The meeting between the ninjas of the Hidden Leaf Village and the Heroes in a Half-Shell is almost upon us. Fans have eagerly awaited the release of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles x Naruto, bringing the two iconic franchises together in a crossover from IDW Publishing and Viz Media. Part of the fun of an undertaking like this is seeing how Leonardo, Raphael, Michelangelo, and Donatello interact with Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura, as well as how they work together and the type of threats they’ll face. With the first issue releasing on Wednesday, we can see the special mission that Naruto‘s Team 7 is sent on.
IDW Publishing released a preview of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles x Naruto #1 by Caleb Goellner, Hendry Prasetya, Raul Angulo, and Ed Dukeshire. The preview drops readers off in New York City as Kakashi Hatake reads a scroll detailing the mission that Team 7 is on. The Hidden Leaf Village’s Fifth Hokage, Lady Tsunade Senju, tasks Team 7 with an escort B ranked mission to get April O’Neil safely back to her home in the Big Apple Village. We also get a breakdown of Team 7 members, including their personalities and fighting acumen.
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April reveals she is running a news story on experimental science and needed to talk to the closest ninja biology expert. Of course, resident TMNT villain Baxter Stockman is involved after he was kicked out by a university for using the school’s resources for his biological research. Stockman wants to use his ooze compound to create an army of human/animal supersoldiers. Just as Naruto and Sasuke ponder the dangers of mixing humans and animals, they’re interrupted by the Foot Clan, who have come for April O’Neil. So while we don’t get a look at the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles in the preview, it does set up the anticipated first meeting with the Naruto cast that will take place in the full issue.
TMNT x Naruto writer reveals how they prepared for the crossover
ComicBook spoke to writer Caleb Goellner about Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles x Naruto and the prep work that went into getting familiar with both franchises. “Research is always key when you’re writing for established characters, so I re-read a ton of the Naruto manga – not only the early Team 7 adventures, which loosely feed into the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles x Naruto miniseries, but also the Shippuden era,” Goellner said. “Early in the pitching stage, I wanted to figure out as many potential story scenarios as possible to give all of the project stakeholders flexibility, so I re-watched several Naruto movies and sat my OG 2003 Bandai Naruto, Sasuke, and Kakashi figures on my desk as faux totems of power.”
In an early review of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles x Naruto #1, ComicBook gave the crossover a 4 out of 5 rating, calling it “a ton of ninja fun, introducing interesting concepts and a brand new universe that many didn’t see coming,” along with “a must-buy for fans of either franchise,” if you’re wondering about the quality of the miniseries.
The preview of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles x Naruto #1 is below. The issue goes on sale Wednesday, November 20th.
