Oroku Saki duels the Dragon Warrior in TMNT: Shredder in Hell No. 3
By Alex Widen
TMNT Image by IDW Publishing
Exactly what it says on the tin in TMNT: Shredder in Hell No. 3.
This issue marks the midway point within Mateus Santolouco’s underworld epic featuring the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles‘ primary villain. Having played a large role in forming IDW Publishing’s particular incarnation of Oroku Saki dating back to 2011, Santolouco is reaping all of the seeds he has sown. Having been a brutal warlord who cheated death for centuries in life, Oroku Saki has begun a path of redemption in death. It’s a turn of events that the immortal Dragon finds displeasing.
The patriarch of the immortal Pantheon, he has been imprisoned in the other-realm since modern civilization began. His youngest daughter Kitsune chose Takeshi Tatsuo as her vessel to house the Dragon’s spirits in Feudal Japan, and Tatsuo founded the Foot Clan. As part of a curse, the Dragon’s soul was reincarnated into Oroku Saki, the son of Tatuso’s slayer. The Dragon needs both aspects of its soul in order to revive, yet while Tatsuo remains a loyal lackey, Oroku Saki has chosen to carve his own path in Hell.
Image by IDW Publishing
Having lost a leg to demonic hordes in the previous issue, the Shredder found his soul in danger of being lost for good. Yet in this experience, he’s seen the truth behind Kitsune’s lies. She never loved him, and had been manipulating him as a pawn his entire life. Even his revival in modern times to rebuild the Foot was merely a piece of her puzzle. Fortunately, Saki has made an ally with a demonic child, and still has Hamato Yoshi, in the form of a literal rat, at his side.