The Good
The moment is finally here: a crossover with the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and the Ghostbusters. If you grew up in the '80s (or simply love these popular franchises), odds are this limited series is beyond exciting. Both respective creative teams have done fantastic work with the individual titles (it's just too bad GHOSTBUSTERS came to an end), so it's easy to get caught up in the hype and hope for the best. Luckily, this debut issue is every bit as fun as I hoped it would be.
Even though it's the Ninja Turtles who wind up in the Ghostbusters' world, this feels like a TMNT story that the Ghostbusters happen to be co-starring in. Now, that's not a bad thing and the human team does get plenty of time on the pages, but the overall narrative is very strongly connected to what's going on in the TMNT book. This isn't just seeing the Ninja Turtles on a day off and they happen to end up going to another dimension -- it's full of plot points from their series. If you haven't been following IDW's TMNT series, you may not fully appreciate the developments and character dynamics, but there's a satisfactory intro page and there's more than enough exposition to make sure new readers aren't in the dark. Thankfully, the need to be new-reader friendly doesn't hinder the experience for pre-existing fans and it's well paced and consistently engaging. There's still plenty of humorous banter, thrilling bits of action,and of course we get a cliffhanger that has be beyond anxious to read the next chapter. Writers Tom Waltz and Erik Burnham definitely made sure this was a fun opening that gets all of the basics out of the way and leaves you wanting more. We know they can handle these characters with ease, but now we have to wait and see how they'll handle the two teams interacting! Needless to say, I'm excited.
There's three different art teams in this issue. Charles Paul Wilson III handles the first five pages, Cory Smith and Ronda Pattison craft the next four, and Dan Schoening and Luis Antonio Delgado create the remainder of the issue (over ten pages). Usually I'm not a fan of when we jump between noticeably different styles, but it works well in this chapter because each team addresses a completely different location, time, and/or dimension. Wilson III's scene is loaded with fantasy and oozes darkness, and his style conveys this well as we see a heavy emphasis on shadows and more foreboding character work and locations. Smith -- and the consistently good Pattison -- has a style that draws parallels to the praiseworthy Mateus Santolouco, so he's of course a great fit for the heroes in a half shell, especially with Pattison's coloring. Then there's Schoening and Delgado, a team that impressed me month after month with their vibrant, lively, and amazingly detailed work over in GHOSTBUSTERS. To see them work with the franchise yet again is a real treat and tossing in the Ninja Turtles just feels like an added bonus.
The Bad
The reasoning behind this crossover is a tad silly, but at least it's humorously addressed by Casey Jones. Besides, we can all be a bit of a clutz every now and then, right?
Minor complaints: I'm a huge fan of Schoening's animated character work, but occasionally, the very wrinkly and bony fingers make an odd contrast because everything else about the characters appears to be so smooth. This really stood out in one panel with Raphael and it looked like his fingers were too skinny. Also, I know he's a man of science, but Donnie has seemingly accepted the fact that reincarnation exists. So to have him state that ghosts are impossible is a little odd. Guess we can chalk that up to a knee-jerk reaction and he's still getting used to this mystical world?
The Verdict
IDW's work with both franchises has been consistently excellent, so I went into this debut issue with pretty high expectations. Thankfully, I loved it! Bringing these two teams together produces such an overwhelming sense of joy. Seeing them simply share the pages is cool and all that, but it's the creative team which adds so much character and a wonderfully uplifting atmosphere to the experience. Sure, the villain isn't anything special and how they end up in the same place is a wee bit silly, but with such strong writing and delightful visuals, this limited series is off to a terrific start and I can't wait to see what comes next. On the surface, this could seem like a blatant cash grab, but you can really tell just how passionate the writers and artists are about this story and it embraces the TMNT's new mythos. Love Ghostbusters? Love Ninja Turtles? Yeah, you're going to love this. New fans may feel a little in the dark, but it's hugely satisfying if you've been following along. I can't wait for the next issue. Okay, I can, but I'd really prefer not to.