Review by Frank Plowright

There was first one set of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, but they begat many alternate versions. While the originals, with whom Battle Nexus starts, remained gritty and violent, the alternates were toned down for TV animation or comics aimed at younger readers. With each came slight variations to the turtles themselves, and more importantly as far as Battle Nexus is concerned, for their enemies.

Standing high among these, in his own mind at least, is Savanti Romero, who’s plagued the Turtles in assorted incarnations and assorted mental states. Here he has both his faculties and his powers back, and such is his hatred of the Turtles that he’s created a gladiatorial arena to which he drags assorted mutiversal counterparts to slaughter them. Using what to all intents and purposes is a magical device the odds are very much in his favour.

Writers Paul Allor, Erik Burnham, Sophie Campbell, Caleb Goeller and Tom Waltz worked out the plot between them, then each dealt with one of the five chapters, with Burnham also taking on a back-up story. It all works surprisingly well considering so many writers, as this is a compartmentalised story, planned so that each chapter focusses on an individual turtle and someone they know, but in a different incarnation. The results range from Raphael facing a version of his former wife (by Campbell and Vitor Cafaggi, sample art left), to Donatello facing robotic turtle Metalhead.

Because there’s considerable variance in the threats faced it doesn’t greatly matter than the artists have very different styles, all rising to the challenges of individual chapters. Also supplying sample art is Ben Bates, whose main style is a more refined version of that seen on the original Turtles series, but also switches styles when residents of other universes appear.

A problem with Battle Nexus is for the best experience you really have to be a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles superfan, as much of the personal enmity exploited is down to emotionally fraught moments from the past. If you’ve got no idea who a particular character is or why they have a problem, it’s explained, but you really have to have been there at the time to really get it. Those who do will enjoy some battling and some healing, and seeing some old faces again.