Plot
"GHOSTS OF CYBERTRON," Part 5. Continuing from the cliffhanger of issue #4, Optimus Prime faces down the ghostly Decepticons while Shockwave weighs the offer Optimus extended at the end of the previous issue to help restore the physical bodies of all four ghost Decepticons. The situation escalates when Megatron manifests as a ghost on Earth, hungry for vengeance and willing to destroy Autobots, Decepticons, and the Ghostbusters indiscriminately to get it.
Soundwave creates ghost-manifestations of three of his Mini-Cassettes: Ravage, Laserbeak, and Buzzsaw. Ray Stantz deploys a Proton Grenade against Ravage. Ectotron, in his first real fight, grapples with Megatron's power. Peter Venkman, Egon Spengler, Winston Zeddemore, and Ray work alongside the Autobots to contain the threat.
Starscream possesses Ectotron during the battle, continuing a long pattern of the ghost Starscream possessing other Cybertronians. Megatron assumes a new physical form visually based on his design from the Aligned continuity. The conflict is ultimately resolved, Megatron is contained, and Ectotron departs Earth aboard his ship, leaving the Ghostbusters wondering about ghosts in space.
Cast
Autobots: Optimus Prime, Ectotron, Bumblebee, Jazz, Sunstreaker
Decepticons: Megatron, Starscream, Shockwave, Soundwave (with Mini-Cassette manifestations of Ravage, Laserbeak, and Buzzsaw)
Ghostbusters: Peter Venkman, Ray Stantz, Egon Spengler, Winston Zeddemore
Covers
Three cover variants were released for this issue.
Cover A (Dan Schoening and Luis Antonio Delgado): Part of the connected cover series for the full run. The cover features a large ensemble of Transformers characters surrounding Slimer, including Thundercracker in F-15 Eagle form, Grimlock in Tyrannosaurus Rex form, Rumble in robot form between Soundwave and Grimlock, Wheeljack, Ravage in jaguar form, Kickback in locust form, and Egon Spengler standing on Wheeljack's left shoulder.
Cover B (Nick Roche and Josh Burcham): A nod to the Times Square scene from the "Ghostbusters" song music video. Several billboards visible on the cover reference the Statue of Liberty, Stay Puft Marshmallows, Vigo, and the Manhattan Museum of Art. Optimus Prime and Ectotron appear above the Ghostbusters.
Cover RI (Evan Stanley): Features Optimus Prime with the Ghostbusters.
Development
Cover artwork and production for issue #5 spanned more than a year, with creators sharing progress publicly throughout the process.
On December 11, 2018, Tom Waltz posted four rough cover thumbnail sketches featuring the prime Ghostbusters, one per regular cover in the series. Finished versions followed on December 28, 2018. On February 18, 2019, an edited version of Dan Schoening's connected covers was revealed, and on February 22, 2019, Waltz posted the standalone version of the Issue #5 Cover A by Schoening and Delgado.
On May 24, 2019, Erik Burnham was in the process of beating out the script, aiming to finish by the end of the month. He completed writing on May 30, 2019. Schoening read the finished script on June 3, 2019.
On July 22, 2019, Waltz posted early teasers from the issue. Schoening finished pencils on August 23, 2019. On September 10, 2019, Burnham posted a teaser of Optimus Prime and confirmed Christa Miesner as the letterer for the issue.
In the final days before release: on September 30, 2019, Luis Antonio Delgado posted a shot of Optimus fighting Megatron, and Nick Roche posted lineart for Cover B. On October 1, 2019, a cover and five-page preview appeared online, with Delgado also sharing a panel of Soundwave being trapped. On release day, October 2, 2019, Delgado posted a shot of Optimus dodging Megatron. Post-release art continued: on October 3 Delgado shared panels of Ectotron being possessed, on October 4 panels of Megatron's new form, and on November 13 Schoening posted several page thumbnails from the issue.
Trivia
- Page 1: Optimus Prime appears in Ecto-35 colors (from the crossover figure release) and wields a Proton Axe, similar to the Energon Axe from the Transformers episode "More Than Meets The Eye, Part 2."
- Page 3: Megatron references Cybertron's destruction at the hands of Gozer, events depicted in issues #1 and #2 of this series. Peter Venkman screams "Dah!" echoing his reaction at the start of the first Ghostbusters film. A typo on Shockwave's page 3 dialogue ("millennia" is misspelled with an extraneous "a") was corrected in the collected trade paperback.
- Page 4: Soundwave's Mini-Cassette manifestations include Ravage, Laserbeak, and Buzzsaw. Laserbeak had a cameo in issue #1 of this series.
- Page 5: Winston Zeddemore makes a joke referencing G.I. Joe cartoons and their use of laser beams instead of bullets. Soundwave uses the curse "scrap," a Transformers franchise-specific expletive traceable to the Beast Wars animated series (1999, "Proving Grounds") and later the primary curse in Transformers Prime (2010).
- Page 7: Starscream alludes to Kremzeek, an energy creature from the original Transformers animated series.
- Page 8: Megatron's mace is a visual nod to the Energon mace he uses against Optimus in "More Than Meets The Eye, Part 2."
- Page 9: The split image of Megatron's internal gears mirrors a shot from Transformers: The Movie (1986) when Megatron is converted into Galvatron by Unicron.
- Page 11: Egon Spengler considers a theoretical autopsy on Ectotron. The idea connects to Ghostbusters: The Video Game (Realistic Versions), in which Egon is revealed to have formerly worked as a coroner. Ray Stantz references the Statue of Liberty and animating it from Ghostbusters II.
- Page 12: Megatron's "There is no trying" line and Peter's response are a nod to Yoda's "Do or do not, there is no try" from the Star Wars franchise.
- Page 14: Ectotron vomits Energon, the Transformers' primary energy source.
- Page 15: Megatron's new physical form is visually based on his design from the Aligned continuity, specifically the canceled Transformers Universe game. The throne he occupies is based on Galvatron's throne from the Transformers episode "Starscream's Ghost."
- Page 17: Peter Venkman mentions the Containment Unit. Optimus gets deja vu from Ray's declaration about freedom, which mirrors one of his own catchphrases: "Freedom is the right of all sentient beings." Optimus's "all be one again" is a nod to the Autobot rally call "'Til all are one."
- Page 18: Winston Zeddemore mentions Janine Melnitz. Winston also alludes to Ectotron bending a support beam (issue #3) and blowing up the Ecto-Gyro (issue #4). Peter's naming of Ectotron is confirmed as the inspiration for the Autobot's nametag. Luis Antonio Delgado's "15" easter egg appears on a tag on the wall beneath Ectotron's leg.
- Page 19: Ray expresses intrigue at the notion of ghosts in space, a nod to the "Ghost Smashers" script, an earlier treatment in Ghostbusters' development history.
- Page 20: Ectotron's ship, first mentioned in issue #2, is visually based on the Autobot Lifepod from the Transformers episode "Dark Awakening." A glimmer effect in panel 4 references the start of the Season 1 title sequence of Transformers (1984). The Decepticon symbol flashing in Starscream's eye mirrors a similar glimmer from the same title sequence.
References
Transformers/Ghostbusters: Ghosts of Cybertron #5 (IDW Publishing, October 2019). Written by Erik Burnham, art by Dan Schoening, colors by Luis Antonio Delgado, letters by Christa Miesner, edits by David Mariotte, Tom Waltz, and Megan Brown.
