From NOW™ – March 1989.

Scanned and restored by Richard Roy.

“The Ghost Gangsters are back! This time they have help from The Lunar Avenger and The Crimson Crimebuster. Their villain ghost is Caldoni, pasta king.”

1. More ghost gangsters!
2. In Issue 6 Egon is working on Ecto-3. Because their is an Ecto-3 in The Real Ghostbusters, the comic version of Ecto 3 is renamed Ecto-4 without explanation in issue 7.

The Real Ghostbusters Issue 7. (Ghostbusters Firehouse)

I’m going to try something new (for me) when writing blog entries about the issues I’ve put up. I may include brief observations or notes as a quick reference. If I look further into something I’ll credit the source. Observations/notes follow the issue description.

Video Nasties

“A group of ghosts take over a low-rated TV station, and the Ghostbusters are hired by the station manager to deal with the problem. The Ghostbusters arrive to find an Egyptian motif inside the station and a horde of ghosts ready to fight them. If that wasn’t enough, they also come face-to-face with The Nameless One again! Ghosts, Mummies and bad reruns…could this mean cancellation for the Ghostbusters?”

1.  TV commercial shows an Alien from Aliens.
2. Egon was working on a completely different Ecto-3 from what was used twice in The Real Ghostbusters. This comic version was completely different from Kenner’s Ecto-3 toy vehicle as well.
3. Beginning with this issue NOW included a 2 page letters section after the story concluded.

The Real Ghostbusters Issue 6. (Ghostbusters Firehouse)

“Three “ninjas” are loose on the city and committing robberies.  The catch: they’re using a werewolf! The NYPD contacts the Ghostbusters for help just as the thieves hit the Natural History Museum, taking a mummy unearthed with King-Tut. The Ghostbusters face off with the wolf at the scene, managing to free it of the collar keeping it under the ninjas’ control. The Ghostbusters get a surprise when Irene, the werewolf’s human form, appears at their doorstep asking for their help!”

The Real Ghostbusters Issue 5. (Ghostbusters Firehouse)

“Mob boss Caesar Caldoni’s long-lost vault is found and opened on live TV to reveal…a rusting old jalopy. While not good for television, it’s made even worse when the ghosts of Webby “The Tractor” McBain’s mob, the only rivals of the Caldoni mob, escape the vault and pick up where they left off in the 20s. Their first goal; to settle an old score against Caldoni by hitting all the places he ran back in their day. Their last stop is Caldoni’s main hideout…which is now a children’s hospital!”

The Real Ghostbusters Issue 4. (Ghostbusters Firehouse)

“While taking care of some toxic waste from the chemical plant, a barrel fell off the transport truck and landed into the nearby swamp, allowing a monster to rise up and attack the plant! The Ghostbusters are called in to deal with the problem as the creatures return for more chemical meals. But, instead of stopping them, the Ghostbusters might actually have to HELP them!”

The Real Ghostbusters Issue 3. (Ghostbusters Firehouse)

“Plans come together as the time travelers release Captain Nemo in exchange for the location of his ship, the Nautilus, and its power source. Their goal: to destroy the Earth of today to make their time to their liking!  Meanwhile, Sl’g, their former mentor, finds Winston and they enlist each other’s aid to track down the rest of the Ghostbusters to stop Sl’g’s former assistants. But, another problem arises when all are said and accounted for except for Ray, who’s somewhere in outer space!”

The Real Ghostbusters Issue 2. (Ghostbusters Firehouse)

About 4 years ago when I was putting together the old sub site I knew I wanted to add The Real Ghostbusters comic books. For personal reasons it had to be put on hold indefinitely or 2012. Before I started writing about Kenner toys I knew I was getting a little closer to when I could start adding comics to Ectocontainment.™

After Paul from Spook Central and Matthew from GB Wiki began launching the Ghostbusters PDF eBook Preservation Project which is to include Ghostbusters comics I chimed in about contributing to the digital preservation of Ghostbusters comics, beginning with The Real Ghostbusters issues from NOW Comics. (Ghostbusters Firehouse) Just as I had with The Real Ghostbusters Magazines. (Ghostbusters Firehouse) At the time I didn’t know when I could start this as I was getting ready to write about the history of Ghostbusters toys.

This week I scanned Issue 1 (Ghostbusters Firehouse) cover-to-cover and restored it as kids and teens probably would have seen it at comic book shops and finer retailers in August 1988. Their could be slight imperfections mainly with advertising which contains a dark background. With comic book pages some imperfections were left intentionally as that’s how it was originally printed. It gives the comics a bit of a nostalgic charm.

From NOW™ – February 1991

Hat Trick!

Story: James Van Hise

Pencils: Neil Grahame

Inks: Jim Brozman

Colors: Tony’s Angels

Letters: Caren Skibell

Art Director: Michele Mach

Editor: Katherine (as Kate) Llewellyn

Editor-in-Chief: Tony Caputo

Cover: Joseph Allen & Jim Brozman

Scanned and restored in April 2012 by Richard Roy

“The Ghostbusters experience some down time, and Egon and Janine decide to take advantage by having a stroll through Central Park. They eventually wind up at the estate her cousin Michele had just inherited and learn that the place is haunted. They meet a ghost named Aaron whose mother was possessed by the spirit of the evil witch Ginerva and ritually killed him. With Ginerva’s host body dead, her essence lies in the hat that Michele had found and put on! With Ginerva in Michele’s body, Alec’s life is in danger unless Egon and Janine can stop her.”

1. Info: This issue’s title, Hat Trick is a play on words. One definition for hat trick is: “an extremely clever or adroit maneuver.”
2. Goof, perhaps because no one cared: Issue 28 was published in December, its cover date is marked as February.
3. Info: When Issue 28 was being published, NOW Comics had filed for bankruptcy. All their comics were cancelled.

NOW at Ghostbusters Firehouse:

• The Real Ghostbusters Issue 28.