What kind of people would choose to live in such a toxic environment,

even fight to stay there?

What’s wrong with them?

What are they hiding? 

It’s 1975 and the American military is about to undertake a two-day top-secret mission. It involves helicopter insertion of a four-man camera crew in full battle gear into a government-ordered abandoned town. Their assignment is to film any evidence of anyone still there, then return and report their findings. 

The town is Boston Mills, Ohio.

Chief Corporal Mason Wyatt and his three-man team have been cautioned that those who are left may not appreciate them coming it. In which case they could be armed. 

But as far as the unit is concerned, this mission is just routine. After all, this is Ohio, not hillbilly country or Vietnam, and it’s only for 28 hours. It can’t be dangerous. It will be a cakewalk. 

But Boston Mills isn’t just another hamlet in the rural Midwest. It’s now known as “Hell Town” and is home to a hazardous waste dump where the nearby river is so polluted it can actually be lit on fire. The poisoned environment smells like sulphur and has propagated mutant weeds that have overrun the landscape growing up through asphalt and blocking roads. 

What kind of people would choose to live in such a toxic environment, even fight to stay there? What’s wrong with them? What are they hiding? 

Corporal Mason and his team are about to find out. 

Mutane Town is Clark Wilkins at his best, blending fact with fiction creating the eerie feeling perhaps the author has some insight into these macabre actual events that are the basis of many of his stories. 

His extensive research and use of bona fide findings from government reports give this fast passed story a chilling sense of authenticity. Indeed, as Wilkins points out, what the reports don’t reveal is even more disturbing. 

And it's a lot of fun, especially as Robin has changed: it's a new Robin to the Turtles, and they can't seem to get over that fact!   I laughed out loud a couple times, but overall, this is the same as the rest of the series: the art isn't good enough to warren the last of the five stars, and it's fun, but not a favorite of mine.  

It was nice catching up with the Gotham crew later and seeing how they evolved, and how the newbie reacted to the giant turtle-men.   So I'd give it a reread, but probably not in the next couple of years. 

Issue six is an epilogue: it takes place after, it takes place in Gotham rather than the in the Turtles' universe, and it takes place a good deal while after from what I can tell.   Still, this issue, five, ends up wrapping up the portal storyline with a twist.  

It's fun, it used a character I didn't expect to be the brains behind this operation, and I liked it enough to reread in the future even if it's not a complete favorite mini-series, or crossover.

Another of my favorite Batman villains.   Then again, he gets such good villains!  

Still not my absolute favorite, but I'm still enjoying this.  It's weird fan service, and I'm into that in general.