Creative Team
Covers
Regular Cover (Diamond Order Code: FEB170435) by Dan Schoening and Luis Antonio Delgado. This is the second of six interconnected covers spanning the mini-series. It features Winston Zeddemore, Kylie Griffin, and Abby Yates. Winston holds his Proton Pistol. Kylie carries the Giga Meter. Abby is holding the Proton Glove while wearing new Ecto Goggles, later identified as a Long-Range P.K.E. Scanner in issue #4. The background map includes Washington Square Arch, a location seen in Ghostbusters II and the Real Ghostbusters episode "Mean Green Teen Machine."1
Subscription Cover by Tim Lattie. A homage to the Stripes film poster and its spoof of the "I Want You" Uncle Sam image.1
Retailer Incentive Wraparound Cover by Tim Lattie. The front features Holtzmann in her leather jacket and coveralls from Chapters 2 through 3 of Ghostbusters (2016). The back features Egon Spengler in his gray lab coat from Chapter 20, "Keymaster," of Ghostbusters (1984).1
Development
The subscription cover by Tim Lattie was first revealed in a press release for the mini-series on December 21, 2016. April 2017 solicitations, posted January 25, 2017, included the issue's logline and cover art. Dan Schoening shared a work-in-progress piece of Holtzmann on February 28, 2017, and teased an old TV spot on March 1. Tom Waltz posted two interior teasers on March 9, 2017, then revealed the Retailer Incentive wraparound cover on March 22, 2017. Erik Burnham noted on March 27, 2017 that he had seen at least four cover variants for the issue. Schoening posted an unlettered panel of the ATC team on April 8, 2017, and a cover with a five-page preview went live on April 29, 2017.
Notes
The issue is dense with layered in-universe and real-world references:
Pages 1-3, Golf Course: The Stryker Beach Golf Course is a stand-in for Dyker Beach Golf Course in Brooklyn. Multiple characters are visually based on figures from Caddyshack: the caddy on Danny Noonan, one golfer on Lou Loomis (portrayed by Brian Doyle-Murray), the other two on the Bishop and Dr. Beeper, and a golf employee on Sandy McFiddish. The ghost itself is modeled on Jacob Marley from Scrooged, which starred Bill Murray. A building in panel 6 is based on the Boca Raton Resort and Club in Florida, a filming location for Caddyshack. A frame in panel 3 quotes Ty Webb's "Be the Ball" mantra. Patty references "the 278," meaning Interstate 278, the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway.
Page 4, ATC Firehouse Lab: Erin is seated in Kevin Beckman's office area as arranged during the 2016 film end credits, including the white sofa, map, clipboards with terminology, books on shelves, and a padlocked green drawer. Labels visible in the scene use terminology from the film: Transmogrification, T2 Apparition, and T4 Apparition. Erin is wearing her white shirt and jeans from Chapter 16 of the 2016 film.
Page 5: Kevin Beckman again has difficulty answering the phone, consistent with the 2016 film. He is wearing the white lab coat from a post-credits teaser in the film. Among papers posted in a panel are pages from Ghosts From Our Past (River Press), including the Kemp's Spectral Classification Index and the Spectral Field Theory section. Mike Hat also appears again. Erin imagines Kevin with Egon's hair from The Real Ghostbusters.
Page 6: The prop ghost from the Ghostbusters II commercial appears. Slimer is still held in the Paranormal Containment Research Tank. The "Pin-Up Calendar of Doom!" in panel 6 features Ziggy Zeigler, an unaffiliated Ghostbusters fan residing in Florida. Egon is shown in his lab coat from the Ghostbusters commercial, complete with stethoscope and PC-4 Calculator. Ray's "Throw 'em" line echoes the Ghostbusters II 2/27/89 draft.
Page 7, Ray's Occult Books: Eduardo Rivera, Kylie Griffin, and Pagan appear. The Archangel's Gallbladder cursed artifact from Ghostbusters: The Video Game (Realistic Versions) is still on the counter. Part of Ecto-2 is visible in the alley. Panel 4 reveals that the mini-series title "101" is the name of Peter Venkman's fantasy camp idea. Peter alludes to the Ghostbusters Warehouse in Red Hook, Brooklyn, last seen in Ghostbusters International #1. Panel 6 is a homage to the end of the Ghostbusters commercial, now with Winston added to the lineup and the 555-2368 number in yellow text.
Page 8, Original Firehouse: Janine's whale paperweight is on her desk. Kevin Tanaka is holding a Ghostbusters Mug from Ghostbusters II. Kevin's civilian outfit was designed based on selections made by Ghostbusters Wiki administrator mrmichaelt. Kevin mentions Special Agent Melanie Ortiz. An imp from The Real Ghostbusters episode "Janine's Day Off" appears near a frame, and Janine's computer screen shows the imp's "Hi Toots..." repeating message.
Kevin Tanaka's bio reveals he maintains the equipment and credits his "superhuman attention to detail," a nod to Ghostbusters Wiki administrator mrmichaelt, on whom Kevin's visual design is based.
Page 11, Third Floor: The set is visually based on the second floor of the Firehouse from Ghostbusters: The Video Game (Stylized Versions), including its loading screen, aiming reticule, equipment tables featuring Stylized game equipment (Trap, Paragoggles, Proton Pack with Boson Dart, Slime Mine, Slime Blower, Stasis Stream, Particle Thrower, PKE Meter), and map board.
Page 12: A "Slimer! and The Real Ghostbusters" cereal box from Ralston (1990) and two Kenner Ecto-Plazms appear on a shelf. The teenagers have Citrus Coolers circa 1969, the original predecessors to the Ecto Cooler drink. Monitor screens show: the title card from the Slimer! and The Real Ghostbusters intro, a still from the Beeline game, a still from the Game Boy Color Extreme Ghostbusters game featuring Eduardo Rivera, and a level from a 2007 Park Productions remake of the Ghostbusters II Activision Level 2. Jenny Moran's frightening form is visually based on Victor from The Real Ghostbusters episode "Victor the Happy Ghost."
Page 13: Cait Banner is using a PKE Meter from The Real Ghostbusters. A table holds a Shock Blast from Ghostbusters: The Video Game (Stylized Versions), a can of Blody advertised in The Real Ghostbusters episode "The Halloween Door," and a Proton Grenade. Monitor screens show stills of the Junior Ghostbusters from multiple The Real Ghostbusters episodes. A framed newspaper in the hall is the New York Post's "Ghost Cops Bust Chinatown Spook" headline from Ghostbusters Chapter 14. Kevin mentions that Cait is good with a sword, which, combined with her age and red hair, is read as a nod to Disney's Brave. Kevin also references Feng Shui and the TI-87 graphing calculator.
Page 14: The biometric scanner from The Real Ghostbusters episode "Mrs. Roger's Neighborhood" is still attached to the Containment Unit. Zoe again mentions Kurt Russell's role in Stargate.
Page 16: The Kenneth P. Higgins Institute of Science banner from the 2016 film appears. The sign for Cholodecki's Jewelry Store references Bridesmaids (directed by Paul Feig, co-starring Melissa McCarthy). A sign for "Wiig's Hair Design" with phone number 555-WIIG is a nod to Kristen Wiig, who portrayed Erin Gilbert in the 2016 film.
Page 19, ATC Lab: The lab set reflects Chapter 16 of the 2016 film. The Nutcracker is behind Patty. The Ghost Transporter is on the center table, alongside a can of Pringles. The Containment Unit is at right. Holtzmann is carrying her Keysight FieldFox Microwave Analyzer and wearing her Chapter 16 lab outfit. Abby's proposal to build an observation tank is a nod to the Paranormal Containment Research Tank in the original universe. Holtzmann mentions having three tank ideas, mirroring three versions in the franchise: the Realistic version from The Video Game, the Stylized version, and the one used by Professor Dweeb in Slimer!.
Page 23: Ray alludes to Jenny Moran's death in Ghostbusters International #11 and to her killer, the god Aibell.
Other notes: The "Let's Go Ghostbusters!" exclamation in the issue is a nod to the catchphrase of Filmation's Ghost Busters. Kevin confirms in this issue that he is an amputee, which explains his use of crutches in Ghostbusters International #11. The "What Came Before" page reuses four panels from issue #1 and alludes to Jonas Schultz (the ghost from that issue), Luna Park, Coney Island, Mood Slime, the EPA, Walter Peck, and Peck's attempted shutdown of the Containment Unit in Ghostbusters (1984).1
References
Some content on this page was researched using the Ghostbusters Wiki on Fandom.
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Ghostbusters 101 #2 (IDW Publishing, May 3, 2017). Written by Erik Burnham; penciled by Dan Schoening; colored by Luis Antonio Delgado; lettered by Shawn Lee; edited by Tom Waltz. Diamond Order Code FEB170435.
