Tobin's Spirit Guide: Official Ghostbusters Edition

This was one of those books I think I've wanted all my life; an OFFICIAL Ghostbusters "bestiary", describing in colorful details many of their greatest (and some of their most obscure) villains and cases. There have been many unofficial "Tobin's Spirit Guides" that have popped up on Amazon, so don't be fooled when making your selection; this one's the real deal.What I appreciate most about this book is that Erik Burnham, longtime writer for IDW's (excellent) Ghostbusters comic series, doesn't play favorites with any particular continuity or source media. Virtually EVERY offshoot of the franchise gets represented with an entry or two: The movies, the comics, the video games, and the cartoons (the Slimer! series being the only one left behind, I think). Even as big a Ghostbusters fan as I am, I had to look one of these guys up online because I didn't recognize them off the top of my head (the villain from Sanctum of Slime, a video game I'd never played).Like I said, the continuity is loose, so some entries describe the Ghostbusters encounters with the monster with a familiar plot summary (what you saw in the movies or read in the comics). Other times, the descriptions of the encounters take ideas from the source material but tell a mostly original story (many of the Real and Extreme Ghostbusters monsters do this). Some, on occasion, contradict information from the source (Sargossi's death as depicted in his Tobin's entry is different from how it was describe in the Video Game character profile). I don't mind this, so much, as it keeps the information fresh and exciting; if I wanted to read nothing but plot summaries of old cartoon episodes, I'd just go to Wikipedia.The artwork from Kyle Hotz is very dark and macabre, rendering even the more whimsical villains from the cartoons in a menacing way. The book is intended to read in-universe as a sort of faux-grimoire, so I think this approach was very fitting. As much as I enjoy Dan Schoening, the main artist for the IDW comics and Burnham's creative partner, his style is very light and cartoony; it wouldn't have fit this sort of project very well.I hope for future volumes of the series to cover some of the bad guys I liked who didn't make the cut for this edition. Most of the fan favorites do make it in (the Boogieman, the Sandman, Samhain, Gozer, Vigo, etc.), so even if there is never a followup, I think this one can stand on its own.

I purchased this one over the green nerdblock version of this because it was hardcover. After getting this one and seeing how good it was, I couldn't pass up on the Nerdblock edition, even if there wasn't any differences other than the covers. It's a good quality hard cover.Unlike the poorly written version of the Tobin's Spirit guide with the brown cover, this one is very well written and I didn't note an grammar errors. Every entity has an outstanding black and white illustration for it. Some being single page pieces and some being nice two page spreads. The artwork is all based on either the movie versions or the art in the Real Ghostbusters cartoon. These are not cartoon like illustrations though, they are all high quality illustrations with tons of details. There may be a few pieces that are completely original for the book. If you are a fan of everything that is Ghostbusters you will feel right at home paging through the book. They chose what I feel are the most popular of ghosts and spirits from the cartoons and movies.Comparing this one to the green Nerdblock version, this one has slightly lighter background printing of the paper. That is the aged paper and slight blood stain effect. This is extremely minor and so small that people could likely find some hard cover books with a darker printing that the softcover. I've only got my two copies to compare, but I felt it worth pointing out.All said and done a worthy addition to your Ghostbusters collection.

I've been excited for this book since it was first announced and I instantly pre-ordered it. Ghostbusters, much like many my age (and older), is an important part of my childhood, but I also consider it an important part of my adult life. Thanks to comic book publisher IDW we have had an amazing ongoing Ghostbusters series for years as well as several miniseries. This book is another amazing addition to that and its something I think any Ghostbusters fan, be they fans of the movies, cartoons, or comics, will enjoy.Tobin's Spirit Guide is something Ghostbusters fan will be familiar with. When Ray or Egon needed information on a particular nasty spirit, or a class of ghost, one of the books they would refer to was Tobin's Spirit Guide. This book is more as if Tobin's Spirit Guide was written in modern day and has descriptions of the baddies the Ghostbusters have faced in the movies, cartoon, and both films. That's a minor complaint of mine. I would have loved in the book were full of stuff we've not seen before and then the end of the book was an addition by Ray and Egon of the stuff they've faced. Again, minor complaint as there around 100 pages in this book.The writer, Erik Burnham (who currently writes IDW's Ghostbusters book as well as Back to the Future), does a great job with the descriptions of the different baddies in the book and writing in character as either Ray or Egon. Artist Kyle Hotz does an AMAZING job of bringing the ghosts, demons, and demigods to life through his drawings. That's one of the surprising things is the art style for the ghosts is much more vivid and realistic than I expected and it was a great surprise. Character's like Samhain, Vigo, Slimer, and Zuul look terrifying. Dan Schoening has drawn most of the Ghostbusters comics for IDW and he has become one of my favorite artists...I assumed he would be pulled in for this project, but I was wrong. When I saw he wasn't going to be the artist I was really bummed but Hotz on me over.As you can tell from this short review I liked the book. My only real complaint was the one above as the actual writing, art, and presentation is fantastic. The book might seem short but there's plenty of content there. I really do wish it was larger, but this could be 300 pages and I'd say the same. If you like the Ghostbusters comics, movies, or the Real Ghostbusters cartoon then you should do yourself a favor and grab this book. I'd also say I wish it was more like the actual Tobin's Spirit Guide and written from his perspective with Ray and Egon's notes scattered throughout along with all the content we have here. I can't give the book a bad review for not doing that; its just something I wish we got.Also, the logo on the front of the book is an amazing play on the "no ghost" logo.

What a great book for Ghostbusters fans!!!

Me encantó el libro, ya forma parte de mi colección de CAZAFANTASMAS, de buena calidad y tamaño, bien detallado y explicado.

If there's something strange in your neighbourhood who can ya call ........well check out anyway . The answer is tobins spirit guide of course the ultimate guide for all your ghost busting needs ........get it while it's still alive an kicking...........this is Peter venkman signing out 👻👻👻

Achtung! Buch ist in Englisch! Aber sehr genial!

Présentant une large gamme des fantômes de la licence culte, cet ouvrage est un indispensable à toute collection autour de SOS Fantômes / Ghostbusters qui se respecte !La qualité globale du livre, comme celle de son contenu, est excellent et on prend un grand plaisir à (re)découvrir ces sales bêtes de revenants en tout genre. Il contient des petites pointes d'humour, des textes inspirés et des illustrations magnifiques, à la hauteur de la couverture.Attention aux anglophobes : ce livre n'existe qu'en Anglais.

The artwork in this book is worth the price alone...I was a little disappointed with the writing : it should have been called the "Ghostbusters' Spirit Guide" since it seems they pretend the book was written by Dr. Ray Stans (founder of the Ghostbusters), so every spirit described comes from the Lore of the Ghostbusters cartoons and movies (previous to the Women's Ghostbusters of 2016, nothing about this latest creation finds a place in the book).All and all, a good book for a very light reading...