Donatello, drawing on plans from the Turtles' ally Fugitoid, builds an interdimensional transporter. The device works but drops the four Turtles, Casey Jones, and April O'Neil into the wrong New York entirely: the one belonging to the IDW Ghostbusters. As both teams struggle to communicate, a villain from the Turtles' continuity who has been trapped in a dimensional portal breaks free into the Ghostbusters' universe, wielding distinctly ghost-like abilities. The two teams must set aside their mutual confusion and work together before the newcomer can take over the city.
The story is canon to both the IDW Ghostbusters ongoing series and the IDW Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles ongoing series. Erik Burnham placed it a few months after the events of the "Mass Hysteria!" arc from the Ghostbusters run. In terms of in-universe chronology, the events of this four-issue arc take place after the conclusion of issue #4, not before it.
Ghostbusters equipment appearing in this issue includes the Proton Pack and Particle Thrower, the P.K.E. Meter, the Ghost Trap, the Ectomobile (shown restored to its Ecto-1 dressing after being in Ecto-1b dressing in Ghostbusters Volume 2 issues #13-20), Ecto Goggles, the Paranormal Containment Research Tank, and Ron's Proton Pack. Kylie uses a KUD Meter. This issue also marks the debut of the IDW incarnation of the Dimensional Inverter, adapted from the device seen in The Real Ghostbusters and Slimer! animated series.
On the TMNT side, Donatello's Interspatial Teleportation Unit (the interdimensional transporter he builds from Fugitoid's plans) drives the plot. The issue also features the Dimensional Inverter and a KUD Meter as Ghostbusters-side instrumentation.
The crossover originated as a conversation between Erik Burnham and Tom Waltz at San Diego Comic Con 2012, though both had been thinking about the possibility for years before that.
A detailed timeline of public announcements:
Multiple retailer exclusive (RE) and retailer incentive (RI) covers were produced for this issue:
| Retailer |
Location |
Release Date |
Print Run |
Artists |
| Heroes Haven |
Tampa, FL |
October 22, 2014 |
1,000 copies |
Ozzy Fernandez, Tony Kordos (glow in the dark) |
| Hastings |
Texas |
October 22, 2014 |
TBA |
Brent Peeples |
| Hot Topic |
Various |
Delayed from October 22 |
TBA |
Adam Gorham, Paris Alleyne |
| Awesome Con |
Annapolis, MD |
November 4, 2014 |
1,000 copies |
Jerry Gaylord; Emilio Lopez (uncredited, coloring) |
| Virginia Comic Con (red foil) |
Richmond, VA |
November 22-23, 2014 |
1,000 copies |
Matt Slay |
| Virginia Comic Con (gold foil) |
Richmond, VA |
November 22-23, 2014 |
250 copies |
Matt Slay |
Kevin Eastman contributed a retailer incentive cover (revealed September 30, 2014), colored by Ronda Pattison. The Awesome Con cover was colored by Emilio Lopez, who used color swatches from the 2003 Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles animated series (on which he worked) and styled the ghosts to evoke that show's aesthetic. The Virginia Comic Con foil editions were available exclusively at the Richmond International Raceway venue.
The issue is dense with in-jokes and visual references:
