Announced on the eve of their newest series’ release, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Last Ronin is pushing forward into the dark post-apocalypse in a new one-shot spectacular: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Last Ronin – Lost Day Special. Set following the climactic final clash of Michelangelo and Foot Clan despot Oroku Hiroto at the end of the previous series, this newest foray into the future wasteland of New York City will feature mother and daughter April O’Neil and Casey Marie Jones caught in the middle of a gang war alongside their four new, as yet unnamed, mutant turtles.
In a statement to CBR, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Last Ronin writers Kevin Eastman and Tom Waltz announced that, as a tie-in to their upcoming prequel series, TMNT: The Last Ronin - The Lost Years, the team would also be releasing an extra deep dive into their world (officially termed the “Ronin-Verse”) in TMNT: The Last Ronin – Lost Day Special. This 40-page one shot, which see April O’Neil take center stage, will have art by Bishop and colors by Luis Antonio Delgado and is set to hit stands in May. Said Eastman by way of preview, “As Tom Waltz and I dig deep into the evolution of New York City post-Last Ronin, the Lost Day tale brings the future of all things TMNT up close and very personal. Buckle up, things are about to get messy!"
A New TMNT Future From the Ashes of the Old
IDW’s original five-issue series Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Last Ronin debuted to rave reviews in 2020 when the reunited creators of the franchise, Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird, decided to put to paper one of their first conceived storylines for the shelled foursome. Also featuring Tom Waltz on writing duties alongside Ben Bishop and Isaac & Esau Escorza on art, the series followed Michelangelo as the sole surviving turtle, having witnessed the death of almost all the turtles and their allies at the hands of Oroku Hiroto, Shredder’s grandson. An epic of high drama and scintillating action, the series was notable for being a throwback in style to the early ‘80s Mirage continuity, as well as a refreshingly straight take on the hardboiled, gritty tone in comics that TMNT was initially created to parody. That is why, with a new series in the offing, the team is adding an extra slice in the form of the Lost Day special.
TMNT: The Last Ronin — Lost Day Special sees April O'Neil and her daughter raising and training the four young turtles teased as the end of the original Last Ronin series. As April takes the four young turtles into New York City on a supply run, they get lost and risk becoming collateral damage in a power struggle for control of the streets. April and her four young charges must race home before it's too late. IDW Senior Editor Charles Beacham said, “This action-packed Lost Day Special is going to pull at heartstrings and have readers on the edge of their seats as they get the first in-depth look at the little turtles teased at the end of The Last Ronin. It’s going to be epic!”
TMNT: The Last Ronin was the rare story which, through sheer effort, managed to buck the trend of repetition in comics by offering a viscerally wrenching yet ultimately heartfelt tale of violence, heroism and sacrifice. Ultimately only a tiny glimpse into a new artistic vision of heroic action, Eastman and Waltz’s enthusiasm for this dark possible future is evident, and can only bode well for even further expansions on this solid premise. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Last Ronin – Lost Day Special goes on sale in May wherever comic books are sold.
Source: CBR