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Transcript
There was a lot of hype before this comic was released and I was one of those people who was itching to get my hands on it. I finally did, I'm talking about the last Ronin. It's an IDW-published Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle comic. If you were an 80s kid like me, you would have seen the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle cartoon growing up. Since that time I've been fascinated by the four turtles and their Master Splinter. Kevin Eastman is back for this one. He's renowned for his work with the original Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and he's back. This great hardcover Edition covers five volumes.
The Hype
There was a lot of hype around this one like I said and the reason for that was the storyline itself. The last Ronin or the last of his kind. I'm not gonna get into a lot of plot details here because I don't want to give spoilers away. Many years have passed, it's a dystopian world and only one Ninja Turtle has survived. The comic starts off great, as it begins with a lot of action and the best part, the identity of the surviving turtle is hidden. As you read, you don't know who the surviving Ninja Turtle is. It is revealed by the end of the first volume. It's a very good story arc, let me just leave it there. It's a really good story arc, the first volume itself.
Overall Plot
It is difficult to do this without giving any spoilers but I'm still trying. As I said, it's a dystopian world, Shredder's forces have taken over the city and pretty much all civilization. There is an underground Rebel force that is trying to overthrow this regime. How the surviving Turtle joins up with the rebel force and whether they can overthrow this regime is really the overall plot of the five volumes.
Monochrome Art Panels
The overall storytelling is nice is well layered because you keep getting flashbacks of what happened. I'll be frank, I was really hyped up about this and it is slightly underwhelming. I still say it's a really good comic book. It is a very good comic book. It's just that I was expecting a lot. Barring a few places, the art didn't really blow me away. It was pretty standard stuff for comic books. All the flashbacks are done in a monochrome panel and those were breathtaking. I think they were the best parts.
Character Deaths and Final Takeaway
There is a sort of unsaid connection to Game of Thrones. That's because there are a lot of character deaths, and some of them seem a little sudden and futile. They don't really have a lasting impact. For characters that have grown up watching, ones that are really close to my heart, I would have loved that their last Impressions to be lasting. But unfortunately that's not always the case.
Overall it's still a really good read. Not the best ever that I've read, but it's certainly up there. The Last Ronin is definitely on my recommended list. Go ahead, give it a try, let me know what you think.