After months of teasing, IDW Publishing has finally released Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Last Ronin, the brand new story that reunites Turtle co-creators Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird and presents a radically different world for their characters. Set in the far future, Last Ronin delivers a New York that has only one Ninja Turtle to its name as the other three brothers have mysteriously died prior to its events. The city is also locked down and controlled by The Foot Clan, whose leader is a surprising new addition to the canon. Full spoilers for Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Last Ronin #1 below!
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The first issue focuses on The Last Ronin’s mission to not only infiltrate The Foot’s stronghold in New York, but to eliminate their leader, Master Oroku Hiroto. The Ronin reveals that Hiroto is the “bastard son” of Kirai and the grandson of The Shredder. That phrasing raises an interesting question of just who the father of Hiroto actually is, and though the series doesn’t address it at all, based on the way that he’s drawn it wouldn’t be too crazy to speculate that Casey Jones is his father. Take a look at Hiroto below (who also has a bit of Kylo Ren thing going on).
The main wrinkle in Casey Jones being the father of Hiroto is that another character is almost certainly his offspring. A young woman is identified simply as “Jones” in the issue, and later helps The Last Ronin after he’s preparing to take his own life. The Last Ronin features another major connection to the larger franchise as the final page reveals none other than old friend April O’Neil is still alive and kicking too. In fact, she has a real Sarah Connor look to her in the series.
One mystery is if April is aware that the other turtles are dead, as the issue concludes with the reveal that The Last Ronin is none other than Michelangelo and he’s been speaking to visions of his brothers for the entire time.
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Last Ronin #2 is scheduled to be released on December 16, 2020. You can read the full solicit for the next issue below
(W) Kevin Eastman, Peter Laird, Tom Waltz (A) Esau Escorza, Issac Escorza (CA) Andy Kuhn (A/CA) Kevin Eastman
Secrets are revealed as we begin to discover what happened in the past to lead to this nightmarish future. The Ronin meets an unexpected new ally but the Foot Clan begins an exhaustive sweep of the Bottom to find the vengeful mutant. And what role does Baxter Stockman play?
In Shops: Dec 16, 2020
