Luke Owen reviews the first issue of the Mass Hysteria maxi-series of Ghostbusters…
Lucky issue 13 is here, and with it, the first installment of the eight-part event that will shake the boys and girls in grey to their core! Gozer the Gozerian, the Destructor, was once drawn to Manhattan, but could not complete his work. That’s the good news. The bad news is that he isn’t the only god who has taken notice of Earth… MASS HYSTERIA and our 30th anniversary tribute to the Ghostbusters begins here!
It’s been a sad week for Ghostbusters fans with the passing of Harold Ramis, but if there is one thing that we can celebrate is the legacy he left behind. Without his influence, we may not have had great Ghostbusters comics like the ones we get from IDW. So with that said, I’d like to dedicate this review to the man behind Dr. Egon Spengler. Rest in peace sir, see you on the other side.
The previous mini-run of Ghostbusters, which saw our heroes battling holiday themed ghoulies, was pretty underwhelming given the run of comics that came before it and they just felt like place holder fodder until the 30th anniversary celebration series could kick off. But now that the series has arrived, it feels like a breath of fresh air. Ghostbusters #13, the first part of Mass Hysteria, is really great and totally worth the wait.
The comic is split into three plot threads with the ragtag team of Ghostbuster helpers (most of which made up The New Ghostbusters from last year) covering for our heroes as they attend the long-awaited wedding of Winston Zeddermore. Meanwhile, it seems as though Dana Barrett is heading for a visit from a face we’ve not seen since 1984 – a certain Sumerian God who is looking for the woman who was once the Gate Keeper.
Erik Burnham balances these three plot threads incredibly well and Ghostbusters #13 never feels like its juggling too much. The New Ghostbusters (along with Rookie) are given ample time for their thread to be exciting, Winston’s wedding isn’t rushed and there is a great amount of build and payoff from Dana’s story. It’s a great first issue of this maxi-series and a good sign of things to come. The dynamic between Dana and Peter should be very interesting given Ortiz’s role in the series and there’s even a tease of an appearance of baby Oscar who would be (does the math) 25 by now. It’s also a testament to Burnham’s writing and characterisation that he never has to explicitly say who Dana is, trusting the reader to connect the dots. Like Chris Mowry on Godzilla: Rulers of Earth, Burham is a writer that gets this franchise and knows what the fans will recognise by words alone.
Although, I’m not sure about the Terror Dogs being replaced with ostriches…
Ghostbusters #13 is superb jumping off point for what should be a great series. It may feel like treading old water to return to old bad guys, but isn’t that what a 30th anniversary celebration should be for? There is a good level of intrigue in this opening chapter and the next seven months should be a lot of fun.
Cats and dogs may end up living together after all.
Luke Owen is one of Flickering Myth’s co-editors and the host of the Flickering Myth Podcast. You can follow him on Twitter @LukeWritesStuff.
Originally published February 26, 2014. Updated November 9, 2019.
