Peoplebusters

Peoplebusters
Occupation:	Catching People
Appeared In:	The Real Ghostbusters "Flip Side" The Real Ghostbusters NOW Comics "Annual 1993"

The Peoplebusters are flip versions of the Ghostbusters in an alternate universe, with corresponding versions of Egon Spengler, Ray Stantz, and Peter Venkman. The weapons they use are not unlike the Slime Blower, utilising slime to catch humans. There are also alternate versions of Janine Melnitz, and possibly Slimer. They reside in a city called Boo York, nicknamed "The Big Pumpkin."

Members

• Flip-Egon is a skeleton with a tentacle replacing the rat-tail portion of his hair. There's even a mouth at the end of it.
• Flip-Peter is a zombie who occasionally has trouble standing up.
• Flip-Ray is a patchwork construct, styled after Frankenstein's monster . He even has a hand in place of one foot.
• Flip-Janine is a zombie, but more skeletal-looking than Flip-Peter
• Flip-Slimer isn't a ghost, but appears to still be an unnaturally occurring cephalapod-like entity. Possibly alive or para-natural.
• There is no known Flip-counterpart to Winston.

History

Primary Canon

The Peoplebusters, during their dealing with living Ray, living Peter, and living Egon, chased the Ghostbusters around Boo York looking to bust them, in much the same way Ghostbusters do to ghosts in their own universe. After all three Ghostbusters were put in the Flip Side version of the Containment Unit they found the same type of weather-like twister that brought them there. The Peoplebusters then came in to deal with them, but were stopped because the Ghostbusters' equipment worked in the Containment Unit's Earth-style environment, coating the Peoplebusters in their own slime weapon. The Ghostbusters then safely returned to their home dimension, along with all of the humans captured by the Peoplebusters.

NOW Comics

In NOW comics Annual 1993, the Ghostbusters end up letting the Peoplebusters out into our world. As of the end of the story the Peoplebusters are at large in the human universe.

Equipment

The Peoplebusters' slime-throwing backpack is a large tank of green slime with eyeballs floating in it. The slime encases humans in an envelope of inescapable green slime, which acts in a similar manner to a trap. The slime apparently dissipates upon contact with a regular Earth-like environment, as the Ghostbusters are seen moving around unslimed after being dumped into one.

Captured humans are thrown into a containment grid. However inside the grid is what's observed to be a pleasant earth-style environment. People have been entering the Flip-Side realm at least as far back as the 1920s, as evidenced by a female pilot wearing gear similar to Amelia Earhart's being seen in the Containment Unit. The Peoplebusters can also enter the Containment Unit at will, in order to enforce order within it should any humans they have captured try to escape.

The Peoplebusters' symbol is like the one used by the Ghostbusters, with a depiction of Egon instead of the ghost. Also of note is that Egon's appearance to the citizens of Boo York is supposedly quite frightening, as Boo York barbers can make their customers' hair stand up by showing them a picture of Egon (to which Peter quips "And that's your GOOD side, too!").

Personality

The three Peoplebusters seem to be similar to the Ghostbusters except they are very boastful and decidedly nastier in disposition. For instance Flip-Egon in particular displays more emotion than Egon, including a cruel sense of humor whereas Egon's wit is more dry. And Flip-Ray seems more hard-nosed and uncompromising than Ray.

However, some scenes hint that the Peoplebusters are not really evil and that they only capture humans to so that they don't bother the ghosts. Judging how the crowds in Boo York were cheering them, the Peoplebusters' attitudes and morality appear to be their realm's version of what is considered virtuous and heroic, the way the Ghostbusters are viewed and loved in the world of the living. This would make sense considering the physical laws of our realm do not apply there, so why would morality there match ours?

Trivia

• Since the comic book annual was never concluded properly, it is unknown what happened to the Peoplebusters. Prominent Ghostbusters fan Fritz Baugh wrote his own unofficial ending to the story where the Peoplebusters were trapped and put into the Containment Unit.
• The Collectors appear to be visually based on the Peoplebusters.

Conflicts

One interesting conflict is the lack of Winston Zeddemore in a flip version. This might have something to do with the fact that Winston wasn't with the others when they went through the gateway. Other possibilities of why a Peoplebuster counterpart of Winston wasn't present could be that the Peoplebusters timeline works differently from the Ghostbusters timeline, and Winston's flip counterpart hadn't joined the team yet, or that Peoplebuster Winston was on vacation or out of town when Egon, Peter, and Ray entered the Flip Side world.

Another curiosity is that the Peoplebusters Slimer is a giant red octopus-like organic creature. Since Slimer is a ghost in a world of living creatures, it isn't that big a stretch for Flip-Slimer to be a living creature (albeit a monstrous one) in a paranormal environment, even though it would make more sense if Flip-Slimer was human. Some fans have speculated that the red octopus creature was not really the Flip counterpart of Slimer, but possibly an odd delicacy in the flip dimension. Others claim that since Slimer is the only ghost that acts friendly and almost human, a natural flip would be an organic creature that acts scary and more paranormal.

Another possibility is that Flip-Slimer is a para-natural entity, like the Basement Entity found in the Micawb's mansion. This would still make him alien in nature to the Peoplebusters' realm, since no living creature in the world of the living looks like what's found in the Peoplebusters' fridge.

Appearances

Primary Canon

The Real Ghostbusters

• "Flip Side"

Secondary Canon

The Real Ghostbusters NOW Comics

• "Annual 1993"

Gallery

Collages

Primary Canon

Peoplebusters firing their throwers

Peoplebusters firing their throwers

Flip Peter and Egon

Flip Peter and Egon

Flip Peter and Ray

Peoplebusters in their Containment Unit

In the Egon-1

In the Egon-1

In the Egon-1

Flip Peter

Flip Ray

Flip Ray

Flip Egon

Flip Egon

Flip Janine Melnitz

Flip Slimer

Covered in their own slime

Secondary Canon

The Peoplebusters as seen in Annual 1993

As seen in Annual 1993

Non Canon

Bob Camp character designs

Bob Camp character designs

Bob Camp character designs