In 1984, two icons of pop culture debuted. Theaters showed the a little movie about a quartet of blue-collar paranormal investigators/eliminators. Meanwhile, Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird created a little comic book about four anthropomorphic turtles trained in martial arts. The Ghostbusters and the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles had surprisingly quite a bit in common. Both groups operated in New York City, both groups had successful long-running cartoons, and they have both have had adventures with various media over the years, including comic books.
Also, both groups have had their fair share of crossovers over the years, particularly when IDW got the comic rights for them. The Ghostbusters were involved in the first Infestation crossover, battling zombies alongside the original Star Trek crew, the Transformers, and GI Joe. The Turtles would be involved in the second crossover, alongside an alternate version of the Transformers, Dungeons & Dragons, GI Joe, and 30 Days of Night.
It wouldn't be until 2014 that these two groups would finally get to join forces for the first times. So, how did their first meeting go? Let's find out in TMNT/Ghostbusters #1!
The cover is a Dan Schoening piece, and it's pretty good. It's a bit basic, but it's good. I'd argue just seeing the Turtles and the Ghostbusters together is cool enough. What is interesting is how each Turtle and Ghostbuster is paired on the cover. Donatello and Egon make sense, as they're pretty much the brains of their groups. Leonardo and Winston are the serious fighters. Michelangelo and Ray are arguably the most kid-like. And then there's Raphael and Peter. Yeah, I don't see Peter as much of a hothead, but he and Raph do share a knack for cracking sarcastic jokes.
"Crossing the Divide"
Writers: Erik Burnham, Tom Waltz
Penciler: Dan Schoening, Charles Paul Wilson III, Cory Smith
Inker: Unknown
Colorists: Luis Antonio Delgado, Ronda Pattison
Letterer: Neil Uyetake
Editor: Bobby Curnow
The story begins with...a story. Long ago, powerful beings called immortals ruled the Earth...until they just up and vanished. Literally just decided to go disappear one day. These missing beings would go on to inspire many varied myths and legends, from the kitsune in Japan, to the Pied Piper of Hamlin in Europe. It seemed these immortals would never return. Yeah, never say never, folks.
We next look in on Japan during the Muromachi period. We look in on what appears to be a young woman trying to summon something. She senses someone nearby and demands he show himself. The woman is revealed to be a kitsune, the mischievous fox spirit of Japanese mythology. The man is her brother. He sensed the great power she was summoning, and he wanted to see if she was breaking some kind of agreement the two had made. She scoffs, as the man is so uptight about the rules. Someone then emerges from the portal.
Yup, it appears the Turtles' old sparring buddy Krang is up to something. The man, Chi-You, is infuriated. He believes Krang is a demon...and that the kitsune broke the agreement. You see, the two immortals had agreed to only use mortals as pawns in their games, not demons. He tries to punch her out, but she's able to dodge, and then judo throw him into the portal.
Krang assures the kitsune that thanks to the portal's safeguards, Chi-You won't be bothering her ever again. He gives her a device, asking her if the land he needs was cleared of humans. She had that taken care of. Everything's going to plan. We then next go across the Pacific Ocean, traveling a few hundred years into the future. In particular, we're going to modern day New York City, where the Heroes in a Half-Shell are looking over a portal device of their own.
The Turtles are joined by their longtime allies April O'Neil and Casey Jones. Also with them is Harold Lillja, a scientific colleague of Donatello's. April, Donnie, and Harold have been working on this transporter unit based on schematics from the Fugitoid robot. They think they got the bugs worked out, so they test it. How? By tossing an apple into the device...which ends up conking Casey on the back of the head.
It's nice little bit of humor. The Turtles want to use this thing for quick transportation. Like, to their underground lair to visit Splinter, perhaps? So, the Turtles, Casey, and April enter the portal. Unfortunately, Lillja is busy battling a fly. He manages to swat the fly, but ends up hitting the wrong switch.
Yeah, that's an oopsie right there. We then travel to New York City...an alternate New York City. Here, another heroic quartet are at work.
Yup, the Ghostbusters are hard at work busting ghosts. Because bustin' makes them feel good. The paranormal investigators/eliminators are after a rather nasty ghost: An ugly three-eyed purple thing. The 'Busters manage to catch the ghost, but Ray Stantz is a bit worried. A Class-Five ghost should not have been this difficult to capture. The only way that's possible if some sort of dimensional breach had happened.
Peter's not worried. After all, Ray and Egon built a gadget to detect such dimensional breaches, so it would be alerting them of something. And speak of the devil, they get a call from Janine Melnitz at the firehouse.
In case you're wondering, the Goth girl with Janine there is Kylie Grffin. As in, one of the four "next-generation" Ghostbusters in the Extreme Ghostbusters animated series. I liked that show. Kylie reports that there's a potential Class-Seven on the Eastside. The Ghostbusters naturally go check it out. Meanwhile, the Ninja Turtles arrive in a church on the Ghostbusters' world...in the middle of a wedding.
Chi-You then appears, but he's confused. He can't sense Kitsune or any other of his Immortal brethren. He also has found himself changed, like the travel through dimensions and the centuries in limbo has made him more powerful. The Turtles engage the Immortal, but his newfound ghostly nature makes their attacks ineffective. Chi-You thinks the Turtles are demons sent by Kitsune to recapture him. He's not going to let that happen again. Chi-You tries to blast the Turtles. They dodge it, but Casey gets hit...and he ends up not looking very well.
He needs some face cream. Chi-You has taken control of Casey Jones. And there's another benefit for the ghostly Immortal: He has access to Casey's mind, which allows him to learn about the Turtles...as well as learn how to speak English. And he's not the only one. The wedding guests have all fallen under Chi-You's control. The Immortal knows that The Turtles will try to stop him conquering the world, so he'll have his mortal minions tear them apart. After all, the Turtles will try to avoid harming innocent people.
Luckily for the heroes, a wall gets blown open, and we finally get to see the Ghostbusters and the TMNT meet up.
This comic is awesome. It really is. It's great seeing two icons of the 80s meet up like this. The usage of alternate dimensions is fitting as such a thing is native to both franchises' mythos. We do get a nice little glance of each of the heroes' basic personalities, which is neat. The comic does hint at some previous events in the comic, but as someone who hasn't read it, I did not feel lost. I liked the mention of Gozer. That was fun.
The book was drawn by three artists, but I saw no real indication of that. The art has a bizarrely cartoony vibe to me...which is kind of appropriate as both franchises have benefitted from animation. The only thing I find a bit "off" is the faces. The artists almost makes some of the human characters look like ducks.
If you want to read this for yourself, I recommend tracking down the 2015 trade paperback Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles/Ghostbusters. It's great mini, I highly recommend it. Thanks for reading this blog entry! If you liked it, show it off! Take care of yourselves and each other. Stay safe, stay healthy, wash your hands often, stay home, and wear a mask! Join me next time, when we join the Green Lantern Corps in the midst of a war...
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