Ghostbusters: The Return, was written by Sholly Fisch. This unofficial/non-canon novel was published in 2004 by ibooks. This story takes place after the events of the film, Ghostbusters 2.
SUMMARY
The Ghostbusters return in, Ghostbusters: The Return! The city faces a rise in the supernatural once again. Xanthador! The ghostly creep releases his minions to bring terror in the streets, fueling his energy for a potential take over of the living realm.
Peter Venkman has become the face of the Ghostbusters, he’s a crows pleaser. The current Mayor of New York uses the Ghostbusters who are popular amongst the people, as part of his campaign. Elections are coming up soon and he want’s the Ghostbusters to be present at one of his speeches.
Meanwhile, members of an Independent party need a candidate to take the Mayor’s seat. With the Ghostbusters popularity and recent event that put them in the news, the party calls on Peter Venkman to be their man. It takes a little convincing, but Peter, thinking the job would be easy-peasy, accepts, and chooses Winston Zeddemore to be his Deputy Mayor.
As Xanthador ramps up his hauntings and two Ghostbusters are busy with politics, Ray and Egon struggle to keep the streets clean. Hauntings that resemble familiar Urban Legends are terrorizing the people of New York.
OVERALL THOUGHTS
I had absolutely no idea what to expect with this novel. The original film is my favorite film – of all time. I don’t expect anything to be as good as that first Ghostbusters movie, especially tie-in media. Don’t get me wrong, I love Ghostbusters 2 and The Real Ghostbusters cartoon series, but they pale in comparison to the first film. So my expectations for this novel were set low, if there’s anything that the Disney Star Wars canon has taught me, it’s to tame my expectations. That said, this book wasn’t too bad!
At times, the characters read as though they were the very characters from the films; and sometimes they resembled the cartoon versions. We have Slimer in this story, and he is very much the Slimer from The Real Ghostbusters. I’d say Janine is a mix between Ghostbusters to and the cartoon. The inconsistency of characterization for the main Ghostbusters does bother me a bit, however, I do like that Slimer hangs around just like in the cartoon, with an angry Peter discrediting the little spud. There’s a moment involving Slimer that made me laugh out loud…
Ray and Slimer give each other a secret handshake. Peter walks in and says, “I mean, how are supposed to maintain any sort of credibility with the public if people come in here and find this… ectoplasmic reject kicking back with a beer?”
The use of the word “spud” is used too much. It was funny in Ghostbusters when Slimer was referred to as “an ugly little spud.” This book uses it a few in a different context. Louis is a bumbling idiot that acts like he’s got zero brains. Yes, in GB2 we had some silly stuff with him in the courtroom, but he wasn’t a complete goofball.
This book isn’t bad at all. The tone of the story was just a bit confusing. It would shift from sequel movie material to a cartoon episode. I don’t know if that was intentional, to maybe bring in the nostalgia to all Ghostbusters fans? A strange tale, but I’m happy I finally read it.
I like that this story didn’t just focus on the Ghostbusters taking on a new big villain. It got into the relationship between Dana and Peter, we get plenty of Louis and Janine, and we see two characters take on a new challenge – politics. I love that they made Peter and Winston an independent party. I also love the fact that the book didn’t get “real-world” political! There were not secret motives, no pathetic agenda’s being pushed. It was clean, it was silly, it was fun, and I love the way the story ended.
Do I recommend you read this book? Yes, it was a fun, yet unusual story that did not discredit the material that came before it.
For the rating of Ghostbusters: The Return, I give this story a B.