He-Man / TMNT: Turtles Of Grayskull #1
Chad Burdette
Recap
By the power of Grayskull…Turtle Power!
When the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles came across Krang and Shredder making a deal with some otherworldly 'demon-mage' named Skeletor, things got hella-weird and they ended up in ETERNIA! It turns out, when you mix Ultrom mutagen with demon magic you get a nasty purple poison — and it's brought Eternia to the brink of chaos. So, Leo, Raph, Donnie, and Mikey are teaming up with the Masters of the Universe to kick some blue boney butt. The only problem is… He-Man is missing in action.
Review
He-Man / TMNT: Turtles Of Grayskull #1 is the crossover that any reader who lived in the 80s could hope for in this unique crossover event.
Unlike many crossover tropes that use the first issue to unite the two worlds, this story begins with the Turtles having already crossed over to the Master Of The Universe world of Eternia. The opening page of April and Splinter, and the Turtle’s master cracking a joke about trimming his mustache. Once connected via Orko’s magic Seeley doesn’t let up on the humor as Michelangelo asks how his social media is going.
Through this initial interaction, readers are given the needed background exposition of what has been happening and why the Turtles are in Eternia. The plot of Krang and Shredder teaming with Skeletor was a given, but avoiding the “fight each other first then together” is not employed, and works in favor of the overall story’s flow. Seeley also draws a nice parallel between He-Man and The Turtles who were both brought into their roles instead of just normal teenagers.
The issue doesn’t disappoint on the action side of things as Seeley and Williams show the two sides clashing and the awesomely beautiful amalgamations of Masters Of The Universe and TMNT designs. The issue ends with the introduction of an apprentice Timestress who reveals how this crossover is taking place as the threads that tie the universes together are in knots.
The cliffhanger finally reveals where He-Man has been and now where the Turtles find themselves, on a War World type world.
Final Thoughts
He-Man / TMNT: Turtles Of Grayskull #1 is the crossover that any reader who lived in the 80s could hope for in this unique crossover event. In this initial issue it is evident that Seeley and Williams are big fans of both properties. It will be interesting to see if the story continues to avoid the tropes common with this type of inter-property crossover event.
He-Man / TMNT: Turtles Of Grayskull #1: By The Power Of Grayskull… Cowabunga Dude!
- Writing - 9/109/10
- Storyline - 8/108/10
- Art - 9/109/10
- Color - 9/109/10
- Cover Art - 10/1010/10
