#re-evolution

TMNT: THE LAST RONIN II: RE-EVOLUTION #5

APRIL 2025 By Tom Waltz, Kevin Eastman , Esau & Isaac Escorza, Ben Bishop, Luis Antonio Delgado, and Shawn Lee.

The Turtles and the resistance must defend their island... but a sequel surprised them all!

RATING: OKAY

You know, if this wasn't a TMNT book, I wouldn't continue reading it.

I have spoilery thoughts, so let's cover the basics here.

The story is a bit disappointing. We were presented with all these characters that now feel too much like a misdirect. The Turtles were barely in this story, so I have to say that seeing human characters die is a plus for this book.

I love the Ben Bishop pages, but I find the Escorza pages a bit inconsistent. Some of them look gorgeous and impossible to stop appreciating, and others feel distorted. Especially the turtles. It made sense in the first miniseries because there was a justification for Mikey's increased size, but these turtles are young.

Okay, let's move on to spoilers.

TMNT: THE LAST RONIN II - RE-EVOLUTION #2

June 2024

By Tom Waltz, Kevin Eastman , Esau & Isaac Escorza, Ben Bishop, Luis Antonio Delgado, and Shawn Lee.

Odyn goes through a health scare, as the city gets in more trouble.

SCORE: 7

Boy, do I have things to say...

I don't know why the pacing is always a problem with "The Last Ronin." The people involved are all pros, yet, they continue to make the oddest decisions. And I understand the why... but the results are just amateurish, if I may say so.

Let's start with how this mini is trying to expand the universe very aggressively, taking up pages and pages of exposition. Most of the time I was wondering if I should be taking notes for all the information being dumped on me. It's cool that this is now redefining the role of Baxter and the Fugitoid in the original miniseries, but in the past, that would have gone into a micro-series.

And the reason that cannot happen anymore, is because there is no ongoing "the last ronin." Which, at same time, is a marketing strategy to always come up with a new best-seller #1. In other words, marketing is getting in the way of telling these stories properly.

The Turtles slowly getting special abilities was a no-brainer, but I am wondering if maybe they are going too far. Being mutant ninja animals wasn't enough?

I am also getting the idea that Jiro will be the new Nobody... who I don't remember right now if he was introduced in this universe already.

I also get the feeling that Bishop will be introduced into this universe very soon, considering the chess references.

Despite my problems with the excessive exposition, it is still interesting to see a universe expand (but I am guessing it will be harder on a second read). Hopefully all this exposition will play out in later issues.

I am honestly surprised that people love this universe so much. I do feel it has potential, especially with the new turtles, but something is a little off with the writing... and the art.

From human faces glowing like plastic, to hard to follow phone conversations, there were a few moments where the art really took me away from the story.