Hogbog the Horrible is a storyarc of the Teenage Mutant Hero Turtles Adventures comics, published by Fleetway Publications in late-December 1990 and early-January 1991 as part of the TMHTA series' 25th issue.[1]
Appearing in Hogbog the Horrible[]
Major characters[]
Minor characters[]
- Bebop
- Hogbog's mate (debut)
- Rocksteady
Species[]
- Alien
- Humans
- Mutant rhinoceros
- Mutant turtle
- Mutant warthog
Objects and vehicles[]
Locations[]
Summary[]
Inside the Technodrome, Shredder is sitting back in a chair, having a day off. Nearby, Rocksteady and Bebop are kicking around a soccer ball. Suddenly, there is a loud buzzing sound from the Trans-Dimensional Portal and then Krang arrives, landing on his side on the floor. He calls for Shredder to help him and curses the portal machine for malfunctioning again. Shredder also curses, but only to himself, for Krang’s appearance from Dimension X. Shredder makes an attempt at politeness, but Krang calls him out, saying he knows he’s despised by everybody. He then goes on to fuss about not having a new body and what he’d do to the Turtles if only he had one.
Shredder rolls his eyes at hearing the same old story again. Krang asks how long it will be before the reptiles are dealt with and Shredder assures him that termination plans are underway. Krang berates him for being no closer to beating the Turtles and then fires Shredder. Shocked, Shredder says he can’t sack him, but Krang states that he already has his replacement and its on its way. The portal begins to shimmer and Shredder realizes something else is coming through from Dimension X.
Staring wide eyed, Shredder demands to know what kind of beast has come through. Krang introduces the beast as Hogbog the Totally Horrible, an inhabitant of the dark world of Devros. As Krang leaves with Hogbog, he bids Shredder farewell and tells him not to ask him for references. Shredder tells Bebop and Rocksteady to make themselves useful, because if he’s fired so are they. He pushes them forward and orders them to follow Krang and find out when he intends to set Hogbog loose.
Later, the two mutants return, but both have been beaten up, are wearing casts and using crutches. Shredder believes it was from clumsiness, but they tell him that Hogbog took a dislike to them. However, they got the information they were sent for. Krang and Hogbog are leaving in two hours. Shredder grabs the phone and places a call to Happy Hour News and asks for April O'Neil.
Soon, the Turtles are outside the Technodrome, waiting in ambush. They hide behind junked cars in the junkyard where the Technodrome is parked and Raphael says he’s glad for April’s tipoff. Michaelangelo expresses worry about the anonymous nature of the tip and thinks it’s a trap of some sort. Leonardo tells him that he worries too much. He then points out that the door is opening and then spots Krang, followed by Rocksteady and Bebop.
The Turtles leap out of hiding and Krang shouts for his mutants to protect him. They refuse and turn around to flee back into the Technodrome. Krang yells for them to come back, but Donatello baps him on the head, knocking him down. When he falls, Krang loses his grip on the cord he’d been holding and Raph wonders if it leads to the creature April mentioned. As he says this, said creature appears. It is large, pink and yellow in color, with three arms, one on top of its head.
Hogbog growls at them and the Turtles try reasoning with it. The creature is not amused and rushes the green team. All four Turtles leap on the Hogbog, but can’t injure it and so begin a strategic withdrawal. Unfortunately, they run straight into a dead end. Having arrived on the scene, April sees their predicament and is determined to help. She jumps into her Channel 6 newsvan and speeds towards the Hogbog. The Turtles see her, and realizing what she’s going to do, they leap out of the way. April rams full tilt into the Hogbog and knocks it over.
All the Turtles see are the remains of the newsvan and are certain that April is gone forever. However, April is just fine, having jumped clear before the newsvan hit. Leo then spots the Hogbog getting up and tells the others it was only stunned. Raph starts to race after the Hogbog, who is going off on a rampage. Two of the Turtles begin to follow but Leo calls them back. He says that on foot they won’t be able to keep up with the creatures and that they need some alien creature catching transport. But first, there is Krang to deal with. April tells the Turtles to get going because she has plans for that foul freak.
April soon has Krang featured on television, with viewers shown commenting on the bodiless horror. A weeping Krang is mortified and wonders why he ever left Dimension X. Meanwhile, the Turtles have taken to the air in the Turtle Blimp. They follow a trail of destruction below them and quickly spot the Hogbog terrorizing a bus load of children. Thinking fast, the Turtles buzz the Hogbog, causing it to drop the bus. The kids pile out and run and the bus driver signals to the Turtles that everyone is okay.
Mikey tells Don to get in close and try to force the Hogbog into a corner, but the creature just punches the blimp. Then the creature turns and begins climbing up Slump Tower, a very tall skyscraper. The scene seems familiar to the Turtles and then they recall the old film they saw on TV called King Kong. Mikey says he also remembers what happened to some flying machines that attacked the Giant Ape in that movie. Leo tells Mikey not to think about that because they need to concentrate on the creature, which reaches the rooftop and takes swipes at them.
Reaching a safe spot on the other side of the roof and as Don hovers, the other Turtles slide down a rope onto the roof. The Hogbog immediately breathes flames at them, surprising the Turtles who hadn’t known it had a built-in flame thrower. They battle the Hogbog, but soon find themselves on the edge of the rooftop. Looking down from overhead, Don realizes the guys are in trouble. He takes the drastic action of zooming down and hitting the creature with the blimp. The bump succeeds in dislodging the creature from its perch and it falls. When it hits the street, it plunges right through and the Turtles congratulate themselves.
Some hours later, in the Technodrome, Shredder gloats over Krang’s failed plans and it means he’s getting his old job back. Suddenly, Krang appears, surprising Shredder who didn’t know he’d returned. Krang tells him that he had to make a small diversion to Dimension X. The unfortunate Hogbog had a mate… Shredder shouts in horror as Hogbog’s mate picks him up by his cape. Krang decides to let the creature play with Shredder for a while and then he’ll rescue him …or maybe he won’t bother. [2]