Dan you are my hero! He seems to be a tad friendlier than Frump
Just read the Annual today, and it was fantastic. One of my favorite issues of either run, actually. It’s nice to have threats from time to time that could become recurring villains without being gods/demigods.
Got my copy today(The Subscription cover by Joe Quinones with Janine and Kylie), “The World of The Physic” back up was a really fun read. Also I enjoyed the Sandman story, I hope that he shows up again in the future and I found the artwork in the story “Hot Foot” to be a really great throw back to Walt Disney cartoons. My hat is off to Sean Galloway who did the artwork for this story.
Now in stock: http://www.gbfans.com/shop/ghostbusters-annual-2015/
Sorry for not listing it earlier!
Main Story
[spoiler]I’m also glad Sandman was defeated but not trapped and we’ve got a recurring enemy now like Idulnas was in Volume 1 and 2. It can’t be good that he noted the Ghostbusters were special and they were the first to fight and hurt him. Sandman’s “I stand corrected” cracked me up. And I guess if it ain’t Extreme Ghostbusters logic… poor Karen Pearson is still missing an eye at the end of this story. Wonder what Erik’s got cooking for his eventual return…
Kinda scared there with Egon’s talk of abandoning the Firehouse – it’s an icon! But definitely wondering what he meant by other properties aside from the Warehouse and maybe Ray’s Occult. Could be a neat way to bring in the Sunoco station from drafts of the first movie.
Loved to see Ray’s spirit guide back and taking a more direct role in helping Ray like in Volume 1 #4.
And always cool to see a scene from the movie redone in the comic. But lmfao, Ray in Dana’s place. Good thing, Ray didn’t pop in earlier… 
Sweet but kind of depressing that Winston’s dream is of the wedding. And his anger…rough.[/spoiler]Ghostbusters Stripped
[spoiler]Minor but the page numbering threw me off at first until I realized the front cover counted page 1. Some of the art styles were so-so and some confusing as to what continuity. I though it would be all IDW but it seems some like “Hot Foot” and “Trick or Treat” are set in RGB?
“The 12th Floor” – It was so cool to finally see the Sedgewick Hotel ever so briefly and set back in 1951. Believe it or not but it’s been sparingly seen in the entire IDW run. I think the only other time it appeared was a one panel cameo in Displaced Aggression.
“A Fall Wind in Summer” – This must be what the solicitation was referred to as setting up future stories. And it appears an IDW version of Samhain will be showing up next year unless it’s the same Samhain and he got displaced like that poltergeist in Get Real #2. Since it was just a one page story, I’m on the fence about bringing in another fan favorite RGB villain. I prefer new stuff but I’ll bite most of my tongue on this.
“World of the Psychic” – Four years in the making! So stoked to see Erik’s story finally make it to print. Lovely to see Evensen back to do art. Pretty neat to learn in IDW canon, that episode from GB2 was the 32nd one and the penultimate one, and it turned out the hairless cat Ira was the reason Peter quit. heh. Kind of a bummer the guy Peter yelled at wasn’t Norman but some new person. Oh well.
And that just leave’s Dan’s Scoleri Bros. pitch to make it to print. Fingers crossed.[/spoiler]Easter Eggs so far
[spoiler]*Regular Cover
**The Moon in the background may be a nod to E.T.A. Hoffman’s “Der Sandman” as the Sandman was said to take his eyes to his iron nest on the Moon.
**Janine is wearing outfit seen in Ghostbusters Chapter 21 “Out of Biz”
**Janine’s book is about her racquetball hobby
**Peter is wearing the outfit from Ghostbusters II Chapter 2 “World of the Psychic”
**Peter is doing the telepathy sign off salute he did at the end of the episode of The World of the Psychic in Ghostbusters II.
**Kylie is holding a copy of Spengler’s Spirit Guide from Extreme Ghostbusters
**Pagan appears with Kylie
*Subscription Cover
**Janine and Kylie appear in their primary flightsuits.
*Story So Far
**Tiamat is alluded to and Gozer is mentioned in relation to the events of Mass Hysteria!, the last arc of Volume 2 of the ongoing series
**The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and Chi-You are alluded to in relation to the events of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles/Ghostbusters
**The Real Ghostbusters are alluded to and Proteus us mentioned in relation to the events of Ghostbusters: Get Real
*Note: My page numbering differs that what is indicated in the Ghostbusters Stripped index later in the issue.
*Page 1
**In panel 1, the house is based on an actual residence on Staten Island and a fictitious one.
**In panel 1, on the car’s rear window is a logo for “Crave’in Diner” is a play on the “Crave Inn” establishment name and logo (as well as possibly a play on the surname of director Wes Craven) from “A Nightmare on Elm Street 4” and “A Nightmare on Elm Street 5”.
**Mr. and Mrs. Pearson are visually based on
*Page 3
**The construction gear exactly worn by the Ghostbusters is part of what Peter, Ray, and Egon wore in Ghostbusters II when they dug up First Avenue.
***Peter had an orange vest with two white vertical lines and helmet with No Bozo sticker on the side
***Ray had an orange vest and helmet with a mounted search light
***Egon had an orange vest with two vertical lines and helmet with a black label on the front
**In panel 2, the gaping hole in the second floor caused by Proteus in Get Real #4 is still present
**In panel 2, Egon mentions the Containment Unit
**In panel 2, right of Egon, on the cement bag is labeled “Muck Master Cement” - a reference to the Muck Master entities in Ghostbusters: Sanctum of Slime
**In panel 2, Peter mentions condemning the Firehouse like how Egon recommended in the first movie
**In panel 3, Egon mentions Proteus
**In panel 3, Egon alludes to the Ghostbusters’ other properties
***In the ongoing series Volume 2 Issue #7 and 12, a warehouse where Marine Ecto-8 is kept was featured. It appears at the end of this issue.
**In panel 4, a logo for Big Ed, Winston’s father in The Real Ghostbusters, appears on Winston’s helmet.
***The logo previously appeared in Volume 1 Issue #12 and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles/Ghostbusters Issue #3.
**In panel 4, the coffee cup Peter is drinking if from Pequod’s, the coffee chain introduced in the ongoing series Volume 1.
*Page 4
**In panel 1, Brent Mitchell is visually based on Lieutenant Frump from The Real Ghostbusters
***Erik Burnham did not script Mitchell to look like Frump but Dan Schoening wanted to draw him
**In panel 2, left of Peter, is a box from Hasty Pastry Bakery seen in The Real Ghostbusters episode “The Joke’s on Ray”
**In panel 2, Peter is hearing his helmet from Ghostbusters II with the No Bozos sticker on it
**In panel 3, Peter offers to do a full work up on pets to rule out a Son of Sam situation. Son of Sam is a notorious serial killer who killed six people in New York City between July 29, 1976 and July 31, 1977.
***At one point, Son of Sam claimed his former neighbor Sam Carr’s black Labrador Retriever dog Harvey was possessed by a demon who issued irresistible commands to kill people. He claimed to have tried to kill the dog once, but was unsuccessful due to supernatural interference.
**In panel 4, in the left corner, is a motorcycle that appears to be a nod to the Honda 1967 CL 77 Scrambler used in the upcoming movie directed by Paul Feig.
*Page 5
**In panel 4, Brent invokes the Ghostbusters’ “We’re Ready to Believe You” credo
*Page 6
**In panel 3, the Ecto Goggles used are visually based on Kenner’s Ecto-Popper and Ecto-Goggles toy
*Page 8
**In the Ecto-Goggle POV, one of the readings is “1989 MHz” - a possible nod to Ghostbusters II, which released in 1989.
*Page 10
**The outside Firehouse signage is the original banner seen in the first movie
**On panel 2, on the brown tack board are:
***An X-Ray of a human skull from?
***One of Peter’s autographs from The Real Ghostbusters episode “Lights! Camera! Haunting!”
**On panel 2, on the brown tack board are:
***The long strip of white paper is the art on the New Ghostbusters 2 video game cartridge.
**On panel 3, in the hallway, the Ghostbusters: Get Real #1 Nerd Block cover is in the big picture frame.
**On panel 3, on Winston’s blue coffee mug in white letters is “Reggie Sandman Martin” which was the name of the boxer Ernie Hudson portrayed on episode 7 of Full House season one “Knock Yourself Out” which aired on October 30, 1987. Blue and white was Reggie’s trunk colors.
**On panel 3, on the toolbox is two stickers. One is an unused Ghostbusters logo from the first movie. The second is “KPPX,” the local radio station in the movie “Airheads” which featured Ernie Hudson and the late Harold Ramis.
**On panel 3, on the top shelf are:
***a Ghostbusters toy box?
***A smaller version of the pizza that fell on Ecto-1 in The Real Ghostbusters episode “Mr. Sandman, Dream Me a Dream”
***A Trap from The Real Ghostbusters. It may have been left behind in the events of Ghostbusters: Get Real.
***On the right is a bucket of junk marked "Danger Peter had on his desk in The Real Ghostbusters episode “The Haunting of Heck House”
**On panel 3, on the middle shelf are:
***Stay Puft Marshmallows as seen in The Real Ghostbusters episode “Mr. Sandman, Dream Me a Dream” and “Apocalypse–What Now?”
***The basket belonged to the Easter Bunny in The Real Ghostbusters episode “Mr. Sandman, Dream Me a Dream”
***The recording device used by the WUGH DJ in The Real Ghostbusters episode “Mr. Sandman, Dream Me a Dream”
**On panel 4, the doughnut on the plate may be a nod to the Ghostbusters’ doughnut breakfast at the start of The Real Ghostbusters episode “Mr. Sandman, Dream Me a Dream”
*Page 11
**On panel 1, on the computer left of Ray is the ending to the Ghostbusters Activision video game
**On panel 1 is the periodic table first seen in Ghostbusters II
**On panel 2, in the hallway, is a Kenner Real Ghostbusters toy line up in the big picture frame. The Terror Trash Ghost is visible on the corner.
**On
**On panel 3, on the brown tack board is:
***A Ghostbusters II theater ad
***The back of the box of the Ghostbusters II Activision video game
***The Real Ghostbusters Poster Pen Set from Craft House that came out in 1986.
***The purple ad for Kenner’s The Real Ghostbusters Shelf Talker from 1989
*Page 12
**The outside Firehouse signage is back to the classic version.
**On panel 2, on the brown tack board are:
***On the right, is a black and white advertisement for The Real Ghostbusters “The Halloween Door” TV special.
**On panel 3, Peter has his liquor seen when the guys are kicked out of Columbia in the first movie.
**On panel 3, the new sticker on the toolbox references WUGH-FM, the radio station from The Real Ghostbusters episode “Mr. Sandman, Dream Me a Dream”
**On panel 3, the new hallway frame references?
**On panel 3, on the top shelf are:
***A Weird Fiction from The Real Ghostbusters episode “Mr. Sandman, Dream Me a Dream”
***An award?
**On panel 3, on the middle shelf are:
***A miniature of the gold car Peter dreamed of in The Real Ghostbusters episode “Mr. Sandman, Dream Me a Dream”
***Peter’s Oscar in his dream in The Real Ghostbusters episode “Mr. Sandman, Dream Me a Dream”
*Page 13
**On panel 4, on the computer is the game over message from the Ghostbusters Activision video game
*Page 14
**On panel 1, there is a Ghostbusters theater ad
**Ray’s spirit guide makes his return after being last seen in the end of Volume One of the ongoing series and impersonated by Gozer near the end of Volume Two.
**On panel 2, on the computer is?
**On panel 2, on the far right, on the shelf is a Dopey Dog doll based on his design from The Real Ghostbusters episode “Who’re You Calling Three-Dimensional?”
**On panel 3, on the shelf over the bed is the military cap Ray wore in the deleted Fort Detmerring scene from the first movie.
**On panel 3, on the bed is a Stay Puft Marshmallow Man doll.
*Page 15
**On panel 1, in the other room is the Easter Bunny from The Real Ghostbusters episode “Mr. Sandman, Dream Me a Dream”
**On panel 1, on the far right is part of a Blody liter bottle is visible.
*Page 16
**Peter’s dream reality is a recreation of a scene from Chapter 20 “Keymaster” from the first movie.
**Ray takes the place of the Zuul-possessed Dana Barrett.
**The original Ghostbusters commercial from the first movie plays on the TV on the left.
*Page 17
**Winston’s dream reality is a recreation of his wedding in Volume 2 Issue #13-14 but later undone by Tiamat in Issue #20
**On panel 1, on the left side are Erik Burnham and Luis Delgado who were also guests to the wedding in Volume 2 #13-14.
**Janine has a brief cameo wearing the same dress she did to the wedding
**Tiyah appears but is faceless as described in some research on dreams
**On panel 2, as in Issue #14, one of the guests is Martin Short’s character from “Father of the Bride,” Frank Eggelhoffer.
*Page 19
**On panel 2, in the top middle, written down are “Electrical Applications of the Psycho-sexual Drive” and “Astral Projections as an Untapped Power Source.” These are two books Egon read in his youth, as recounted on page 23 of Ghostbusters: The Supernatural Spectacular.
**On panel 2, in the upper right is a list of Containment Unit parts that Egon read off for Peter to check in The Real Ghostbuters episode “Citizen Ghost”
**On panel 2, Luis Delgado’s 15 easter egg is on the white board under Egon’s boots
**Egon alludes to the events of Volume 2 Issue #6 in which he and Roger Baugh were placed in Janine’s subconscious.
**On panel 4, there are lot’s of names and dates over Egon’s shoulder
***“Hans Christian,” the famous writer Hans Christian Anderson
***“Fischer in Altenwarder”
***“1791 Allen W.”
***“1846 ebendort”
***“1863 auf Newhof”
**On panel 4, in the bottom middle appears to be “Hans Delbruck,” the German historian who was notably referenced in Mel Brook’s “Young Frankenstein”
*Page 26
**The manner in which the Ghostbusters are staged while floating in mid-air may be a nod to the effects of the Sandman’s sleeping dust in The Real Ghostbusters episode “Mr. Sandman, Dream Me a Dream”
*Page 27
**As mentioned earlier, the Warehouse from Volume 2 Issue #7 and 12 appears
**The street signs are Kent Street and New Dock Street, placing the Warehouse in Brooklyn.
**Ray mentions the Oneroi of Greek myth
**On panel 1, on the right, is recently deceased Ghostbusters fan Ryan Kemp.
**Ray’s mention of the ivory gate is a reference to “The Odyssey”
**On panel 2, the vehicle behind Peter and Winston appears to be Ecto-500 from the Kenner toy line.
**Peter mentions “Dream Me a Dream,” in reference to the “Mr. Sandman” 1954 song.
**The rogue Sandman from The Real Ghostbusters episode “Mr. Sandman, Dream Me a Dream” appears on the right page of Tobin’s Spirit Guide
**In the Tobin page with Sandman there are some Latin
***Somnum Sempiternum loosely translates to “sleep eternally”
***Oculus Satietas loosely translates to “sight satiation”
**Ray mentions Hans Christian Anderson and his story about Ole Lukoje, a more benevolent Sandman
**Ray mentions the Chordettes who sang “Mr. Sandman”
**As a comparison, Ray mentions Sinterklaas and Santa Clause whom came up in Volume 2 Issue #11
**On panel 4, on the far right is the gyro copter based on Ecto-2 that Ray and Jenny used in Volume 1 Issue #15
*Page 28
**Ray mentions Ernst Hoffman, who wrote “Der Sandman”
*Page 32
**Ron Alexander appears in his New Ghostbusters suit visually inspired by Egon’s in The Real Ghostbusters.
**Ray refers to the Interdimensional Teleportation Unit as a “Trans-Dimensional Portal,” its name in The Real Ghostbusters episode “The Copycat”
*Page 33
**Janine is in the classic Real Ghostbusters outfit
*Page 36
**The ghost is visually based on Lo Pan from the movie “Big Trouble in Little China”
***James Hong, who portrays Lo Pan, is the father of April Hong who voiced Cathering of the Junior Ghostbusters.
*Page 37
**Louis is in his blue track suit from the first movie
**The possessed microwave mentions the Dark Side of the Moon, likely a Pink Floyd reference?
*Page 38
**The name of the ice cream truck may be a nod to Chilly Cooper from Slimer!
**Egon’s Popsicle is the Fourth of July type
**Winston’s Popsicle is based on Michelangelo
**A version of Samhain from The Real Ghostbusters appears to make his debut in the IDW canon
*Page 39
**Peter and Winston appear to be leaving the Dakota, former residence of John Lennon and 7 blocks north of 55 Central Park West, the building used Dana and Louis lived in during the first movie.
***The Dakota had a previous cameo on Volume One of the ongoing series in Issue #14.
*Page 40
**The guest in episode 4 mentions Catherine the Great
**The guest in episode 9 mentions Tiwaz, better known as Tyr, the god of war in Norse myth
*Page 41
**The episode seen in Ghostbusters II is revealed to be the 32nd and penultimate one.
**Panel 3 is a recreation of the scene in Ghostbusters II Chapter 2 “World of the Psychic” when Peter comments on Elaine’s Valentine’s Day 2016 prediction.
*Page 42
**Ira is the reason Peter quit The World of the Psychic. In Ghostbusters II, Peter showed Ira off before he signed off.
To Be Identified
*Page 1
**In panel 1, the house is based on an actual residence on Staten Island and a fictitious one.
**The Pearsons are visually based on
*Page 2
**In panel 1, I.D. card
*Page 4
**In panel 4, in the left corner, is a motorcycle based on Dan Aykroyd’s 1971 Harley Davidson Electra-Glide or Reboot movie’s Honda 1967 CL77 Scrambler?
*Page 10
**The internal electronics of the Proton Gun appear to be inspired by recent fan developments to produce a mechanised barrel extension system.
**On panel 2, on the brown tack board are:
***An X-Ray of a human skull from?
***The long strip of paper?
**On panel 3, on Winston’s coffee mug is?
**On panel 3, on the top shelf are:
***a Ghostbusters toy box?
**On panel 4, is the doughnut on the plate a nod to the Ghostbusters’ doughnut breakfast at the start of The Real Ghostbusters episode “Mr. Sandman, Dream Me a Dream”?
*Page 12
**On panel 2, on the brown tack board are? (2)
**On panel 3, the new hallway frame?
**On panel 3, on the top shelf are:
***An award?
*Page 14
**On panel 2, on the computer is?
*Page 19
**White board gibberish; names and dates over Egon’s shoulder
***Hans Christian, the famous writer Hans Christian Anderson?
***Fischer in Altenwarder?
***1791 Allen W.?
***1846 ebendort?
***1863 auf Newhof?
***Panel 4: Bottom middle is I think Hans Delbruck, the German historian who was notably referenced in Mel Brook’s “Young Frankenstein”?
*Page 26
**Is the manner in which the Ghostbusters are staged while floating in mid-air a nod to the effects of the Sandman’s sleeping dust in The Real Ghostbusters episode “Mr. Sandman, Dream Me a Dream”
*Page 27
**What is Egon sitting in front of?[/spoiler]
It can go without saying that the Annual has proven to be a really lovely treat to help close out 2015 for the IDW run. Considering that just this time last year, we were we were facing the possible prospect of the comic having it’s final issue at the end of January, it’s been great to see the line continue, and some of the stuff it’s brought in that time. I don’t know if Get Real completely saved it, but I think it helped a great deal.
And now, we’ve got the annual, and what a fun read it was (with plenty of bits that made me laugh). It was nice that Dan and Erik got to go a little “out there” with the content, and it was helped by the specifics of the storyline which have also given us another potential interesting menace for the Ghostbusters.
The annual also saw the welcome return of the “Stripped” feature (which works well as an occasional include, which keeps it special), my personal favourites being the multi-page “World of the Psychic” segment by Burnham and Erik Evensen (who, if Dan needed to take a break on doing the art for the series, I’d happily see take on temporarily responsibilities - his previous contribution “Field Trip”, featuring the first comic appearance of Ilyssa Selwyn in a prologue to Mass Hysteria was a notable inclusion, and I think his art’s gotten even better with his latest instalment), and my other favourite was “Hot Foot”, featuring a visual/art style I’d love to see more of. Also of note is “A Fall Wind in Summer”, which looks like it’ll have interesting repercussions for the future.
And of course, a final mention needs to be made to the comic team’s tribute, simple, but effective… and immortalised in another form someone who the community was so fond of. I imagine we’ll also see a tribute to Mr. Gross in the new year.
If there was one very minor point of criticism, it was that I was surprised Kylie didn’t appear in the annual, even though she appeared on the cover.
Edit:
[spoiler]
Isn’t that Peter’s Motorcycle? Seen prominently in Mass Hysteria?[/spoiler]
Extra trivia:
[spoiler]Page 1
- The logo on the card reads “Crave’in Diner”, a play on the “Crave Inn” establishment name and logo (as well as possibly a play on the surname of director Wes Craven) from A Nightmare on Elm Street 4 and 5.
Page 10
-
The internal electronics of the Proton Gun appear to be inspired by recent fan developments to produce a mechanised barrel extension system.
-
Several of the items seen on the shelves behind Ray are references to the Real Ghostbusters episode, Mr. Sandman, Dream me a Dream. The pizza fell on Ecto-1, the basket belonged to the Easter Bunny, the device with the microphone was used by the DJ at WUGH.
Page 27
-
The more visible street sign also says “KEMP ST”
-
The car appears to be Ecto-500 from the Kenner toy line.
Page 39
- Peter and Winston appear to be leaving the Dakota, former residence of John Lennon and 7 blocks North of 55 Central Park West, the building used as Dana and Louis’s apartment building.[/spoiler]
Does it strike anyone else that the blurb on the back cover doesn’t really relate to the story? What bits of nostalgia we do see occur away from the Firehouse.
I thought so at first and compared the two but they look different. Something I’ll eventually ask Dan.
I wonder if it’s a double easter egg - a nod to Ryan and that means the Warehouse is in Brooklyn or just another nod to him in the same panel
That came up in an upcoming interview with Erik that’s still being worked on, and it’s a simple answer. The story changed. More on that later next month hopefully. But I guess not, when Erik made the change, it wasn’t in time for printing to be changed or there was a simple miscommunication. If you read the news on the annual, you’d also notice that Doc Shaner is absent from the back up stories. He was initially going to contribute but he had other commitments I think that took precedent.
More easter eggs from annual
[spoiler]*Page 10
**The outside Firehouse signage is the original banner seen in the first movie
*Page 12
**The outside Firehouse signage is back to the classic version.
*Page 17
**Panel 1: Left side, Erik Burnham and Luis Delgado who were also guests to the wedding in Vol. 2 #13-14.
*Page 19
**Panel 2: In the top middle, written down are “Electrical Applications of the Psycho-sexual Drive” and “Astral Projections as an Untapped Power Source.” These are two books Egon read in his youth, as recounted on page 23 of Ghostbusters: The Supernatural Spectacular.
**Panel 2: In the upper right is a list of Containment Unit parts that Egon read off for Peter to check in The Real Ghostbuters episode “Citizen Ghost”
**Panel 4: Lot’s of names and dates over Egon’s shoulder
***Hans Christian, the famous writer Hans Christian Anderson
***Fischer in Altenwarder
***1791 Allen W.
***1846 ebendort
***1863 auf Newhof
**Panel 4: Bottom middle is I think Hans Delbruck, the German historian who was notably referenced in Mel Brook’s “Young Frankenstein”
*Page 27
**In the Tobin page with Sandman there are some Latin
***Somnum Sempiternum loosely translates to “sleep eternally”
***Oculus Satietas loosely translates to “sight satiation”[/spoiler]