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A review by jadejade
Batman/Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Adventures by Matthew K. Manning
5.0
I bought this on a whim, as I'm a fan of TMNT - without realising that a related animated feature has come out. I'll have to get onto that! This trade paperback collects two connected stories, set a short time apart. I loved crossover and what-if stories when I was younger, so I always expect a fun time when another such creature darkens my doorway.
I'm not familiar enough with the various Batman animated series to pin-point which art style is being mimicked here (it looks like the 90s series to me) but we are definitely following the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles from the 2012 animated series.
I appreciated that Batman is doing detective work, and that the Robin/Nightwing tension is referenced in the second story (again, I'm not as familiar with Batman so I'm almost certainly missing more details and winks). The personalities of the turtles align with those of their 2012 animated series counterparts. The art is clear and expressive, although there were at least two (unintentional) derp faces that I spotted - nothing to wreck the flow or fun of the story, however. Introducing a huge cast in a short time can be jarring but a clever method is used: an unobtrusive halo appears over the head of each character as they are introduced, with a short description box.
Would a fan of only Batman or only TMNT like this? Probably, if they are open to crossovers, noting that the individual characters are not delved into too deeply: it's more of a quick comparison of similar/disparate personality types, to see how they play off each other.
Would someone entirely unfamiliar with either like this? Um, maybe. Oddly enough, I find crossovers are a good way to get a distilled version of each universe/cast, and so can inspire a reader to investigate one or both separately later.
I'm not familiar enough with the various Batman animated series to pin-point which art style is being mimicked here (it looks like the 90s series to me) but we are definitely following the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles from the 2012 animated series.
I appreciated that Batman is doing detective work, and that the Robin/Nightwing tension is referenced in the second story (again, I'm not as familiar with Batman so I'm almost certainly missing more details and winks). The personalities of the turtles align with those of their 2012 animated series counterparts. The art is clear and expressive, although there were at least two (unintentional) derp faces that I spotted - nothing to wreck the flow or fun of the story, however. Introducing a huge cast in a short time can be jarring but a clever method is used: an unobtrusive halo appears over the head of each character as they are introduced, with a short description box.
Would a fan of only Batman or only TMNT like this? Probably, if they are open to crossovers, noting that the individual characters are not delved into too deeply: it's more of a quick comparison of similar/disparate personality types, to see how they play off each other.
Would someone entirely unfamiliar with either like this? Um, maybe. Oddly enough, I find crossovers are a good way to get a distilled version of each universe/cast, and so can inspire a reader to investigate one or both separately later.