Soulsearchers and Company, Vol. 1: On the Case!

Soulsearchers and Company #Book 1

by Peter David

SOULSEARCHERS AND COMPANY is the adventures of a semi-competent band of super-powered ghostbusters in a town which could probably profit from a higher level of competence in their psychic Mystic Grove, Connecticut--also known as FEAR CITY. The Soulsearchers group consists Bridget Lockridge, a former Olympic athlete; Baraka, a lecherous fire demon from an Arabic Hell; Kelly Hollister, an apprentice witch; Janocz, a gypsy boy who can transfigure himself into monster forms; Peter P. Peterson, an accountant who can (and does) pull whatever's necessary out of his magic bag; and business founder Arnold Stanley, who--through a fateful accident--is now a talking, ranting, swearing contentious prairie dog. SOULSEARCHERS AND COMPANY is the brainchild of award-winning scripter Peter David and Claypool Editor Richard Howell. The first run of issues were pencilled by Amanda Conner ("Painkiller Jane," "Vampirella," "The Pro") and inked by Jim ("Spider-Man," "Supergirl") Mooney. The narrative includes super-hero action, supernatural horror, parody, satire, character comedy, and romantic screwball farce. This riotously funny collection features work from the first six issues of Claypool's much-hailed comedy/adventure series, nominated by the British Comics Professionals Society as Best Humor Comic. This volume also includes the three three-page "teaser" promotional featurettes which appeared in the backs of other Claypool series such as "Phantom of Fear City," "Deadbeats," and "Elvira? Mistress of the Dark?." This material had initial low circulation and is in high demand today. This volume "Puppet Dictatorship!" featuring the mad marionettist the Grand Guignol and his Pinocchio Patrol; "Pastramia On Wry!" which introduces Janocz; "Season of Misseds!" the war between the dream demons (a parody of the popular comics series "Sandman"); "Death and?!" in which the group is subjected to a bizarre audit; "Into the Woods!" brings new, odd twists to fairy-tale themes; and "Spin Cycle!" in which the Soulsearcers get an infernal makeover (a parody of the well-known company Image Comics).

Genres: Comics, Fiction

160 pages, Paperback

First published November 1, 1996

About the author

aka David Peters

Peter Allen David, often abbreviated PAD, was an American writer of comic books, novels, television, films, and video games. His notable comic book work includes an award-winning 12-year run on The Incredible Hulk, as well as runs on Aquaman, Young Justice, SpyBoy, Supergirl, Fallen Angel, Spider-Man, Spider-Man 2099, Captain Marvel, and X-Factor.
His Star Trek work included comic books and novels such as the New Frontier book series. His other novels included film adaptations, media tie-ins, and original works, such as the Apropos of Nothing and Knight Life series. His television work includes series such as Babylon 5, Young Justice, Ben 10: Alien Force and Nickelodeon's Space Cases, which he co-created with Bill Mumy.
David often jokingly described his occupation as "Writer of Stuff", and he was noted for his prolific writing, characterized by its mingling of real-world issues with humor and references to popular culture, as well as elements of metafiction and self-reference.
David earned multiple awards for his work, including a 1992 Eisner Award, a 1993 Wizard Fan Award, a 1996 Haxtur Award, a 2007 Julie Award and a 2011 GLAAD Media Award.

Reviews

[Michael · Rating 3 out of 5]

Great artwork by young Amanda Conner. The scripts are a nonstop dervish of wordplay and puns, which has a certain charm, but is rarely laugh out loud funny (or even eye-rollingly or smirkingly funny). The first three chapters are clunky in their pacing, but by the latter half of the book, David and Howell have a better feel for the characters and some of their heart and charm begins to shine through. In short, Soulsearchers (Book 1) is nothing essential unless you're a big Conner fan or a PAD completist, but it shows signs of developing into a charming (if often cornball) adventure series by the end. (Also note: the book satirizes many things that were going on when the issues were serialized in the mid-90s, so you're probably not going to get the jokes unless you were there.)

[Alex Sarll]

A nineties comedy series written by Peter David and pencilled by Amanda Conner - how come I'd never heard of Soulsearchers before Lambeth libraries in their lovely strangeness placed this before me? Well, the key reason is that 'nineties comedy'. Half the time it's cheesy and broad, the other half niche without making that pay. I mean, I know all the references behind doltish Sleepwanker battling drippy Dweeb for control of the dream world, but I was still reading it stony-faced. The introduction and a few fourth wall breaches suggest they had problems with distributors from being at a small company, and that may be - but the main reason this didn't hit bigger could just be that it isn't much cop.