Adapted from the comic book mini-series, Batman vs Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles brings the Teenage Mutant Turtles to Gotham City on the trail of the Shredder (Andrew Kishino) and the Foot Clan who are on a crime spree which Batman (Troy Baker) has just become aware. The movie offers the obligatory misunderstanding pitting Batman versus the Turtles for a time before realizing they are both on the same side and need to team-up to stop Shredder and his new business partner Ra’s al Ghul (Cas Anvar) who plans to use the Ooze to destroy Gotham.
While the animation isn’t quite up to snuff with some of DC’s better animated movies, I do appreciate the story sticking with Batman’s classic design and the look of both the Shredder and Ra’s al Ghul work pretty well (even if I can’t say the same for some of Batman’s other villains who are brought into the plot when Ra’s mutates Arkham Asylum as a distraction for Batman and Turtles). Some of the mutations work better than others (such as the joke made at Poison Ivy‘s expense).
Based on the comic cross-over, the new animated movie Batman Vs. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles features the Bat-Family teaming up with the Turtles to battle Shredder and the League of Assassins. Now available for digital download (but for some reason not on DC’s own digital platform), the straight-to-video movie will be available on Blu-ray, DVD, and 4K on June 4th.
Taking a break from recent events, and stretching out new abilities, Leonardo travels to the Astral Plane where he encounters an unusual guide and an unexpected adversary. Tied to recent events, but very much a standalone story, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Universe #25 is an interesting issue that takes place almost entirely in the mental/spiritual realm.
“Dan” who appears both as a statue and a living guide for the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle, is an odd character who gives the first-half of the issue a somewhat goofy feel. The arrival of Kitsune, however, turns things serious quickly. The art of Nelson Daniel is able to capture both tones quite well.
The first of three episodes to guest-star Miyamoto Usagi (Yuki Matsuzaki), and the only one written by rabbit ronin creator Stan Sakai, “Yojimbo” finds the Turtles transported to an anthropomorphic dimension and hypnotized by the evil Jei (Keone Young) to kill the wandering samurai and capture the young child who is under the ronin’s protection. How many ninja turtles does it take to defeat one rabbit ronin? More than four. In their confrontation, Usagi is able to knock some sense back into the turtles who agree to travel with Usagi to deliver young Kintaro (Evan Kishiyama) to the Temple of the Sky Buddha.
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Universe #20 features Raphael and Alopex working together to free animals at Null Industries before they can be mutated. There’s plenty of action here as the pair square of against the murderous Zodi and the equally scary (but apparently far less-murderous) Krisa who Alopex is able to reason with long enough for our heroes to successfully finish their mission.
Of all the newer Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles characters Alopex is my favorite. Designed by Turtles co-creator Kevin Eastman, the mutant Arctic Fox is a perfect fit for the craziness of of TMNT. I like the pairing of Alopex and Raph together, particularly in a heavy-action story like this one. The issue also raised my curiosity about Krisha. Given Zodi’s decision to cover for the newcomer with their boss it will be interesting to see where Krisha’s path leads in the coming months.
Adapted from the comic book mini-series, Batman vs Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles brings the Teenage Mutant Turtles to Gotham City on the trail of the Shredder (Andrew Kishino) and the Foot Clan who are on a crime spree which Batman (Troy Baker) has just become aware. The movie offers the obligatory misunderstanding pitting Batman versus the Turtles for a time before realizing they are both on the same side and need to team-up to stop Shredder and his new business partner Ra’s al Ghul (Cas Anvar) who plans to use the Ooze to destroy Gotham.
