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Ghostbusters Comics Reading Order (IDW and Dark Horse)

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If there’s something strange in your comics, who you gon’ call? Ghostbusters! And to do that, you’ll have to check out IDW Publishing’s catalogue, as it has been the house of the Ghostbusters comics since 2008.

The Ghostbusters franchise started with the 1984 movie, directed by Ivan Reitman and written by Dan Aykroyd and Harold Ramis. It introduced us to this team of ghost hunters, professors Peter Venkman, Ray Stantz, Egon Spengler, and Winston Zeddemore. They had to face the evil Zuul to save New York City. It was only the beginning of their adventures.

The property subsequently expanded into animated television series, most notably The Real Ghostbusters (1986–1991) and Extreme Ghostbusters (1997), as well as video games, novels, and comic books. In comics, The Real Ghostbusters was adapted in the late 1980s by NOW Comics in the United States and by Marvel UK in the United Kingdom, both drawing directly from the animated series. In the 2000s, the Quebec-based publisher 88MPH Studios also produced The Real Ghostbusters comics. There was even a one-shot Manga in 2008.

In 2008, IDW Publishing acquired the license to produce Ghostbusters comics. Unlike previous publishers, IDW shifted away from the animated continuity and instead focused on the primary film continuity established by Ghostbusters (1984) and Ghostbusters II (1989), later incorporating elements from Ghostbusters: The Video Game (2009), which was co-written by Aykroyd and Ramis and is often treated as a canonical sequel. IDW lost the license in 2020 to Dark Horse Comics, putting an end to this continuity.

To navigate through all those comics, no need to call anybody, just follow our reading order!

Ghostbusters IDW Reading Order

First of all, let’s note that, in 2008, IDW Publishing launched its Ghostbusters line with several miniseries and one-shot publications. Some of these early releases, including the omnibus editions that later collected them, are now out of print and difficult to obtain. Since IDW no longer holds the Ghostbusters license, further reprints of this material are currently unlikely.

The return of Ghostbusters in comics was done by writer Keith Champagne and artist Tom Nguyen, who collaborated on the first miniseries. The first sequel was handled by writer Scott Lobdell and artist Ilias Kyriazis, after which the line expanded to include a Christmas-themed anthology produced by multiple creative teams.

The Ghostbusters Ongoing Series

It was in 2011 that IDW finally launched a monthly Ghostbusters ongoing series, written by Erik Burnham, with art by Dan Schoening and Tristan Jones. Set in the mid-1990s, the series depicts a rise in psychokinetic energy that keeps the Ghostbusters in constant demand. However, a new municipal contract engineered by Walter Peck restricts their ability to operate within New York City, forcing the team to take assignments elsewhere. In their absence, a rival ghost-hunting group emerges, creating direct competition.

The whole 16 issues of the first Ghostbusters ongoing series have been collected in one deluxe edition

There is also the Ghostbusters Spectral Shenanigans collection, which went beyond the first 16 issues, collecting the complete first two volumes of the ongoing series:

But it may be easier today to find the original trade paperbacks for those two Ghostbusters series:

In 2013, writer Erik Burnham and artist Dan Schoening returned for a new Ghostbusters ongoing comic book series, which picks up the story following the conclusion of the previous volume. The series expands the scope of the franchise by introducing the concept of parallel dimensions and alternate Ghostbusters teams.

The second volume concluded after 20 issues with a long storyline launched to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the Ghostbusters!

Ghostbusters: Interdimensional Cross-Rip

As many others, the Ghostbusters met the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles! It all starts when a new invention goes haywire, and the Turtles are sent to a different New York City. One with a whole lot more ghosts… We have a guide to the IDW TMNT comics if you are looking for more crossovers.

The X-Files: Conspiracy is a series of one-shots teaming up The Lone Gunmen with other characters from the IDW catalog. In one, the trio of conspiracy journalists investigates the Ghostbusters to see if they are the real deal.

Another type of crossover awaited the Ghostbusters with “Get Real.” When a confrontation with the elder god Proteus goes awry, resulting in Peter, Ray, Winston, and Egon encountering the characters from the animated series The Real Ghostbusters.

All those comics were still produced by Erik Burnham and Dan Schoening, who went back to a new ongoing series: Ghostbusters International. The series follows the team as they respond to paranormal disturbances both in New York City and abroad, including a case in Venice, Italy. After a high-profile bust at the United Nations, the Ghostbusters are contracted to investigate an Old World haunting, initiating a global mystery while they continue to manage their official obligations to the City, County, and State of New York.

The 11 issues of Ghostbusters International, Ghostbusters: Get Real, and the 2015 Annual were collected in the now hard-to-find hardcover deluxe edition Ghostbusters: Interdimensional Cross-Rip.

  • Ghostbusters: Deviations #1 (one-shot, what-if? story about the Stay-Puft Marshmallow Man winning at the end of the first movie)
  • Ghostbusters: Funko Universe #1 (one-shot, the Funko adventures of the Ghostbusters)

The 2017 Annual was a double-sized book delivering the origin of Slimer, a crazy bust in the Midwest with the Chicago Ghostbusters, a look back at what Winston Zeddemore was up to during the Scolari Brothers incident in Ghostbusters 2, and more…

The Ghostbusters Miniseries

Following the conclusion of the ongoing series, IDW’s Ghostbusters publications mainly consisted of miniseries. The creative team of writer Erik Burnham and artist Dan Schoening was still in charge, though. 

First, the miniseries Ghostbusters 101 marked a crossover between the original 1984 team and the 2016 film team, featuring Holtzmann, Yates, Tolan, and Gilbert. This storyline, continued in Ghostbusters: Crossing Over

Then, in the sequel to the previous TMNT/Ghostbusters crossover, the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles become trapped in a ghost dimension by a longstanding adversary, and the Ghostbusters are called upon to rescue them.

To mark the 35th anniversary of the franchise, IDW published a special collection comprising four stories featuring the original Ghostbusters, The Real Ghostbusters, the Answer the Call team from the 2016 film, and the Extreme Ghostbusters.

  • Ghostbusters 35th Anniversary Collection
    Collects: Ghostbusters 35th Anniversary: Ghostbusters, Ghostbusters 35th Anniversary: The Real Ghostbusters, Ghostbusters 35th Anniversary: Answer The Call Ghostbusters, and Ghostbusters 35th Anniversary: Extreme Ghostbusters.

After the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, the Ghostbusters got a crossover with the Transformers! The Autobots detect a mysterious, ghostly Cybertronian signal coming from Earth, a phenomenon that should not exist. This signal brings them into contact with the original Ghostbusters as they investigate its origin.

Finally, before the release of the 2020 Ghostbusters film, writer Erik Burnham and artist Dan Schoening returned to the franchise’s origins with a 4-issue miniseries exploring the team’s first year on the job, revisiting the early cases of Peter, Ray, Egon, and Winston, providing new stories set shortly after the events of the 1984 film.

The Dark Horse Comics Ghostbusters Series

Since the release of the most recent Ghostbusters film, IDW has not published any new comics. The franchise license has since moved to Dark Horse Comics, which is producing new stories based on the legacy sequel continuity.

The first book, Back in Town, by writer David M. Booher and artist Blue Delliquanti, is set a year and a half after the events of Ghostbusters: Afterlife. Callie, Gary, Trevor, and Phoebe are moving into the Firehouse and ready to take on the Spengler family business…

IDW Publishing also produced a lot of comics based on other 1980s popular franchises like the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, G.I. Joe, and Transformers. 

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