TMNT: The Last Ronin (2020)

A world with no more ninja turtles? A world with no more Master Splinter? Only one turtle is left to avenge them all? This is the world of The Last Ronin. The mystery of who the last turtle is and what lead to this scenario that is presented will leave you stunned as you turn each consecutive page of this comic. This comic takes place in the future of modern day TMNT stories and does not give its reader anything making you feel that you have to earn every piece of the puzzle by reading through the series, a very welcome idea and execution.

Written by the legendary Kevin Eastman, a name very familiar to any fan of the comic versions of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, gives this a resonance with that original comic series that the series has been largely missing since the explosion in popularity of the ninja turtles in the 90s. Going back to a much darker and grittier tone that goes more towards the like of something like Daredevil (wink) than the Saturday morning cartoon and live action movies that many of us grew up with. 

With Kevin Eastman at the helm, the story of course has a couple segments as flashbacks where it features that classic Eastman black and white turtle art and it was very cool every time it happens. These flashbacks are actually some of the most interesting parts of this story and I sincerely hope they expand on these in a future series. I know that there is currently a series called The Last Ronin: The Lost Years so I might have to check that out and see if that is what I am looking for.

My only real complaint with this book is the action sequences tend to get a bit repetitive. Three out of four of the big action moments are raids on an "impenetrable fortress" by the lone ronin. For a series that is considered an action series, such as TMNT, it was a little disappointing that I found myself starting to lose interest when the characters were actually fighting at times. Despite this, the book overall still found a way to be very entertaining. 

Overall Score: 8.5/10