Ghostbusters: Back in Town Comic Book Review

Dark Horse Comics is set to release the Ghostbusters: Back in Town trade paperback on November 5, 2024. It is a compilation of the four comic book issues that were released from March through June of 2024. Although I don't have the trade paperback, I do have digital copies of the four individual issues, so I'll share some brief thoughts on the story...

First, let's read the official product descriptions for each of the four issues.

• ISSUE #1 - A year and a half after the events of Ghostbusters: Afterlife, the Ghostbusters are officially back in business and headed to where it all began: New York City! Callie, Gary, Trevor, and Phoebe are moving into the Firehouse and ready to take on the Spengler family business... or are they? Ghostbusting on top of changing family dynamics has a way of going awry - and that's exactly what one paranormal force is counting on.

• ISSUE #2 - Big city life proves a challenging adjustment for the Spengler family! Something sinister swoops around Central Park, but the family's focus is split between the personal and the professional. New clues point toward the true cause of the city's recent ghost epidemic, and one family member is following the trail with a dedication that may end in trouble!

• ISSUE #3 - As tensions rise in the city and in the Spengler family, Phoebe discovers the entity targeting the Ghostbusters: the malevolent Madam Malveaux! On her own and outmatched, Phoebe escapes through the sewers, and stumbles into... supernatural stand-up?

• ISSUE #4 - The Ghostbusters face a dire situation when roach-infested ooze floods the firehouse and malevolent apparitions swarm freely. Phoebe, Callie, Trevor, and Gary clash with Madame Malveaux as she looms over Times Square, unleashing chaos upon New York City. Will our heroes survive this spectral crisis?

The creative team behind the mini-series is writer David Booher, artist Blue Delliquanti, colorists Mildred Louis (issues #1 & #2) and Cris Peter (issues #3 & #4), and letterer Jimmy Betancourt.

Not too much to say as, even in four parts, it's really short. The story by David Booher, which takes place between the events of Afterlife and Frozen Empire, is enjoyable, but nothing groundbreaking. It does fill out a bit more of the Vigo lore, in a manner of speaking. I liked that David gave each character a chance to shine in the spotlight, so that it didn't feel like "The Phoebe Show". The story could easily work as a 30-minute animated episode, and Madame Malveaux's cockroach minions reminded me of the Extreme Ghostbusters episode "The Crawler". The dialog is witty - I chuckled a few times - and it all feels right for each character, especially Phoebe's "Dad Jokes". There are callbacks to previous events, and even a little foreshadowing of the drone trap and the Hell's Kitchen Sewer Dragon in Frozen Empire. Overall, it's a nice little story.


The artwork by Blue Delliquanti is... ouch! It just doesn't work for Ghostbusters. I can't quite put my finger on what's so wrong about it - it is competently drawn - but the word "simplistic" keeps jumping to mind.


A lot of the characteristics of the art style are the same as in IDW's Ghostbusters: Answer The Call comic. For example, you will find many instances where characters alternate between having "real" eyes and "black dot" eyes.


Even worse, is that some characters look nothing like who they're supposed to be. I understand that due to "likeness rights", they can't look exactly like their movie counterparts, but I have seen Janine looking much better than this! That's Ray in the middle and Lucky on the right, in case you couldn't tell.


The ghosts, on the other hand, look fantastic.


Also, aside from a few references on page 6 of Issue #1, and some clothing and jewelry callbacks, Blue doesn't include any Easter eggs in the artwork, like Dan Schoening did in all of IDW's comics.


Finally, there is a misspelling of a main character's name on the second to last page of Issue #4; Janine is written as "Jeanine". What's odd about this is that the dialog is a callback to Issue #2, where the name was spelled correctly. Hopefully Dark Horse fixes this error before the trade paperback goes to print. (Yes, Callie and Gary have weird eyes.)


The Ghostbusters: Back in Town trade paperback comes out in a few months on November 5, 2024. The digital version of all four individual issues can be purchased right now for the Amazon Kindle: Issue #1, Issue #2, Issue #3, and Issue #4. For further information, read Spook Central's brief Q&A with writer David Booher and artist Blue Delliquanti.