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The Real Ghostbusters: NOW Comics Vol. 1 #17 - GBFans.com Wiki | GBFans.com

The Real Ghostbusters: NOW Comics Vol. 1 #17

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NOW Comics Vol. 1 #17 is an issue of The Real Ghostbusters comic book series published by NOW Comics in January 1990. The story, titled "Samhain Chanted Evening," is the first of two comics in the run to center on Samhain, the Ghost of Halloween introduced in the animated series. The issue follows directly from NOW Comics Vol. 1 #16 and continues several plot threads from that issue, including the Ghostbusters' custom zeppelin.

Contents

  1. Credits
  2. Story: "Samhain Chanted Evening"
  3. Characters
  4. Equipment and Vehicles
  5. Locations
  6. Notes
  7. References

Credits

Role Name
Writer James Van Hise
Story title suggestion Alex Newborn
Penciler Phillip Hester
Inker Rich Rankin
Letterer Joseph Allen
Art Director Michele Mach
Editor Katherine Llewellyn
Chief Editor Tony Caputo
Cover Artist Phillip Hester
View historyLast edited June 14, 2026 by GBFans Staff

Parent

  • Comics

Related Pages

  • Real Ghostbusters: NOW Comics Volume 1 Issue 16
  • Blimey! It's Slimer! (Marvel UK)
  • Bobby Curnow
  • Casey Maloney
  • Chris Madden
  • Con-Volution Comic
  • Dan Schoening
  • Displaced Aggression Comic Issue 1
  • Displaced Aggression Comic Issue 2

Parent

  • Comics

Related Pages

  • Real Ghostbusters: NOW Comics Volume 1 Issue 16
  • Blimey! It's Slimer! (Marvel UK)
  • Bobby Curnow
  • Casey Maloney
  • Chris Madden
  • Con-Volution Comic
  • Dan Schoening
  • Displaced Aggression Comic Issue 1
  • Displaced Aggression Comic Issue 2

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Displaced Aggression Comic Issue 3
Displaced Aggression Comic Issue 3

Story: "Samhain Chanted Evening"

Trapped inside the Containment Unit, Samhain has been continuously chanting the word "Evening," slowly building up power. Ghost sightings across New York spike to alarming levels. Meanwhile, Egon Spengler, Peter Venkman, Ray Stantz, and Winston Zeddemore are airborne in their custom-built zeppelin when flying goblins attack. Egon uses the floodlights to scatter them, and the team quickly realizes that goblins attacking near Halloween means Samhain is about to break free.

At the Firehouse, Louis Tully investigates the chanting in the basement just as Samhain emerges from the Containment Unit. Janine Melnitz radios the team before the transmission is cut. The Ghostbusters arrive over New York's harbor to find the city cloaked in unnatural darkness with spirits visible everywhere. A second goblin attack is repelled when the team releases the pterodactyl camouflage fitted to the top of the blimp, driving the goblins off. Unable to land safely in New York, they divert to Lakehurst, New Jersey, where Samhain, now free, reveals his plans.

The Ghostbusters rendezvous with Phineas Evantide, an ancient wizard they had encountered on the previous mission. Evantide travels to Europe to join European druids in counter-chanting along the converging ley lines, lending his magic to the effort. The Ghostbusters confront Samhain directly in Times Square while Tarantula, Evantide's familiar who had joined the team, slips into the Firehouse to rescue Janine Melnitz, Louis Tully, and Slimer from Samhain's control. Evantide's magic ultimately overcomes Samhain and returns him to the Containment Unit. To prevent any future escape through chanting, the Ghostbusters install a foghorn in the unit that fires loudly every time the word "Evening" is spoken, breaking Samhain's concentration before it can build.

Characters

  • Samhain
  • Phineas Evantide
  • Tarantula (Evantide's familiar)
  • Goblins
  • Egon Spengler
  • Peter Venkman
  • Ray Stantz
  • Winston Zeddemore
  • Janine Melnitz
  • Louis Tully
  • Slimer
  • Ghosts inside the Containment Unit

Equipment and Vehicles

  • Proton Pack
  • Containment Unit
  • Custom zeppelin (carried over from issue 16)
  • Ecto-1

Locations

  • The Firehouse
  • Times Square, New York City
  • Lakehurst, New Jersey

Notes

  • The story title "Samhain Chanted Evening" is a play on the phrase "Some Enchanted Evening."
  • Samhain explicitly refers to his two previous encounters with the Ghostbusters in the animated series: "When Halloween Was Forever" and "Halloween II 1/2." The comic treats both episodes as backstory.
  • The zeppelin and its pterodactyl camouflage are carried over from issue 16, maintaining direct story continuity between the two issues.
  • Samhain invokes Muck Olla, described as a druid deity. In folklore, Muck Olla is associated with a wild-boar humanoid figure said to bring misfortune unless offered tribute collected by druid priests.
  • Phineas Evantide references "Láir Bhán," a white horse skull figure associated with druid midwinter rituals.
  • Samhain names several European sites during the story: Brocken (the highest peak in the Harz mountains of Germany, also known as Blocksberg), the Forest of Ardennes (Belgium, Luxembourg, and parts of Germany and France), and Stonehenge (Wiltshire, England).
  • Phineas Evantide's strategy of using ley lines as channels for magical force prefigures a similar concept used decades later in the Ghostbusters: Answer the Call (2016) film.
  • This issue is the first of two NOW Comics stories featuring Samhain as the main antagonist.

References

  • NOW Comics, The Real Ghostbusters Vol. 1 #17 (January 1990). Writer: James Van Hise. Penciler: Phillip Hester.