Angry Scholar Comic Reviews

Despite its satisfying low-fantasy violence and interesting setting, though, Aquila is ultimately comic book potato chips: you'll keep eating given the chance, but there's not much substance. There's no character depth whatsoever, and no identifiable protagonists or antagonists. It's just a story of killing, with Aquila himself serving more as an excuse to explore the setting than a character in his own right. But it's a great setting, so the superficial characters can be forgiven.

But that all is very minor. Cold Spots is an interesting story so far, with great, creepy art, and I'm looking forward to the next issue.

For all that, this is, once again, a fun book, with the best of Burnham's witticisms, Schoening's expressive, cartoony character designs, and Delgado's blazing colors. It also ends on a high note, with Egon enlisting the aid of every other set of 'Busters from the multiverse to clean up Samhain's army of ghosts.

If you haven't read any of the IDW Ghostbusters, you might find yourself a little over your head jumping in here. So much has happened"involving the 1980s The Real Ghostbusters, the Ninja-freaking-Turtles, and more"that it can be a little overwhelming. But everything is so tongue-in-cheek that it doesn't really matter. Burnham and co. have taken the thing I hate most about contemporary comics (i.e., the multiverse) and made it fun. As I think I've said before, read this.

It's so goddamned silly, you guys. And I love it so much.

I'm enjoying the 101 arc very much, like all of the IDW 'Busters stories. It will be nice when the universes are back in their normal configuration, but for now it's a fun romp that has something for Ghostbusters fans of every generation.

Schoening's art is, as ever, on point, with some truly great facial expressions that perfectly capture the essence of familiar characters. (Walter Peck is a standout.) Some of Delgado's flashy colors are back, with the white whale's ghost a prime example. I don't know how they make them all glowy, but they sure do look good.

Ghostbusters 101 was a lighthearted romp, and I enjoyed it immensely. With the 2016 'Busters about to get their own book, I only hope that the main team will be back again soon, too.

Ghostbusters International is a solid, solid book, and I hope IDW keeps the franchise going. It's the most perfect realization of the Ghostbusters since Ghostbusters II. Which #8 references in the form of the photorealistic portrait of Vigo in the background of the 'Busters' office. Delightful.

It takes time for a new book to get going"32 pages isn't very much, after all"and I'm hopeful that this one will pick up. For the record, less Holtzmann (and no Kevin) is better.

I guess children might enjoy the silly, Cartoon Network (daytime)-like humor. If you're a grown up fan, there's not really much here to dig, not even the diffuse nostalgia one might usually experience with other Ghostbusters stuff.

The comic promises to flesh out the rather threadbare narrative of the film, and I'm interested to see how Bunn and company decide to accomplish this.

It's always good to see werewolves in a straightforward horror romp, and The Howling looks like it may be a fun book, if the story actually starts to develop.

Neilson's doing pretty well with the comic's narrative so far, but I hope things pick up soon, because disembowelments lose their appeal after a while.