When my family moved from Connecticut to Arizona in 1988, I had no idea what a monsoon was. The first time the summer sky turned red and heavy, I pulled on my blue, plastic Ghostbusters proton pack, walked outside, and proclaimed, "This is it! This is definitely it!" My foam proton stream did little to quell the stormy weather, but, hey, I can't say I didn't try.
The original Ghostbusters movie remains one of my favorite movies of all time. I quote it several times a week and watch it a few times a year. As a kid, I watched the cartoon, played with the toys, and read stories about the supernatural in the hopes that it was all real. Most importantly, I shared these experiences with my friends. I especially remember the nights we'd watch and re-watch the "ghost boy" scene in Three Men And A Baby. That was the closest we ever came to actually catching Zuul.
Beyond humanity's endless fascination with the supernatural, I think the timeless success of the Ghostbusters franchise is the enduring camaraderie of three friends from college, and the new recruit turned brother-in-arms. Peter, Ray, and Egon were obviously bound by their eccentricities (and their tolerance of each other's eccentricities), but Winston brought a humanity that made them even more charming. Yes, Winston was us, any one of us that foolishly pulled on a proton pack to "join the guys."
So, when Ernie Hudson was at Phoenix Comicon's FanFest last weekend, I was thrilled to see so many Ghostbusters in the crowd. I drew Slimer for some of them, and the brief but poignant memories we shared about the Ghostbusters made me feel like a kid again. That's one of the many super powers of comic con. It hands you that smoking trap and makes you feel right at home.
Come back later this week for more memories from Phoenix Comicon's FanFest, and information on where to find Amazing Arizona Comics next!
