The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles’ greatest foe, the Shredder, is making his return and it all starts in the fires of hell.

From San Diego Comic-Con 2018, IDW Publishing has announced Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder in Hell, a new five-issue miniseries set to launch in early 2019. The series will be written and drawn by Mateus Santolouco, one of the defining artists of IDW’s ongoing Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles series, and will serve as a sequel to the popular Secret History of the Foot Clan miniseries.

In Shredder in Hell, readers will follow Oroku Saki as he struggles to survive in the burning hellscape of the afterlife. On his journey, he will discover his true purpose as well as the truth about the powerful beings responsible for both the birth and the death of the world.

(Photo: Mateus Santolouco, IDW Publishing)

“I'm very humble and thankful to help expand the rich universe of TMNT, adding new layers to the Turtles' main villain,” says Santolouco. “We’re not only revealing Shredder's role in a conspiracy of divine proportions, but we'll have a better understanding of his fears and ambitions. Oroku Saki is more human than ever…and this will only make him an even stronger force for the TMNT to face.”

“Shredder in Hell is in many ways a spiritual sequel to the beloved Secret History of the Foot Clan," Group Editor Bobby Curnow adds. "There’s one crucial difference: whereas before Mateus was just coming into his own as a creator, he is now, five years later, working at a master class level. The art he is producing is unreal, and the story is surprisingly deep and reaches to the core of IDW’s TMNT universe."

IDW Publishing’s Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles series is the longest-running TMNT series ever, surpassing even the original with more than 80 issues published to date, not counting the various miniseries and the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Universe companion series.

Shredder died several issues ago at the conclusion of a gauntlet challenge against Splinter and the Turtles, in which Splinter bested Shredder in singles combat. Following his defeat, Shredder committed seppuku and Splinter decapitated him. Later, Kitsune - the shapeshifting animal god and witch who had been the secret power behind Shredder and the Foot Clan for generations - stole Shredder's body, but it was revealed that Splinter expected this and kept Oroku Saki’s skull hidden nearby.

Are you ready for Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder in Hell? Let us know what you think in the comments!