Chris Cooper reviews the first issue of the TMNT and Ghostbusters crossover…
“When a new invention goes haywire, the Turtles are sent to a whole new type of New York City. One with a whole lot more ghosts… and Ghostbusters! The two teams will have to learn to get along quickly, because a new foe from the Turtles past has followed them and aims to conquer NYC!”
Having grown up with the original cartoon series for these shows being massive parts of my childhood, the prospect of a crossover had me salivating. Whilst it gets off to a promising start I wasn’t completely convinced, which has led to me struggling to write this review! Apologies for my tardiness but when the one thing I keep coming back too is an annoyance it’s tricky to think of the rest.
Anyway…..
Surely most people won’t need the two pages of short character bios at the start? If you don’t know at least the main foursome in each set of characters you must have been hiding under a rock for the last thirty years.
We start by getting another look at Kitsune and the ‘Iron Demon’. With a family revelation and a flick of the wrist half of our story is set up. The art in this section is provided by Charles Wilson III, who previously worked on the Splinter Micro and Turtles in Time #2. Once again I understand why but I’m not a massive fan. It’s not bad artwork by any stretch of the imagination; I just prefer crisp line work so this doesn’t float my boat.
But when we see the Turtles I can get on board. Cory Smith was extremely impressive a couple of issues back when dealing with Krang and Shredder (plus several mutants), and now I get to see him take on the heroes. He doesn’t disappoint!
Time to get this issue off my chest. What should be extremely cool ends up really grating. When the TMNT finally come into contact with the Ghostbusters, the artwork is taken over by GB artist Dan Schoening. I did his exaggerated style….but did no one compare notes on the design of the turtles? Pads, wraps, belts and weapon holsters are all completely different. As if no attempt was made to stick to what Santolouco and Smith have been using when drawing the turtles. Gah! It winds me up. What makes it worse is that I actually like Schoening’s style. But I can’t get over something that to me is so obvious.
Wooosah Chris…woosah. I’m calm. No really I’m calm.
I would talk about the writing, but it’s by Erik Burnham and Tom Waltz so I have no complaints whatsoever. They’ve more than proven themselves with the TMNT and I’m sure they’ll get the Ghostbusters right over the series. OK I did just talk about the writing.
It sounds like I’m on a massive downer over what should be one of the most mind-bogglingly amazing and awesome team ups ever, but I’m not. I think this series will get really into its stride next issue. Maybe it needs judging at the end really.
For now though, at least I won’t see any more changes in attire which should settle me down. The thought of seeing Egon and Donnie discussing “science things” whilst Raphael and Peter verbally spar? Brilliant! I can’t wait! Bring it on issue two!
Chris Cooper is a Flickering Myth Staff Writer, and owner of the blog Super Duper Stuff. Follow him on Twitter @SDCCooper or visit the blog’s Facebook page.
Originally published October 31, 2014. Updated November 7, 2019.
