Fritz's First Impression: Legion#1After six and a half years, a brand new officially licensed Ghostbusters story has been released, and all I can say is...
Hallelujah
First, the artwork:
Overall, simply stunning. I really can't say much more than that.
And now we see how the supporting characters look in this series...
Dana Barrett This actually being her first non-adaptation comic book appearance, I'd say she comes across quite well. She doesn't get to do much except elbow Venkman and get semi stood-up for work by him, but in that there are hints of the potential trouble ahead (we know what happened to them in other universes, after all....) Louis Tully Wowsers. Easily recognizable (that first shot of him schmoozing with the adoring fanboy reminded me of John Tobias's version from the GB2 adapatation). But his portrayal...wowsers again. If there's any character that looks to be taken in a completely different direction than Before, it's him. An excessively unlikely media darling? A even more unlikely player with a Slovakian model? This slightly seedy side is an interesting twist (yeah, yeah, I know...it was hinted at in the first movie but certainly not in GB2 or the animated version) and it seems he still has a thing for Dana...he's still my least favorite character of the main seven by far, but I'll at least admit you've gotten my attention.
Janine My honest first impression...
Wha?
Granted, in Previous Versions the character's visual continuity has been completely f-bombed (she hardly even looks like the same person between the two movies, even though the same actress is playing her) but...y'know, if I'd just been flipping through the book with no idea about it and you told me "Oh, that's Janine..." I probably wouldn't believe it. Frankly, she looks a tad...um...dumpy. I knew we weren't going to get quite the RGB level of sex appeal (since we have Dana in this series) but I think they went too far in the other direction--she doesn't even have the eccentric fashion charm of the GB1 version. Sorry, guys, spruce her up just a tad--give her her big flashy earrings back, at least...
(Of course, maybe there could be a silver lining to this new look in that maybe the Egon Fangirls won't find her so threatening...:P)
That being said, her [i]character[/i] was handled better. Dueling with Venkman, and of course another come-on to Egon that he's too oblivious to recognize.
And the Ghostbusters... Egon Well, to follow the obvious segue, he's still hilariously clueless when it comes to Janine, and that's how it should be for now. Believe me, I don't want this rushed...but he should really wake up somewhere along the line. Hopefully a lot sooner than in The Versions That Came Before.
Winston Well, not a lot of lines...but at least he gets to be in the first bust (lol)...but I'm sure he'll be more important later. If nothing else, he gets a cookie for his understated observation "You don't deal with women much, do you Egon?"
Ray Some moodiness interspiced with the usual goofy enthusiasm ("Told you it would work.") Great bits with him trying to quit smoking (another in-joke inspired by RGB, since none of them smoked in the cartoon?) But his big moment was his talk with Venkman at the end...Ray's often portrayed as the most "pure" of motive (ie the GBI RPG, he was the only one with a "Serve Humanity" goal) so questioning the purpose of nightly "zap and trap" jobs fits him. We of course suspect he's gonna get an opportunity to deal with something bigger in, oh, about two issues at most...
Venkman Well, of course Venkman gets all the best lines..."If it's about those Cameron Diaz rumors, I really can't comment..." "It's television, it's not supposed to be educational" "Shut up, Francine" "And that's why I don't use public transportation" And of course, my two favorite lines of the issue...
"Oooh! It's the Ghostbusters! Ray, can I get your autograph? Winston, you're so handsome! Egon, I want to have your baby!"
and
"Okay, for future reference 'it should' isn't what you say when you want to reassure someone he's not about to jump to his death"
(By the way...the brown and blue-ish green suit he wears at the beginning...those colors do seem to work well for him, don't they? (lol))
Some overall thoughts:
The whole train scene was wonderful. It was like it was 1986 all over again...that could've come right out of an RGB episode--and to those of you who find any RGB comparisons an insult: deal with it. I'm just going to make you madder, I suppose, by saying that I could see in a theoretical world where JMS had been handed Ghostbusters and he didn't have to conform to episodic television on Saturday Morning, with ABC executives fearfully micromanaging every step of the way, he might have created something with a very similar feel to this whole comic book.
But to me, that's high praise.
Mr. Clavet, Mr. Dabb, Mr. Kurth, and all of the rest who brought this fine book to us deserve all the praise we can give them.
This book gets five Whacko Jacko Slimers out of five
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