Ghosts of Cybertron Part 3

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"We'd like to shoot the monster. Could you move, please?"
"Ghosts of Cybertron Part 3"
Publisher	IDW Publishing
First published	August 7, 2019
Cover date	July 2019
Written by	Erik Burnham
Art by	Dan Schoening
Colors by	Luis Antonio Delgado
Letters by	Tom B. Long
Editor	David Mariotte and Tom Waltz
Continuity	Transformers/Ghostbusters

Optimus Prime arrives on Earth, while Ectronymous and the Ghostbusters contend with another electrostatic phantom on their latest assignment.

Synopsis

At the Ghostbusters' firehouse headquarters, Ectronymous Diamatron is having trouble getting accustomed to life in New York City. Though the Ghostbusters' long-suffering secretary Janine, completely unfazed by the existence of giant robots, takes his presence in stride, she's not particularly interested in having to deal with the collateral damage caused by his size and bulk, or having to pronounce his ponderous name. She and Peter settle on a suitable nickname—"Ectotron"—that the Autobot grudgingly accepts. When Starscream arrives, the four men have to dissuade her from blasting the ghostly Decepticon with a proton grenade. An exasperated Starscream stalks upstairs, while Peter follows him, ostensibly to keep an eye on their guest.

Though Starscream is initially frustrated by his ponderous size in a world of humans, his ghostly state has some advantages, and although the former Air Commander is able to shrink himself to a more suitable size, he's unable to find any kind of technology he can use—except for the holding tank that contains one of the Ghostbusters' long-term guests, a slimy, gluttonous phantasm. An irritated Starscream briefly tries to take his frustrations out on the slovenly ghost, but finds, much to his dismay, that his ghostly blasts of energy are unable to penetrate the specially reinforced tank, much to the amusement of Peter.

Unfooled by Starscream's act, Venkman asks the Decepticon pointblank what he's really after. While Starscream maintains that he just wants his body back, Peter retorts that he's not taken in, as he recognizes a sneaky character when he sees one. Starscream warns Peter against taunting him, but the psychologist is already prepared: pushing a hidden switch, Starscream is caught off-guard by a secret ghost trap built into the wall, and promptly sucked inside. Confident that Starscream will be cooling his heels for a good while, Peter returns downstairs, where Egon and Ray have just finished repairing Ectotron's communications. Confident that he'll be able to reach Optimus Prime, Ectotron's signal reaches the Ark, currently in orbit around the far side of the Moon, where it's picked up by Optimus and Grimlock. Ectotron fills in his leader on everything that's happened thus far, and asks when he'll be able to come to Earth, but his call is interrupted by a ringing phone as someone phones the firehouse—there's a ghost that needs busting! Ectotron is confused why everyone's staring at him until Peter reminds him that, with the real Ecto-1 out of commission, he'll need to pull double-duty as their ride. Ectotron has reservations, not wanting to keep the Autobot leader waiting when he arrives on Earth, but nevertheless transforms and hits the siren as the team heads out.

In space, Optimus discusses the situation with both Grimlock and Wheeljack; Wheeljack is immediately skeptical of Ectotron's report of "Decepticon ghosts," and suggests that he be the one to head to Earth and investigate. Optimus politely declines, noting that part of being a leader is supporting your followers, and admits he himself is curious to see just what has Ectotron so worked up.

In Brooklyn, meanwhile, the Ghostbusters have arrived at their destination: an abandoned power plant. Egon detects high PKE readings, similar to those displayed by the Kremzeek entity during their encounter in Prospect Park. Remembering their last encounter with the ghost, the team sets about modifying their trap in order to better contain any potential electrostatic interference. Ectotron volunteers to assist, and though Peter is skeptical, it's Winston who comes up with the plan: while he and Peter flush out the ghost, the other three will ready Ectotron's modified trap.

None of them are aware, however, that Optimus Prime has already touched down on Earth in Westchester County, scanning a local disguise from a nearby travel plaza—and after an hour of travel, he's arrived at the Ghostbusters' firehouse HQ. While he awaits Ectotron's return, the Autobot leader parks in a nearby alleyway for a rest cycle, unaware that he's been found by a pair of young hoodlums...

Half an hour later, Peter and Winston have combed the building for anything supernatural to no avail, so Peter comes up with the idea to try and bait the electrically-charged ghost out by shutting off the power. The plan works—too well, in fact, as the fuse box explodes, knocking Peter across the room and releasing a monstrous ghost that crackles with electrical power! Ectotron and the other two Ghostbusters are taken aback when Peter and Winston burst out of the door, their proton packs ineffective against the ghost, rapidly swelling in size and bursting free from the factory roof. Though the four men swing into action, even all four of their proton packs can't restrain the ghost, and Egon theorizes that it may be drawing energy by tapping into the city's power grid. Ectotron and his mechanical vision corroborate this theory, and the Autobot joins the fight by tackling and smashing the nearest telephone pole! The monster's supply of energy momentarily cut off, Ray hurls Ectotron's modified ghost trap at their enraged quarry—and, with a blinding flash, the modified trap proves able to safely absorb and contain the ghost.

On returning to the firehouse, Peter and the Ghostbusters are ready to turn in for the night, but are surprised when they find that Optimus Prime has arrived, his graffiti-covered body proving that he's already been introduced to the wonders of New York City. Introductions are made all around, though Ectotron steps in to curtail Peter's usual sarcasm. When the conversation turns towards Starscream, Peter goes to retrieve the trap where he's been safely stored. In the interim, Prime and Janine make some awkward conversation, but things take a serious turn when Peter returns with the trap and reveals the bad news: Starscream has vanished!

Featured characters

(Numbers indicate order of appearance.)

Autobots	Decepticons	Ghostbusters	Others
Ectronymous Diamatron (1) Grimlock (9) Optimus Prime (10) Wheeljack (11)	Starscream (4)	Janine Melnitz (2) Peter Venkman (3) Winston Zeddemore (6) Ray Stantz (7) Egon Spengler (8)	"Slimer" (5) "Killerwatt" (12) Furg (13) Other punk (14)

 

Quotes

"Ugh. You look like a bag of human excrement. I should blast you out of your misery... Starscream is nothing if not merciful, after all..."

—Starscream meets Slimer

"...Is that you, Ectronymous?"
"You can call me Ectotron, Optimus. I've been convinced that it's easier."
_{"Oh, thank Primus."}

—Optimus Prime and Ectotron

"Let me ask you something—is it weird we were just riding around inside you a minute ago?"
"Let's... just agree to never speak of it."
"Fair."

—Peter and Ectotron

"Son of a gun. You really do know how to push everyone's buttons."
"It's a talent."

—Winston and Peter

"...Yeah, I'm not sticking my finger into that.
"It really shouldn't come to that."
"And hey, we won't judge you if it does."

—Ectotron, Egon, and Peter meet Killerwatt.

"Apparently, some of your kind saw fit to decorate me while I was waiting."
"Well, when in Rome, I guess. I hope this doesn't make you a Pessimus—"

—A graffiti'd Optimus meets Peter

Notes

Continuity notes

• On seeing Starscream's ghost, Janine prepares to lob a grenade at him. These "proton grenades" are a comic-original invention, having been designed by Egon during the first arc of the ongoing.
• While children of the '80's will probably best remember Slimer as the team's happy-go-lucky sidekick in the Real Ghostbusters cartoon, the IDW version of the character sticks closer to the nameless, repellent green ghost seen on the silver screen. Although he escapes from time to time, he's most frequently seen under lock and key in a transparent holding tank for research purposes, as originally introduced in Ghostbusters: The Video Game.
• Peter imprisons Starscream in a Wall-Trap, another creation of the comic introduced in the second volume of the ongoing. The trap was voice-activated in previous appearances, but now seems to allow manual activation by switch as well.
• Peter has retained his "World of the Psychic" mug, which he obtained during his time as a TV show host in the timeskip between the first two Ghostbusters films.

Transformers references

• Snacks on Janine's desk include a drink of "Sugar Spike," and a box of candy with an Energon cube displayed on the front.
• Slimer's holding tank features a photo of Alana in her robotic form.
• One of the vehicles in the travel plaza is an orange truck hauling a blue trailer. While it is not shown on screen, it is heavily implied that this the vehicle from which Optimus Prime assumes a suitable disguise; the same truck appeared in the opening act of "More than Meets the Eye, Part 1," in which it also provided the template for Prime's vehicle mode.
• Also present in the parking lot of the travel plaza are a quintet of vehicles based on the Generation 1 Stunticons: a black tractor-trailer (Motormaster), a yellow race car (Drag Strip), a black sports car (Wildrider), a red coupe (Dead End), and a red and white car (Breakdown).
• The two punks who spray-paint Optimus are gender-swapped versions of characters from the Generation 1 episode "Auto-Bop"; the one with the purple mohawk is based on Furg, while the one with the green hair is based on an unnamed member of Furg's gang, with the addition of a pair of visor shades.
• Graffiti on Optimus Prime reads both "'84," referencing the debut year of both the Transformers and Ghostbusters franchises, and "HUMANƧ ARE WIMPƧ," the infamous message that the Battlechargers spray-painted on the Statue of Liberty in issue #23 of the Marvel comic.

Ghostbusters references

• The painting of Vigo the Carpathian, the main antagonist of Ghostbusters II, can be glimpsed in its usual position in the firehouse's main foyer.
• A box of "Hasty Pastry" donuts can be glimpsed next to the coffee machine, referencing the brand from the Real Ghostbusters episode "The Joke's on Ray." Within are donuts based on the Krispy Kreme promotional donuts released in 2014 to commemorate the franchise's 30th anniversary.
• While suggesting a nickname for Ectronymous, Janine notes that "Robo-Buster" is taken; the original holder of the name was a one-off character from the Real Ghostbusters cartoon, though IDW's iteration of the team joined forces with an alternate-reality version of that character in 2018's "Crossing Over" miniseries.
• "Slimer" is seen eating a box of "Chick in the Box" fried chicken, from the Real Ghostbusters episode "Chicken, He Clucked."
• A can of Blody appears next to the microwave on page 5, a fictional soft-drink brand from the Real Ghostbusters episode "The Halloween Door".
• Peter derogatorily refers to Slimer as a "spud," a nickname for the green ghost that originated in the original Ghostbusters film.
• And, of course, it wouldn't be a Ghostbusters crossover without someone saying the iconic line from the theme song: in this case, it's Grimlock, who boasts that he "ain't afraid of no ghosts."
• The electrically-charged ghost and his modus operandi are based off Real Ghostbusters one-off villain Killerwatt, who appeared in the episode of the same name. Furthering the reference, a piece of abandoned machinery in the factory is drawn to resemble Killerwatt's final form from that episode, a possessed mass of technology. The call Janine takes from a "Mr. Avery" is a reference to Killerwatt's voice actor, James Avery.
• More graffiti fun: the number "555-1383," on Prime's right shoulder, is the phone number of the Merideth family from the Real Ghostbusters episode "The Grundel." Another tag on Prime's left arm reads "VENKMAN BURN IN HELL," referencing the message painted on Peter's office door in the opening act of the first Ghostbusters film.

Real-world references

• While coming up with a nickname for Ectronymous, Janine compares the suffix "-Tron" to the film of the same name.
• Peter compares Ectotron to E.T. and suggests that he "phone home."
• Janine's phone call from a "Mr. Colchamiro" is likely a reference to writer Erik Burnham's real-life acquaintance Ethan Colchamiro.
• A cameo right out of left field, the Outlaw vehicle from the M.A.S.K. franchise also makes a surprise appearance in the travel plaza, next to "Motormaster." Believe it or not, this isn't the first time that the vehicle has crossed paths with the Transformers; it previously appeared in the First Strike miniseries alongside its inventor and driver Miles Mayhem.
• Graffiti fun, continued: another tag on Optimus reads "Destro," and the intials "DS" on his chest are a likely acronym for comic artist Dan Schoening.

Covers (3)

• Cover A: Optimus Prime and Peter vs. the Decepticons, by Dan Schoening and Luis Antonio Delgado, part 3 of a 5-part composite cover
• Cover B: Ectotron and the Ghostbusters blast their way outta trouble, by Nick Roche and Josh Burcham
• Retailer incentive cover: Ectotron gets slimed by Slimer, by Philip Murphy

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• Transformers/Ghostbusters #4
• Transformers '84 #0
• Various IDW Ghostbusters collections
• IDW comics for sale in August
• G.I. Joe #256
• Starcadia Quest miniseries (by James Roberts)
• 35th Anniversary of Transformers and Ghostbusters (back cover)

External links

• Preview
• Ghosts of Cybertron 3 at the Ghostbusters Wiki