Publication date: July 6, 1991
Story and art: Uncredited
Summary:
Down in the lair, the Turtles are engaging in an argument over who April likes best. Meanwhile, on a rooftop, the Shredder, Bebop and Rocksteady are engaging in Operation: Helicopter Heist. This involves stealing a helicopter from a tour group.
The Shredder flies the chopper above an armored car and Rocksteady blasts a hole in it with his rifle. They lower Bebop down with a winch and he pilfers bags of cash. Just then, April flies by in the Channel 6 news copter and begins pursuing the villains, broadcasting their heist live.
The Turtles, catching the report on the news, deploy to stop the Shredder. Unfortunately, the Turtle Blimp is still punctured and the Turtle Van is being serviced. With no alternatives, they call for a cab and tell the driver to follow that chopper.
Seeing the Turtles, April tells her pilot, Marty, to land and get out. The Turtles get into the chopper and continue the pursuit of the Shredder. Rocksteady tries to shoot them down, but Leonardo throws one of his swords and wrecks their rotor blades. The Foot crash into the torch of the Statue of Liberty and their bags of loot go tumbling into the bay. The Turtles recover the cash to return to the bank, leaving the villains stranded on the statue in the rain all night long.
Back at the lair, April tells the Turtles that she likes them all equally. Bummer.
Turtle Tips:
*This issue is continued from TMHT Poster Mag #2. The series concludes in TMHT Poster Mag #4.
*The poster in this issue was of Bebop & Rocksteady.
Review:
Doesn't a bank heist seem beneath the Shredder? I mean, I know that even in the Fred Wolf universe, the Foot Clan started out as a petty criminal organization (after the Shredder took over, anyway), but by the time he'd hooked up with Krang I thought he'd put that kinda stuff behind him. There's a brief line where Bebop says they can use the cash to buy new Footbots, but what are they doing BUYING the parts for new Footbots, anyway? Shouldn't they be stealing those instead of money? This is just adding an extra step to the process they don't need.
Oh whatever. No one was at their most dignified during the Fleetway comics. Then there's the ending, which hinges on the writer/artist not knowing that there's an access stairway to the torch of Lady Liberty that the bad guys could've used to get down. There seemed to be a number of misunderstandings in this story.
I can at least say that I appreciate that this issue contains no gorilla costumes. It must have taken some serious restraint on Fleetway's part to make that happen.