WARNING: The following contains spoilers for Mighty Morphin Power Rangers/Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles #1, from Ryan Parrott, Simone di Meo, Walter Baiamonte, Igor Monti and Ed Dukeshire, on sale now.
Since debuting in the '80s from creators Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird, the Foot Clan has been an integral part of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles mythos. They've been present in several decades of cartoons, animated movies, video games, comics and live-action films, not to mention tons of merchandising.
They're usually depicted as the evil ninja sect working under the orders of Shredder, the Turtles' main nemesis, but when they're not fumbling missions, the Foot is found getting its butt kicked by Leonardo, Raphael, Donatello and Michaelangelo. It's something that's pissed Shredder off on numerous occasions as he thinks they're inept, but come BOOM! Studios' Power Rangers/TMNT crossover, the villain has finally gotten the perfect Foot Clan to carry out his mission of global domination.
Shredder's not an easy man to please and in several different iterations of stories, the Foot has consisted of rogue ninjas from feudal Japan, mercenaries in the modern world, supernatural warriors and even robots, trying hard to get the job done. Almost every TMNT story tries to put a different spin on the ninjas, but what's constant is they're never enough to combat the Turtles.
Not even with Bebop and Rocksteady or Tokka and Rahzar acting as its muscle does the Foot prove challenging. Even the scientific genius Baxter Stockman comes up short, and as talented as henchmen such as Tatsu or Hamato Yoshi have been, Shredder's always been missing a key part of the equation. This crossover provides him with just that in Tommy Oliver, who joins him and his adopted daughter, Karai, to form the Foot Trinity in this Elseworlds-esque story.
Admittedly, Karai usually delivers the goods and Shredder does consider her his true successor. She's an elite ninja assassin herself but even with the competent Shredder, they're outnumbered as the four Turtles have the likes of Casey Jones, April O'Neill, other mutants as well as Splinter to rely on. Tommy evens the odds, though, and he actually has the Foot Clan performing much better as a unit, so much so that the suspicious Karai gets jealous.
When they make their first robbery at a mysterious tech firm, stealing an energy cell, the Foot do well to hold off the Turtles. Tommy stuns everyone by beating Raphael up and when he disappears with the prize, as Karai continues his induction, she can tell he's a threat to her spot in Shredder's empire. He's faking his identity as Tommy Marshall, not Tommy Oliver, however, so he is up to some kind of con. It isn't in league with the Power Rangers, though, as they can't track him. Tommy's gone AWOL and he hasn't transformed into the Green Ranger since.
When they eventually leave Angel Grove and find him in New York at Mason Technologies, they see him leading the Foot without Karai around. This time, with Tommy transformed into the Green Ranger, his friends give him the benefit of the doubt and team up to fight the Turtles. He begs them to let him escape as he can't tell them about this secret mission, and Kimberly (the Pink Ranger) allows it. The Turtles are angry for what's transpiring as they don't trust the Rangers. More so, they're ticked off Tommy has the Foot finally acting as a well-oiled machine, giving them trouble in the field.
As Shredder and Karai look on from the distance, the former basks in the victory because he knew Tommy was trying to keep his identity secret. But as he tells Karai, he now has a Green Ranger training and making his forces better. It's his dream come true and with the heroes out their depth, Shredder believes he can corrupt and turn Tommy for good, giving him the ultimate weapon and a Foot that's stronger than ever.