TMNT/Ghostbusters II #4 review: Mingling proton power with Turtle power
By Alex Widen
Each Ghostbuster and Ninja Turtle face their own challenges. Yet can a mysterious stranger save them from Darius Dun in TMNT/Ghostbusters?
TMNT/Ghostbusters II #4
Writers: Erik Burnham & Tom Waltz
Artists: Tadd Galusha, Dan Schoening, Pablo Tunica, Mark Torres & Charles Paul Wilson III
Colorist: Luis Antonio Delgado
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A job like this is too large for any Ghostbuster or Ninja Turtle to handle alone! An alliance between the Collectors and the ghost of Darius Dun has forced the Ghostbusters to hide the Ninja Turtles across dimensions. While Donatello and Egon Spengler work on weapons for a final battle, the rest of the team stalls for time. Yet they all wind up having harrowing adventures paired with unfamiliar partners. All the while Darius Dun proves to be more than even the Collectors bargained for!
Image by IDW Publishing
Unfortunately for Winston Zeddemore and the Ninja Turtle known as Leonardo, the Collectors have found them first! The pair had just overcome a gang of “Punk Frogs” in another realm when they found themselves beset by their foes! The pair make a last stand, yet not even the Ghostbusters’ Proton-Zappers have any effect on the powerful demons. Fortunately, the Collectors are whisked away at a critical moment, and our heroes are saved by dumb luck!
Image by IDW Publishing
A Spooky Time across Reality!
The ghost of Darius Dun is still stuck in purgatory, and he is none too thrilled to see that each Ninja Turtle has escaped his trap. Yet he ignores the advice of fellow spirit Bronson and summons the Collectors a second time. His timing turned out to be utterly terrible, as it prevented them from reclaiming Leonardo. All along Bronson has warned there was a price for summoning the demons, and now the Collectors seek to absorb Dunn’s very soul. Yet things take a twist when Dunn possesses them!
Image by IDW Publishing
Michelangelo and Peter Venkman arguably wound up in the most interesting dimension! They’re in a world where animal-people are the norm, and a squad of “Ghostbusturtles” exist! They consider Peter a demon, and it’s up to Mikey to hash things out with them, Turtle to Turtle. Rather than use violence, Mikey manages to reason with them and convince them Peter’s no threat. While Peter is annoyed at the entire experience, he’s impressed by Mikey’s cunning and adaptability.
Image by IDW Publishing
Raphael and Ray Stanz share the most personal experience when their bodies are possessed by Viking ghosts in another realm! While the pair have successfully reclaimed Ray’s body, they still have to deal with an angry Viking hosting Raphael’s Ninja Turtle form. Yet their time together within one body brings Ray and Raph closer together than either really wanted. Ray’s overeager nature annoys Raph, while Raph’s negativity turns out to be critical to resolving their situation!
Image by IDW Publishing
One Surprise Guest Star Changes It All!
Donatello and Egon are busy at work preparing for the final battle against the Collectors. Don has helped Egon figure out a trapping device for them in addition to some “proton Ninja weapons” for his Turtle brothers. All the while, Donatello is still fascinated in grilling Egon about his own death experience. It’s a subject Egon would rather not broach, for a similar reason that Donatello was once dismayed about his own origins involving reincarnation. Egon prefers a world of science instead of magic.
Image by IDW Publishing
Yet the biggest surprise of all are all of the Ghostbusters and Ninja Turtles being summoned to the same dimension at once. Since their teleportations were supposed to be random, this is an odd sign indeed. Both Egon and Donatello fear it is the world of the Collectors. Therefore, Donatello turns up with his new proton-bo staff as cavalry. However, the reason for the reunion is more shocking than any villain. Tang Shen, the Turtles’ mother from feudal Japan, has summoned them!
Image by IDW Publishing
Erik Burnham and Tom Waltz once again unite for a great strip, even if some elements of this one bore signs of drag. While the angle of Darius Dun possessing the Collectors is a cool concept, it feels like it was half intended to keep the villains busy another issue. As it is, the main focus of this series has been on the character interaction within their various alternate dimensions. The villains so far have only provided an excuse for these events to happen. That said, it is great to get more of Dun!
Image by IDW Publishing
Tang Shen Is Mother of the Century!
While Michelangelo sorting things out with the “Ghostbusturtles” is clever, I probably enjoyed the finale between Ray and Raph more. It involved more “mood slime” from Ghostbusters 2 as well as delved into Raph’s psyche. Ray seems genuinely disturbed by how angry and negative Raphael is, especially since he’s surrounded by his brothers. Ironically, while Raph certainly has a lot of that swirling around him, he feels his life has gotten more positive after growing up alone without the Turtles.
Image by IDW Publishing
The reappearance of Tang Shen was an unexpected surprise. In every incarnation of TMNT, she is heavily involved in their origin. Her role is usually to die at the hands of the Shredder (or in the original Mirage comics, his brother). Such was the same in this IDW era, yet while Splinter and her sons reincarnated into new bodies, Tang didn’t. She has remained in the spirit realm and made contact with them at critical times. It seems like now is one of those critical times!
Image by IDW Publishing
When Leonardo was brainwashed by Shredder and Kitsune and made into their loyal Foot minion, Tang Shen helped break their hold. She also reappeared before Leonardo when he sought to recover from this affair, and seemed to have the strongest connection to him. Yet when Donatello was seemingly killed and trapped inside the robotic form of Metalhead, Tang Shen was also there. Considering she is a literal ghost, it does make a degree of sense to see her in a Ghostbusters team-up.
Image by IDW Publishing
A Bridge to an Awesome Finale!
With the addition of Charles Paul Wilson III on art, this is even more of a jam issue than the others! Five artists on twenty pages means there is an economy of pages, where everyone only has a few to shine. Each have different styles, which fits the tone of travel between worlds. Schoening is great with his sequences involving Dun and the Collectors, and Pablo Tunica is in rare form in animal world. I especially loved his cover with all of the references to older Ninja Turtles characters!
Image by IDW Publishing
Next: The travels between dimensions continued in #3!
While this issue seemed like a bridge to the finale, it does accomplish quite a lot. As always, the interaction and banter between the characters is the main draw. Their adventures in other dimensions shows a lot of imagination. Seeing Darius Dun prove to be more formidable than even demons showcases his potential, which I feared had been squandered. And the appearance of Tang Shen adds some weight and drama to the proceedings. The finale next week should be a spectacular affair!