Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles VS Street Fighter # 5

 By Mark Rodriguez

The Turtles entered a Street Fighter tournament, not knowing that it was being held by Bison and Baxter. The villains have been kidnapping fighters, including Raphael and Chun Li to drain their 'Psycho Power' to fuel the Psycho Bomb. Donatello discovered that Bison plans to drop the bomb in Manhattan rather than some empty desert. Meanwhile, the Shredder has been released and he has gone completely insane. How will this crossover conclude? 

 

The issue opens with all of the Shadaloo soldiers and captured fighters (including Pigeon Pete and Rufus) running out of the bottling plant as Bison declares that everything is over. Bison tells Balrog by radio that the bomb will soon destroy Manhattan. He calls for a helicopter so he can escape and start the mass production of more Psycho Bombs. Bison tells Balrog that he is not hiding on the roof. There is a lot of chaos going on below and Bison just can't be bothered.

Donatello panics and looks over the smashed control console. He says there has to be some way to fix this. Baxter tosses the damaged keyboard into a wall and says they should stop wasting time on something they can't fix and focus on a new plan. Ken doesn't know what to do and ponders between evacuation New York in half an hour, sending another missile to destroy this one, or punching the missile. He says he's out of his depth since he's used to solving his problems by punching them. Guile arrives with Raph, Mikey and Chun Li and says they're all out of their depths.

Shredder picks up Ryu and says since he doesn't know him, he will kill quickly and then move on to savor the deaths of the Turtles. Ken shows up with the others saying he can go for an alternate plan which consists of not killing anyone. Shredder tosses Ryu aside and says he doesn't care for it. Mikey says another thing Shredder might not care for is that Bison is about to drop a bomb onto New York City. He adds that Bison is the one that captured Shredder and stole his Psycho Power. Shredder doesn't care about the bomb destroying the city.

 

Mikey says they know people there, warriors and comrades and even someone like Shredder would have friends. He tries to convince Shredder that they need to work together, and the villain punches him back. Chun Li leaps towards him in anger and kicks Shredder in the face. Shredder grabs her and slams her to the floor. Shredder says they gave him useful information, the name of his true enemy. He runs off saying he will find Bison and destroy him. Guile says this is what they wanted. Only Bison knows when the missile will go offline, and Shredder will keep him distracted while the heroes continue with their plan.

Baxter says the plan isn't working, Donatello says if they can't stop the countdown, they can drain the Psycho Power back into the human containment cells. Baxter says the heroes destroyed them when they set the people free. He explains that Psycho Power exists in artificial containment fields, which they no longer have. Raph says it also exists in soldiers, warriors and fighters fueled by anger and hate. Baxter says it also applies to accountants, nurses, funeral directors and so forth and isn't limited by profession. Raph says Psycho Power exists within him so he will drain the bomb and store the power within himself.

Shredder and Bison are grappling. Shredder calls Bison a worthy opponent and Bison calls him a mere obstacle. Bison grabs Shredder by the throat, but Shredder grabs onto Bison's cape and tosses him into a wall. The rest of the crew watch on. Leonardo says if Shredder can't distract Bison long enough, they'll jump in. He's sure Bison can't hold off Shredder and the rest of them at the same time. Once Donnie and Raph succeed with their part of the plan they can't let Bison enter the missile room.

Donatello tries to stop Raphael and tells him to think about what he's doing. Raph says something inside him is powering the Psycho Bomb and that makes him angry. He admits he is driven by his anger but it can be a good thing if used right. Donatello holds him back and says he won't let him. 

Baxter tells Raph to sacrifice himself valiantly for the sake of his criminal empire in Manhattan... as well as saving the lives of millions. Raph says that Baxter is right and punches Donnie out of the way. Raphael leaps towards the machinery and grabs onto it, screaming as the Psycho Power gets into him.

Bison punches Shredder back and admits he's a tougher obstacle than expected but he will soon surrender. Shredder jump kicks him in the face. Bison notices a beeping sound which indicates a power disruption in the missile room. The rest of the crew see this as their cue to rush Bison, but Shredder says that Bison is his.

Bison says he belongs to no one as he hits Shredder with a Flying Head Stomp. The rest of the crew surround and attack Bison, with Ryu landing a punch across the face. Shredder hits Bison with a headbutt to the face, making blood fly.

Raphael is sent flying back from the Psycho Bomb, now glowing with a purple hue. In this heightened state, Raph can hear Shredder and Bison fighting but also things like the buzzing of insects, power lines humming and water running through pipes. Baxter says he should go and punish Bison. Raph says he will eliminate the greater threat and then come back for him. Donatello says Raph already needed to do what he needed to do and he needs to let that power go. Raph flies off.

Psycho Powered Raph smashes into the room where Bison and Shredder are fighting. Bison is impressed by Raph's potential and wants him under his command. Raph does the Head Stomp on his face. Shredder calls Bison a weakling and lunges at him. Raph warps out of the way, making Shredder fall to the floor. Shredder says Raphael has new powers and abilities but he will dispose of him as he had done many times before. Bison wants Raph to work for him. Raphael tells them to go away as he sends Shredder and Bison flying out of the building with his powers.

Raph turns to everyone else and Leo asks what he has become. Raph says Leo is right, the missile has been stopped and he has to let the powers go. Raphael screams as the Psycho Power leaves his body. That was sort of odd since Donnie was the one that told him that instead of Leo. He falls to his knees as his friends check to see if he was OK. Jennika can't feel a heartbeat and says he sacrificed himself for everyone. Ken doesn't know what to say other than 'that's a bummer'. Raph coughs and wakes up, telling his friends to remind him not to invite Ken to his actual funeral. Raph tells Jennika to get better at checking pulses, and both Leo and Jennika hug him.

Later on, Mikey tells April that they won't need a New York evacuation plan after all and Raph saved the day. Chun Li says they will help the other fighters find their friends and families. Mikey wants to throw a Psycho Power Pizza Party. Chun Li asks if he can imagine so many hothead fighters arguing over pizza toppings. Ryu says everybody likes pineapple and anchovies, which gets him weird looks from Guile and Ken. Mikey asks if things are over, and Ken says they took care of everything and captured Baxter. Baxter says he'll have escaped by dawn since he hasn't found a prison that can hold him. Chun Li says he has never spent time in an Interpol offshore detention facility. That shut Baxter up.

Guile wonders what happened to Bison and Shredder. Jennika says those two will probably resurface soon. We pan out to the ocean across Atlanta City as we see Shredder trying to swim to shore. Bison grabs and pulls him by the cape telling him to surrender.

Leonardo tells the others that that drivers said they'll be wheels up in five minutes. Ryu says 'wheels up' is for a plane, 'bro'. Leo says then he means the wheels will be spinning on the ground in five minutes. 

Mikey and Chun Li are hanging out eating nachos. Mikey comments on how Halo Cola was too obvious of an anagram for Shadaloo. Chun Li says the key to understanding everything Bison does is to remember he's arrogant. Mikey says he's jealous since he can't think of a good anagram out of 'Michealangelo'. After a few tries, he comes up with Ga Melancholia, which makes Chun Li laugh. Chun Li says Mikey is kind of a silly turtle. 

Leo calls out to everyone and tells them it's time to head back to the trailer. Guile says it's too bad they had to leave so soon since he wanted that rematch with Raph. Raph says they have time. Leo says they don't since the truck is leaving and he needs to be on it. Raph says he will definitely be on it. Ryu, Ken and Chun Li wave goodbye as the trailer drives off. 

Inside the trailer, you can hear bumping sounds coming from the roof and Leonardo sighs. Raphael and Guile are fighting it out on top of the trailer. 

My Thoughts-

So um... this crossover was all over the place in terms of characterization for everyone. It really did feel like the IDW Turtles ran across the American cartoon/live action movie version of the Street Fighters. I guess IDW couldn't get some of the UDON writers on board because this feels like the writer only had some vague memories of playing Street Fighter 2 on the SNES back in the 90's or something. At least they remembered that Bison was the bad guy. I mean, they made Ken into a muscle-head, Bison into a Saturday Morning cartoon character and have someone as serious as Ryu act silly and use phrases he would never use like 'bro'. It's almost Malibu comics type of bad.

On top of that, the Street Fighters are limited since they are the guest stars in the IDW world. With the existence of Mutant Town, seeing mutant turtles around isn't a big deal, so you get past them having to accept that concept. The downside to that is the Street Fighters are limited to using whatever special moves they have that don't involve energy blasts or ki or whatnot. That's why Bison only did his Flying Head Stomp and not his Psycho Crusher. Having Ryu and Ken without being able to fire off their Ha-Do-Kens just feels wrong. I mean, even the covers couldn't resist showing Ryu charging up a Ha-Do-Ken.

The story was... alright, I suppose, but the lack of special moves (as well as the Turtles not using their weapons) limited the fighting. It still never made sense to have Jennika there, as it looked like she also entered the tournament but there wasn't a 5th Street Fighter member there for her. I guess it's a good thing Bison sent his troops to attack everyone because we'd never find out exactly who Jennika was supposed to fight had things gone uninterrupted. I'm also not crazy about everybody having Psycho Power within themselves. What the hell?

We also get to see much in terms of actual fighting. I guess the fights we saw the most were the initial Guile VS Raph fight, Chun Li VS Mikey and Shredder VS Bison. I'm not expecting 3-issue long fights, but at least a bit more. I think a missed opportunity was seeing Ryu step up to Shredder and be taken down in a panel or so.

Probably the most entertaining character in this story was Baxter. It's amazing how full of himself he acts, talking down to people like Bison and the other fighters as if they couldn't put him in a full body cast. At least he's afraid of Shredder. 

The comic also forgets that Shredder has blades on his wrists and arms. He picks up Ryu without impaling him somehow. Then he punches Mikey back without slicing him to ribbons, somehow. Also Raph VS Guile on top of a speeding van? That can't end well.

 

Overall the crossover was entertaining at least to say it happened, and the callback to the live action movie soldiers. You just have to kinda turn off your brain and pretend it's 1992 when the most you knew about Ryu and Chun Li was what the SNES instruction manuals and arcade endings told you. The crossovers with Batman and Ghostbusters were a lot better than this one. 

The last thing I have to say is oh god IDW, calm down with all the ads and covers and whatnot. You know how the staple is usually in the middle of a comic? In this case the staples fell on the pages where the heroes were taking Baxter away and we saw Shredder and Bison try to get out of the lake. There was only four pages worth of story after the staple so almost the entire second half of the comic was ads and alternate covers and whatnot.