Earlier last year, James Eatock, the man behind Cereal: Geek magazine, joined forces with “Dapper” Dan Schoening, and put together a fantastic pitch for a Ghostbusters comic, which they sent to IDW. You may recall a PC post last Summer where some tantalizing hints were dropped.
I was lucky enough to get a look at this pitch when they were putting it together/revising it last Fall and can’t figure out why IDW would ever pass on it – which is what they did ultimately. Truely, WTH?
So, Dan and James have released their pitch online for all to see (and for IDW to see the reaction, no doubt) – IDW obviously has their editorial preferences and preferred art teams, and James’ and Dan’s pitch is full-on for multiple issues – but who says they have to take the whole package. Perhaps they might consider giving the ghosthead duo a back-up story and go from there! Something! ANYTHING! Dan’s art and James’ dialog is too good to be just a project pitch on a website.
All 15 pages of the pitch, with example pages, character proofs, issue synopsis, and more, is all on Dan’s page at DeviantArt – you HAVE to check it out.
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Like it A LOT MORE than what IDW has done so far. While I love Dan’s work, I can see why IDW might think that the utterly cartoony style could limit the comic’s appeal among the average comicbook buyer.
To be honest, I think it has more to do with the fact that it’s so big. Until there’s some sort of movement with the 3rd movie or maybe a second video game, it’s unlikely anything beyond the sporadic one-shot is likely to happen. I had heard there were at least two four-parters that both IDW and Sony gave the thumbs up to, but are currently waiting for scheduling.
This artwork rocks and would make me want to buy a Ghostbusters comic again! IDW’s regular style of art sucks which is why I haven’t bought any of the new Ghostbusters comics.
Pretty cool I loved it! Upon reading the synopsis I was worried that the cartoon would once again be getting the shaft but this includes the overall feel of the entire franchise cartoon included (Cynthia Crawford’s cameo kicks ass).
I wish someone from IDW read all the positive feedback that this story has gotten from us ghostheads. This is the best Ghostbusters comic ever for many reasons, but the most important one is it is made by REAL GHOSTHEADS FOR GHOSTHEADS, when is IDW going to find guys like Dan and James who have been Ghostbusters fans for the past 20+ years? IMO IDW has missed a fantastic opportunity, this could have been a regular series that could have found way more success than any other Ghostbusters comic in the past… IDW, if you get to read this, you could have made a lot of money with this series… But you screwed it up… I really think it is a matter of time that any other company likes this comic pitch and publish it… Dan and James, please keep up the good work, don’t give up this idea and thanks for this.
There’s a Facebook page for this! http://www.facebook.com/pages/Ghostbusters-The-Rejected-Comic-Book-Pitch/332814598525?v=wall
Yup, that’s 1000 times better than anything IDW has put out.
Max is right. I like Dan’s artwork. It just may not be what IDW wants for their books. And the stories IDW is putting out right now are in a much different vein than this story. I bought the first IDW series and decided that I didn’t like what they were doing so I just stopped buying the books.
Dan and James put a lot of effort into this pitch, so I commend them for that. But ultimately IDW owns the license and they get to decide the look and feel for their books. James has his own magazine so they can always make this a regular strip in it.
Awesome pitch! Sad that IDW didn’t run with this but somehow this story should be told. This is the kind of comic the boys in grey need.
This is superior to what IDW is currently doing with GB. In my opinion the visuals are too good for a comic book. The proposal should be repackaged for a cartoon proposal.
The art is top notch and I can’t imagine any story they come up with being worse than the terribly writing in the most recent IDW Ghostbusters books.
“What a crime.” (This didn’t get made…)
I think this would have been a win for them and am disappointed they didn’t run with it. In a way, I can understand. The pitch was for at least 10 issues. What if people didn’t like it? The story arc seems to span over most of the ten issues with many things interrelated. Maybe it’s just me, but I think IDW couldn’t see the trees through the forest on this one and didn’t want to take a chance on a series where they didn’t recognize arcs ending every 3-4 issues (or at least could be considered stand-alone arcs). As I said, I wish they did take the chance and run with it. I love it!
Just wanted to chirp in with my thoughts on this since I am sure IDW will read this. Yup, I agree… a million times better than IDW’s books. (Sigh) Perhaps we shall be lucky and this will still get made! It’s a beautiful thing indeed.
I agree with most of y’all. This is SO much better than what IDW has been putting out. What really puts a bad taste in my mouth towards IDW now is knowing the type of material we could have been getting, when instead…
Oh – and I totally geeked myself over Cynthia Crawford’s cameo.
I actually like IDW’s fan-fiction way of writing with the GB property, with the exception of “The Other Side”. “Displaced Aggression” was their best outing overall. But, Dapper Dan and his partner’s pitch was excellent. Their comic should see the light of day.
Wow. Just read through all the pages and I must say that I really, REALLY love this.
IDW are pretty foolish to pass on this material. It’s really the first new GB fiction I’ve seen in ages that gets everything 100% right. And I’ve been a hardcore fan since age 7, so I ought to have a pretty informed opinion on such matters. This material skirts the line between the first movie and the first 2 seasons of RGB perfectly. And the writing here promises great payoff all to its own ends, which is something comics in general don’t offer up enough of anymore as it is.
I really hope this gets fully released in some form, one day down the road. It’s just bang-up freaking awesome in every way, and deserves a complete and polished chance to reach the fandom. Very impressive material. Well done James and Dan!
I would like to thank everyone for the overwhelmingly positive response to the Ghostbusters comic book pitch that Dan and I came up with!
Both Dan and I really believe in what we had achieved with the pitch, so you can imagine how despondent we were when IDW expressed they had no interest in our pitch – Of course we had to respect their opinion, but it didn’t stop us from feeling a bit crappy – However, the feedback, both here, and on Dan’s deviantART page, have made us feel a great deal better about the effort we put into creating this pitch!
I’d like to believe that one day the comic WILL happen, but for the moment it remains what you see here…:)
I really hope this gets made as it is much MUCH better than IDW’s work and the 88mph series, both which lacked a decent storyline and continuity(not to mention the substandard artwork). as a comic collector myself, i can understand why it might seem too bigger a pitch for most publishers(and obtaining the license can be a bitch) but i fail to understand why they couldnt have given it a shot, as this seems like the best GB related fiction so far, and i dont recall ever seeing this much of a reaction about the Other series of comics.
Good Luck Guys!!
[...] instantly appreciate them, has kind of gone nuts – Dan Schoening and James Eatock’s Ghostbusters pitch to IDW was enthusiastically embraced on the various Ghostbusters sites. By the next day, it was all over [...]
reading this feels like the first time i heard that speilberg was originally going to direct “return of the jedi”, but couldn’t because of all of that SAG bullshit… what a low-blow to ghostheads everywhere! this would have been THE comic book for us… the funniest part about this all is that this story about this rejected comic (which i might add, has been picked up by the NY daily news) has gotten more press and commotion than any of IDW’s GB comics have ever gotten combined!!! smooth move IDW…
GOOD news!
[...] obviously had an editorial plan in mind for the Ghostbusters license, and the 10 issue series laid out by Schoening and Eatock was impressive, if not a good match with what IDW had in mind, but everyone had the same reaction [...]
Yo, James Eatock was or still is apart of our Face book group page; he was sort of bashed for his name, but we didn’t know who he was.
LOL – Dr. Bob, the only reason I left your Facebook group was because I didn’t feel that I could contribute anything!
– I still check in to see how you guys are doing…