Batman/TMNT #1
DC Comics/IDW Publishing
Written by James Tynion IV
Art by Freddie Williams II
Colors by Jeremy Colwell
Letter by Tom Napolitano
If you would’ve told me a few years ago we would get a comic with Batman and the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles together, I would have laughed in your face. Now here we are with the Turtles in Gotham! This was the series I was looking most forward to after it was announced at SDCC this past year. Question is, would it live up to the hype?
We definitely get a good amount of time with both the Turtles and Batman, with each of them crossing paths with a villain from the other’s mythos. In classic Batman fashion, he isn’t sure if the Turtles are friends or foes as he goes about his investigation. Major components are being stolen from Gotham research facilities, and it’s not clear why. While that’s going on, we’re trying to find out why the Turtles are in Gotham in the first place. That wasn’t made clear, but it becomes somewhat secondary once you get caught up in the story.
I thought the challenge here would be the ability of Tynion IV to take on all of these iconic characters. We’ve seen how well he’s written Batman in the past, and I must say, he captured the personality of each Turtle very well. The mix of humor and grit was perfectly melded together throughout the story, with the action elements falling perfectly throughout the story. The art from Williams II is solid and STRONG. Each major character was really given a chance to be larger than life on the page, including the villains (who I won’t spoil for you, so you can see for yourself.) You really get a sense that great care was taken to make sure each of these fan favorites were allowed to share pages together, without feeling like one was out shining the other. I can’t wait to read more!
RATING: PULL