Plot
With the Ghostbusters and the Ninja Turtles already split across ghost-infested dimensions by the Collectors at the end of issue #1, this chapter follows each pairing through a rapid series of increasingly strange realities.
Egon Spengler explains to Ray Stantz and Donatello back at the Firehouse that the dimensional breaches are actively attracting ghosts, a phenomenon previously established in Ghostbusters International #8 and Ghostbusters 101 #1. Donatello notes that the Ghostbusters' modifications to the Interspatial Teleportation Unit, including cloaking gear, could have saved the Turtles considerable trouble during earlier missions. Egon alludes to the Collectors as the root cause of the instability.
The pairings scattered across dimensions each encounter different threats and settings:
Winston Zeddemore and Leonardo teleport into the Turtle Lair from the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 1987 animated series. Leonardo's appearance is stylized to match that series' designs. The ghost they confront there is Shibano, the legendary founder of the Foot Clan in the 1987 animated continuity, who appeared in that series' season three episode "Blast from the Past." Winston uses the Proton Pistol to destroy the ghost and mentions the Traps.
Ray Stantz and Raphael find themselves in a Frank Frazetta-style fantasy world where they encounter a version of Smaug from J.R.R. Tolkien. The two are later depicted fleeing a giant boulder, rendered in the style of Hergé's Adventures of Tintin artwork.
Peter Venkman and Michelangelo fall through the rabbit hole from the 1951 Disney adaptation of Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, then arrive in the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 2012 CGI animated series universe, and ultimately land in Zoo Amsterdam, a dimension populated by anthropomorphic animals. There they encounter the Ghostbusturtles, an alternate-universe team of Turtle Ghostbusters, whose action figures had been previewed at the 2017 San Diego Comic-Con around the time this mini-series was announced. This is the second time Michelangelo has worn a Ghostbusters flightsuit, having first worn one in Issue #4 of the original crossover. Peter mentions the brief production halt on Twinkies that began in November 2012. Michelangelo alludes to the assassination of Darius Dun in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles #64 and fills Peter in on the Turtles' IDW-continuity reincarnation origin, touching on Shredder's death and Splinter's takeover of the Foot Clan.
Among the dimensional vignettes on page 3, Leonardo and Winston also appear to be fleeing Galaxian and Galaga enemy ships, rendered in the visual style of those classic Namco arcade games. Raphael and Ray encounter a version of Dracula modeled on Super Castlevania IV's depiction.
Back at the Firehouse, Egon Spengler eats a Twinkie. Donatello alludes to the fact that his soul was once stored in two places simultaneously, referencing the digital copy of his consciousness that remained in the Metalhead robot after his soul was returned to his healed body. Donatello also references professional wrestling in Dimension X, which took place in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Dimension X #3 (released August 16, 2017). Ray recalls his stance against protonic dispersal, a position documented in Ghostbusters 101 #4 and demonstrated to have consequences in Ghostbusters Volume 1 #15. Raphael's refusal to submit to a brain sample is a nod to Egon's similar request of Louis Tully at the end of the first Ghostbusters film.
Raphael becomes the third Ninja Turtle to wear Ghostbusters equipment during this issue: Donatello wore a Proton Pack in the first crossover's Issues #2 and #3, and Michelangelo wore a Slime Blower in Issue #4. Leonardo remains the only Turtle not to have worn any Ghostbusters gear.
Janine Melnitz appears at the end of the issue; her visual design here is based on her look in Ghostbusters: The Video Game, Stylized Versions. The five screens behind her show stills from Extreme Ghostbusters: Code Ecto-1.
The Collectors are established as the driving threat, with their role in the ongoing crisis reinforced across the issue. Egon's familiarity with them is rooted in the events of Ghostbusters Volume 2 Issue #4.
Covers
Cover A (Dan Schoening and Luis Antonio Delgado): The regular cover for the issue.
Cover B and Retailer Incentive (RI) Cover: First look materials published August 22, 2017 included Cover B and the RI cover alongside a logline. Pablo Tunica and Donny Tran contributed to cover work for the issue.
Development
Pre-release activity for Issue #2 built through the summer and fall of 2017, with penciler Tadd Galusha providing the majority of teaser posts.
On August 20, 2017, Galusha posted a piece of art showing Leonardo slashing a robot enemy. Two days later, on August 22, Cover B, the RI cover, and a logline were included in a first-look publication. On August 26, Galusha posted a second teaser involving a visual easter egg.
On September 13, 2017, Galusha posted layouts of a dystopian city. On November 2, in an interview, Galusha confirmed that Winston and Leonardo end up in "a post-apocalyptic battleworld with robots," and included three panels from the issue. Tom Waltz posted four panels from the issue the same day.
On November 7, 2017, the cover, full credits, and a five-page preview were released. The issue went on sale November 8, 2017.
On November 14, Galusha posted four uncolored pages from the issue. On December 6, Luis Antonio Delgado posted unlettered versions of the RI cover, page 7, and page 15.
Trivia
- The opening page recap (What Came Before) references Darius Dun, his death in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles #64, Splinter, the Limbo from Issue #1, and the Collectors.
- The beast chasing Raphael and Ray on page 1 resembles Mugato from the Star Trek episode "A Private Little War," though Dan Schoening has confirmed this was coincidental.
- Ray alludes to his sister and nephew on page 9. In the novelization of the first Ghostbusters film, "Ghostbusters: The Supernatural Spectacular," Ray had two nephews from his older brother Carl and a divorced younger sister named Jean.
- Michelangelo's recollection of The Wonderful Wizard of Oz on page 10 references the Scarecrow, Tin Man, and Cowardly Lion each needing something specific, paralleling the teams' need to find a way home.
- On page 4, the table at the Firehouse holds equipment from Ghostbusters: The Video Game (Stylized Versions): a disassembled Proton Pack with Boson Dart, a P.K.E. Meter, a Slime Mine, and a Trap. Above Donatello's clipboard is a black business card for the Louisiana Ghostbusters. The photograph above Donatello is from the scene in the first Ghostbusters film where the Stay Puft Marshmallow Man begins climbing 550 Central Park West. On a shelf are a 2016 Ecto Cooler can and two Citrus Cooler cans.
- Page 5 includes a box of Hasty Pastry Bakery from The Real Ghostbusters episode "The Joke's on Ray." The four monitors above Donatello show stills from the Ghostbusters II Video Game (Game Boy). Egon alludes to when Loftur Þorsteinsson killed him in Ghostbusters International #7; the source notes it is a coincidence that Donatello was also briefly dead during the TMNT IDW run.
- The three arcade machines in the Firehouse background (page 18) are: Ghost Capture from the Panic in Times Square level in Ghostbusters: The Video Game (Stylized Versions), Moonstrosity X from the second floor of the Firehouse in Ghostbusters: The Video Game (Realistic Versions), and Star Castle from the same floor in the first Ghostbusters film.
- Winston uses two Proton Pistols instead of one by page 15. On page 16 he alludes to the Terminator film. On page 17, Winston mentions that Ray is addicted to Kung-Fu Theater, and references Bond Girls.
- On page 18, in the Firehouse background arcade panel, the three machines are the same trio used in Issue #1: Ghost Capture, Moonstrosity X, and Star Castle.
- Page 20 shows Janine's updated design. The five screens behind her display stills from Extreme Ghostbusters: Code Ecto-1 showing driving segments, the level title screen with Kylie Griffin and Eduardo Rivera artwork, Ecto-1 art, and in-game firing sequences for Eduardo and Kylie. Luis Delgado's recurring "15" easter egg appears near Janine's left hip on the box behind her.
- The first two panels of Ghostbusters: Crossing Over Issue #1 recreate a panel from page 4 of this issue, with the single difference that Donatello is not wearing the Experimental Mental Communications Device in the Crossing Over version.
- On page 8 of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles #79, Michelangelo references Peter as "a good friend who's a psychiatrist" and recalls advice Peter gave him while they were in Zoo Amsterdam: that parents were people too, and made mistakes.
References
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles/Ghostbusters II #2 (IDW Publishing, November 2017). Written by Erik Burnham and Tom Waltz, pencils by Dan Schoening, Mark Torres, Pablo Tunica, and Tadd Galusha, colors by Luis Antonio Delgado, letters by Shawn Lee, edits by Bobby Curnow.
