Warning! This article contains spoilers for Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Armageddon Game – The Alliance #6 The Hulk has no shortage of powerful attacks, but one of them is easily his most iconic: the Thunderclap–and that was just stolen by a classic ‘90s Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles villain.
The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles are currently in a state of war against a number of enemies all working together under the villainous deity, the Rat King. This conflict is stretched across a number of IDW Publishing’s TMNT titles as it involves many different characters (both heroes and villains) who are operating independently of the Turtles. One of these characters is Oroku Karai, the granddaughter of the Shredder. She and the mutants/ninjas who follow her have aligned themselves with the Turtles and their more established allies, like April O’Neil and Casey Jones. Their perspective within the Armageddon Game event is chronicled in the tie-in comic Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Armageddon Game – The Alliance, and the latest issue of that title gave one of the mutants who follow Karai (who’s also a classic villain from the ‘90s cartoon) his own version of Hulk’s Thunderclap–and that villain is none other than Rocksteady.
TMNT’s Rocksteady Stole the Hulk’s Thunderclap Battling the Null Turtles
In Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Armageddon Game – The Alliance #6 by Erik Burnham and Roi Mercado, Casey, April, and Karai are plotting a strategy against the group of TMNT imposters commonly known as the Null Turtles (given their connection to the villainous Madame Null). In a previous issue, the Null Turtles were exposed as the Gang of Four, but not in any way that was made public. As it stands, the whole world thinks the Null Turtles are actually the original TMNT, which has made people think the Turtles have turned into deranged villains (per the Rat King’s plan). So, to redeem their tarnished reputation, this small group consisting of the Ninja Turtles’ allies have to properly expose the Null Turtles for the imposters they are–and Rocksteady basically did so single-handedly. When Karai and the others had the Null Turtles on the run, they lured them into a vacant alley where Rocksteady was waiting to hit them with a powerful blow. He did so by clapping his hands together with so much strength that all four of the Null Turtles were knocked to the ground by the force created, which then left them completely vulnerable for Karai and her ninjas to surround them.
Bebop and Rocksteady are villains who became household names through their appearance in the ‘90s Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles cartoon series. Usually, they are fighting against the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, but in reality, they pretty much just do whatever Shredder tells them to do. Sure, they go off on their solo adventures sometimes, but they’ve always been Shredder’s migraine-inducing mutant lackeys, and this issue is no exception. With the Shredder now leading the TMNT against the Rat King, Bebop and Rocksteady are on the Turtles’ side as well. Because of this change in the status quo, Rocksteady was able to unveil this all-new attack that is way too similar to the Hulk’s Thunderclap to be a coincidence–which is actually really cool in a meta sense.
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles has always been linked to Marvel through parody. For example, the Turtles’ very origin is implied to be shared with Daredevil’s, the Foot Clan is an apparent play on Marvel’s own villainous ninja clan, the Hand, and even Splinter himself is hilariously reminiscent of Daredevil’s martial arts master, Stick. Not only that, but the TMNT even has its own Avengers group: the Mighty Mutanimals, with a mutant hero filling the role of every major Avenger in Marvel’s history. Now, it seems Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles is taking a proverbial stab at the Hulk, as the classic ‘90s villain, Rocksteady, just stole his signature attack (and right when this super strong mutant decided to side with the good guys, too).
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Armageddon Game – The Alliance #6 by IDW Publishing is available now.
