When I first contacted Nick Runge concerning the image on the  "Ghostbusters Displaced Aggression Series #4 Cover" I sent him an email  and asked "where he got his inspiration for the cover?"  I noticed many  similarity between the Egon drawing and the Egon I Dress as when doing  Conventions and events as a Ghostbuster.  He then very respectfully and  humbly acknowledged to me that I was one of the inspirations for the  cover.  We formed a fast friendship which over time has grown into  partnership per say with each other.  He explained to me that IDW does  have a licensing right to publish the Ghostbusters comics, just not the  likeness rights to images or likeness of the original actors of  Ghostbusters, Murray, Ramis, Aykroyd and Hudson.

Nick is no  stranger to the comic world, he has an impressive history and portfolio  within the comic industry working for such comics as Angel and Spike,  Terminator Salvation, Star Trek and Superman. His vast ability and  growing talent has proven him to be more than just a ink slinger to fill  pages. When Nick then asked if we would like to work with him, giving  him reference photos for the variants covers he was assigned by IDW to  do for Ghostbusters, he wanted our help based on the equipment and faces  he saw within our group. The most important thing to Nick was to get it  right, and bring as much realism to the covers as possible. This was  also an extremely huge compliment to us, but I and the rest of The Real  Tampa Bay Ghostbusters knew that this was bigger than us.

Thus we  started to get Ghostbusters Fans outside of our group to be on the  covers as well.  Nick was very open to the idea.  So We then went into  the GB community to bring alive the next vision for IDW and Nick. We  thought, “Okay this is pretty big; a Ghostbusters comic book”.  Having  met many Ghostbusters from around the country, we then started  asking them to send in individual photo shoots based on the character  and position they would be playing on the cover that  we would be  shooting for Nick.  We would then later either incorporate them into our  photo collections for Nick.

We have used Ghostbuster fans from  all over, Robby Fuselier from Tallahassee,  Austin Young from Oklahoma  and now most recently our first International Ghostbuster Fan from the  United Kingdom- the always awesome Ben King.  For those of you who don’t  know these individuals I can tell you this from my personal  interactions with them: they are reliable, trustworthy individuals,  who understood what being a Ghostbusters is all about. They took the  time to meet a deadline and understood just how important it is to give  the characters from Ghostbusters more than a 2d feel.

As you can  see here in the photo's we shot we recreated to the best vision we  could based on the images Nick Runge were given for variant covers by  IDW.  You can see the progression here in the photos here for the 3  covers we have been involved with coordinating and shooting.  The shoots  are always great fun for all involved they take place in my backyard  which happens to be on a golf course, however sometimes leaves you  pretty open for just about anything from Jumanji-sized bugs and wild  coyotes. Yes, there was a wild black coyote that stopped by our photo  shoot one night. He saw us but decided we weren’t worth his time.  Then once we have our finished photos, we go through the 500 or so, and  give to Nick the best 30 to 50 shots, Nick of course takes on the  Hardest part in the next phase, drawling it out for the cover.

Since  our group has been helping, Nick he has done some of the most  successful covers for the Ghostbusters series including the holiday  issues "CON-VOLUTION" and "What the Sam Haim Happened."  Thankfully as  many fans of the comic know, IDW has decided to go monthly for  Ghostbusters series and Nick Runge has also been asked to drawl a  variant for the first Cover of this new On-going series.  Now upon its  release you can see the inspiration for the piece with us interpreting  it into a photo shoot. 

Re-creating a iconic piece of music  history like the cover to the "Kiss: Destroyers" album is no small task!  I was as surprised as anyone to find out this was to be the first  variant cover for the new series but the approach of combining two  different genre's of ideologies of fandom became quite a challenge.  Thankfully we were able to shoot the photo's and the final product is  one that Nick, IDW and we are very happy with.   

It took a lot  of guts on Nick Runge part to trust us, to rely on us and also be apart  of Ghostbuster history.  Nick is an artist who gives credit to the fans  who keep Ghostbusters in the contemporary. Nick himself is a large  Ghostbuster fan and understands how important a fan base is for a  Ghostbuster comic series to survive.  Using REAL hardcore fans brought  something impossible into reality, and for fans involved, it brought a  higher appreciation for the art and dedication of today's comic book  artist to the fore-front.

I think it's every kids dream to be a "super-hero", I just didn't think it would ever happen to me.

For More info please visit the following Websites:

Artist Nick Runge Blog:
http://rungeart.blogspot.com/

The Real Tampa Bay Ghostbusters

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Website:
http://realtampabayghostbusters.com/