The Shredder, by his very nature, tends to be a loner. He takes on the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles by himself, and even when he commanded the full might of the Foot Clan, his very presence struck fear into the hearts of those who opposed him. In Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder #8, however, it turns out that the Shredder might need allies – especially with the nature of the threat he’s facing. Following his first confrontation with the Dog Star Clan, Shredder is approached by one of their members for help in freeing them from the grasp of their techno-savvy captor, Kenji Norinaga.
From its opening to its final pages, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder #8 is a comic that’s designed to hold your attention. Part of that is due to Sid Kotian’s artwork, which opens with an incredible action sequence pitting Shredder against a legion of Dog Star ninjas. Kotian doesn’t hold back on the intensity or the bloodshed, as Shredder literally kicks a Dog Star member out a window and carves through another group of gun-wielding ninjas. If that wasn’t hardcore enough, just wait until the scene where he tosses a dead Dog Star member into the middle of a Yakuza meeting and lets their cybernetic programming go to town. It’s body horror at its finest.
Kotian’s art hits especially hard thanks to Marco Lesko’s color work. Lesko knows the right time to deploy shadows and utilizes the near-blinding white of lightning strikes to showcase Shredder making quick work of his foes, then disappearing into the shadows. In the tradition of previous issues, Lesko also makes sure that each time Shredder’s blades draw blood, the panel is awash in a reddish-orange light. It truly heightens the story’s fear factor, as you never know when Shredder might strike next.
IDW
The second half of what makes Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder #8 so engaging is writer Dan Watters crafting a series of plot lines that begin to interconnect. Shredder’s fight against the Dog Clan turns from eliminating enemies to gaining new allies. The Yakuza, particularly Kenji, now have a target on his head as he’s slaughtered most of their membership. And in the middle of all of this is the Earth Protection Force, who are hellbent on taking Shredder down once and for all. All of this makes for quite the twisted narrative, and I can’t wait to see how it all goes down in future issues.
However, the biggest twist surrounds the Dog Star’s use of technology and its origin. It makes for a threat that even Shredder would have trouble facing alone, and taps into the weirder elements of the TMNT universe. This is a world where aliens, mutants, and magic co-exist, so it only makes sense that Shredder would run into some of those forces. Once again, Watters is also highlighting how truly fearsome Oroku Saki is by having him take on those threats and survive; would you want to face a man who’s killed aliens and literal gods?
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder #8 ups the body horror, the action, and the intrigue as Shredder finds a new ally and a new horror to fight. It all makes for one of the more interesting titles in IDW’s TMNT lineup, and one worth checking out.
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