REVIEW: More Turtle Power on ‘Batman/Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II #1′
Buy into the Bat and the Turtles going on another adventure.
Building on the successful crossover also penned by James Tynion IV, this new adventure finds yet another way for the heroes in the half-shell and the Dark Knight to collide. And as with the first encounter, this one is done with some grimy (in a good way) art and slick storytelling. What Tynion does so well in these books, given the limited space and the big tapestry, is he builds very strong character beats.
As always, there’s a bigger plot a-foot (pun only a little intended) with a power struggle in the Foot Clan, and Bane thrown in the mix. That’ll occasion all the big fun fight sequences. But the emotional currents beneath it are driven by Donatello, who after a humiliating defeat, is forced to confront how limited his fighting skills are. It’s such a powerful conflict, and it’s played out here not only to build a care for characters, but also to drive the story forward.
I think the strength Batman/Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II #1 (and the success of the previous series) should be enough of a hook to get readers onboard. And while crossovers run the risk of feeling like cash-grabs, there’s so much work put into the story here that you forget everything else and buy into the Bat and the Turtles going on another adventure.
