Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles x Godzilla #1 is written by Tim Seeley and published by IDW Publishing. Artwork is by Fero Pe, colours by Luis Antonio Delgado and letters by Brian Kolek. Main cover art (left) is by Fero Pe.
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles x Godzilla #1 is available from today, in comic book stores and on digital platforms where all good comic books are sold. Grab your physical copy from Forbidden Planet or digitally from Amazon Comixology UK.
Synopsis
Long before the organisation was corrupted by Shredder, the Foot Clan’s original purpose was to save Japan from kaiju! Now, in the present day, Godzilla and its fellow monsters have reappeared. Not only is the Foot not prepared to stop them…it would seem Shredder himself is behind the attacks! The villainous ninja is attempting to use the kaiju to create a new mutagen—one that would give his henchman a massive upgrade. Can the Turtles make it to Japan in time to stop this madness?!
Review
If you had told 7-year-old me that there would ever be a crossover between the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and Godzilla, I think I genuinely would have lost my mind. Now, in the year 2025, we are getting just that in comic book form, all thanks to current Godzilla writer Tim Seeley.
One thing that must be made clear about this first issue is that, in terms of delivering on what people want to see from this crossover, things are deliberately held back. What this opening instalment aims to do is set the scene, ready for the rest of the series to go full throttle with the concept we’ve all been waiting for. Some may find that a bit disappointing, but at the end of the day, you have to remember that the foundations need to be put in place before anything starts to happen, and in that regard, this first issue passes with flying colours.
Fero Pe, who has lent his incredible artwork to previous TMNT and Godzilla titles under IDW, once again works his magic for this crossover. Here, he leans more into the energetic and cartoonish style that comes from the TMNT world and manages to work Godzilla into the pre-established art style without losing any of the creature’s iconic design details.
When it comes to merging the TMNT world with kaijus from a story perspective, Seeley and co make the clever choice not to bring them directly to the turtles’ front door from the word go. Instead, the monstrous mayhem and destruction are kept within the confines of Japan, and creatures are only brought to New York when needed. The reason for these two worlds existing as one is also seamlessly integrated with the use of pre-existing TMNT villains such as Shredder and Krang.
This approach may seem obvious, but it is a solid way of justifying the existence of both universes in the same space without it feeling too contrived or forced. All of this is backed up by a fairly consistent pace that balances frenetic action and downtime very well.
For a first taste of what is to come, this issue delivers. It sets up the stakes and backstory in a manner that feels fitting for the TMNT world and characters. The scale of the story feels purposefully grand and rightfully so, whilst Fero Pe’s art does a lot of the heavy lifting when it comes to bringing this vision to life but also blending these two distinctly different franchises together in such a coherent way.
Verdict
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles x Godzilla is the crossover you never knew you needed in your life. This is a comic that is filled to the brim with all the over-the-top, cartoony antics you’d expect from a TMNT story, whilst perfectly setting up the scale and threat that comes with Godzilla.
⭐⭐⭐⭐
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