Plot
Ectotron arrives on Earth and discovers a situation far more complex than he anticipated. Recognizing the need for backup, he calls in Optimus Prime. While waiting for Optimus to arrive, Ectotron accompanies the Ghostbusters on a ghost bust, getting firsthand experience with paranormal investigation. Back at the Firehouse, the team deals with the continuing presence of Starscream's ghost. The issue ends with Optimus Prime making his entrance and encountering some unwanted graffiti from local vandals.
Characters
Ghostbusters
Autobots
- Ectotron
- Optimus Prime
- Grimlock
- Wheeljack
Other
- Starscream (ghost)
- Vigo (brief appearance)
- Electric Ghost (antagonist of the ghost bust sequence)
Equipment
Ghostbusters equipment appearing in this issue includes the Proton Pack and Particle Thrower, the P.K.E. Meter, the Ghost Trap, the Paranormal Containment Research Tank, the Wall-Trap (last seen in Ghostbusters Get Real #3), and a Proton Grenade, which Janine keeps in her desk drawer. On the Transformers side, the Autobot spacecraft The Ark is referenced in this issue (with a printing error cutting off the "T" in "The Ark," later corrected in the collected trade paperback).
Locations
- The Firehouse (Ghostbusters headquarters)
- Colchamiro's Haunt (the ghost bust location; named as a nod to writer Erik Burnham's friend Ethan Colchamiro)
- Ardsley Travel Plaza (visually based on the real Ardsley Travel Plaza; the scene depicts vehicles designed to evoke various Transformers characters)
Development
Cover development for this issue began more than eight months before publication. Tom Waltz posted rough cover thumbnail sketches on December 11, 2018, with more finished versions following on December 28, 2018. A work-in-progress teaser of the Firehouse appeared January 29, 2019. An edited version of Dan Schoening's connected covers for the full mini-series was revealed February 18, 2019.
Philip Murphy revealed his variant cover on May 24, 2019. Subsequent social media previews included Ectotron and Ray Stantz in the Firehouse garage (May 29), a panel of Ectotron and Ray fist-bumping (June 3), and a panel of Starscream and Slimer (June 17). Cover A was revealed in its entirety on June 26, 2019.
In the weeks before and after the August 7 release date, Luis Antonio Delgado and Dan Schoening shared a series of unlettered panel previews on social media, covering scenes with Ectotron and Janine, Peter trapping Starscream, Optimus Prime and Wheeljack, Starscream and Slimer, Ectotron transforming into Ecto-1, and the Ghostbusters taking on the Electric Ghost.
Covers
- Cover A: Features Optimus Prime (in his Ecto-35 robot form) with Peter Venkman. Shrapnel (in beetle form) is blasted by Peter. Also depicted: Blitzwing (robot and vehicle forms), Sunstreaker (Lamborghini Countach form).
- Cover B: Features Ectotron with the Ghostbusters.
- Cover RI: Features Ectotron with the Ghostbusters and Slimer.
Trivia and Easter Eggs
This issue is densely packed with cross-franchise and production references:
Page-by-page highlights:
- Page 1: Janine wears her outfit from the first film's Containment Unit shutdown sequence (Chapter 21: Out of Biz). A box from Hasty Pastry Bakery is a non-canon nod to The Real Ghostbusters episode "The Joke's on Ray." A rare 1985 Canadian Transformers lunch box sits atop a cabinet.
- Page 1, panel 4: Doughnuts in the Hasty Pastry box are from Krispy Kreme's 30th anniversary promotion. A purple can labeled "Sugar Spike" nods to Spike Witwicky; a small purple sugar cube box alludes to Transformers' Energon.
- Page 2: Peter wears his orange jacket from the first film. The Transformers lunch box appears mis-colored blue. Janine makes tea, a nod to her fondness for chamomile tea established in Ghostbusters: The Video Game. Janine references Robo-Buster (last seen in Ghostbusters: Crossing Over #4). Janine also mentions the 1982 film "Tron." Crucially, this issue establishes that Janine is the one who coins the name "Ectotron."
- Page 3: Janine keeps a Proton Grenade in her desk drawer. On her computer screen is a shot of Unicron on Primacron's computer from the Transformers episode "Call of the Primitives."
- Page 4: On the table in front of the research tank sits a memory component Wheeljack later installs in the Dinobots in the Transformers episode "S.O.S. Dinobots." Slimer eats from a "Chick in the Box" bucket (a non-canon nod to The Real Ghostbusters episode "Chicken, He Clucked"). The Pin-Up Calendar of Doom! features Alana in her temporary robot form from the Transformers episode "Sea Change." Peter alludes to the tank's ionized glass, first referenced in Ghostbusters Volume 1 #2. Peter carries his mug from The World of the Psychic.
- Page 5: Peter calls Slimer "spud," originating from the first film. A can of Blody appears on the counter (from The Real Ghostbusters episode "The Halloween Door"). Peter explains psycholinguistics and emotional prosody. The Wall-Trap is noted as last seen in Ghostbusters Get Real #3, where the Cerberus Manifestation destroyed it.
- Page 6: Egon states Ectotron is not an alien, a callback to his skepticism about extraterrestrials. Peter refers to Ectotron as "E.T."
- Page 7: A printing error cuts off the "T" in "The Ark"; this is corrected in the trade paperback. Grimlock is identified as leader of the Dinobots.
- Page 8: Mr. Colchamiro is named after Erik Burnham's real-life friend Ethan Colchamiro. Janine presents a Ghostbusters II memo dated 12/28/1987 (the airdate of the TMNT animated episode "Turtles Tracks"). "O. Saki" on the memo references Oroku Saki (the Shredder, voiced by James Avery in the 1987 TMNT series). "215 1st Ave Brooklyn" is the address of The Recreation Center. "Mr. Avery" nods to James Avery, who also voiced Killerwatt in The Real Ghostbusters. The partial phone number 555-194 references James Avery's birth year (1945).
- Page 9: Grimlock evokes the "We ain't afraid of no ghosts!" motto in his own way. Wheeljack mentions Cybertron. Optimus Prime alludes to Wheeljack's tendency for inventions that backfire.
- Page 10: The buildings and parking lot are visually inspired by 215 and 218 1st Street. Egon references the Kremzeek Sprite from issue #2. Peter does his "dah!" from the first film.
- Page 11: Egon replies "That would be bad," echoing his line about crossing the streams from the first film. Luis Antonio Delgado's signature "15" easter egg appears on the door Winston opens.
- Page 12: The travel plaza sequence is visually based on Ardsley Travel Plaza. Vehicles in panel 1 evoke the orange rig Optimus Prime scanned in "More Than Meets the Eye, Part 1," plus Stunticon vehicles (Motormaster, Breakdown, Drag Strip, Wildrider, Dead End) and Outlaw from M.A.S.K. Two taggers in panel 4 are visually based on characters from the Transformers episode "Auto-Bop."
- Page 13: A non-canon cameo of the head from the Killerwatt body used in The Real Ghostbusters episode "Killerwatt."
- Page 14: The ghost the team busts is visually based on Killerwatt.
- Page 18: Peter jokes about being in a coma, a reference to Ghostbusters: Crossing Over #2.
- Page 19: Graffiti on Optimus Prime includes the No Ghost logo from the 2016 film, "84" (the shared debut year of both franchises), "555-1383" (the Meredith family's phone number from The Real Ghostbusters episode "The Grundel"), "DS" (artist Dan Schoening's initials), and "Destro--" (nodding to Destron, the Japanese name for the Decepticons). Peter calls Optimus "Pessimus," the antonym of his name.
- Page 20: "Humans are Wimps" is from Marvel Comics' Transformers #23 (August 1986), where the Battlechargers tagged it on the Statue of Liberty. "Burn in Hell, Venkman" alludes to the graffiti on Weaver Hall's paranormal studies lab door in the first film.
