Batman/Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles #2

By James Tynion IV, Freddie E. Williams II & Jeremy Colwell

The second installment of this major franchise crossover kicks into high gear from page one. Batman, having discovered four green men, engages his adversaries, showing off his martial arts prowess and mind for strategy. Once the fight is over, Bruce begins to research the Turtles and Splinter and how they figure into the recent thefts. On the flipside, the Ninja Turtles research the Dark Knight and continue to try to find a way back home. Of course, Shredder and the Foot are concocting their own schemes within their new hunting ground of Gotham City…

Half of the issue was devoted to the battle between Batman and the Turtle family. Honestly, most were probably hoping for a fresher direction; this is such an overused trope in crossover events. The protagonists always throw fists before asking questions. In this case, it would make sense for Raphael to do that, but for Bruce to not investigate/observe before engaging is really out of character. The sequence was illustrated very well by Freddie E. Williams II and the blue/gray hues used in the splatter backgrounds by Jeremy Colwell were an excellent choice.

James Tynion IV is trying to implement the science fiction elements from Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles into the story, but it just isn’t working. He uses it to rationalize how the world’s greatest detective is able to discern, from examining one of Raph’s sais, that they are from another dimension. Despite him trying to explain it over a couple of pages, the mcguffin is just too hard to swallow and this is a comic book.

Even with all the outlandish elements and clichés, Tynion IV and the rest of the creative team really do wonders when the Ninja Turtles come into focus. Their designs and facial expressions are easy on the eyes and their dialogue is spot-on. Honestly, one would rather this just be a TMNT comic because the Batman/Gotham City portions are what’s hurting this book. After this, IDW should give these guys a crack at one of their mini-series.

Again, this comic is uneven from start to finish. Readers who really enjoyed the first issue will probably continue to appreciate the material, but those on the fence should probably hop off. It doesn’t look like this mini-series is going to improve much. It’s really depressing because this event deserved better representation and story.