Cover by Ken Steacy Collection Edits by Justin Eisinger & Alonzo Simon Collection Design by Tom B.

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ISBN: 978-1-61377-493-9
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THE REAL GHOSTBUSTERS OMNIBUS, VOLUME 1. OCTOBER 2012. FIRST PRINTING. The Real Ghostbusters & 2012 Columbia Pictures, Inc. All rights reserved. IDW Publishing, a division of Idea and Design Works, LLC. Editorial offices: 5080 Santa Fe St., San Diego, CA 92109. The IDW logo is registered in the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. Any similarities to persons living or dead are purely coincidental. With the exception of artwork used for review purposes, none of the contents of this publication may be reprinted without the permission of Idea and Design Works, LLC. Printed in Korea. IDW Publishing does not read or accept unsolicited submissions of ideas, stories, or artwork. Originally published by NOW Comics as THE REAL GHOSTBUSTERS Issues #114.

Table of Contents
The Real Ghostbusters #1 (August, 1988) ........................................................7
Writer: James Van Hise Penciller: John Tobias Inker: Brian Thomas Lettering: Jim Massara & Ken Holewzcynski Cover Artist: Ken Steacy

The Real Ghostbusters #2 (September, 1988) .................................................31

Writer: James Van Hise Penciller: John Tobias Inker: Brian Thomas Coloring: Rich Powers Lettering: Jim Massara Cover Artist: Ken Steacy

The Real Ghostbusters #3 (October, 1988) .....................................................56

Writer: James Van Hise Penciller: John Tobias Inker: Brian Thomas Coloring: Rich Powers Lettering: Jim Massara Cover Artist: Ken Steacy

The Real Ghostbusters #4 (November, 1988): Ghost Gangsters .........................83

Writer & Penciller: Evan Dorkin Finishes: Ken Steacy & Andrew Pratt Coloring: Ken Steacy Lettering: Andrew Pratt Cover Artist: Ken Steacy

The Real Ghostbusters #5 (January, 1989) ...................................................109

Writer: James Van Hise Penciller : John Tobias Inker: Brian Thomas Coloring: Rich Powers Lettering: Kurt Hathaway Cover Artist: Ken Steacy

The Real Ghostbusters #6 (February, 1989): Video Nasties ............................136

Writer: James Van Hise Penciller: John Tobias Inker: Brian Thomas Coloring: Rich Powers Lettering: Kurt Hathaway Cover Artist: Ken Steacy

The Real Ghostbusters #7 (March, 1989): The Secret Empire .........................160

Writer: James Van Hise Penciller: John Tobias Inker: Rich Rankin Coloring: Rich Powers Lettering: Kurt Hathaway Cover Artist: Ken Steacy

The Real Ghostbusters #8 (April, 1989): Toad Island .....................................185

Writer : James Van Hise Penciller: John Tobias Inker: Rich Rankin Lettering: Kurt Hathaway Cover Artist: John Tobias & Marc Hansen

The Real Ghostbusters #9 (May, 1989): The Father-Thing Trilogy, Part One: Rising Son ...............................................................................................211
Writer: James Van Hise Penciller: John Tobias Inker: Rich Rankin Coloring: Barry Petersen Lettering: Dan McKinnon Cover Artist: Gary Fields

The Real Ghostbusters #10 (June, 1989): The Father-Thing Trilogy, Part Two: The Empire of the Son ...............................................................................236
Writer : James Van Hise Penciller: John Tobias Inker: Rich Rankin Coloring: Suzanne Dechnik Lettering: Kurt Hathaway Cover Artist: Ken Steacy

The Real Ghostbusters #11 (July, 1989): The Father-Thing Trilogy, Part Three ....262
Writer: James Van Hise Penciller: David Schwartz Inker: Brian Thomas Coloring: Suzanne Dechnik Lettering: Dan Nakrosis Cover Artist: Ken Steacy

The Real Ghostbusters #12 (August, 1989): A Cat Named Tarantula ................289
Writer: James Van Hise Penciller: Howard Bender Inker: Brian Thomas Coloring: Suzanne Dechnik Lettering: Dan Nakrosis Cover Artist: Howard Bender & Patrick Owsley

The Real Ghostbusters #13 (September, 1989): Blizzard Queen ......................312

Writer: James Van Hise Penciller: John Tobias Inker: Rich Rankin Coloring: Suzanne Dechnik Lettering: Dan Nakrosis Cover Artist: Rich Rankin & John Tobias

The Real Ghostbusters #14 (October, 1989): The Lost and the Lonely ...............335
Writer: James Van Hise Penciller: Howard Bender Inker: David Mowry Coloring: Suzanne Dechnik Lettering: Dan Nakrosis Cover Artist: Howard Bender

INTRODUCTION
by MARK W. BELLOMO
When I slipped the first issue o f NOW Comics The Real Ghostbusters out of its slot in the spinning comic book rack at the local drugstore where I worked back in the summer of 1988, I immediately stopped and gave pauseI was truly impressed at the obvious quality of the [new] title that I held in my hands. The cover was glossy, the ink was printed on paper stock that felt thicker and sturdier than what was the industrys standard, the publisher (Caputo Publishing, Inc.) chose to include an exciting pin-up poster in each and every issue of the magazine, and the colors the company mixed to formulate their high-quality ink seemed to just leap off the printed page. So then, where was the harm in picking up just one more title a month? In August, 1988, the price of the average newsstand comic book ranged from 75 to $1.50; it was rare for a newsstand comic to cost more than a buck. Working six days-a-week at Rooks Drugstore (I picked up a few other odd jobs to support my collecting habit[s]), this job allowed me to buy between fifteen to twenty comics each month, paying $15$20 to indulge my craving and still have a good amount left over for action figures, of course. Rooks Drugstore was one of those fascinating slices of Americana that was unintentionally anachronistic: it was a place out-of-time; a throwback. Rooks was an old-school, independently-owned drugstore that was popular in the late 19th and early 20th century (think Gowers Drugstore in Frank Capras Its a Wonderful Life), replete with all the accoutrements from a better-vanished time: a lunch counter in the back of the building that hosted a hamburger grill, an ice cream parlor with swivel stools, a soda fountain with its requisite syrup dispensers. And a huge selection of comic books that were displayed on three large spinning racks. At this point in my collecting career, I was a super-hero junkie: I bought up nearly every major super-hero book that I could at a time many pundits considered to be their heyday. In August of 1988, Todd McFarlane and David Michelinie were the superlative creative team attached to Amazing Spider-Man, while McFarlane began weaning himself off of Peter Davids magnum opus, The Incredible Hulk (McFarlane contributed pencils to BOTH books that month). Bernie Wrightson tackled Batman in the caped Crusaders pivotal deluxe mini-series, The Cult, while the very first Warner Edition softcover trade paperback of Frank Miller and David Mazzucchellis masterpiece of the Dark Knights re-told origin, Batman: Year One, was released. David Michelinies second monthly Marvel title partnered him with Bob Laytonmy all-time favorite artist of the Armored Avengerand the two worked their storytelling magic on Iron Man. Keith Giffen, J.M. DeMatteis, and Kevin Maguire tickled my funny bone with their awardwinning team book, the revitalized Justice League America. Underappreciated writer Mike Baron and former Uncanny X-Men artist Wilce Portacio nailed down The Punisher on a monthly basisand this August, 1988 issue just happened to feature the infamous crossover tie-in with this months fabulous Daredevil deftly handled by John Romita Jr. and Anne Nocenti. Andy Helfer and Kyle Baker put their own ingenious spin on the enigmatic Lamont Cranston in DCs The Shadow. The much-lauded revamp expert, John Byrnewho cut his teeth on the [Uncanny] X-Men and Fantastic Four titles for Marvelbusied himself resuscitating Superman. Chris Claremont, Marc Silvestri, and Dan Green treated fans of Marvels mutants with the characters flagship title, The Uncanny X-Men. Revered Hulk scribe Peter David and throwback artist Alex Saviuk gifted us Web of Spider-Man. And finally, ber-talented Geroge Perez wrote and drew Wonder Woman to much fanfare and critical acclaim. So then, in August of 1988, it was fairly DIFFICULT for a non super-hero book to succeed in the comic business. Heck, Neal Adams was drawing and writing the D-grade title Captain Power and the Soldiers of the Future, while Jim Lee was penciling Alpha Flight. Thats right ALPHA FLIGHT [!]. Talented writers and

artists were just about everywhere, and although it was a great time to be a comic book reader, the competition within the industry was fierce. Thankfully, because of the obvious quality work that NOW Comics demanded from their creative teamsand in almost in spite of their hefty $1.75 price tag (which mimicked DC Comics high-quality Prestige Format series of the time)The Real Ghostbusters was a smash success as well as many of the companys other titles (The Green Hornet, Married With Children, Ralph Snart Adventures, etc.). How successful were they? During the years 1986-1990, the owner of NOW Comics (Tony Caputo [of Caputo Publishing, Inc.]) expanded his business from a tiny, one-man operation into a massive, multi-million dollar international corporation (!); in May of 1990, remarkably, NOW Comics held the #3 slot in comic book market share. Of course, this is all relative: Marvel Comics owned 45% of the market, DC Comics was a safe 25%, while NOW Comics held a mere 3%; but this was a small percentage of a very large pie. NOW Comics was quite judicious when acquiring their licensed properties for translation into comic books. Timely is a word I use sparingly when describing a comic book title, but The Real Ghostbusters was certainly that. For NOW Comics to obtain a license as coveted as the Real Ghostbustersone that Im sure Marvel, DC, or Dark Horse would have paid a pretty penny for at the time was in every way a coup. Kenner was pumping out Real Ghostbusters action figure products in a mad frenzy, but it wasnt just those little plastic homunculi that fed Kenners coffersit was the magnificent role play items that they produced in tandem with the figures that made their Real Ghostbusters franchise a powerful force in the retail toy aisle. NOW Comics utilized all the finest aspects of the animated program The Real Ghostbusters (1986-1991, 147 episodes total)* developed by Columbia Pictures Television & DiC Enterprises: each of the four main characters wore their own unique jumpsuit, every member of the

Ghostbusters team utilized technology and devices that were more similar to the Kenner toy companys Real Ghostbusters role-play toys (the colorful Proton Pack, PKE Meter, etc.) than the intimidating pseudo-scientific devices featured in 1984s live action Ghostbusters film (NOTE: Ghostbusters II did not premiere until June 16th, 1989), as in the animated series, Slimer became an important supporting cast member of the Ghostbusters team rather than portraying the character as the adversarial Green Ghost (the manner in which he is denoted in the film[s]), and finallythere were also many allusions to both the film and cartoon re: references to Gozer, other specific ghosts, etc. Furthermore, writer James Van Hise maintained the personalities of all four Ghostbusters, refusing to deviate from their essential characteristics: Peter Venkman functions as the mouth of the Ghostbusters, Egon Spengler exists as the teams brain, Ray Stantz portrays the groups heart, while Winston Zeddemorewith his devout religious beliefsis the compassionate soul of the Ghostbusters. For the uninitiated whove never read a Real Ghostbusters comic book those of you who are picking up this omnibus anthology because youve watched Ghostbusters and Ghostbusters II over-andover, andlike myselfcan quote famous scenes at the drop of a hat (from No, were exterminators someone saw a cockroach up on twelve, to We had part of a Slinky. But I straightened it, or even Whoa, whoa, whoa! Nice shootin Tex!), this collection is for YOUfor every fan of the franchise who simply WANTS MORE GHOSTBUSTERS. Or better yet: if youre a parent whos introducing their beloved children to these cherished Ghostbusters characters for the very first time, this anthology is just perfect. MWB *More on the relationship between the cartoon, the films, and the NOW Comic will be revealed in the second anthology.
After writing the flavor text for IDWs The Art of Transformers: Fall of Cybertron (Autumn, 2012), prolific author Mark Bellomo is presiding over Krause Publications bestselling Toys & Prices: The Worlds Best Toy Guide (Spring, 2013), all the while providing notes and commentary to IDWs Transformers: Classics and G.I. Joe: The Complete Collection.

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