Story
An ancient prophecy foretold that when four legendary Japanese masters united under a common cause, they would conquer the world. In feudal times, each of the four was a powerful warlord holding his own territory: Master Tomo (Ninjutsu), Master Takeda (Kendo), Master Heki (Kyudo, the martial art of archery), and Master Shohei (hand-to-hand combat). Rather than fulfill the prophecy, the four were lifelong enemies and killed each other in battle, proving the prophecy wrong.
More than 600 years later, the artifacts of Masters Tomo and Takeda are placed on a traveling "Forgotten Masters" exhibit. When Tomo's shuriken is broken during installation at New York's Natural History Museum, Tomo's ghost manifests. He locates Takeda's katana and awakens Takeda's spirit. Takeda initially refuses to cooperate and instead tries to avenge his death, but agrees to serve Tomo when faced with the prospect of being trapped by the Ghostbusters. Together they track down the bow of Master Heki, which has ended up in the private collection of a New York resident named Elaine Sophers. They raise Heki's ghost, trashing Sophers' residence in the process, and Sophers calls the Ghostbusters.
Peter Venkman eventually recognizes the ghosts from a VHS tape he finds and the team books flights to Japan. The ghosts take the same plane. The three masters fly ahead to a monastery where Master Shohei is interred, raising his ghost as well. After the reunited Four Masters outclass the Ghostbusters, they celebrate with a fist bump, only to be suddenly drawn toward each other. They merge into a single being they name Master Prime. Master Prime immediately manifests its combined power by reanimating all the monks buried at the monastery cemetery grounds, declaring that their undead army will not only conquer the world but destroy it. Standard Proton Streams have no effect on Master Prime's unified form.
Egon Spengler recalls the strategy he used to win a tabletop game of Knights vs. Cowboys: trick opponents into fighting each other, then finish them off while they're distracted. The team provokes an argument among the undead army about which martial art is superior. Winston Zeddemore praises samurai for living by a code; Ray Stantz argues that hand-to-hand martial arts trump swordplay; Venkman declares surrealism and abstract art the truest disciplines. The Four Masters within Master Prime begin to quarrel, split apart, and the Ghostbusters trap each one individually.
Covers
Three standard covers were produced alongside a limited retailer exclusive.
The Regular Cover recreates the Ghostbusters' first sighting of the Stay Puft Marshmallow Man from Ghostbusters (1984), specifically the sequence from Chapter 27.
The Retailer Incentive Cover features the Stay Puft Marshmallow Man vinyl figure from Funko's POP! Movies line.
The Retailer Exclusive Cover was produced in partnership with Plastic Empire and Wize Guys Collectibles and is available only through Plastic Empire, limited to 500 copies. The cover depicts Dana Barrett's kitchen at 550 Central Park West and includes Dana wearing the red dress she first wore while possessed by Zuul, Zuul, Louis Tully wearing the Aura Video-Analyzer colander, Slimer, the Stay Puft Marshmallow Man, and a bag of Stay Puft Marshmallows in the lower right corner. Philip Murphy posted his work process for this cover on January 28, 2018.
Development
On February 17, 2017, IDW announced the Funko Universe one-shot and posted the first cover; Philip Murphy announced he was the issue's artist at the same time.
On February 22, 2017, the full May solicits were released, revealing the synopsis and three covers.
On April 24, 2017, Murphy revealed a fourth cover with colors by Luis Antonio Delgado.
On May 7, 2017, a cover, the full credits, and a five-page interior preview were posted.
On May 9, 2017, IDW published an interview with writer Troy Dye and artist Philip Murphy.
On May 11, 2017, Murphy posted character designs from the issue.
Trivia
- Peter wears his blue vest from Ghostbusters II. Winston wears the green collar shirt seen in Volume 1 of the IDW ongoing series. Ray wears his civilian clothes from Ray's Occult Books in Ghostbusters II. Egon wears his blue lab coat from Ghostbusters (1984). Janine has her black overall skirt and hairstyle from Ghostbusters II.
- On page 3, Ray holds a Ghostbusters Mug from Ghostbusters II; a box of Boo Berry cereal is visible in the panel background; and a beaker of Psychomagnotheric Slime appears in panel 6.
- On page 9, the scene in the Firehouse includes a Nintendo 16-bit console with Peter playing a VHS tape.
- On page 11, the Ghostbusters investigate on the second floor of the Firehouse as it appears in Ghostbusters: The Video Game (Stylized Versions), identified by the period computer monitor and yellow file. Egon consults Tobin's Spirit Guide. A box of Twinkies sits on top of the computer monitor.
- Tokyo International Airport, where both the Ghostbusters and the masters board their Japan-bound flight, previously appeared in The Real Ghostbusters episode "Attack of the B-Movie Monsters."
- In the airport scene, the ghosts' bags bear the Funko Pop logo. The taxi driver has a Slimer figurine from Funko's Pocket Pop! Keychain line hanging from the mirror.
- Master Shohei's visual design appears to be inspired by Akuma from the Street Fighter video game series.
- Master Prime's name is a nod to Optimus Prime from Transformers; the nature of the Four Masters physically combining into one powerful form also mirrors a common Transformers concept.
- Page 13 contains a misspelling of Master Shohei's name.
- Master Takeda mentions the Netherworld on page 4; Master Tomo also mentions the Netherworld on page 14, at which point Peter counters with a reference to the Netherlands.
- Page 27's collections page features a homage to the music video sequence from Volume 2, Issue #20 of the Ghostbusters IDW ongoing series.
- Ray mentions Black Belt Theater on page 5.
References
Ghostbusters: Funko Universe (IDW Publishing, May 10, 2017). Story by Troy Dye; art by Philip Murphy; colors by Luis Antonio Delgado; letters by Neil Uyetake; edited by Tom Waltz.
