Don’t get me wrong… I’m just as surprised as you are that I’m reviewing this issue. To be honest, no one else wanted it and my curiosity was just too much. I kept thinking, “How are they going to combine the two worlds and make it make sense? HOW!?! AND WHY!?!” What’s more surprising is that I actually liked this issue. Yeah… I liked it. The crazy thing is it works. Now it works because it’s a Turtles heavy issue and get this… it takes place in continuity. Yeah, for both fucking series.
Okay so the story is broken up into three chunks and with that three artists. At first I wasn’t thrilled by that, but again it works. The first artist is Charles Paul Wilson III and he illustrates a story taking place in Japan with Kitsune during the Muromachi period which makes it sometime during 1337 to 1573. We also learn that she has two brothers, one that’s Rat like and another that’s a bull. They’re immortals and they have some game going on in which they’re playing with humanity. Kitsune is getting ready to meet with Krang, but her brother Chi-you comes upon the meeting sensing the power of the dimensional portal. Stuff happens and Chi-you is sent through the portal and lost to the world… meaning he’s going to be a part of the story later on.
The second artist is Cory Smith a familiar name to the Turtle series and he illustrates the Turtles part of story. Donnie, April and Harold have built a teleporter based on Fugitoid’s schematics. This is the scene in which the accident happens that crosses our Turtles and their two human friends into the world of the Ghostbusters. Smith’s style for the Turtles wasn’t perfect. He seemed like he was trying to capture some of Mateus Santolouco’s design, but then also the first live-action flick. It’s not bad, but it’s something TMNT fans are likely to pick up on.
The third chunk is in the Ghostbusters universe and is illustrated by series artist Dan Schoening. I personally dislike the way that Schoening illustrates the Ghostbusters. His Turtles on the other hand look good. His April and Casey look good. Even the ghosts look good. But his Ghostbusters? They make me cringe. I can’t look at their faces. Needless to say I did more reading than viewing.
The issue doesn’t really pair the two sets of characters with each other, rather it opts to end when they meet which is fine. It does put a ton of pressure on the next issue because as I said this is a Turtles heavy story. That’s probably why I liked it, but next issue we’ll definitely see interaction between the two groups and that will be the true test of this crossover.
For now it works and I actually had a good time reading it. It was leaps and bounds better than the Ghostbusters ongoing and honestly better than the vast majority of IDW’s licensed material. The Turtles ongoing is still their best licensed title and operates at a quality that the others can’t touch. That’s thankfully rubbed off here.
Quickly I will say that the Slimer variant cover in which he’s wearing a bandana is the worst thing I’ve ever seen associated with the Turtles. It made me sad.
I’m not saying they got me for the long haul, but they definitely got me for this issue and the next. That and it’s better than the last two Marvel events I read even if the ending is predictable.
Score: 4/5
Writers: Erik Burnham, Tom Waltz Artists: Charles Paul Wilson III, Cory Smith, Dan Schoening Publisher: IDW Publishing Price: $3.99 Release Date: 10/22/14 Format: Mini-Series; Print/Digital