Shredder, the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles’ greatest nemesis is heading back to comics this summer and he’s seeking revenge. TMNT: Shredder from IDW Publishing will be written by Dan Watters (Batman: Dark Patterns) and illustrated by Michele Bandini (Spider-Man: City at War). Popular TMNT artist Mateus Santolouco is providing a new character design and creating the primary covers.

Shredder has returned “forever changed by a maddening ordeal beyond imagining,” per the synopsis. Betrayed and without the Foot Clan to back him up, Shredder will venture into New York City’s criminal world where a former protégé has started their own gang. Shredder will encounter old enemies and make new ones on his mission of revenge.

“The bad guys always have the best stories, and Shredder is no exception,” Watters said. “This story is Shredder on a quest of revenge – rejecting the gods and allegiances he’s made over his long and storied history, reminding New York exactly why it feared him so much – and why it should do so again. This is the kind of character I love to write. Driven, ruthless, and crawling his way back to the top with a new purpose. This is going to be a hell of a ride.”

“I’m from the ‘80s, so I grew up with TMNT and I always wished to have the chance to work on one of their books since I was little kid. Yup, I wanted to be a comic book artist since I was five years old, and my favorite characters have always been the fun-loving Michelangelo and the ruthless ninja master, Shredder,” Bandini said. “A revenge story with one of the coolest characters ever created? I can’t wait to see Shredder get back what he deserves: the crown of the deadliest villain New York has ever seen!”

“TMNT: Shredder was the new title I was most eager to develop when I took the TMNT job,” Senior Editor Andy Khouri said. “Shredder is unquestionably one of the coolest, most fearsome and iconic villains in the history of American comics, and the time is right to take him back to those sinister roots. Dan Watters was the only writer I approached about the project. His bibliography – which includes characters like Batman and Lucifer, as well as his own innovative indie comics – reads like a training manual for how to write about Shredder, a character as steeped in mysticism as he is in blades and blood. Dan’s story is at once a back to basics approach that welcomes the new readers of Jason Aaron’s historic TMNT run while building on the indelible backstory of IDW’s version of this classic character.”

In addition to Santolouco’s cover, TMNT: Shredder #1 features variant covers by Bandini, Kael Ngu, Dike Ruan, Stjepan Šejić, a black and white version of Ngu’s cover, a foil version of Santolouco’s cover, and a sketch variant.

The first issue goes on sale on Wednesday, August 13, 2025.