VILLAINS & MONSTERS: Bebop and Rocksteady
on December 13th, 2012
My absolute favorite TMNT characters of all, who have sadly been MIA over the years. The made a surprise return in the animated movie Turtles Forever, where (spoiler alert!) they save the day. Tubular!
Bebop and Rocksteady ™ and ©Mirage Studios/Nickelodeon.
…and yes, this is totally recycled artwork. Things have been hectic around here lately, and I figured rather than do a hurried sketch of these two I’d just reuse some artwork where I did at least a decent job on them!
These two always got written off as jokes, and that bothered me a lot. In the comics at least, they get used as serious threats, and in later years they even develop some shocking level of wisdom after getting dropped off on a planet full of boars and rhinos and getting in touch with nature. One of my old buddies actually showed me a comic series where these two completely bulldozed the entire ninja turtles team, Casey Jones, and whomped the living tar outta some alien mech thing Krang has let loose, just so they could swipe a ship and go back to their new ‘home planet’. Funny bit? They didn’t have a gun between them for once, and no more brain cells than before either. They were just REALLY mad!
It’s also funny to note that these two never seem to have any arguements or anything. They just automatically back each other up, usually side with Shredder because hey, he’s their boss, and in general just function as perfectly equal partners. As opposed to say, the turtles, who are always bickering and whining at each other despite being the students of an ancient, wise sensei. Even the origional, hyperbadass turtles have their arguements, and these two are just a one-two punch from the word go. Hey, I’d be the bad guy if it meant I had a pal who really got my point of view that well! Shredder might have considered them mooks, but they were indispensable mooks he always had on hand!
They were mainly written as jokes to keep the show child-friendly (because we all know children would NEVER watch something that was violent!). Apparently Eastman and Laird were so disgusted by how stupid Bebop and Rocksteady were made that they pretty much vowed to never use them again, hence their removal from the second TMNT movie (were they were replaced by Tokka and Rahzar…who were actually even MORE stupid).
I think the first story arc you mention is from the Archie comics series (I remember that issue of them leaving the planet with a spaceship full of zoo animals), but I don’t recall the second storyline. Was that also Archie comics or was it another company’s comic line? I’d actually like to see that!
As for Bebop and Rocksteady always getting along, there was one integral moment of the animated series were the two of them were fighting in the Technodrome over a “Captain Cow” comic book, causing them to knock over the controls and screw over all the Foot Clan (I don’t remember the repercussions; if the Technodrome sank into the bottom of the ocean or was sent to Dimension X).