Hooray for Internets and their unrelenting fan bases! Ghostbusters got two kick-ass wins this week. The first involving a much needed patch (plus possible DLC) for Ghostbusters: The Video Game’s online play. The second is IDW addressing why Schoening and Eatock’s comic wasn’t picked up.

Jame Eatock posted this earlier this week:

IDW explained to Schoening and Eatock why they turned down their 10-page pitch, as well as IDW’s plans for the franchise. Apparently these plans also involve the two of them working on a Ghostbusters related project. Which is pretty awesome.

IDW Editor, Tom Waltz explained where they were coming from on the GBFans Forum. I’m very surprised how out of their way IDW has gone to keep the Ghostbusters fan community happy. Included below is what Tom posted:

Hello, everyone.

First of all, let me thank every GB fan on this board for your dedicated support to this great franchise. It’s great to see fans interacting so passionately, no matter what the debate may be, or what side you happen to take. Just shows there is still a lot of Ghostbusters love in this world, and I’m happy for it.

Secondly, please know that we at IDW — starting with myself as the GB editor, and all the way through the editorial ranks and beyond — also love the Ghostbusters. We would never have taken on the license if we didn’t. We are passionate fans, too, first and foremost, and we want to do big, exciting things with the property and its beloved characters.

That said, we’ve been catching a bit of heat lately about Dan and James’ rejected pitch, and not always fairly. The truth is this — the pitch was rejected for many reasons that I won’t go into here, other than to say none of it had to do with quality. Dan and James put together a professional, high-quality pitch, and we did take notice. Matter of fact, I’ve been talking recently with both gents about doing some GB stuff for IDW in the near future — I love their work, as does the movie studio.

No, it won’t be their 10-issue story — right now, the direct market is not a viable avenue for a maxi-series of that sort. Sad but true. The direct market simply is what it is, and as much as we’d like to do a long series like the one James and Dan pitched, or even an ongoing series (and, trust me, I’d LOVE to be editing a GB ongoing), it isn’t feasible at this point in time. GB sales would have to jump dramatically for us to even consider it — and, again, it’s purely a business decision and has nothing to do with James’ or Dan’s creative talent, nor IDW’s perceived lack of love for the property. Comic books, though nobody likes to admit it, are a business, and we publishers are at the will of retailers and comics buyers — and right now, as popular as it is with folks on this forum, Ghostbusters is not getting the kind of direct market pre-orders/orders or interest that would justify anything beyond one-shots and/or four-issue mini-series. The numbers are good, but we need them to be great.

Furthermore, I have to admit to being offended by some who, because our previous offerings haven’t been to their tastes, are saying our past creators and editorial teams didn’t possess true love or understanding of the franchise. One, that is blatantly false — every creator we’ve worked with sought us out because they love GB and genuinely wanted to be a part of the universe. Two, everything we publish is first scrutinized and approved by the movie studio, and nothing goes to the printer until they bless it front to back, top to bottom — and, yes, we do rewrites and redraws all the time. I’d like to think that, after all this, if the studio gives it the thumbs up, then you as fans are, indeed, getting bonafide Ghostbusters stories, duly approved by the very people who brought you Ghostbusters in the first place. Does that mean you have to like what you get? No… you don’t, and we acknowledge and respect that not everyone will be happy with our output. But please never think we’re just doing these things on our own without any passion for the property, or any input from the studio, because that is just not true.

All this being said, I, like all of you, want more Ghostbusters. My goal as the editor of the property at IDW is to build our numbers to the point where we can do an ongoing series — and with your help, I might just be able to do that. How can you help? By letting your retailers know you want more Ghostbusters comics ordered and stocked in their stores, by positively supporting the books that have come before and are yet to be published (and we’ve got some good ones coming), and by making sure the next GB movie is a huge hit, which will carry over into comics sales, I have no doubt.

We are all on the same team, folks. Flame wars and in-fighting do nothing for the cause but weaken it. Instead, let’s get fired up and get the world thinking and talking about the Ghostbusters again in nothing but good ways!

I know I want that to happen… what about you?

Thanks for taking the time to read this. I really do appreciate it.

I’ll see all of you in the funny books.

Tom Waltz
Editor
IDW Publishing

Thanks to Proton Charging for keeping up on GB news.