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I know, but I only have two Ghostbusters images in my library at present and I keep reusing them!
Look, I wasn’t a big fan of Ghostbusters 2 mainly because it ignored The Real Ghostbusters. Instead of continuing their adventures we got the reunion movie trope and I just wasn’t into it. There’s a lot wrong with that movie and even today despite all they get right in the end I can’t really watch it like I do the original movie. If it wasn’t for the cartoon there might not even BE a second film, much less the video game serving as a third, or the reboot, or the return to the continuity with Ghostbusters Afterlife on its way to theaters. I’m not even sure I’m that interested in Afterlife at this point because I was more into the cartoon than the previous sequel, though the video game does look interesting. Note also that Extreme Ghostbusters, good as it was, is still a bit too dark for my tastes, a bit more towards the horror side, just with a bunch of college kids and 90s tropes.
That’s what Ghostbusters was, not a comedy but a lighter toned horror movie. It can be confusing given how many members of the cast have been known for comedy before and since the film, and that’s not the first time that happened. The Meteor Man didn’t exactly jibe with Robert Townsend’s previous works and thus wasn’t given a chance as a family superhero movie for urban youth, especially black kids. (It was a superhero movie with an all-black cast long before Black Panther finally had a live-action appearance.) Fans wanted a new Ghostbusters movie for years, with the video game being the closest they could get after the passing of Harold Ramis. Losing Egon loses part of the magic, but Bill Murray not wanting to return (losing any of the four is a bad thing no matter how little Ernie Hudson got to do compared to Arsenio Hall on the show–and yes, I know Hudson was stupidly looked over voicing Winston on the cartoon) held things up.
Instead we got the comedy known either as Ghostbusters 2016 or alternately Ghostbusters: Answer The Call thanks to the tagline in the trailer. The movie did poorly with fans and with the general public. Hollywood being Hollywood they can’t accept that they didn’t make a good product (note that I still have yet to see it and it’s only morbid curiosity that has me interested in seeing it) and blamed toxic fans, sexists, and anyone else to avoid taking a look at the actual complaints. It’s not a comedy franchise, the story wasn’t very good, there were people making a case for reverse sexism for how the male secretary was treated versus Janine in the movies and pre-interference cartoons, and it wasn’t the original characters together again and continuing the storyline. When you take on a property you take on its fans and if you can’t please the old fans while finding new ones you will fail. And so it did.
Andre over at Midnight’s Edge has seen the movie, collected all the complaints and praises, and put together a video explaining why the movie failed, why a certain sect of critics are rushing to its defense, and why that same sect wants Ghostbusters: Afterlife, a movie that does try to play to the old fans, to fail even harder than the reboot. Then I have a few thoughts.
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In the superhero world, this is swinging.
Spider-Man 2099 Meets Spider-Man
Marvel (1995)
WRITER: Peter David
PENCILER: Rick Leonardi
INKER: Al Williamson
COLORIST: Steve Buccellato
LETTERER: Ken Lopez
ASSISTANT EDITOR: Lia Pelosi
EDITOR: Joey Cavalieri
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Chapter By Chapter features me reading one chapter of the selected book at the time and reviewing it as if I were reviewing an episode of a TV show or an issue of a comic. There will be spoilers if you haven’t read to the point I have, and if you’ve read further I ask that you don’t spoil anything further into the book. Think of it as read-along book club.
Part 3: Talin chapter 5
Chapter five is kind of short for the chapters in this book, only seven and a quarter pages long. It’s just barely long enough to qualify and the next chapter takes place somewhere else with a different group of our cast…and now I’m wondering what Uhura and McCoy are up to. They’re the only ones we haven’t checked in with, and yet this chapter is back to Spock and the next one is back to Chekov and Sulu. At least last chapter we caught up with Kirk.
A quick skim says we’re still not at the Prime Directive debate I’m expecting, so the question will be whether or not this chapter even matters. Will this move the plot, explore what Spock is thinking, or introduce his unknowing partner in crime? If so then this chapter may serve a point. If it does none of these things then it better find a way to not be a waste of page space for a book and story this long. So let’s dive in and find out.
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Well that was a short series. I thought this “Superman” had potential too.
Superman #1
DC Comics (January, 1987; as posted to comiXology)
This was the first comic after the events of Crisis On Infinite Earths created a new continuity, or as I call it, DC2.
“Heart Of Stone”
WRITER/PENCILER: John Byrne
INKER: Terry Austin (how do you have a “guest inker” on your first issue?)
COLORIST: Tom Ziuko
LETTERER: John Costanza
EDITOR: Andrew Helfer
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I had a joke here but somehow “Max” ended up with a better idea.
Over at The Clutter Reports this week I didn’t have the brain power to focus on a major decluttering project, so I broke out a few small ones that needed doing.
Well, it’s that time again. November 18th will be 13 years of BW Media Spotlight, and I’m not worried because I’ve had plenty of bad luck this year already. I’m not challenging anything because I know better by now but 13 hasn’t been that unlucky for me. I guess being born on Friday the 13th has its advantages…though I have never been to summer camp.
Also this week is the next chapter in our Chapter By Chapter review of Star Trek: Prime Directive and more Art Soundoffs. I’m pretty close to the end of mainstream Marvel comics in physical form for the daily comics but I have one more alt universe series to tackle before I have to dip into my comiXology digital library. I just have to figure out how to tackle it. Hope you’re all well and you have a great week!
