Review – Masters of the Universe/TMNT: Turtles of Grayskull #1 (Dark Horse Comics)

September 27, 2024

3 minutes

Publisher: Dark Horse Comics
Writer: Tim Seeley
Artist: Freddie E. Williams II
Colorist: Andrew Dalhouse
Letterer: AndWorld Design
Release Date: 25th September 2024

Okay, full disclosure – while I’ve certainly enjoyed the vast majority of them, the sheer number of comic book crossover events featuring either the TMNT or the Masters of the Universe over the years has gotten a little silly. There’s so many weirdly tangled plot threats overlapping to the point where nothing really makes sense, and the justifications for these ‘chance encounters’ is becoming more and more ludicrous with each passing series. Which is why I absolutely love the approach that Tim Seeley and Freddie E Williams II have opted to go for with Masters of the Universe/TMNT: Turtles of Grayskull, leaning into the silliness and using the inherent chaos of franchise mash-ups as the basis for their story.

Indeed, rather than focusing on the (fairly flimsy) reason behind the TMNT ending up in Eternia, Seeley and Williams pick things up here with that already having happened, an approach which allows them to hit the ground running and jump straight into the action as the Mutagen-infused Masters and Evil Warriors – led by Shredder, Krang and Skeletor – go head-to-head in a massive brawl to save the fate of the Universe.

As always, Williams absolutely flourishes in these type of settings, dropping in character-crammed splash page after splash page, and bringing all manner of TMNT, MOTU and Turtles of Grayskull goodness to the page with his usual flair. While some of the designs are admittedly a little ‘out there’, the vast majority of the Turtles of Grayskull toy line has been absolutely brilliant from a visual standpoint, and whether it’s Donatello wearing Man-at Arms’ armour, Trap Jaw merged with Baxter Stockman’s Mousers, or Mikey sporting a ludicrous head of He-Man style hair, there’s a heck of lot to like here.

The final pages peel back the scope of Seeley’s narrative vision, reintroducing a familiar face to hopefully untangle the mess that all this cross-dimensional nonsense has caused. My only real criticism of this series is that it does presuppose a decent amount of prior knowledge about what’s going on, and the aforementioned ‘jump right in’ approach may leave a decent amount of readers wondering if they’ve joined this series midway through an existing story.

While the Turtles of Grayskull toy line is an unashamed cash grab (which, as I’ve said before, is no bad thing), it’s refreshing to see the crossover dream team of Seeley and Williams taking things in an wholly unexpected direction here. And while the fan service and crazy designs are a ton of fun, I’m definitely looking forward to digging into the meat of this story in the months to come. Well worth a look, but take a deep breath before you pick this one up…

Rating: 4/5.

[PREVIEW ARTWORK – CLICK TO ENLARGE]