By Mark Rodriguez
The Shredder has teamed up with Rah's Al Ghul and they use Mutagen on all the Arkham inmates to burn Gotham City to the ground. Leo's body goes into shock as the Mutagen in his body is starting to become inert since Mutagen doesn't exist in the DCU. The same fate will soon fall upon the rest of the Turtles and Splinter, so they leave the fight to Batman and Robin. But... will the Turtles really sit out the last issue of the crossover? Let's find out.
The issue opens with Batman and Robin being manhandled by Bane, now a mutant elephant, though in his case he looks more like a mammoth. Batman hits him with electric Batarangs in the face, which makes Bane let them go. Robin kicks a mutant hyena Harley before she could bash Batman with her infamous mallet. Poison Ivy, now a mutant mantis send her plants against Batman saying that she'll make them pay for what was done to her. Mr. Freeze, a mutant polar bear only want to kill Batman and blasts him with his Freeze Gun.
Alfred, Splinter, Casey and the Turtles watch what's happening to Batman through the Batcomputer. Leo manages to get back to his feet, still trembling as the Mutagen in his body fades. Casey says the teleporter he brought with him is ready and they have to go now because once he leave it'll be hard to tell when they'll be able to use the machine again. Raph steps up and says Batman has done nothing but help them this whole time and they shouldn't leave him to die at the hands of villains powered by Mutagen that came from their world. Casey tells him to think about his family. Raph says he's talking about the man that's protecting families because he lost his own. The portal machine begins to glow and Casey says it will soon activate regardless of what they think and he'll live with it, which makes this now or never.
Damian tries to break Batman out of the ice, but he tells him to run and stop them from leaving Arkham. Batman yells for Rah's to show himself. Rah's arrives and says he wouldn't deny the rogues the pleasure of exploring their new abilities. Batman tells Shredder that Rah's is double-crossing him as army of assassins is heading for Gotham. Shredder says it is their plan, and Rah's says that together they will wipe Gotham from the map and then spread across the world, using the Mutagen on their enemies to help destroy the world.
Shredder says he expected more of Batman and was hoping to kill him personally, but now he finds that he is beneath him. He mentions there's someone else that wants to kill him. Joker, now a mutated cobra is eager to bite Batman and test out his new venom. He tells Batman that he will do away with Shredder and Rah's eventually and use the Mutagen with his powerful Joker Venom. A Foot Ninja tells Shredder that the police have tripled their forces outside. Just then Raph arrive and slams Joker's face into the ice and kicks Shredder away.
Batman is surprised because the Turtles should have been gone by now. Leo says they're gonna clean up their mess. Donnie says they brought something with them and he tinkered with it a little. Mikey hugs Mr. Freeze making fun of the 'cute polar bear with the freeze gun' making him accidentally freeze Poison Ivy.
Shredder tells Rah's they should just hurry and kill them all. Just then Batman arrives in new battle armor. Splinter picks up Harley's mallet and figures it will help. Rah's says that Batman can't fight him and Shredder alone. The Turtles fight with Rah's as he says Batman continues to send children to fight his battles, and it's about time another one died. Yep, Jason Todd reference, even though he got better.
Shredder breaks his gauntlets trying to slice Batman's armor, but then he tosses acid on him. As Batman's armor breaks away, Shredder grabs him and is ready for the kill. Batman shoots out a plate of his armor that sends Shredder flying into glass. The Turtles finally manage to kick Rah's all at once. Shredder and Batman continue to fight it out with everything they have. Batman finally manages to punch Shredder's helmet right off him. Shredder calls for his men to attack, but Splinter has taken care of them and proceeds to knock him out by swinging the mallet into his face.
Rah's calls for his ninjas, but Damian arrives saying he took care of them. Rah's says 'well played' and leaves in a puff of smoke. Raph sees Shredder out cold and wishes he could just stab him with sai. Batman says they'll take him back to their world and put him in their jail so he can answer for his crimes. Donnie wonders just how they're going to get back home.
Just then a portal opens and Casey and April arrive. April says when Casey returned by himself she helped Harold home in on their signal so they can find them again. The machine will short circuit in twenty minutes so the Turtles hurry to round up the Foot Clan. Raph gives Batman his bandana and thanks him for everything. He says if he ever comes to their world, he has a family with them.
Hours later, Gordon tells Batman that the Arkham villains will turn back to normal in a few weeks after the Mutagen is out of their system. Damian points out that it's now the anniversary of the death of Bruce's parents and he leaves since he usually prefers to endure it alone. Batman decides to spend they day with Damian instead. Alfred suggests playing old videos, but instead Batman and Robin run over the schematics of the Intimadator suit for any improvements they can make. As they leave we see Raph's bandana hanging off of Batman's chair.
My opinions-
And so concludes the Batman/TMNT crossover. I have to say it was a very entertaining read and it opened the new concept of matter turning into its equivalent in another dimension. Raph's um.. IDW comics steel sai slowly turns into DCU steel sai... and since Mutagen doesn't exist in the DCU, the Turtles and Splinter face the danger of turning back into ordinary animals. It's an interesting idea never done before in any TMNT crossover, especially not the recent crossover they had with the Ghostbusters that also dealt with them going to an alternate New York city. Technically speaking this should also apply to whenever they meet other versions of themselves, like in Turtle Forever since the 80's TMNT's version of Mutagen is very different from the Ooze from the 2K3 universe.
I do have to say though, this issue was epic and Batman was truly pushed to his limits in the fight against the Shredder. This issue's epic fights more than make up for the first issue's 'a fight's gonna start, we pan away to someone else, we cut back to the fight being over' set up. I know there was a lot to cram in this issue, especially with the double boss fights with Shredder and Rah's, but I would have liked to have seen more of the Turtles fighting against the mutated rogues. But hey... we got to see Splinter knock Shredder out with Harley's oversized cartoony mallet.
I also have to point out that the Turtles seemed to be way over their heads in Gotham. Other than a brief fight with Killer Croc and a flashback on them defeating the Mad Hatter, they have been getting their asses kicked all throughout this crossover. Batman kicked their asses. Damian kicked their asses. Rah's Al Ghul kicked their asses. On the other hand, Shredder makes up for it by basically giving Batman a battle so intense, he needed special armor just to keep up with him.
This is honestly a crossover I never would have seen coming, but wow, they did a lot with it, and with it being 6 parts it gave plenty of time for the heroes to get to know each other instead of the usual rush in other crossovers. And the Turtles really played up their teenage hijinx, making themselves totally at home in the Batcave without permission and even hooking up a game system to the Batcomputer.
Despite the writers saying these Turtles are not meant to be the IDW versions, they still seem pretty much in the series' continuity, especially when they keep mentioning Howard, an original character from the series.
Overall a great crossover and a lot of fun. I loved every minute of it. I really enjoyed it. I also liked the slight difference with the story starting out with the Turtles and the Foot already being in Gotham for several weeks making us wait to explain how they got there. Clever.
And now we wait to see how the animated version of this story will play out.
The Shredder has teamed up with Rah's Al Ghul and they use Mutagen on all the Arkham inmates to burn Gotham City to the ground. Leo's body goes into shock as the Mutagen in his body is starting to become inert since Mutagen doesn't exist in the DCU. The same fate will soon fall upon the rest of the Turtles and Splinter, so they leave the fight to Batman and Robin. But... will the Turtles really sit out the last issue of the crossover? Let's find out.
The issue opens with Batman and Robin being manhandled by Bane, now a mutant elephant, though in his case he looks more like a mammoth. Batman hits him with electric Batarangs in the face, which makes Bane let them go. Robin kicks a mutant hyena Harley before she could bash Batman with her infamous mallet. Poison Ivy, now a mutant mantis send her plants against Batman saying that she'll make them pay for what was done to her. Mr. Freeze, a mutant polar bear only want to kill Batman and blasts him with his Freeze Gun.
Alfred, Splinter, Casey and the Turtles watch what's happening to Batman through the Batcomputer. Leo manages to get back to his feet, still trembling as the Mutagen in his body fades. Casey says the teleporter he brought with him is ready and they have to go now because once he leave it'll be hard to tell when they'll be able to use the machine again. Raph steps up and says Batman has done nothing but help them this whole time and they shouldn't leave him to die at the hands of villains powered by Mutagen that came from their world. Casey tells him to think about his family. Raph says he's talking about the man that's protecting families because he lost his own. The portal machine begins to glow and Casey says it will soon activate regardless of what they think and he'll live with it, which makes this now or never.
Damian tries to break Batman out of the ice, but he tells him to run and stop them from leaving Arkham. Batman yells for Rah's to show himself. Rah's arrives and says he wouldn't deny the rogues the pleasure of exploring their new abilities. Batman tells Shredder that Rah's is double-crossing him as army of assassins is heading for Gotham. Shredder says it is their plan, and Rah's says that together they will wipe Gotham from the map and then spread across the world, using the Mutagen on their enemies to help destroy the world.
Shredder says he expected more of Batman and was hoping to kill him personally, but now he finds that he is beneath him. He mentions there's someone else that wants to kill him. Joker, now a mutated cobra is eager to bite Batman and test out his new venom. He tells Batman that he will do away with Shredder and Rah's eventually and use the Mutagen with his powerful Joker Venom. A Foot Ninja tells Shredder that the police have tripled their forces outside. Just then Raph arrive and slams Joker's face into the ice and kicks Shredder away.
Batman is surprised because the Turtles should have been gone by now. Leo says they're gonna clean up their mess. Donnie says they brought something with them and he tinkered with it a little. Mikey hugs Mr. Freeze making fun of the 'cute polar bear with the freeze gun' making him accidentally freeze Poison Ivy.
Shredder tells Rah's they should just hurry and kill them all. Just then Batman arrives in new battle armor. Splinter picks up Harley's mallet and figures it will help. Rah's says that Batman can't fight him and Shredder alone. The Turtles fight with Rah's as he says Batman continues to send children to fight his battles, and it's about time another one died. Yep, Jason Todd reference, even though he got better.
Shredder breaks his gauntlets trying to slice Batman's armor, but then he tosses acid on him. As Batman's armor breaks away, Shredder grabs him and is ready for the kill. Batman shoots out a plate of his armor that sends Shredder flying into glass. The Turtles finally manage to kick Rah's all at once. Shredder and Batman continue to fight it out with everything they have. Batman finally manages to punch Shredder's helmet right off him. Shredder calls for his men to attack, but Splinter has taken care of them and proceeds to knock him out by swinging the mallet into his face.
Rah's calls for his ninjas, but Damian arrives saying he took care of them. Rah's says 'well played' and leaves in a puff of smoke. Raph sees Shredder out cold and wishes he could just stab him with sai. Batman says they'll take him back to their world and put him in their jail so he can answer for his crimes. Donnie wonders just how they're going to get back home.
Just then a portal opens and Casey and April arrive. April says when Casey returned by himself she helped Harold home in on their signal so they can find them again. The machine will short circuit in twenty minutes so the Turtles hurry to round up the Foot Clan. Raph gives Batman his bandana and thanks him for everything. He says if he ever comes to their world, he has a family with them.
Hours later, Gordon tells Batman that the Arkham villains will turn back to normal in a few weeks after the Mutagen is out of their system. Damian points out that it's now the anniversary of the death of Bruce's parents and he leaves since he usually prefers to endure it alone. Batman decides to spend they day with Damian instead. Alfred suggests playing old videos, but instead Batman and Robin run over the schematics of the Intimadator suit for any improvements they can make. As they leave we see Raph's bandana hanging off of Batman's chair.
My opinions-
And so concludes the Batman/TMNT crossover. I have to say it was a very entertaining read and it opened the new concept of matter turning into its equivalent in another dimension. Raph's um.. IDW comics steel sai slowly turns into DCU steel sai... and since Mutagen doesn't exist in the DCU, the Turtles and Splinter face the danger of turning back into ordinary animals. It's an interesting idea never done before in any TMNT crossover, especially not the recent crossover they had with the Ghostbusters that also dealt with them going to an alternate New York city. Technically speaking this should also apply to whenever they meet other versions of themselves, like in Turtle Forever since the 80's TMNT's version of Mutagen is very different from the Ooze from the 2K3 universe.
I do have to say though, this issue was epic and Batman was truly pushed to his limits in the fight against the Shredder. This issue's epic fights more than make up for the first issue's 'a fight's gonna start, we pan away to someone else, we cut back to the fight being over' set up. I know there was a lot to cram in this issue, especially with the double boss fights with Shredder and Rah's, but I would have liked to have seen more of the Turtles fighting against the mutated rogues. But hey... we got to see Splinter knock Shredder out with Harley's oversized cartoony mallet.
I also have to point out that the Turtles seemed to be way over their heads in Gotham. Other than a brief fight with Killer Croc and a flashback on them defeating the Mad Hatter, they have been getting their asses kicked all throughout this crossover. Batman kicked their asses. Damian kicked their asses. Rah's Al Ghul kicked their asses. On the other hand, Shredder makes up for it by basically giving Batman a battle so intense, he needed special armor just to keep up with him.
This is honestly a crossover I never would have seen coming, but wow, they did a lot with it, and with it being 6 parts it gave plenty of time for the heroes to get to know each other instead of the usual rush in other crossovers. And the Turtles really played up their teenage hijinx, making themselves totally at home in the Batcave without permission and even hooking up a game system to the Batcomputer.
Despite the writers saying these Turtles are not meant to be the IDW versions, they still seem pretty much in the series' continuity, especially when they keep mentioning Howard, an original character from the series.
Overall a great crossover and a lot of fun. I loved every minute of it. I really enjoyed it. I also liked the slight difference with the story starting out with the Turtles and the Foot already being in Gotham for several weeks making us wait to explain how they got there. Clever.
And now we wait to see how the animated version of this story will play out.
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