He’s one of comics’ most terrifying villains — not bad for a character originally inspired by a cheese grater.
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles’ Shredder is a rare breed of villain, sitting in that terrifyingly menacing class alongside Darth Vader, Thanos and Darkseid. Originally created by Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird in their debut issue of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, he didn’t fully get his due until the series made its way to television and movies, making Shredder not just “a” villain but “the” villain for the series.
With the character currently experiencing a groundswell of great stories in IDW’s Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles line and his impending return to the big screen in Michael Bay’s next movie, I thought I’d take this chance to offer a firm appraisal of the character. Although he’s considered the Turtles’ primary villain, Shredder-centric stories have been few and far between in comics — but I’ve found three succinct stories that will give you all you need to know about the head of the Foot Clan. Just promise me one thing… don’t ask about the worm clones.
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Secret History of the Foot Clan: If you want a concise origin story for Shredder, then this currently running miniseries is for you. Although not yet finished in its run, this story by Mateus Santolouco and Erik Burnham is a powerful piece of sequential storytelling, telling the origins of the Foot Clan and how Shredder subverted the clan to his cause. Plus, the artwork is the best Shredder or the Turtles have looked in decades.
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Vol. 3: Shadows Of The Past: Collecting issues #9 through 12 of the current IDW series, this collection shows Laird teaming with writer Tom Waltz and artist Dan Duncan as the series gets to the real meat of the series — April meeting the turtles, the whereabouts of Splinter, and most importantly — the return of Shredder. Nostalgic or not, when Duncan and Laird drew the knock-down drag out between the Turtles and Splinter versus the Shredder, I got goosebumps.
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Ultimate Collection: This mighty tome collects the original Laird and Eastman Turtles story, where both the turtles as well as Shredder began. It’s interesting to note that although Shredder wasn’t considered the primary villain in the original Turtles’ comics, he definitely steals some scenes in his appearances here.
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I’m glad somebody at iFanboy read Secret History of the Foot Clan. What an awesome miniseries it was! And what’s really great is that Mateus Santolouco is going to become the ongoing artist for the main book starting with issue #22! If you are at all a TMNT fan, be sure to check out IDW’s ongoing series. You will not be disappointed.
SHUT YOUR MOUTH, REALLY?! I prayed that Santolouco would took over art on the main TMNT series (I don’t care for the new guy, I much preferred Dan Duncan). I miss him on “Dial H” but I think it’s safe to say he’s moved on to something better. Micheal Bay should use his designs for the upcoming movie (and then get someone else to direct and do a script rewrite).
Like The Batman, Oroku Saki should always be referred to as The Shredder.
I concur, Secret History of the Foot Clan is an awesome mini so far and a must read for anyone curious about some more TMNT lore! The art is awesome too! 🙂
If Burnham is as good on Foot Clan as he is on Ghostbusters, it will be great. Adding to my to read list.
I got the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Ultimate Collection for Christmas this year….I think it was my favoirte gift. Love those old TMNT stories and The Shredder really did become a pretty awesome villain.
The part In Turtles II: The Secret of the Ooze where Shredder returns after being smashed in the garbage compactor and the foot soldier exclaims “His FACE!”… Very humorous.
The “Turtles Forever” movie was pretty hilarious in the way it handled the bumbling 80s cartoon Shredder vs the 00s cartoon shredder, who bears far more resemblance to his Mirage/IDW incarnation…
00s Mikey to 80s Mikey: “You don’t understand the Shredder from our world is… Competent!”
Turtles Forever is just an awesome movie all over. I especially liked when they arrived in the ‘original’ B&W world when the B&W Turtles attacked the colorized ones and one of them (forget who) says of the 80s Turtles “the chubby ones tried to run.”
I’d argue that it’s the best turtles movie ever and a heck of a way to see the boys out before the Nickelodeon sale was finalized. Unfortunately, I it’s destined to hold that crown through whatever atrocities Platinum Dunes throws out there.
As I said to a friend last week, looking at everyone involved in the new movie project and their past work makes me wish the boys’ comic book roots weren’t so dark. I get the feeling that the movie is going to be the mindless, chaotic, and violent equivalent of a stereotypical 90s comic book that took every wrong inspiration and inclination away from “The Dark Knight Returns” & “Watchmen”…
But the new Nick show is near perfect in taking everything that’s great about every incarnation of the Turtles thus far and distilling it into pretty much the best version of the guys outside the original Mirage comics…
The new turtle comics being published are incredible. Everyone read them please