IDW - Transformers vs Ghostbusters #3

Title: Ghost of Cybertron, Part 3

Written by: Erik Burnham

Art by: Dan Schoening

Colours by: Luis Antonio Delgado

Letters by: Tom B. Long

Assistant Editor: Megan Brown

Editors: David Mariotte & Tom Waltz

Plot

At the Ghostbuster's Firehouse, Janine isn't impressed with Ectronymous, but not because she's afraid, she's just annoyed because she thinks he's going to cause damage that they'll have to fix themselves afterwards. She also outright refuses to call Ectronymous Diamatron by his full name, so gives him the nickname "Ectotron", which he reluctantly accepts.

Starscream arrives at the firehouse, where he is greeted by Janine threatening him with a proton grenade until the Ghostbusters inform her that she's "sort of" with them. Screamer gets annoyed so he goes upstairs, utilizing his new size-changing abilities. Venkman follows him, and sees him trying, and failing to kill another captive ghost, Slimer, and Venkman outright tells him that he doesn't trust him, and knows he's up to something. Starscream warns the human not to taunt him, when Venkman activates a hidden ghost trap and locks Screamer inside.

Downstairs, Venkman tells the others what he did, and they agree that it might be for the best. Ray repairs Ectotron's communicator (which just had a loose wire) allowing him to contact the Ark.

Behind the Earth's Moon, the Ark is waiting when they get Ectotron's communication, Optimus talks to him (and is glad that he got a shorter name) and is intrigued by Ectotron's findings on the planet and decides to come to the planet himself.

Wheeljack and Grimlock try to talk Prime out of going to Earth himself, but he insists on doing it, as showing faith in his followers is what makes him a great leader.

Back on Earth, the Ghostbusters get a job at a warehouse, and they need Ectotron to drive them there, with the promise that they'll be back to meet Optimus when he arrives.

Soon, the team arrive at the warehouse in Brooklyn, where Egon detects a signal similar to the one from the Kremzeek they battled before. Ectrotron wants to help out, so he takes a trap and starts modifying it.

Optimus arrives on Earth and takes on a truck mode, he heads to the Firehouse, but doesn't see Ectotron, so he does into a rest cycle...unfortunately some punks arrive and decide to graffiti him up...

At the warehouse, Winston and Venkman investigate but can't find anything, until Venkman flips a switch, releasing the ghost, Killerwatt, a GIANT electrical spirit.

They run outside, leading the spirit towards the others, and they try holding it in place with their particle beams, but they realize that the ghost is feeding on the city's power grid, prompting Ectotron to smash the power lines, weakening the spirit. The team use the modified trap and capture the electrical being, without the trap exploding this time!

The team return to the Firehouse, where they find the "decorated" Optimus Prime waiting for them, Venkman leaves the group to recover the trap he placed Starscream in, so they can get to business, but when he returns he is shocked to find that the trap is empty! Starscream has somehow escaped!!

Characters

Autobot

Optimus Prime - Truck

Ectronymous Diamatron/Ectotron - Ecto-1 Replica

Grimlock

Wheeljack - Hover Van

Decepticon

Starscream - Tetrajet (Ghost) Missing after being Trapped by Venkman

Ghostbuster

Peter Venkman

Egon Spengler

Ray Stantz

Winston Zeddemore

Janine Melnitz

Other Human

New York Punks

Mr Colchamiro (Mentioned)

Mr Avery (Mentioned)

Other

Killerwatt Captured by the Ghostbusters and Ectotron

Slimer Imprisoned by the Ghostbusters

Kremzeek (Mentioned)

Primus (Mentioned)

Notes

• Just like the rest of the Ghostbusters, Janine is not bothered at all by the appearance of Ectotron, showing just how much they've been through in their own series.
• Janine is the one who renamed Ectronymous Diamatron into the "Ectotron" from the toy, as she refuses to say an eight syllable name. A decision that everyone is happy with, even (reluctantly) Ectronymous himself.
• The portrait of Vigo the Carpathian, the main villain and haunted item of Ghostbusters II is seen in the entry-hall of the Ghostbuster's Firehouse.
• Starscream reveals that as a ghost, he has the ability to change sizes.
• The ghost in the containment chamber is the original version of Slimer from the first two movies, and is not the "cute" sidekick from the animated series'
• The firehouse has various ghost traps rigged into the walls, and most likely other things. This makes a lot of sense when you think about it!
• The Ark is revealed to have just stayed behind the Moon since dropping off Ectotron...why couldn't more Autobots have gone with him, if they were just going to stay in the area anyway?!
• Egon still refuses to accept that Ectotron and the Cybertronians are aliens.....WHY?!?!?!
• In a possible error, Janine answers the phone to a "Mr Colchamiro" but the order form states that their contact is "Mr Avery". It's possible this is the same person somehow, or there were two phone calls for orders made, or some sort of ghostly manipulation. But most likely they just changed the name between the scripting and artwork being made for the comic.
• Ectotron doesn't want to talk about the experience of having the Ghostbusters ride around inside him.
• In the car park where Optimus scans his Earth-mode we see the orange truck that he scanned in the original cartoon, but also the what appears to be the five vehicles the Stunticons were created from in the series too. Now, whilst we didn't see the Stunticons die last issue, I don't think these are them either. These are most likely either doppelgangers or actually the original vehicles that would have been stolen and converted in the originally intended timeline.
• The ghost this issue is Killerwatt, from the Real Ghostbusters cartoon, though I think it's safe to assume that this version is another minion of Mara-Al-Utha 
• The graffiti on Optimus includes a load of references to Transformers and Ghostbusters (I won't go into them all here, but some are shown in the picture above)
• Venkman starts to make the old "Pessimus Prime" joke when meeting Optimus, until Ectotron stops him.