Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shell of The Dragon

Writers: Mark Bode, Kevin Eastman
Artist: Mark Bode
Publisher: Mirage Studios
Published: December 1990

T is for "Thank You Bruce Lee 4 Fighting For The Little Guy Everywhere."

As all you Bruce Lee fans are aware, today is the day the Little Dragon was birthed into life, November 27 1940. He would have been 68 years old today, and would have probably been in better shape than I'll ever be. Happy Birthday Bruce!

The reason I chose TMNT today was because it started with the letter T and the issue is dedicated to Bruce Lee. The whole premise of the issue is pretty much a homage to all of the Bruce Lee flicks. The story begins with the turtles visiting China, and while waiting for some food, the restaurant is attacked by some goons. The goons work for a corrupt business man who's plan is to take over all the restaurants and food related businesses.

One restaurant, Hu-Shan's, isn't willing to sell, and so is being terrorized to no end. The turtles end up beating up the goons, and at this point, Chang Lee enters the scene. He is there to visit his uncle. The goons show up again, but this time it's Lee who does the ass kicking. The bad guys are desperate at this point, so they hire Buff Nordick, a renowned tough martial artist, who just so happens to hate turtles with a passion (due to a childhood trauma).

So if anyone has seen any Bruce Lee films, well it is fairly obivous how this one ends. If you haven't seen any of these flicks, do yourself a favor, and check em' out.

This was a great issue from the first page to the last. Mark Bode is a great artist, and I would be amiss to say he hasn't inherited his fathers artistic style. His work on this issue is perfect for TMNT because he is able to infuse the absurd with intense action. As for his depiction of Bruce Lee, lets just say there are a lot of Lee inspired comics out there, but his rendition is definitely one of the best.