The X-Files: Conspiracy: Ghostbusters

5 min read

The X-Files: Conspiracy: Ghostbusters is a one-shot crossover comic published by IDW Publishing on January 22, 2014. Written by Erik Burnham with pencils by Salvador Navarro, colors by Esther Sanz, and letters by Shawn Lee, the issue brings the Lone Gunmen from the X-Files universe into contact with the classic Ghostbusters. It is one of the tie-in chapters to IDW's two-part X-Files: Conspiracy mini-series, which also paired the Lone Gunmen with the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and The Crow. Burnham confirmed the issue operates in its own canon, separate from the Ghostbusters ongoing series, to accommodate the shared X-Files, Ghostbusters, TMNT, and Crow world the crossover premise requires.

Plot

The Lone Gunmen receive an email containing a disturbing report allegedly sent from the future. Fox Mulder and Dana Scully corroborate it, and the Gunmen are tasked with investigating urban legends named in the report. One lead is the Ghostbusters. Concluding the team are likely con artists using hallucinogens, optic tricks, or bio-weaponry, the Gunmen disguise themselves as journalists and infiltrate the Firehouse on the pretext of a scheduled interview.

While pretending to use the rest room, Melvin Frohike pokes around a modified Ghost Trap and accidentally releases the Electrokinetic Modified Ghost. The Ghostbusters split into teams to search the building for it, leaving the Gunmen along for the ride. After the ghost is recaptured, the two groups hash things out. Ray Stantz recognizes the Gunmen as former subscribers to their newsletter. Their conversation settles on the use of otherworldly specimens for targeted time travel and the Higgs Singlet. Disappointed by what they found, the Lone Gunmen return home and hear a radio report about a worsening outbreak in Virginia.

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The X-Files: Conspiracy: Ghostbusters

5 min read

Plot

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Cast

The Lone Gunmen: John Fitzgerald Byers, Melvin Frohike, and Richard "Ringo" Langley
Electrokinetic Modified Ghost
Janine Melnitz
Slimer
Ray Stantz
Winston Zeddemore
Egon Spengler
Peter Venkman

Equipment and Locations

Equipment featured in the issue includes the Ghost Trap, the Ectomobile (Ecto-1), the Proton Pack and Particle Thrower, Aura Video-Analyzer, P.K.E. Meter, Ecto Goggles, and the Containment Unit. The story takes place primarily at the Ghostbusters' Firehouse, with the New Jersey Turnpike also featured.

Covers

The issue shipped with multiple covers. Cover artists listed in the credits are Miran Kim, Joe Corroney, Brian Miller, Dan Schoening, and Luis Antonio Delgado.

Standard cover: Miran Kim
Subscription cover: Dan Schoening, posted in unlettered form on February 11, 2014. The image depicts the conspiracy theory that Elvis Presley faked his death.
"Weekly Weird News" variant (1:25 ratio): Joe Corroney, whose involvement was announced November 13, 2013.

The Weekly Weird News variant's newspaper headlines include references to Slimer, Bigfoot, an Egon headline nodding to his implied relationship with the psychomagnotheric slime sample in Ghostbusters II, and an Elvis headline referencing the theory that Elvis was sighted in Kalamazoo, Michigan after his death.

Diamond order codes: NOV130297 and NOV130298.

Development

On October 17, 2013, IDW announced a crossover tie-in involving the Lone Gunmen and the Ghostbusters, connected to the two-part X-Files: Conspiracy mini-series. Joe Corroney tabloid variant covers were planned for each chapter in the crossover lineup. On October 18, all three covers were revealed.

On October 20, 2013, Erik Burnham addressed the canon question, stating the comic would likely occupy its own continuity separate from the Ghostbusters ongoing series, since the premise places X-Files, Ghostbusters, TMNT, and The Crow in the same world, which conflicts with ongoing continuity.

Burnham received the assignment because the writer originally chosen by editors Tom Waltz and Denton J. Tipton already had a full schedule, as Burnham explained in a November 5, 2013 interview (conducted October 22). On November 16, 2013, the story structure was disclosed: the Lone Gunmen visit the Firehouse, accidentally release a ghost, and chaos follows. On December 15, 2013, Burnham confirmed the Containment Unit would appear. On December 31, 2013, he revealed that Frohike's reaction to a ghost would echo his running X-Files crush on Agent Scully, and that Ray would recognize the Gunmen as former subscribers to their newsletter.

A cover, full credits, and seven-page preview were posted on January 21, 2014, the day before the issue's release.

Notes

Much of the interior artwork draws directly from panels and covers of Ghostbusters: Legion:

The ghost in the story is a composite design combining the Subway Ghost from Legion Issue #1 (page 14, without the chin tentacles) as the head and the Smiley Ghost from Legion Issue #2 as the chest-mouth.
Multiple Ghostbusters figures and poses throughout the issue are traced or mirrored from Legion Issues #1, #2, and the painted variant cover of Legion Issue #3.
The Firehouse No Ghost sign (page 4) is traced from the second page of Legion Issue #1.
Janine's first panel references her shot from the Sedgewick Hotel call in the 1984 film; the Gunmen entering the Firehouse mirrors Walter Peck's arrival with the Police Captain and Con Edison Man later in that same film.
The Ghostbusters' arrival on page 9 references the Fort Detmerring deleted scene, including Ecto-1's positioning and how Ray and Winston exit the car.
Byers mentions the Stay Puft Marshmallow Man's destruction at the end of the first film. A Stay Puft figure is also visible in the lab.
Ringo mentions the EPA and its history with the Ghostbusters.
Winston references Gozer's "Are you a god?" moment from the 1984 film, much to Ray's dismay.
Page 20 mentions CERN (the European Organization for Nuclear Research) and discusses the Higgs Singlet in the context of theoretical time travel.
Peter Venkman refers to the Lone Gunmen as "the Three Stooges."
Frohike's interest in Janine Melnitz mirrors his well-known crush on Agent Scully in the X-Files television series.

References

IDW Publishing, The X-Files: Conspiracy: Ghostbusters (January 22, 2014); writer: Erik Burnham; penciler: Salvador Navarro; colorist: Esther Sanz; letterer: Shawn Lee; editors: Tom Waltz, Denton J. Tipton.
Ghostbusters Wiki (Fandom), "The X-Files: Conspiracy: Ghostbusters."
Ghostbusters Wiki (Fandom), "Lone Gunmen."