Plot
Time is running out for the Turtles to return home. With Chi-You on the loose and Casey Jones fully in the villain's grip as a transmogrified thrall, the Ghostbusters and the Turtles regroup at the Firehouse to coordinate a response. The trail leads them to Chinatown, specifically to the Mahayana Buddhist Temple and the surrounding streets of Mott and Canal. Peter Venkman, Ray Stantz, Egon Spengler, Winston Zeddemore, and Kylie Griffin join the four Turtles in a street-level confrontation, with Michelangelo wielding the Arm Mounted Proton Pack against Chi-You's thralls while Peter deploys the Proton Bazooka. The issue ends with Casey still under Chi-You's control and the clock ticking on the Turtles' dimensional return window.
Cast and Locations
The issue features Peter Venkman, Ray Stantz, Egon Spengler, Winston Zeddemore, Janine Melnitz, and Kylie Griffin alongside the four Turtles (Leonardo, Raphael, Michelangelo, Donatello), Casey Jones, and April O'Neil. Chi-You and his Thralls serve as the primary antagonists.
Equipment depicted includes the Proton Pack, Arm Mounted Proton Pack, Proton Bazooka (last seen in Ghostbusters Volume 2 #5), Proton Pistol, P.K.E. Meter, Ghost Trap, Particle Thrower, Portable Ecto-Containment Unit, Tobin's Spirit Guide, Ecto Monocle (last seen in Ghostbusters Volume 1 #12), Ecto-1, and Ecto-2.
Key locations are the Ghostbusters Firehouse, Madison Square Garden (carried over from issue #2), Chinatown, the Mahayana Buddhist Temple at 133 Canal Street, and the Tai Hong Lau Restaurant at 70 Mott Street. The Chinatown street fight takes place on Mott Street, the same block featured in the first Ghostbusters film's early montage.
Covers
Multiple cover variants were produced for Issue #3.
The regular Cover A by Dan Schoening and Luis Antonio Delgado provided the first look at Casey Jones and the issue's villain in solicitations. The RE: Hastings exclusive cover features Ecto-1 visible in the background.
Cory Smith provided a subscription cover, with colors confirmed by Ian Herring on September 17, 2014.
Adam Gorham produced the Hot Topic variant, with Paris Alleyne credited for coloring, previewed November 13, 2014.
Brent Peeples and Ronda Pattison provided an additional cover variant.
Development
- September 17, 2014: Dan Schoening posted the solicitation for Issue #3, revealing that the Turtles have a limited window to return to their universe, debuting the regular cover's first look at Casey Jones and the issue's villain, and sharing the subscription cover. Cory Smith confirmed his subscription cover was colored by Ian Herring on the same day.
- September 26, 2014: Erik Burnham announced he and Tom Waltz had turned in the first draft.
- October 7, 2014: Burnham confirmed he was in the editing phase of the Issue #3 script.
- November 13, 2014: Adam Gorham posted a preview of the Hot Topic variant cover and credited Paris Alleyne for coloring. Dan Schoening declared work on the issue complete.
- December 3, 2014: Schoening posted two colored teasers from the interior.
- December 19, 2014: A cover, credits, and five-page preview were posted publicly ahead of release.
- January 13, 2015: Luis Delgado posted unlettered versions of pages 12 and 17.
- February 16, 2015: Erik Burnham publicly addressed the subtitle error. The credits page of each issue carries a story subtitle: issue #2 used "The Meeting of the Minds," and that title was accidentally carried over to issue #3's credits page. Burnham joked the real title should have been "Our Heroes May Be Stubborn, But The Villain's REALLY Bull-Headed!" and also noted he had originally wanted to call it "Big Trouble in Little China." The correct subtitle "Showdown in Chinatown" was confirmed when the error was fixed in the collected trade paperback.
- July 2, 2015: Schoening posted a work-in-progress image of Michelangelo fighting one of Chi-You's thralls while wielding the Arm Mounted Proton Pack.
Continuity and Annotations
Like others in the series, this issue is packed with visual and dialogue references documented below by page.
Page 1:
- On the left of panel 1 is a Cobra Kai Dojo from the Karate Kid films.
- The deli in panel 1 is named after Ch'rell, the principal villain of the TMNT 2003 animated series.
- Raphael's blimp comment is a nod to the Turtle Blimp from the TMNT 1987 animated series.
Page 2:
- Luis Delgado's recurring "15" Easter egg appears on an overhead sign in panel 2.
- The large glass board displays the Turtle Hockey League from the TMNT Sewer Sports All-Stars Slap Shot Leo action figure packaging.
- The smaller board shows the group image of the Sewer Sports All-Stars with T.D. Tossin' Leonardo, Shell Slammin' Mike, Slam Dunkin' Don, and Grand Slammin' Raph from the Sewer Sports All-Stars Rain Slicker.
Page 3:
- Ray Stantz warns Donatello about crossing the streams.
Page 4:
- Michelangelo alludes to the Emmanuel Baptist Church from the previous two issues.
Page 7:
- Kylie Griffin references the Terror Birds and the events of Ghostbusters Volume 2 Issue #18. She is holding Tobin's Spirit Guide.
- The Employee of the Month board from Ghostbusters: The Video Game (Realistic Versions) is visible above Michelangelo's head. As in the game, Peter Venkman has won Employee of the Month multiple times; each photo is taken from a specific panel of the IDW Ghostbusters ongoing series: January (Volume 2 #9 page 5 panel 5), February (Volume 1 #7 page 19 panel 2), March (back cover of the Volume 2 trade paperback), May (Volume 1 #12 page 15 panel 3), June (back cover of the Volume 8 trade paperback), September (Volume 2 #1 page 2 panel 3), and October (Volume 1 #15 page 14 panel 2).
- A Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles arcade cabinet appears between Michelangelo and Winston.
- Roy's Pizza is the pizza parlor from the opening of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II: Secret of the Ooze that introduces the character Keno.
- Egon Spengler's whiteboard contains: a Topps TMNT Movie card (#88 "Casey--Mr. Fix-It!"), the picture from the Kenner Ghost Zapper projector toy, an image of Tiamat (the principal villain of the "Mass Hysteria!" arc), a screenshot from TMNT: Fall of the Foot Clan (Level 4), the Technodrome battle from the 1989 TMNT arcade game, the "Ninja Rap is Born" newspaper from TMNT II, a storyboard from the first Ghostbusters film depicting Louis Tully (then written as a John Candy character) running from Vinz Clortho in Central Park, and John Bruno's layout of Louis Tully's apartment from Making Ghostbusters (page 120). Just right of Egon's head, the photo above the blue Post-It note is from the map area of Mission 3 in the 1989 TMNT arcade game.
Page 8:
- The tack board contains: a "Free Pizza!" flier from the TMNT 1987 episode "The Case of the Killer Pizzas," a Kenner ID card, and the New York Post front page from Ghostbusters II hailing the Ghostbusters' return. Just left of Peter's head is a screenshot of the Scoleri Brothers boss battle from Level 1 of the New Ghostbusters II Video Game.
- In panel 3, the computer by Kylie displays the "Here Are The Smurfs" spoof from the TMNT 1987 episode "Curse of the Evil Eye."
Page 9:
- Chi-You and Casey are at the Mahayana Buddhist Temple at 133 Canal Street.
- Casey references his father, who in IDW TMNT canon is Hun.
- Burnham explained that Chi-You encased Casey inside an adaptable ectoplasmic casing for finely tuned manipulation of his corporeal form.
Page 10:
- The firehouse alarm is modeled on the version from The Real Ghostbusters.
- Janine's paper slip lists the address of the Tai Hong Lau Restaurant at 70 Mott Street.
- Michelangelo's desire to ring the siren was a character beat specifically planned by Burnham and Waltz for the series.
Page 11:
- The street encounter takes place on Mott Street, the same location from the first Ghostbusters film's early montage.
- The kanji on a tarp in panel 2 reads "Ghostbusters" in Chinese from the first film's Chinese poster.
- The Tai Hong Lau Restaurant is partially visible, obscured by one of the Thralls.
- Peter calls Chi-You "Ferdinand" after the character from "The Story of Ferdinand," and his Chinatown remarks allude to Jazz duo Slim and Slam's songs "Chinatown, My Chinatown" and "Ferdinand the Bull."
Page 12:
- Kanji on a green tarp reads "Karate Ghostbusters/Spiritual Kung Fu."
- Kanji on a white board and yellow tarp references the Chinese-language Ghostbusters film poster.
- Wu's Curio Shop refers to Agent Michael Wu from the Extreme Ghostbusters episode "Eyes of a Dragon."
Page 13:
- A red tarp features kanji for "Ghost Busting," a 1989 Chinese film.
- Storefronts reference The Dragon's Eyes and Gu Mo's true form, both from the Extreme Ghostbusters episode "The Eyes of a Dragon," which was set in Chinatown.
- The Bone Dragon that Gu Mo conjures in that episode appears hanging in front of The Dragon's Eyes storefront.
Page 14:
- A store sign on the left references the Bone Dragon from the same Extreme Ghostbusters episode.
- Above Michelangelo, Hong Kong Ghostbusters signage is visible.
- Additional vertical kanji on yellow and blue tarps are from different sections of the Chinese Ghostbusters film poster.
Page 15:
- The transmogrified Casey's design draws from the Playmates Casey Jones action figure and hockey armor.
Page 16:
- Chi-You crossing his pinkies while controlling Casey is a deliberate nod to Big Trouble in Little China.
Page 18:
- Peter Venkman uses the Proton Bazooka, last seen in Ghostbusters Volume 2 Issue #5. The bazooka's design was loosely inspired by one that appeared in The Real Ghostbusters episode "Mean Green Teen Machine," which was itself a spoof of the animated TMNT series.
Page 19:
- Peter's "old guys" comment is a callback to issue #2, where Michelangelo referred to the Ghostbusters as a bunch of old guys at the Emmanuel Baptist Church.
Page 20:
- The lockers, punching bag, and Anguished Stuffed Bear are positioned as they appear in the sleeping quarters of Ghostbusters: The Video Game (Realistic Versions).
- The Time Scepter from the TMNT franchise appears on a shelf near Casey.
- UFO Pizza is a nod to the pizzeria from the TMNT 1987 episode "The Case of the Killer Pizzas."
Page 21:
- In panel 1, the computer behind Winston displays the "G.I. Joe" spoof from the TMNT 1987 episode "Curse of the Evil Eye."
- Winston's mug is a nod to Big Ed, his animated counterpart's father in The Real Ghostbusters episode "The Brooklyn Triangle."
- The tack board now reveals: Baxter Stockman in human form from the TMNT 1987 animated series on the far left; a reference to "Operation Blue Line," a 1990s TMNT promotional video on alternate travel methods such as railroads.
- Egon Spengler is wearing his Ecto Monocle, previously seen in Ghostbusters Volume 1 Issue #12.
Cross-series callback: A quote from Peter Venkman on page 3 of this issue, advising Donatello on managing a proton thrower's recoil, was later reprinted as an in-universe quotation on page 23 of Ghostbusters 101 #4.
References
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles/Ghostbusters #3 (IDW Publishing, December 24, 2014). Written by Erik Burnham and Tom Waltz, art by Dan Schoening, colors by Luis Antonio Delgado, letters by Neil Uyetake, edits by Bobby Curnow. ISBN 978-1-61479-613-8. Spotlight library binding edition also issued.
