Ghostbusters Omnibus Timeline

When I first started this project on my hard drive in 1998, it was a lot more straightforward. There were two movies, and two animated series (The Real Ghostbusters and Extreme Ghostbusters), with two runs of comics published by Now. Things happened in a sort of loose "real time"...it had been over a decade (at that point) since the first movie, so it had been over a decade for the characters as well.

This was when Ghostbusters 3 was only a rumor. And long before 88MPH, iBooks, and Atari came along and introduced all of their retcons and/or reboots of the property.

After some soul searching, I decided the best way to handle it was to, at long last, subdivide the Timeline. All material filmed/broadcast/published before 2008 will still be covered by the Classic Timeline. The New Timeline will concentrate on material created since 2008, starting with the release of The Other Side and Ghost Busted, continuing with the 2009 video game, and eventually the possible third movie.

For the most part, none of these will be reflected in the Classic Timeline.

This archive is written in the format pioneered by Micheal and Denise Okuda in their Star Trek Chronology, treating the movies, video game, and comics published since 2008, ect. as though they are part of one, consistant unfolding saga.

One major difference from the Classic Timeline and the New Timeline is the placement of the events of the first movie in 1984 and the second in late 1989. The "shift" of those stories one year was suggested by the animation, which is not considered canon in the New Timeline. Some birthdates that were firmly established by pre-2008 animation are no longer considered valid, except for some derived from the GBI role playing game (and, in one case, "confirmed" in EGB).

Where are The Real Ghostbusters and Extreme Ghostbusters, then?

Those are still integral to the Classic Timeline, which focuses on parts of the franchise released before 2008, and the GBI Timeline, which is a "fanon" timeline in which I (and several others) set our fan fictions.

But what about the 88MPH Studios Comics and the iBooks novel? Where do they fit in?

The 88MPH series is essentially a complete "reboot" of the property, restarting after the first movie. The iBooks series is set in a "nebulous time" approximately two years after the second movie. Neither take the continuity formed by the animation into account (though 88MPH is making at least some minor nods to it by having an RGB-styled Ecto Containment Unit). The 88MPH series, like RGB, is contradicted by a strict interpretation of GB2--where the Ghostbusters are forced out of business just after defeating Gozer. The Return is invalidated by the upcoming video game, most notably in not having Venkman or Winston be Mayor of New York City. (Note that Legion is fit into the Classic Timeline with some modification, and at least some allusions are made to material in The Return, most notably Arnie Lapinski as Mayor between Lenny Clotch and Edwin McShane.)

The main elements of the canon are these.

Ghostbusters(GB1)(1984, Columbia Pictures) Directed by Ivan Reitman. The 1999 DVD release includes a commentary track by Reitman, Harold Ramis, and producer Bernie Brillstein, as well as deleted scenes. Some of this made it into the Timeline.

Ghostbusters 2(GB2)(1989, Columbia Pictures) Directed by Ivan Reitman.

Ghostbusters: The Other Side (2008-2009, IDW)

Ghostbusters: Ghost Busted (2008, Tokyopop)

Ghostbusters: Displaced Aggression (2009, IDW)

Ghostbusters: Past, Present, Future (2009, IDW)

Ghostbusters: Tainted Love (2010, IDW)

Updates to the New Timeline will eventually include:

Ghostbusters: The Video Game (2009, Atari/Sony)

Ghostbusters: A Frightfully Cheerful Role Playing Game and Ghostbusters International (GBI)(West End Games, 1986/1989) This is the sole non-movie exception to the "nothing from before 2008" rule; it was a licensed produced based solely off the movies. The GBI edition includes character profiles that give the ages of the characters, from which I derived some conjectural years of birth. Some "facts" I mention as conjectural were derived from material that OgreBBQ and I "established" during two campaigns run on this game system.

Ghostbusters.net, now archived, webmastered by Chad Paulson, was an experience. You could spend hours just prowling through the message boards and fan fictions. Its episode reviews included plot synapsis that were invaluable in preparing this document, and the insight and support of several members proved invaluable in the fine tuning of this document.

The Real Ghostbusters Fan Page! Webmastered by Shiela Paulson, possibly the most prolific creator of Ghostbuster fan fiction. Many of the names for Ghostbuster relatives not originating in the canon come from her works.

Labidolemur's Ghostbusters Fan Fiction Review, no longer online due to AOL shutting their hosting down, featured a wonderful Ghostbuster Canon List (slightly out of date, but it reminded me of things even I'd forgotten!) and some insightful insights into the characters, including some speculations about the Ghostbusters' religions and whether Egon has Marfan Syndrome.

Spook Central is run by Paul Rudoff, like Fritz a contributor to the Now comics' letter pages. Spook Central is one of the best GB sites of all, and the scripts to the movies found there proved invaluable to fact checking the spellings of some words and names

Proton Charging is a great Ghostbusters news site run by Chris "castewar" Stewart.

Real Ghostbusters: Out Of Control. Fan site established by Tory Brown back in the late 1990's, filled with some humorous "interviews'" with the Ghostbusters, some fan fics, and reference works. Matthew Riddle found the list of Ghostbusters birth dates there (though none of them were used as-is).

Then there were some non-Ghostbuster related works that were nevertheless very helpful

Randy McCall and Kevin Simbieda, Beyond the Supernatural (First Edition) (Palladium Books, 1988) While a part of a fictional role-playing universe, it has a wealth of real background detail and how the supernatural might work in a "real" world; a bit grimmer in tone than Ghostbusters, it is nevertheless worth a look if you can find it. The Parapsycholgist PCC just has "Ghostbuster" written all over it.

Don Rosa, The Life and Times of Scrooge McDuck (Egmont Publication, 1991-1993; printed in the United States by Gladstone Publishing , 1994-1996, and Gemstone Publishing, 2005) This brilliant work by the seldom-disputed heir to the legacy of the late Carl Barks took the disparate elements of Donald Duck and Uncle Scrooge continuity, not necessarily meant to work together (never mind be still studied sixty years later) and created a coherent timeline of events and a springboard he still uses to create some of the best stories being published today. Not a direct source, more an example of how it can be done.

The Movies are identified by their AMG Work Numbers

The comics are being marked by a system inspired by that at Inducks.org.

XU: A Story produced by the United States (ie Now Comics, 88MPH, IDW).

The new system provides a better system of referencing, especially in regards to issues with more than one story.

New Version

Compiled by Fritz Baugh

Before the Movies

The Movies

After the Movies

Other Timelines