For 33 years, the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles have ruled the pop culture landscape. One day everything was normal and then the next day kids everywhere would only eat pizza and say things like "radical" or "cowabunga." While the fans have grown older, the turtles— through numerous incarnations— always stayed teenagers.
Now the time is here that fans will get to see how the Turtles faired into their older days. With The Last Ronin, we learn what happened to the guys and Master Splinter. How did they fare? Who survived? And just who is the Last Ronin? From here be warned that there will be spoilers.
10 Climate Change Has Raised Ocean Levels
In the dystopian future of The Last Ronin, it is quickly established that climate change has caused the ocean levels to rise to the point that Manhattan has built a wall around itself to keep the sea from encroaching. As the hero turtle is approaching, destroyed bridges partly underwater are seen around the city.
While swimming to the island, it's mentioned that the water is highly polluted and is almost a sludge at this point. Shipping in and out of the city seems to have been cut off. There is a large building in the middle of the island that seems to be ruling over the rest of the city.
9 The Last Ronin Is Fluent In All Ninja Weapons
From the early preview images, it has been shown that this Turtle uses all of the ninja weapons that the previous team had individually used. What happens in the first issue shows that he not only uses them, but is very proficient in all of the weapons. He has had a long time to practice his skills since last he had to use them.
After the death of his brothers, to honor them he has become a master in all their disciplines. He gets ample opportunity to try out each weapon as he storms the island to get at our main villain. His ascent of the large tower in the middle of the city reminds the readers of films like Dredd or The Raid, with lots of enemies to use his weapons on.
8 He Left NYC After Being Defeated
The issue sets up that the protagonist is returning to NYC after being gone for a long time. There still isn't mention of what actually happened but it's obvious that he hasn't been in his home city for a while. After swimming to the city wall he enters and knows he could attract attention right away, so he heads right to the tower to begin his take-down of his target.
When he jumps down into the sewers for a stealth approach alarms begin to sound which shows both he hasn't been in the sewers for a while and that they have been wired to prevent any attack that comes from below. After his attempt to storm the tower, people seem to find a giant talking turtle is something to be surprised about.
7 He Still Talks To His Dead Brothers
From the start there are voices off-panel talking to the hero character. He responds to their questions and statements making the reader wonder what they are missing as he makes his way into the city. After a few pages, in the shadows, his brothers are shown standing back watching the events unfold. They are dressed in the original bandanas, though the colors are muted.
It's inferred that they are just figments of his mind as he talks about why he is here and what his goal is. They offer their own commentary but are careful to not let on which turtles are which so as not to give away which turtle the story is following. It does give the reader a piece of nostalgia and a sense of loss for our hero. Here, the brothers are still together even if only in his mind.
6 Foot Soldiers Are Cyborgs
In the original run of the comics, the Foot Soldiers were human ninjas the Turtles had to deal with. For the cartoon in the '80s, they were changed to robots to help lessen the idea of real violence in the show geared towards kids. Here they are shown to be a hybrid of human physiology with robot tech limb upgrades.
This doesn't seem to deter our hero from taking them down permanently. Panels show him snapping Foot Soldier necks, backs, and getting stabby with some weapons. There are a few different levels of Foot Soldiers. Some are even referred to as Elite Ninjas.
5 The Main Villain Is Related To An Old Villain
There is a new leader of the Foot Clan in town and we learn he is related to an old villain of the Turtles. Oroku Hiroto rules New York City with an iron fist. The entire city seems like a fascist state as there are alarms and guards patrolling the streets. It is then revealed that Oroku Hiroto is the grandson of Shredder.
Through dialogue, it is explained that he is the one that has killed off the other three Turtles. He doesn't seem fond of the mutants that ran wild over NYC back in the heyday of his grandfather. They are referred to as freaks as he learns of one Turtle still left that has infiltrated the city.
4 Kairi Is In A Coma
Oroku Hiroto's mother Kairi is shown to be in a coma. There is no indication of how she ended up this way but Oroku seems to believe the Turtles are to blame. He says he will finish what she could not. Did she take up her father's vendetta against the Turtles?
It will be interesting in further issues to find out more about this and how it ties into the battles of the past. Are the Turtles to blame? Is Splinter? There is sure to be lots to unfold in the coming issues to fill these gaps in.
3 The Last Ronin Almost Committed Hari-Kari
In one of the more emotional scenes in the issue, the last Ronin is about to commit hari-kari. After a failed attempt at storming the tower to face Oroku Hiroto for killing his brothers years before he retreats to the sewers. While battling a Baxter Bot they both fall out of a window. He tries to stop but ends up falling from stories above directly onto the street.
After coughing up blood he is able to crawl to the safety of the sewers. Rather than dying of internal injuries, he decides it would be better to take the traditional death of hari-kari since he failed his mission. Luckily before he could finish it a street punk that saw him fall follows him and gets him to stop. He passes out before he can do more.
2 April Is Alive
After passing out from his injuries our hero wakes up in a bed in the old sewer lair. Wondering how he got to this place he begins to look around as if not believing he could still be alive let alone in such a familiar setting. His imaginary brothers begin to harass him.
He then learns that his savior is his old friend April O'Neil. She hadn't been mentioned previously until these last few panels. The hero is happy to see her but she has been worried about him due to his injuries.
1 And Our Hero Is . . .
After the whole issue, the big reveal on the last page is the fact that the Turtle readers have been following this whole time has been Michelangelo. The usual fun-loving brother has turned into a super-serious, emotionally charged survivor. His training has taken him far since his brothers have died. After adopting the black bandana, all the jokes and hijinks have melted away.
It's interesting to take the Turtle that most would see as the least focused and taking things the least serious and turning him into the walking talking tough-as-nails fighter that laid waste to every Foot Soldier and Baxter Bot that got thrown at him. One thing is for sure: It will be interesting to see what he has in store for the next 4 issues.