Plot
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.
Characters
Ghostbusters
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
- Raphael, Donatello, Leonardo, Michelangelo
- Casey Jones
- April O'Neil
- Harold Lillja
- Splinter
Antagonists and Background
- Chi-You (primary villain, introduced here as the crossover's antagonist)
- Kitsune
- Rat King
- Krang
- Possessed Humans
- Bug-Eye Ghost (based visually on the Kenner toyline ghost)
Equipment
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.
Development
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:
- June 16, 2014: Tristan Jones posted work-in-progress art hinting at something in development without naming it.
- July 15, 2014: IDW Publishing issued an official press release announcing the mini-series, framing it around both franchises' 30th anniversaries.
- July 16, 2014: Editor Bobby Curnow confirmed the story is canon.
- July 18, 2014: Burnham reaffirmed it is a continuation of the Ghostbusters ongoing series' canon.
- July 25, 2014: In an interview, Burnham revealed the basic premise: Donatello builds a transporter from Fugitoid's plans, it delivers the Turtles to the right location but the wrong New York. The villain is drawn from the TMNT continuity, is connected to another Turtles character, was trapped in a dimensional portal, and has ghost-like abilities once freed in the Ghostbusters universe.
- August 15, 2014: Burnham described the script collaboration: he wrote the first draft, Waltz did a pass, then Burnham made final tweaks avoiding threads specific to Waltz and Curnow's TMNT ongoing.
- August 27, 2014: Penciler Dan Schoening revealed design choices for his TMNT interpretations: Raphael is the bulkiest, Michelangelo is smaller than the others, and Donatello has a proportionally larger cranium.
- October 15, 2014: IDW confirmed Ronda Pattison as colorist for Kevin Eastman's retailer incentive cover. Curnow confirmed the Rat King appears in one panel drawn by Charles Paul Wilson III, who penciled approximately four pages set in the past; Cory Smith drew about three pages set in the present of the TMNT/IDW universe; Schoening penciled the remainder.
- October 28, 2014: After the initial print run of 30,573 copies sold out, a second printing of 2,000 copies was ordered, scheduled for December 3, 2014.
- November 1, 2014: Burnham confirmed the crossover takes place a few months after the "Mass Hysteria!" arc.
Retailer Exclusive Covers
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.
Trivia and Easter Eggs
The issue is dense with in-jokes and visual references:
- The opening narration is a play on the opening of "A Tale of Two Cities" by Charles Dickens.
- The ghost the Ghostbusters are hunting on page 10 is visually based on the Bug-Eye Ghost from the Kenner toyline; the original script described it as "a thin, bug-eyed office worker ghost with no legs and two ventriloquist dummies for hands." The Ghostbusters are at the Daily News Building in Midtown Manhattan's Turtle Bay neighborhood. The desk the team investigates is a nod to Clark Kent's, including glasses.
- A water cooler in the background (page 11) bears a "Yuppie Water" label, a product from The Real Ghostbusters episode "Short Stuff."
- On the kitchen chalkboard (page 13), "Max Dennison 555-1942" references the character and phone number from the film "Hocus Pocus." Other chalkboard references include nods to "Real Genius" and "Young Frankenstein."
- On Kylie's clipboard is a section referencing the official Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles fan club, The Official Turtle Force, specifically its $5 one-year membership.
- The Ecto-1 drives past the Channel 6 news van from the 1987 Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles animated series, along with the red and blue Neutrino Starcruisers from that same series depicted as real cars.
- The church where the Turtles arrive (page 14) is Emmanuel Baptist Church in Brooklyn, at St. James Place and Lafayette Avenue.
- Lucy, the angry bride, is visually based on Irma from the 1987 animated series. The groom is based on Howie Hardy. Among the best men are characters based on Vernon Fenwick, Burne Thompson, and writer/developer David Wise. The priest is based on Lankester Merrin from "The Exorcist"; his actor, Max Von Sydow, voiced Vigo in Ghostbusters II.
- Raphael's "Head's up, flattop" on page 17 echoes Peter Venkman's "Aim for the flattop!" from the first Ghostbusters film.
- Casey Jones' reference on page 8 to having "seen that movie before" is a nod to "The Fly." The "bugs versus known discrepancies" framing was Tom Waltz's idea.
- The Winston-on-the-cover proton pistol does not appear within the issue itself.
- Colorist Luis Antonio Delgado embedded his personal "15" easter egg: in roman numerals on a brick near Winston on page 22, and as a numeral on a pew near Michelangelo on page 18. Page 15 is his favorite. Several wedding guests are based on members of Delgado's family and friends, as well as comics industry colleagues including editor Bobby Curnow.
- On page 21, a possessed human near April is visually based on Rob Paulsen, voice of Raphael on the 1987 series and Donatello on the then-current CGI series.
- The Ghostbusters' ongoing difficulty with a Class 5 ghost (and the threat of a Class 7) traces back to their encounter with Slimer in Ghostbusters Volume 1 issues #1 and #2.
- Winston's question about whether the Dimensional Inverter might catch fire is a nod to its animated counterpart in The Real Ghostbusters routinely malfunctioning.
- On the dining table (page 13) is the "magnificent feast" the Ghostbusters ate just before receiving the Sedgewick Hotel call in the first film.
References
- IDW Publishing (Fandom Wiki), "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles/Ghostbusters 1"
