Writer: James Tynion IV

Artist: Freddie E. Williams II

It’s a shame that we’re in the era of peak intercompany crossover, and yet we haven’t had a DC/Marvel story since JLA/Avengers (though in fairness, that was the crossover to end all crossovers). DC and Marvel have been on the outs for awhile, and being owned by two rival parent companies, it may be impossible now. But maybe, just maybe, DC has found a new friendly sparring partner in IDW and its plethora of licensed titles. Hot on the heels of their joint Star Trek/Green Lantern, the companies are giving us the kinda-logical pairing of Batman/Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. Maybe if this keeps up, we can get Wonder Woman/My Little Pony or The Spectre/Ghostbusters, amIrite?

The end product is a little pedestrian, but maybe after we’ve been through the endless cycle of characters meeting, misunderstanding, fighting, and then allying, these things are bound to become rote. For yet-to-be-explained reasons, both the Turtles and the Foot Clan have found themselves in Gotham City and are competing to find interdimensional equipment to help themselves get back home.  (Yes, we’re taking the “interdimensional travel” route with this story.) As the opening salvo in a six-part story, this doesn’t quite get to the “Turtles fight Batman” part yet. We’re just skirting things, with the Turtles fighting Killer Croc and Batman fighting the Foot Clan, and both sides just beginning to become aware of each other. It’s fine, though formulaic.

I am annoyed by two things. One is the “inter-dimensional travel” aspect to the story–that the Turtles have somehow found themselves in the DC Universe. I’m old enough to remember the old days of crossovers, when it was just taken as a given that Superman and Spider-Man just existed in the same universe and they just happened to have never met before, and you just didn’t care as a reader. Batman and the Turtles have enough historical similarity–urban martial-arts crime-fighters–that it didn’t need to go the universe-hopping route. It’s driving the story, but I was hoping for something a little more organic.

Second, Tynion seems to be making a point of using the current iterations of both Batman and the Turtles. Nothing appears to be tied to any particular DC event (whether this is tied to something in the main Turtles comic, I don’t know), but it’s pretty manifestly the New 52 Batman. Again, Batman and the Turtles both have rich enough histories that I think most post-1980s incarnation of them could have meshed just fine–so tying it to current continuity risks making this comic very topical rather than a long-lasting classic. (Batman/Hulk is still very readable over 30 years later.)

Tynion’s writing is fine, though he surprisingly seems to have a better voice for the Turtles than he does for Batman here–the latter being a little too “grumpy” for my tastes. His “master detective” Batman is also a bit overdone, with Batman able to use his forensic talents to figure out that some attack victims were hurt by mutated ninjas just by looking at their injuries. Batman’s good, but it feels like this should be one of those “show, don’t tell” moments which someone like Grant Morrison always conveyed so much more effectively. On the other hand, Tynion seems to have a good grasp of two of the Turtles’ personalities, with Mikey being the silly one and Don being over-analytical, and neither coming off as overdone.

Freddie Williams’ art is equally acceptable and yet a little unbalanced. It’s fine, but a little out of proportion at times. Batman is drawn just a little too wide at times; the Turtles are a little too thin. Given that Batman’s an acrobat and the Turtles are reptiles, I think the characters’ girths should probably be reversed. It’s otherwise fine and captures the urban grit that fits both sides of this crossover, but I hope the flaws get better as the series progresses.

Batman/TMNT isn’t the best crossover ever, but it’ll fill the Batman/TMNT void you didn’t know you had.

Rating: Three Pizzas out of Five.