Batman/ Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Adventures #1 (Family Comic Friday)

Variant Cover C by Turtles Co-creator, Kevin Eastman.

  Earlier this year, the worlds of Batman and the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles collided for the very first time. But that comic team-up was aimed at teen and adult audiences. (Very few people know that the Ninja Turtles was originally a very gritty and mature parody of Frank Miller’s Daredevil comics.)

   Well, in order to placate those who called for an all-ages teaming of the two franchises, DC and IDW joined forces again to bring us Batman/ Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Adventures. The miniseries which hit shelves with issue #1 this past Wednesday is set in the TMNT Nickelodeon animated universe and the Batman: The Animated Series Universe, marking the return of the original TAS universe in comics form in almost 20 years! When I saw the ad for this series a couple of weeks ago, it immediately went on my wish list and issue #1 did not disappoint!

   In the Batman Universe, a number of inmates from Arkham Asylum have escaped and seemingly vanished without a trace. When the Dark Knight finally catches up with Two-Face, the dual villain rambles on about a world without a ‘Two-Face...without a Harvey Dent… Without a Batman!’

   Meanwhile, in the Ninja Turtles universe, the Shell-heads are facing a problem of their own. Archenemy Kraang and his people have activated another inter-dimensional portal into the Turtles sewer lair. But instead of a bunch of pink brain creatures pouring through it, the guys battle a man made of mud that can change into anything and anyone: Clayface!

   Though the Caped Crusader and the Heroes in the Half Shell never meet, parts of their two universes do bleed over. I believe that there’s supposed to be a total of 6-issues in this storyline. So the two parties are going to come face-to-face. I just hope it’s sooner than later.

     The artwork is primarily in the vein of the Nickelodeon series. But Ninja Turtle  artist Jon Sommarvia along with inker Sean Parsons do a fairly good job in their renderings of Batman, Alfred, Two-Face and Clayface. But there were a couple of characters that really look nothing like the original animated series or the Batman/Robin and Justice League spin-offs for that matter. I’d tell you who they are, but I don’t wanna ruin the surprise yet…

   I really enjoyed this issue. Various Batman titles writer Matthew K. Manning has done a great job thus far and I think this will end up as one of the all-time classic team-up stories that appeal to a wide spectrum of generations of Batman and Ninja Turtle fans.

  

   Worth Consuming

  Rating: 9 out of 10 stars.