Batman/Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles

Batman/Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
Publication information
Publisher	DC Comics IDW Publishing
Schedule	Monthly
Format	Limited series
Genre	Superhero
Publication date	December 2015 - May 2016
Number of issues	6
Main character(s)	Batman Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Splinter The Shredder
Creative team
Writer(s)	James Tynion IV
Artist(s)	Freddie Williams II

Batman/Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles is a six-issue intercompany crossover comic book miniseries featuring fictional heroes Batman and the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.

Overview

The collaboration between DC Comics and IDW Publishing was announced during IDW's panel at the 2015 San Diego Comic-Con. Six-part monthly miniseries will be written by James Tynion IV and drawn by Freddie Williams II. In addition, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles co-creator Kevin Eastman and other guest artists will be providing some variant covers.

Plot

Overview

The Turtles and their arch-enemy, the Shredder have been transported to an alternate universe by Krang. Here, in Gotham City, they meet Batman and clash with a series of his famous "rogues gallery" while attempting to find their way home.

Summary

During a battle with the alien conqueror Krang, the Turtles, their master Splinter, and their archenemy Shredder with a good number of Foot Ninjas have been transported to an alternate universe. While the Foot attempt to steal various components from labs all around Gotham to work out a means of returning home, as well as abducting a scientist doing research into cross-dimensional travel, the Turtles intercept the various thefts, although the Foot still depart with their gathered equipment.

While Batman is puzzled at the fact that the crimes were committed by ninjas with a specific focus on a key area of martial arts - dismissing the League of Assassins as candidates, as their members have a broader range of training and Ra's al Ghul would have alerted Batman to his presence by now. By now the Turtles have set up a new base in the sewers, but Killer Croc stumbles upon their lair while tracking Batman. After defeating his men and then Croc himself, the Turtles are forced to flee due to Croc knowing the location of their lair. The Turtles retreat to the surface in time to discover the Batmobile, just as Batman departs the latest theft, having been confronted by the Shredder and learning that the Foot and the Turtles are actually adversaries rather than allies. However, when he returns to his car, he finds the Turtles milling about it.

After a brief fight between the Turtles and Batman (where Batman easily beats all of the Turtles at once), the Turtles escape when Splinter intervenes and distracts Batman with a smoke bomb. The Turtles research Batman at an internet café, and most of them come to admire him, while Raphael just believes him to be a distraction.

Having recovered Raphael's sai during the fight, Batman takes it to Lucius Fox as Bruce Wayne. Fox's analysis confirms that the dagger is from another universe, made of a slightly different version of the steel they are familiar with, but it is reverting to this reality's 'local' version of steel. He also notes that there is a strange mutagen in a blood sample that Bruce provided him with, but the mutagen is incompatible with their laws of physics and anything mutated with it will thus revert to its non-mutated state. Unbeknownst to Batman, Splinter followed him into the Batcave and learned of the decaying mutagen.

Learning about a stolen power generator that could allow them to power the equipment they need to return home, Shredder and the Foot make a 'deal' with the Penguin to acquire it, only for the Foot to kill all of Penguin's men. However, the Penguin convinces Shredder to spare him by arguing that he can provide useful local knowledge.

Reuniting with the Turtles and explaining the situation, Splinter then leads the Turtles to the Batcave to ask for help. Although Batman is initially hostile, Splinter catches Batman off guard by calling him by his real name, which helps them form an uneasy peace. Having explained their situation to Batman, Splinter and the Turtles lead an assault on the Iceberg Lounge, where Shredder intends to activate a portal that will return him to his world, also planning to create a permanent link between their worlds so that he can conquer New York and Gotham. However, when the Turtles and Batman attack, Shredder destroys the portal and kills the scientist who helped him build it, gloating that he can rule in this world while the Turtles and Splinter will revert to mindless animals. Raphael engages Shredder in battle, but Shredder slashes Raphael's chest and incapacitates him. As he escapes, Shredder discovers that his helicopter crew have been killed by the League of Assassins, and he is greeted by Ra's al Ghul, who offers him an alliance.

With Shredder unaccounted for, the Turtles remain in the Batcave and Wayne Manor, with Donatello brainstorming possible alternatives to the mutagen decay with Cyborg, while Leonardo trains against Batman and Michaelangelo enjoys himself. Eventually, Raphael snaps at the lack of progress made in finding a cure, accusing Batman of being simply "a rich boy playing at being a hero" with no idea about true loss and sacrifice, storming off in a huff.

In another part of Gotham, Shredder and Ra's have assembled another portal to intercept an inter-dimensional signal Shredder detected when creating the original device; the signal is revealed to be Casey Jones. Casey easily beats the Foot Ninjas and League of Assassins before facing Shredder and Ra's.

While Raphael is walking through Gotham in disguise, Batman pulls up beside him in the Batmobile and takes him to Crime Alley, where he tells Raphael about the death of his parents and how that loss drives him to become Batman. As Raphael considers this and finally starts to accept Batman, the other Turtles alert him to an energy surge in Gotham that they identified as another portal. The others took (and crashed) a second Batmobile to the source of the signal. Rescuing Casey from the Foot, the Turtles are shocked to learn that their enemies have stolen five full vials of mutagen that Casey had brought to stabilise their condition... and, before Casey lost consciousness, he overheard the villains say that they intend to use the mutagen in "Arkham".

Responding to the Batsignal, Batman, Leonardo and Raphael meet with Commissioner Gordon at the roof of the GCPD and learn that the Penguin has turned informer, revealing that the Shredder and Ra's are intending to attack Arkham. As Leonardo collapses due to the decaying mutagen in his system, Damian returns to the Batcave to find Donatello and Michaelangelo playing video games on the Batcomputer and flips over Casey when he underestimated him, resulting in a brief fight between the Turtles versus Damian until Batman returns to confirm that the Turtles are his allies. As Damian reports that the League of Assassins are coming to Gotham en masse, Casey reveals that he was provided with equipment that would allow the Turtles to return to their dimension, and Batman tells the Turtles to get home before Leonardo's condition decays any further. Despite Splinter warning Batman not to underestimate Shredder, Batman and Damian head to Arkham, confident that they can beat Shredder, only to be confronted by the Penguin, who had been caught by Shredder and mutated into an actual penguin. He is backed by a mass of mutagen-contaminated inmates (Mr. Freeze as a polar bear, Bane as an elephant, Two-Face as a mandrill, etc.), who move in for the attack.

Batman and Robin are able to escape Bane and knock Harley Quinn unconcious, before Batman is trapped by the mutated Mr. Freeze and Poison Ivy. Confronted by al Ghul and the Shredder, he learns that the two arch-villains intend to use the mutagen in every major city of the world, throwing human civilization in chaos and thus paving their ascent to total world domination. Seeing all of this in the Batcave, the Turtles decide to stay and risk their lives to save Batman, despite being given the chance to escape back to their own dimension with Casey. The Turtles arrive just as soon as The Joker (now mutated into a Cobra) is about to kill Batman, and Raphael knocks him off while Donatello frees Batman. While Splinter fights off the remaining inmates, the Dark Knight battles the Shredder inside his latest Intimidator combat armor, which was given Turtle themed upgrades by Donatello, while the Turtles fight Ra's al Ghul. Although Shredder severely injures Batman and breaks most of the Intimidator suit, Batman manages to knock his opponent to the ground, and Splinter (who had defeated all the inmates), finishes him off. With the Turtles beating him down, and the League of Assassins disarmed and captured by Damian and the GCPD, al Ghul escapes with a smoke bomb.

Just as the Turtles wonder how they will get back home, a dimensional portal opens and disgorges Casey and April O'Neil, after April and Harold Lillja managed to pinpoint their frequency after Casey had returned alone. The Turtles round up the foot clan and Shredder and send them back to their original dimension. Before they leave, Raphael gives Batman his mask out of respect and tells him that he's got a good family now and has another if he ever shows up in their dimension. Batman and Robin return to the Batcave where they learn from Commissioner Gordon that the situation at Arkham is being stabilized until the mutagen has decayed naturally, turning the inmates back to normal within a week. Damian remembers that it's the anniversary of the death of Bruce's parents and volunteers to leave, but Bruce insists that he stays and they decide to work on the Intimidator Suit together. The final panel shows Raphael's mask lying on the chair of the Batcomputer.