brooklyn." Grendel manifests at 6 p.m.: as noted above, this appears to be a timezone error where the ghost meant midnight CEST rather than midnight EST. Kildarby Kilts and the Bird of Kildarby behind Melanie reference The Real Ghostbusters' "The Bird of Kildarby." TV World appears behind Melanie's Particle Thrower, from The Real Ghostbusters' "Future Tense." Above Ron is "Dears" from The Real Ghostbusters' "Lost and Foundry," Larry's Uniform Shop from "Guess What's Coming to Dinner" appears to his right, and Do or Diner from "Afterlife in the Fast Lane" is at the far right.
- Page 11: Near Janine are Bright Wave High Tech Industries and the LB-7 from Extreme Ghostbusters' "Heart of Darkness." Pequod's at 2 Times Square stands in for an Olive Garden restaurant.
- Page 13: Janine runs into the wall of the Bijou Theatre from the Slimer! episode "Movie Madness," located at West 45th Street just off 7th Avenue, standing in for the Minskoff Theatre. A banner advertises a "Pirate of Zundia" film featuring Douglas Flynn, from The Real Ghostbusters' "Lights! Camera! Haunting!" The Uptown Hotel is from the Slimer! episode "Out with Grout." A banner advertises a Der Ring des Nibelungen opera loosely connected to Norse myth.
- Page 14: A vacuum advertisement features the Donkey ghost from Extreme Ghostbusters' "Sonic Youth."
- Page 15: Behind Ron is Clocks Galore from The Real Ghostbusters' "Three Men and an Egon." Above Janine's trap is Conrad's from The Real Ghostbusters' "Ghosts R Us." Janine's Trap's front indicator and pedal are based on the Mattel Ghost Trap replica.
- Page 16: Melanie references the Swedish Chef from the Muppets. Behind her is a "Stay Puft the Musical" advertisement from Ghostbusters: The Video Game.
- Page 17: Ron mentions Valhalla from Norse mythology. Ads for Dyb Devlin's trip to Tahiti prize reference The Real Ghostbusters' "The Devil to Pay." An ABS Studios ad from The Real Ghostbusters' "Egon on the Rampage" stands in for MTV Studios at 1515 Broadway.
- Page 18: An orange sign for Madame Lefarge's Wondrous and Amazing Traveling Sideshow appears above Janine's head, from The Real Ghostbusters' "Drool, the Dog Faced Goblin."
- Page 20: Above Peter is a Favish Shoes sign from The Real Ghostbusters' "Look Homeward, Ray."
- Page 21: On the Conrad's storefront below Ray's left hand is the Easter Bunny from The Real Ghostbusters' "Mr. Sandman, Dream Me a Dream." Behind Peter is the Toy Tower from The Real Ghostbusters' "Busters in Toyland," with ads for Brain Buster and Karate Chameleon from the same episode. Janosz's assorted gear from Ghostbusters II is in the room. Gozerian letters on the page translate to the original Ghostbusters' names: Egon Spengler (upper left corner), Peter Venkman (above Kylie), Ray Stantz (left of Kylie), and Winston Zeddemore (right of Kylie). Luis Antonio Delgado's personal "15" easter egg is hidden in a flame just above Kylie's second word balloon.
- Cross-issue significance: On page 11 of Ghostbusters International #11, Ray mentions the Ghostbusters' escape from the Collector's domain as it was depicted in this issue, confirming that the limbo events here have lasting continuity significance.
References
Comic
