Throughout its run so far, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder has shown Oroku Saki doing what he does best: coldly killing anyone who stands in his path, and fighting his way back to the top of the Foot Clan. He’s done so under the supervision of the Earth Protection Force, though he’s shown that he can escape their clutches whenever he wishes. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder #4 reveals that there’s more to Shredder than most people might think, and it does so at the top of a snowy mountain.
This mountain is home to a secret sanctuary, which is guarded by all sorts of mystical defenses. One of those defenses features a group of Foot Clan soldiers who can’t be harmed by physical weapons, yet can hurt anyone who fights them. It’s that blend of mysticism and martial arts that’s helped IDW’s take on the Turtles stand apart from other incarnations, and I’m glad it’s continuing to be a part of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder #4.
Once Shredder finally reaches the sanctuary, he finally reveals the truth behind what it contains…and it probably isn’t what anyone is expecting. Yet it shows that behind all the blades and stoicism and cruelty, there’s a man who still feels love and care for someone other than himself. This level of detail is what makes this title a great read, and it also shows that Dan Watters has a gift for writing villains. In the same vein as Destro, Watters peels back the darkness surrounding Shredder while still keeping his edge, both metaphorical and literal.
IDW
It doesn’t hurt that Watters is joined by a top-tier artist in Michele Bandini. Bandini does not hold back on any of the pages in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder #4, opening with the sinister samurai trudging through a huge mountain of snow. Flurries of white fill the entire page, only broken up by Shredder’s silver, black and red armor and the light glinting off of his wrist blades. Bandini excels at drawing action too; a battle between Shredder and the ghostly Foot Clan soldiers is fast-paced and violent, as Shredder’s blades cut through ghostly flesh and leave a smoky trail in their wake.
That’s nothing compared to the scenery inside the sanctuary, which brings the carnage that has come to define this title. I can’t exactly describe it, as it’s one of those images that readers need to see for themselves, but I’m shocked at how much Bandini is pushing the envelope with this sequence. Another great thing about doing a villain-based book? You can get away with drawing things you’d normally wouldn’t be able to do in a regular superhero comics.
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder #4 peels back the darkness surrounding the titular villain, revealing hidden depths without sacrificing his edge. The end of the issue teases that Shredder is finally going to face his new rival, the Mourner, and I can’t believe I’m saying this, but I’m rooting for him to win.
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