From Hawkins to the Big Apple: TMNT x Stranger Things #1

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles X Stranger Things #1
“Chapter One: The Tourists”
Written by: Cameron Chittock
Art by: Fero Pe
Colors by: Sofie Dodgson
Letters by: Rus Wooton
Cover by: Pe
Editorial Assistant: Nicolas Nino
Editors: Chase Marotz and Jonathan Manning
Senior Editor: Charles Beacham
Production Design: Nathan Widick
Released: July 12, 2023

A group of kids on a field trip to New York stumbling upon an interdimensional threat and a quartet of juvenile, altered, martial artist terrapins? Stranger things have happened.

Actually, the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles crossing over with unexpected properties isn't all that strange. They've shared titles with Batman, the Ghostbusters, the X-Files,* a host of IDW licenses and even the Riverdale gang at Archie. Although they have their own mythology, and it's been altered and expanded in different versions, the concept is simple and solid enough that it can fit in with a variety of other stories.

The Stranger Things gang has popped up in several video games and even more fan fiction, but this looks like the first time they've crossed paths with another IP outside of those realms. Well, there was a Stranger Things/Dungeons & Dragons comic, but that connection has been a part of the show's DNA from the start.

Although their heyday was the '90s, the Turtles debuted in comics in 1984, so that puts them right in sync with the Stranger Things timeline. As such, they're all wearing red masks, as they did back then, which does make it a little hard to tell who's who at times.

The cover grabs you right away, and by that I mean the “A” cover. Two pages inside showcase all 16 variants, most of which are pretty striking and, in a departure from some of Marvel's variants, actually reflect the characters inside the comic.

The setup is simple: Mike, Lucas, Dustin, Will and Max are on a field trip to the Big Apple, led by science teacher Mr. Clarke, whose presence I've missed in the latter seasons of the show, even as the cast has ballooned.** Eleven meets up with them by taking a bus, like she did in season two, demonstrating that even a parent as over-protective as Jim Hopper can be thwarted by the requirements of a story.

Soon the kids find themselves on the trail of something that seems to have emerged from the Upside Down. And that leads them to an encounter with Leonardo, Michelangelo and Donatello, make up the team with one other fellow: Raphael.

Sorry. Slipped into “T-U-R-T-L-E Power” by Partners in Kryme off the original TMNT movie soundtrack there for a second. Happens to all of us from time to time. Right?

Anyway, I won't go into spoiler territory here, but this is a fun issue that gets the voices of the characters from both franchises right. The one detail that bugged me, even going in – that the Hawkins gang just happens to stumble upon Upside Down-related trouble 700 miles from home – is explained quickly and satisfactorily. The story moves briskly to get the pieces in place, sometimes a little too fast, but there's a good chance it settles in a little more in subsequent issues.

Pe's art is a terrific fit. It's odd to see the live-action characters rendered in a more cartoonish fashion, but there's plenty of grit and style to make it feel grounded.

Expectations are, of course, necessary to attract an audience, but they can sometimes backfire. I think one of the main issues Phase 4 of the Marvel Cinematic Universe faced was fans expecting each movie to deliver “Endgame” level moments and revelations instead of just the solid, enjoyable films that built the franchise to that point. And Marvel's marketing a couple years ago claiming “Planet-Size X-Men” #1 would be a watershed moment akin to “Giant-Size X-Men” #1 undercut what was a good but hardly landmark issue.

But enough Marvel sidetracking in a post about a crossover between two non-Marvel properties. I bring up expectations only to say that this comic pretty much lived up to mine exactly. It translated elements of the show expertly into comic form and made the TMNT world fit in seamlessly.

I'm looking forward to the rest of this crossover.

* - I need to find this one.

** - Although to be fair, we don't even see him in this issue, just a silhouette and some name drops.