While most of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder has been dedicated to showcasing Oroku Saki’s incredible skill and single-minded ruthlessness, it also hasn’t shied away from the fact that he’s only one man. Without the might of the Foot Clan behind him, Saki now faces an alien terror in the hands of a would-be Yazuka kingpin, the crosshairs of the Earth Protection Force zeroing in on his head, and an uneasy alliance with the Dog Star Clan. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder #9 shows how all of these elements collide to create a narrative full of twists and turns.
Chief among them is the dynamic between Saki and the Dog Star called Hoshimi. While Shredder is more blunt and direct in both his words and actions, it’s Hoshimi who convinces him to taking a different path to confronting their mutual enemy. She also points out that time isn’t exactly on his side, and that even his willpower can only take him so far. I love the dynamic that Dan Watters is crafting between Saki and Hoshimi, as it shows that there are people he can’t intimidate into doing what he wants. Watters also brings back a plot point from the first arc, reminding fans that even if Shredder is outmatched he’s usually ten steps ahead of everyone else.
The character building is also supplemented by some intense action, courtesy of Sid Koitan. I cannot stress enough how incredible these sequences are, or how skilled Koitan is at drawing Shredder in motion. Every thrust of his blades, every movement he makes has a purpose and it often ends with him standing over someone’s motionless body. Those instincts also come in handy when Koitan illustrates the mysterious alien parasite that’s infected the Dog Star Clan. At first glance, it looks like a regular caterpillar, but Marco Lesko brings a bright green color to its skin that feels otherworldly in nature. If that wasn’t enough, the biomechanical tendrils that sink into its host feel like something out of Lovecraftian horror. Or more specifically, Lovecraft meets Akira.
We also get a glimpse into this creature’s backstory via a series of flashback pages, and how the Dog Star Clan fell under its thrall. This lets the creative team lean fully into the body horror, but also raises the stakes as the creature now has Shredder in its sights. After all, if it thrives on bonds with humans, why not choose the deadliest man alive as its host? It also shakes things up for future issues, as this is a foe that Shredder simply can’t slice in half.
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles fans will also be happy to know that Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder #9 comes with a preview of the super-sized Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles #20, which marks the official 300th comic starring the Heroes in a Half-Shell. While the preview should be witnessed for itself, it’s a grand reminder of how far IDW has taken the TMNT franchise, and how books like Shredder can exist because of it.
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder #9 introduces new character dynamics, and features a foe that Oroku Saki can’t easily defeat. Despite its alien nature, this creature may very well make the mistake of underestimating Saki…and that usually doesn’t end well.
