TMNT/Ghostbusters 2 #1

Publication date: November 1, 2017

Written by: Erik Burnham and Tom Waltz
Art by: Dan Schoening
Colors by: Luis Antonio Delgado
Letters by: Shawn Lee
Edits by: Bobby Curnow
Published by: Ted Adams

Summary:

New York City, the Ghostbusters' Dimension.  A businesswoman (Marla from Gremlins 2: The New Batch, but don't tell Warner Bros) is attacked by the H2-Ghost, only to be saved by Ray, Winston and Peter.  As they get into Ecto-1, the Ghostbusters lament the increased workload they've taken on, but Ray reminds them that the barriers between dimensions have been dicey ever since their own universe was briefly entangled with an alternate reality.  Winston wonders if the "insulation" between dimensions that Ray and Egon have mentioned might be Purgatory and Ray considers the possibility.

Limbo.  The spirit of Darius Dun throws a fit, watching through a dimensional window as Splinter and the Foot Clan, his murderers, absorb his criminal empire and dissolve his legacy.  Bronson, the spirit who taught Darius how to watch mortals on Earth, tries to calm him down, but Darius only wants revenge.  Bronson tells Darius of creatures who can be summoned to kidnap mortals, but warns him that the price is steep.  Darius demands to know how to summon them, cost be damned.

Back at the Firehouse, Egon and Ray are busy calibrating their inter-dimensional monitor system when a portal opens in their workroom.  Donatello comes charging out and tells them he's being pursued.  He and the rest of the Ninja Turtles were about to teleport from Dimension X back to their Earth when they were attacked by a quartet of supernatural creatures.  The monsters took on twisted forms that mimicked the Turtles, then started grabbing them.  Knowing he was outmatched, Donnie punched the dimensional coordinates of the Ghostbusters into the teleportal and escaped.

Another portal then opens up and the "Dark Turtles" emerge, grabbing Donnie.  Egon and Ray recognize them as the Collectors, foes who had previously menaced them in the form of the Peoplebusters, and the Dark Turtles warn the Ghostbusters to stay out of their business, lest they resume their mission to abduct them, as well.

Later, Egon and Ray bring Peter and Winston up to speed.  The Ghostbusters are a bit intimidated by going up against the Collectors again, as their last encounter wasn't really a victory but merely a win via loophole that sent the Collectors back to their Prison Dimension with a different victim.  Winston suggests that even if they open a doorway to the Prison Dimension and get the Turtles out, the Collectors will just capture them again.  Ray thinks he might have a way to trick them, but it'll take some doing.

The Prison Dimension.  Donnie is reunited with his brothers and tells them that he was able to make brief contact with the Ghostbusters.  Just then, the spirit of Darius appears to them and gloats, vowing to keep them locked up in the Prison Dimension until their father, Splinter, dies from grief, never knowing what happened to his sons.  Darius vanishes and the Ghostbusters appear, entering through their own portal.  Ray gives Donnie a weird helmet and tells him to go through the portal, but he Winston, Peter and the other Turtles will have to stay behind for a while.

Donnie arrives in the Firehouse and is met by Egon, who tells him that while from his own POV he was only gone for a few minutes, due to quantum nonsense, the Ghostbusters have had three weeks to come up with a plan.  The helmet Donnie is wearing masks his psychic resonance to make him appear to the Collectors as Winston, while Winston is wearing a helmet that will make him appear as Donnie.  The remaining Ghostbusters and Turtles will then split up and each venture to different dimensions.  The Collectors, a hive consciousness, can only stalk one Turtle at a time and will have to chase each of them down.  The hope is that the distraction lasts long enough to give he and Donnie time to create a containment system to hold the Collectors.  However, by his calculations, Egon suspects they have less than a day before the Collectors realize what's happening and come to the Firehouse.


Turtle Tips:

*The story continues in TMNT/Ghostbusters 2 #2.

*This miniseries takes place between TMNT (IDW) #75 and TMNT (IDW) #76.

*For the Ghostbusters, this story takes place after Ghostbusters 101 #6.

*The Turtles and Ghostbusters last met in TMNT/Ghostbusters #4.

*Ray mentions "the Scandinavian Warlock Case" which the Ghostbusters wrapped up in Ghostbusters International #11.  He also mentions how their universe and another had gotten fused together.  That was resolved in Ghostbusters 101 #6.

*The Collectors took on the form of the Peoplebusters and kidnapped the Ghostbusters in Ghostbusters (Vol. 2) #1.  The Ghostbusters last encountered the Collectors in Ghostbusters (Vol. 2) #4.

*Splinter had Darius Dun executed in TMNT (IDW) #64.

*This issue was originally published with 6 variant covers: Cover A by Dan Schoening and Luis Antonio Delgado, Cover B by Dave Wachter, Cover RI by Karl Moline, Cover RI by Kevin Eastman, Freddie Williams and Tomi Varga, Heroes & Fantasies Exclusive by Timothy Lim, and Rhode Island Comic Con Exclusive by Chris Campana and Ian Nichols.


Review:

Before I talk about this issue, I just want to remind everyone that IDW's Ghostbusters comics, the ones by Burnham, Schoening and Delgado, are just so damn good.  But like a lot of good comics, they don't pop up in online conversations very often because no one has anything to complain about.  Sort of like Hellboy or Usagi Yojimbo.  Everyone knows they're good comics, everyone enjoys them, but when you can't bitch, what're you gonna say?  So don't let the lack of audible discussion about the IDW Ghostbusters comics trick you into thinking nobody reads them or that they're bad.  There's just nothing to whine about.

So needless to say, I really do recommend them with maximum enthusiasm.  You can get them in those nice hardcover omnibi, too, and they're a stupendous value.  All the nuance of the characters is captured in their dialogue and each storyline steadily explores and expands the universe while keeping all of it consistent.  While Ghostbusters fans don't have a whole lot of options right now when it comes to their media, it's been a reliable source of comfort having a Ghostbusters comic this awesome for so many years.

One of the things the IDW book does sparingly, though, is reinvent villains from the Real Ghostbusters cartoon.  You can probably count on one hand the number of cartoon bad guys who have been introduced into the comic (which is a continuation of the movie continuity, FYI).  That's not a bad thing, since it has allowed the book to cultivate its own rogues gallery more so than lean on the crutch of existing enemies.  And when a Real Ghostbusters monster DOES pop up in the comic, it always feels like a big deal.

Now, to contradict my "nobody ever complains" statement from the first paragraph, I'll confess that not all of the classic villain reinventions have hit the mark.  Peter David really blew it when he reinvented Samhain, the Celtic God of Halloween, as the ghost of a stage magician named Sam Hain, but that was in the quality-challenged early era of the book, before Burnham took over.  I've been dying for Burnham to give Samhain another go, but I don't know if that'll ever happen (there was a tease in one of the Annuals a few years back, but nothing ever came of it).

The Boogeyman had some very eerie and ominous buildup in the "Happy Horror Days" storyline, but they wound up rushing him in the last issue.  He could also use a second chance.  The Sandman, on the other hand, got a pretty great reinterpretation that fused the Gothic folk lore roots of the character with Freddy fucking Krueger.  He's still lingering around out there, so hopefully he'll make a reappearance in the book, some day.

But of all the Real Ghostbusters baddies to get revived for the comic, the best of the best was the Peoplebusters.  They were some of my favorite villains from the cartoon, who unfortunately only appeared in one episode.  Burnham reimagined them as the Collectors, an otherworldly quartet of demons who can be summoned to kidnap and imprison people, while taking on a twisted likeness of their victims.  While it was definitely a departure from what the Peoplebusters had been in the cartoon, I think it made them more menacing and opened the door for more story possibilities.

And that finally brings us to this issue, where the Collectors make their comeback, now taking on the guises of the Dark Turtles.  And man, it's so inspiring to see how all the pieces fell into place for this story.  You've got Darius Dun, who was recently killed in the TMNT ongoing, and you've got the Collectors, who take on the images of their victims and serve a master.  The end result is one big reference to Fast Forward, the sixth season of the 4Kids TMNT cartoon, in which Darius Dun was the primary antagonist and commanded the Dark Turtles, evil clones of the Ninja Turtles.  On face value, it seems so random, but if you've been following both books, all these elements found each other and tessellated so organically it almost feels like magic.

Again from the Ghostbusters' side of things, this miniseries follows up from Ghostbusters 101, which I think was the only low-point in the Burnham/Schoening/Delgado run.  It was sort of doomed from the beginning, since the mandate was to include the characters from the 2016 Ghostbusters reboot film, and not even one of the best writers to ever handle the property could make those pieces of shit tolerable.  Still, Ghostbusters 101 has a lot of good stuff in it from a plot, art and coloring perspective, and while the 2016 characters are annoying and unfunny, everything involving the classic Ghostbusters characters is on-point.  I'd recommend it since the narrative is needed to get you from Ghostbusters International to this miniseries, but just know ahead of time that the 2016 characters are so worthlessly toxic that they cannot be salvaged.

As for the Turtles, setting this mini directly after "Trial of Krang" was another good point of setup, providing an excuse for the Turtles to be in close proximity to a teleportal, but also a nice little breather area to slot this mini into.  If you only read the ongoing and Universe and miss this crossover, you likely won't feel too out of touch.

Also, there's a line that Egon makes rather offhandedly that I love.  He mentions that he and Donatello have kept in touch since their first encounter (explaining why Donnie would know the Ghostbusters' dimensional coordinates off the top of his head).  One of the things I've long complimented the IDW Ninja Turtles series on is how they haven't made Donatello a jack of all trades when it comes to "the science".  He's a genius, sure, but he can't do EVERYTHING.  Instead, they've given Donnie his own little brain trust of other intellectuals to help him figure things out; primarily Harold and the Fugitoid.  But knowing that Egon was part of that brain trust this whole time just sort of thrills me a little.  I mean, they can't mention him or have him show up in the ongoing due to rights issues, but just knowing that between the margins, Donnie is getting updates and advice on the regular from Egon... It puts a smile on my face.

Most of this issue is, yes, set up.  I often like second crossovers better than first ones, as now the characters are all acquainted and we don't have to go through any sort of introduction phases.  But there is still a bit of delay as the conflict has to be established, likewise enough exposition to keep non-readers of either series appraised of the back story.  Burnham works as much action into this dense establishing chapter as possible, and despite being rather wordy, the issue shouldn't bore you.

Schoening's art, as I've come to understand, is divisive among readers.  I love it, personally, but some people out there do not.  Well, they can hate it if they want to, but I'm not bothered.  I enjoy the cartooniness and, of course, all the Easter eggs.  Some are very on-the-nose, like the Real Ghostbusters and TMNT arcade cabinets in the Firehouse or the monster at the beginning being the H2-Ghost from the Kenner toyline, but others are a little more subtle (the pixel ghosts from the Atari/NES Ghostbusters game appearing on Egon's scanner).  They add more re-read value to the book, which is very much welcomed when the thing costs $4.

Delgado's colors are the other half of Schoening's art and you truly cannot divorce the pair.  I went back recently and reread an older story from the "Haunted Holidays" trade (the Thanksgiving chapter) and it was Schoening coloring his own lines.  It looked... weird.  Not bad, but it just felt off and incorrect.  Schoening's lines are a style unique to him for sure, but Delgado's electric colors are the icing that the cake needs.  While he may not get all the attention that Schoening and Burnham get for making the IDW Ghostbusters comics what they are, you NOTICE when he isn't there.  And from my perspective, that makes him every bit as indispensable as the artist and author.

TMNT/Ghostbusters 2 hit the ground running and it's marvelous how smoothly all the establishing story elements came together to make it happen.  The first crossover was a bit comically random in how the characters met, but this go-around feels like it's worked out all the kinks.  A part of me hopes that the Ghostbusters end up like Usagi Yojimbo and get folded into the TMNT franchise enough that they become regular guest stars.

Update: Hiatus should be over this week

TMNT Entity readers,

Thank you for your patience and your support during the hiatus.  I very much appreciate all the kind words and shout-outs; it really helped me stay motivated while everything else going on sucked.

The good news is that I've finished moving to a (hopefully) safer neighborhood, setting up my internet connection and new home office, and I've been able to pick up all the IDW issues that were published while I was getting things in order.  I'm going to start playing catch-up this weekend.  The complete TMNT/Ghostbusters II miniseries will be out by then, so I'll probably just plow my way through all of that before getting to issues of Universe and the ongoing.  As for the 4kids TMNT cartoon reviews, I've gotten a replacement TV, too, so I want to get back on those ASAP, as well.

Now, the bad news is that my stolen PC, with all its unbacked-up files, is gone for good.  The cops can't get it back; it was likely trashed by the burglar for being assumed worthless.  I learned a valuable lesson about backing my shit up, though it cost me quite a bundle in irreplaceable files (including 4 chapters of a new book I've been writing for over a year and now have to find the resolve to start over from scratch).  So I suppose if I can share any obvious wisdom gained from this experience: Back your shit up.  You may think "it'll never happen to me", but when it does, it freakin' suuuuuucks.

As for all the UK Turtle comics that I only had digitally and are now gone, I'll see if I can get some of them back from the generous individuals who donated them to me in the first place.  I think reacquiring the Fleetway books will be the easiest; not so sure about most of the Panini stuff.  There were also a ton of resources I was curating for an upcoming Manga guide/index that I'll have to try and get again.

But I won't be quitting, even after this setback.  Next year is TMNT Entity's 10th Anniversary, and quitting before that milestone would be a tragedy (sort of).  So look forward to more content on the site beginning this week as I get back in the saddle.  Thanks again for all your support!

With sincere gratitude,
Mark Pellegrini

Hiatus for the site

For the time being, TMNT Entity is going to be on hiatus.  My apartment was robbed and my PC was stolen, so I won't be able to do any updates until I get a new computer.  All my digital files of obscure TMNT comics (mostly the UK and manga stuff) are lost, too, though I might be able to get some of them back from the individuals who donated them to be in the first place.  None of my physical books were stolen, thankfully.  But they also got my TV, so that means no cartoon/movie reviews, either.

Also, all the other shit I have to do including moving to a safer neighborhood, covering identity theft, paperwork and everything else that's going to eat up every minute of free time I have.

Sucks, but that's the way it is.  Comments also will probably not be published since I won't be able to moderate them for spam.  It'll probably be a few weeks before things get back to normal.

Thanks,

PS:  I read the first issue of TMNT/Ghostbusters 2 #1 and it was really good.  So check that miniseries out this month. 

TMNT (IDW) #75

Publication date: October 25, 2017

Story: Kevin Eastman, Bobby Curnow, Tom Waltz

Script: Tom Waltz

Art: Cory Smith, Mateus Santolouco, Chris Johnson, Damian Couceiro

Colors: Ronda Pattison

Letters: Shawn Lee 

Edits: Bobby Curnow

"The Trial of Krang, Part Three"

Summary:

In Dimension X, Queen Maligna unleashes the full fury of her Malignoid Swarm on the planet Neutrino.  Triceraton Commander Zom orders her fleet to take the front line and they're flanked by Zak, Kala, Ace Duck and a fighter unit he convinced to join his cause.  Unfortunately, the Swarm is so huge, many Malignoids slip through.

On the surface of the planet, Dask rallies an army of Neutrino soldiers to defend the capital.  He outfits the Leonardo, Raphael and Michelangelo with armor, jet-packs and energized weapons so they can help fight.

Meanwhile, Donatello and the Fugitoid guard the witnesses until the trial of Krang can resume.  B'een gives off an early warning, but too late, as Hakk-R bursts in and attacks, outmatching Donnie one-on-one.  Luckily, Polly's pollen blast stuns him and he runs back into Judge Gorath's quarters (where he'd killed the judge, earlier).  Anemon out-muscles the weakened Hakk-R and subdues him just as Malignoids begin to invade the chamber.  Leatherhead takes out some while the other Turtles swoop in and destroy the rest.

Knowing they'd need a plan to stop the invasion at its source, Donnie gets an idea from Polly's pollen.  He asks if she could release all of her pollen at once, and she reveals that she can, but doing so would put her into a coma and she would have to return to her homeworld to rejuvenate.   Donnie then convinces Stump to make a deal with Hakk-R who begrudgingly accepts.

Hakk-R then teleports onto Maligna's mothership and releases polly's pollen into the vent system.  The hallucinagen causes Maligna to panic and withdraw her Swarm, ordering them to retreat.  As the battle concludes, Donnie tells the others that he had Stump promise Hakk-R double what Krang was paying him, plus lifetime box tickets to Grappleganza.

The next day, the trial resumes, though King Zenter is called to preside in place of the late Judge Gorath.  Leatherhead is called to the stand to testify and he relates the story of his origin and imprisonment on Earth by General Krang.  His grievance has less to do with Krang's penchant for destruction but is instead aimed at his recklessness with creation, as Leatherhead resents being a freak of nature with cognizance of his existence.

General Krang is finally called to the stand and he defiantly admits to all of his actions, but proceeds to defend them.  He insists that everything he did was for the survival of the Utrom race and asks King Zenter if he would not go to the same lengths to protect the Neutrino people.  Closing statements are then made, as the Fugitoid relates the death of his family and his transformation at the hands of Krang and claims that there is no justification for genocide.  The defense reiterates that Krang did what he had to do to save his people from extinction and that there is no way to play nice in war.

King Zenter leaves to ponder his verdict and the Turtles, royal family and witnesses are allowed into the courtroom to watch the verdict be delivered.  Zenter soon returns and says that due to conflict of interest, he cannot pass judgment on Krang or sentence him on his own.  Instead, he sought counsel from Ma'Riell of the Utroms, who has agreed to imprison Krang for life on Burnow Island, Earth.  Lieutenant Kleve and Corporal Montuoro then enter through a portal to take Krang into custody.  Enraged at the verdict, Leatherhead promptly EATS Krang and then escapes to Burnow Island through the portal.

The two startled Utrom guards admit to King Zenter that perhaps a quick death was a better end for the General than a lifetime in confinement and return to Burnow Island.  Once there, they curse Leatherhead for taking their true leader from them and vow not to let Ma'Riell know what has happened.  Instead, they will work to revive Colonel Ch'Rell and finish Krang's work.

Back on Neutrino, Zak and Kala gather up the witnesses and help them all get home.  The Fugitoid decides to stay behind and help his people build a better defense against the Malignoids.  Dask then helps the Turtles teleport back home.

Meanwhile, the royal family contacts Commander Zom to tell her that their bargain will be honored.  Wanting to right the wrong the Utroms inflicted on the Triceratons by taking them from their homeworld long ago, he offers to teleport them all back to their proper dimension so they can return to Earth, where they belong.  Zom and her forces then cross through the portal and disappear.  Zenter hopes that all Earthlings are as kind as the Turtles and will find a place for their long-lost brethren.

On Earth, the EPF gets a warning of the invading Triceraton fleet and Agent Bishop is called to action.


Turtle Tips:

*This story is continued from TMNT (IDW) #74.  The story continues in TMNT (IDW) #76.

*The events of the TMNT/Ghostbusters 2 miniseries take place between this and next issue.

*To celebrate the release of the 75th issue of the series, IDW partnered with local comic shops for a TMNT Day event.  It was not widely promoted and very few shops in the country participated in the events.  The TMNT Day 2017 Sampler special was released as a giveaway alongside this issue.

*This issue was originally published with 14 fucking variant covers: Cover A by Cory Smith and Ronda Pattison, Cover B by Kevin Eastman and Tomi Varga, Retailer Incentive by Ben Bates, AOD Collectibles Exclusive by Hal Laren, Comics and Ponies Exclusive by Eastman and Varga, Fried Pie Exclusive by Veronica Fish, Giant Robot Exclusive by Casey Coller, Knowhere Games & Comics/Brave New World Exclusive by Deth P./Jesse Heagy and David Baron, TMNT Day Exclusive by Jon Lam, Planet Awesome Collectibles Exclusive by Eastman and Joe Sinnot, Planet Awesome Collectibles Exclusive black and white version, Planet Awesome Collectives Exclusive by Humberto Ramos, and Planet Awesome Collectibles Exclusive blank sketch cover.


Review:

I can say that this finale to "The Trial of Krang" left me wanting for nothing.  While the Turtles sort of sat out the previous installment, they got lots of action throughout this double-length finale.  The witnesses, too, got their licks in and I don't feel anyone was particularly shortchanged.

The first thing I feel I should address is how they handled Hakk-R in this conclusion.  He was introduced as being this unstoppable badass, but throughout the Dimension X miniseries, he got his ass kicked so much he sort of turned into a gag villain.  I was curious how he was going to be portrayed in this finale; if his decay in threat would be acknowledged, and if so, how they would work that out.  There's a happy compromise, as Hakk-R only goes up against Donatello in a solo match, and while Hakk-R may not be much of challenge for the Turtles in a group anymore, he can still trounce them one at a time.  Polly winds up being the hero of that confrontation, in something of a surprise, and then Hakk-R and Polly kinda-sorta team-up to be the REAL saviors of the battle!

Actually, all the witnesses get their chance to contribute, with B'een sounding an alarm, Amenon and Eyemo subduing the poisoned Hakk-R and Stump using his influence to convince the mercenary to switch sides.  And then there's Ace Duck, who skips out on the trial to fight the battle up in space.  No one introduced throughout this rather long arc gets left behind and this is a conclusion that definitely feels like the sum of all its parts.

I suppose the only character who gets a bit skipped over is Queen Maligna.  She's been a looming threat since this arc began, but she only appears for a few pages and is dispatched in a rather easy fashion.  But in this case, I see her as being more of a tease for a future storyline; whenever the Turtles decide to return to Dimension X, she'll be the Big Bad that's waiting for them.  And anyway, Krang using her to hedge his bets was a nice callback to TMNT Adventures #12, when he did the same thing.

The trial gets its due attention at the end of the book and the drama doesn't let up.  Zenter taking Gorath's place was a great example of misdirection, luring the reader into assuming what his verdict would be only to give us something that we didn't even know was an option at the end.  He's guilty, yes, but not to be sentenced by the Neutrinos, but by the Utroms.  When Kleve and Montouro show up, you start to guess that we won't be seeing the last of Krang and then CHOMP.  Nah, he's dead.

THAT was a kickass shocker and I ain't even a little bit mad.  I think Krang's gotten about all the attention he deserves in the IDW series and the trial was a natural conclusion to his arc.  And even so, with Ch'Rell waiting in the wings, we know that Krang's work isn't finished even if he's currently nothing but fragments in Leatherhead's stool.  I'm curious how Ch'Rell will be characterized in this series to differentiate him from Krang, but we've probably got a long wait to see how that rolls out.

Zenter's naivete in turning the Triceratons loose on Earth was maybe a bit annoying, but when his only encounter with Earthlings was through the Turtles, I can see how he'd make the mistake that we're all as goody-goody as they are.  Still, he maybe should've asked the Fugitoid for some counsel on human nature before setting a warrior race and their fleet of destruction on an unsuspecting planet.  The next arc should be a good one.

Also, Commander Zom is apparently female.  That makes her the SECOND female Triceraton in the franchise's history, coming in behind General Zera from the Half-Shell Heroes: Blast to the Past cartoon.  Maybe someday we'll be able to count the number of female Triceratons on more than one hand.  Maybe in another 30 years.

Anyhow, while I found the Dimension X miniseries stretch of this arc to be a little uneven, I think the ongoing's chapters of "Trial of Krang" were all superb.  As a "milestone" issue, #75 perhaps lacks the game-changing feel of TMNT #50, but it still ends up being suitably big in terms of what it does to the landscape of the universe (or multiverse, I guess).  Now, we all just have to dig in for that long march to TMNT #100.  Can't wait.