- Written by Matthew Manning
- Art by Jon Sommariva
When villains start to mysteriously escape Arkham, Batman seeks to track them down. What happens when he discovers that they have left Gotham completely… and entered the TMNT’s New York City?
Pickup your copy of ‘Batman-TMNT Adventures’ #1 at Comixology now!
Every now and then a series comes along which just works. Earlier this year we had the first crossover between the ‘Batman’ and ‘Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles’ franchises. Written by James Tynion IV it was a great read with some highly stylised but hyper realist artwork. Running high of the popularity of that series DC Comics and IDW quickly announced this followup which would instead mash up the animated versions of both franchises.
With this first issue of ‘Batman-TMNT Adventures’ all we really get to see is a huge amount of (required) setup. A hugely clever opening scene harking back to Michael Keaton’s days as Batman set the scene for a series which will mash up cartoon humour with comic book drama. The TMNT gang all showing off their personalities perfectly before leading in to some typical Batman action. Both franchises supporting casts are all there with moments for April O’Neill to appear with the turtles and a whole swathe of Bat-villains to be name dropped.
‘Batman-TMNT Adventures’ is still a simpler concept than its predecessor. This series would read perfectly for audiences of all ages rather than the more grown up story of the previous crossover. Still it’s a great read. At the moment we’re not sure what’s going on villain wise aside from seeing the Foot Clan square off against Joker and Harley in an alleyway at the issues end.
There’s action, there’s intrigue and plenty of characters and this is still only the first issue!
The artwork by Jon Sommariva perfectly mashes up the two animated franchises perfectly. The TMNT gang look just as they do in the current Nickelodeon TV series and Batman is squarely set in the world of Bruce Time. Joker fans will be pleased to see his design is firmly the original ‘BTAS’ incarnation and now the redesign of the later episodes which was less well received.
Reading this issue does feel like reading a comic tie-in for a TV series so already there is very little room for improvement.
Verdict
‘Batman-TMNT Adventures’ #1 is probably worth five stars but I’m giving it four in the hope that it will only get better as the story kicks up a gear. I shouldn’t even have to tell you how worth reading it is!
