Author: Erik Burnham
Publisher: IDW Publishing
Rating: WORTHY!
Very ably illustrated by Dan Schoening
DISCLOSURE: Unlike the majority of reviews in this blog, I've neither bought this book nor borrowed it from the library. This is a "galley" copy ebook, supplied by Net Galley. I'm not receiving (nor will I expect to receive or accept) remuneration for this review. The chance to read a new book is often enough reward aplenty!
I have to say up front that I'm not a TMNT fan and neither am I a Ghostbusters fan, but this comic seemed like such a bizarre mix of characters that I couldn't help but want to take a look at it. As it happened, I thought it was just fine. It was beautifully drawn and colored, and the dialog wasn't bad at all. The adventure was fun and sensible (within its framework) and it was an all-around great comic. Added bonus - although women are way under-represented in both of these franchises, the women depicted here actually looked like real women (within the confines of graphic novel illustration!). There were no ridiculous body proportions, so that was welcome.
The Turtles are being experimented on once again as a new teleportation device is being tested. They think they're going to pay a surprise visit to their mentor, but end up in a parallel New York City - home of the Ghostbusters, and inevitably, the two teams encounter each other, both tracking down the same phenomenon.
It was actually quite fun to see how they interacted and got along (or didn't initially) and how they eventually realized they had a common enemy and began discovering ways to work together to bring this foe to book. The antique Japanese foe wasn't exactly very threatening as it happened. It felt like he was there more as a place-holder to allow the two teams to bond rather than that he was actually capable of any serious villainy, and the banter could have been funnier. I saw the original Ghostbusters movie (last Halloween actually at a dinner movie theater, and Venkman was way more amusing there than he was here. of course, it was Bill Murray.
Of course the villain is dispatched and the good guys triumph, and the Turtles are returned to their own dimension. None of that was ever in doubt, so the only question here was how well it was delivered, and it wasn't brilliant but it was, in my opinion well done and a worthy read.
