“Maybe we should call the Dinosaur Busters instead?”
Ghostbusters #2
First Comics (March, 1987)
“Ghostasaurus!” WRITER: Hilarie Staton PENCILER: Howard Bender INKER: Sal Trapani COLORIST: Wendy Fiore LETTERER: Ed King SOUND EFFECTS: Joe
This is based on Filmation’s attempt to cash in on the name the legally own after the namesake movie made it big. Even without knowing the history (as most of us did in the 1980s) I still liked the show as a kid and think it gets a raw deal by fans who compare it to the movie and The Real Ghostbusters.
This story finds the Ghostbusters (Jake, Eddie, and Tracy) joined by their bat pal Belfry when Prime Evil, Scared Stiff, and Apparitia use a machine to bring dinosaur bones to life. Our heroes must deal with a Brontosaurus, Pterodactyl (Belfry’s hero until he gets chased by one), and a T-Rex. Using their wits they are able to deal with them and send the villains running (plus zapping Apparitia with the Dematerializer).
What they got right: The character models and personalities are spot-on for the show. That includes the plan of Prime Evil’s to scare everyone out of the city with reanimated dinosaurs. He’s pull a stunt like that. As a kids’ comic, the way the puzzles are integrated into the story rather than being in the back of the book like usually is done (even if it means marking up the comic, which this comic’s previous owner didn’t do) was a nice touch, and finishing them isn’t required to follow what’s going on. It’s a risk from a narrative perspective but it pays off.
What they got wrong: Minor fan nitpicks, but I would have liked to have seen the transformation sequence (maybe it was in the first issue?) and Prime Evil having his usual trouble saying “Ghostbusters” (space?). There is the convenience of Tracy just finishing a machine that just happens to being able to solve the problem he couldn’t have known about when building it.
Recommendation: The series is on Hulu and I think it deserves a second chance. This comic is a better adaptation of this Ghostbusters than NOW Comics did with The Real Ghostbusters (which I reviewed previously). It’s worth giving a look to.
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