It rarely takes long for the Twitterati to seize on an event with their inimitable immaturity, and the Russian meteor shower is no exception.

When the meteor fireball exploded across Russian skies, there was mass panic below. But even though at least 400 people were hurt by flying space debris, the reaction on Twitter quickly turned to irreverent japery.

From Vladimir Putin to Ming the Merciless, all manner of famous figures, real and fictitious, have been superimposed on to images of the cosmic phenomenon As was the case with Hurricane Sandy, a potentially devastating natural occurrence has proved an ideal opportunity for keyboard warriors to dredge up the film and comic book fantasies of their childhood.

IBTimes UK rounds up the funniest stuff we've seen on social media.

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