The Comic Stop: Andy Burns on Morning Glories #13 and Ghostbusters #2

This week at The Comic Stop, I’ve got two titles for you. One is based on a popular film franchise, the other should become one at some point in the near future. Read on:

Morning Glories #13
Written by: Nick Spencer
Illustrated by: Joe Eisma
Shadowline/Image

Let’s just get this out of the way right now. I’m pretty certain that Morning Glories is the best comic book series being published at the moment. I caught up on the series last week via a sale on comiXology and was absolutely blown away by the tale of 5 students at Morning Glory Academy, which is probably the worst prep school in comics history (totally trumping Emma Frost’s old stomping ground).  The series has a genuine Lost flavour to it, which make it wonderful reading for those of us that miss the Island.

In Morning Glories #13, our lead heroine Casey is given the chance to get out of the Academy, which up until now has been no easy task. The method by which Casey makes her escape is riveting, especially considering her journey is done without dialogue, and relies solely on the amazing artwork of Joe Eisma. The final panel is equally brilliant, leaving us with a great cliffhanger and even more questions about the engrossing world Nick Spencer and Joe Eisma have created. Morning Glories is essential reading.

Ghostbusters #2
Written by: Erik Burnham/Tristan Jones
Illustrated by: Dan Schoening
IDW

Licensed comics can often be a crapshoot, sometimes not even coming close to living up to their source material. IDW are experts at taking familiar properties and delivering top notch stores with. The latest evidence is their new, ongoing Ghostbusters series.

All the familiar characters are in place – Pete Venkman, Ray Stantz, Egon Spengler, Winston Zedmore and Janine (oh, and Slimer is there as well). In Issue #2, the focus in on pure ghostbusting, as the foursome hit up a house that used to be an ophanage. The old and dead woman who used to run the place is on a rampage. You can guess what happens next. In the meantime, it looks as though the teams old nemesis Gozer looks to be making a return as well.

The writing on Ghostbusters is spot on – you can almost hear Bill Murray delivering Venkman’s lines – and Dan Schoening’s art work is a lot of fun. Having digested the first two issues of the new series, I feel like I’m reading what could have made a great third film. My only real critcism was the useage of Slimer in the first few pages of the series. To me, while he may be familiar, his inclulsion really felt unnecessarry. Hopefully, we’ve seen the last of him.

Other than that, IDW’s Ghostbusters series is a great read while we wait for Murray, Ackroyd et all to get it together and give us the third film