Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles/Ghostbusters 2 #1 (Family Comic Friday)

Story by Erik Burnham & Tom Waltz
Art by Dan Schoening
Published by IDW

It's the end of another work week and that means it's time for another Family Comic Friday. Today, I choose a team-up comic book. For those of you unfamiliar to the term, a team-up is when two or more superheroes and/or teams combine for an adventure. This type of story is also known as a crossover. Though, I feel that a crossover is more when entities from two different publishing companies join together. For example, Wolverine from Marvel Comics may try to save the President from zombies with the help of DC's Green Arrow. However, with so many publishers owning the rights to different projects these days, both team-up and crossover had kinda been muddled together.

Choosing Teams 

In this premiere issue from IDW, the Ninja Turtles have been imprisoned in a ghost dimension between their universe and the Ghostbuster's version of reality. A trio of ghostly bounty hunters called the Collectors have been hired by the ghost of former New York gang leader Darius Dun to trap the Turtles in hopes of enacting revenge on their father and sensei Splinter.

The Ghostbusters become aware of this and devise a sort of cloaking device to free the Turtles from their ethereal prison. But it will only be a matter of time before the Collectors become aware of the deception. As these spirits can only travel as a group of three, the plan is for each Ninja Turtle to pair up with a Ghostbuster and flee to another dimension in hopes that it will buy time for  Egon and Donatello to find a way out of this mess.

Let's Get Technical

This opening chapter by Erik Burnham (Super Secret Crisis War!) and Tom Waltz (KISS Kids) was very intriguing. But man, is it really heavy on complex technical jargon! I understand what Egon and Donatello are trying to do. But couldn't they explain it at a 8th grade level? Sorry, but I never took college level physics!

I really think that the vocabulary is the main thing that might prevent young readers under the age of 12 from enjoying this book. The artwork by original miniseries artist Dan Schoening isn't scary. The ghosts (and Ghostbusters) look like they did back in the 80s on the Real Ghostbusters cartoon for the most part. With the Turtles, the look very similar to the Michael Bay versions of the team. But the art isn't very consistent.

There's a scene where the pairs are arriving in their different dimensions and the art changes. Both Peter and Ray look like their human counterparts of Bill Murray and Dan Aykroyd. You might think that Schoening is trying to pay homage to the actors who originated the role. But Michelangelo looks like his 1980s animated self while in another panel Raphael appears to be drawn like his Nicktoons counterpart. I would like it if each team looked different in each reality they enter in. Yet at this stage of the story, it's not heavily implied that this is the direction that the artist is trying to go in. Maybe we'll find out more in issue #2.

Fans of All Ages

Both Ghostbusters and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles have fans that range from ages 1-99. This opening chapter to the 2014 miniseries of the same name doesn't have any swears or overly scary or violent scenes. However, some source material gets deep and I am not just talking about science. A good 3 pages discusses the conception of purgatory: a netherworld place for souls awaiting to crossover to either Heaven or Hell. That concept might be a little too complex for some younger readers. Parents and guardians, if you are planning on reading this book with the young reader in your life- arm yourself with an array of technical manuals. I have a feeling you're going to need it.

I recommend this book for readers 12 and up, if reading alone. If with an older reader to help with questions, then 10 years of age is appropriate.