Warning! Spoilers for Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Last Ronin #2 below!
Was Splinter the first to fall? In one of the more shocking storylines in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles history, The Last Ronin showed a dark future where there was only one surviving turtle: Michaelangelo. This isn't your Saturday morning cartoon TMNT, but an action-packed, tragic story about the last surviving brother. In new previews for the second issue of the series, the death of Splinter is shown.
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles was created by Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird. Originally a comic parody of Daredevil and the Teen Titans, the TMNT brand, once it was changed from a violent to a kid-friendly world - would evolve into a massive franchise that featured films, animated series, trading cards, video games, and more. The TMNT comics have often retained the core elements of Eastman and Laird's original series. Earlier this year, The Last Ronin was released which was the darkest TMNT story ever told. After the death of his brothers, a defeated Michaelangelo is suicidal. With Shredder's grandson responsible and ruling the dystopian future with an army of robotic ninjas, it's up to Mikey (and April O'Neil) to take him down.
In previews for the series second issue, the chaos surrounding Splinter's death is shown. In flashbacks (via April) April and Casey Jones are seen waiting for the Turtles to arrive for dinner, a bloodied Raphael bursts through the door. He immediately clears room for Splinter, who's being carried by Raphael and Michaelangelo. Sadly, Donatello is in complete shock as Splinter bleeds out.
When Casey Jones asks who was responsible, Raphael reveals that they were ambushed by the Foot Clan. Raphael and Casey decide to help out Leonardo - who's standing on guard - with Raph telling them he's going to run up the "body count" on the Foot soldiers, before being told to stand down.
It's quite the emotional scene as all of the Turtles have tears in their eyes as they watch Master Splinter bleed out. Donatello in particular is overcome with shock, while Raphael wants to take out his anger and sadness by killing as many Foot soldiers as possible. Splinter appears to be as good as done. Will Donatello and Raphael survive the ensuing fight with the Foot Clan? Will the battle be what caused the deaths of Michelangelo's brothers? Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Last Ronin #2 promises to be an incredibly sad, and action-packed issue as readers will find out more information on how the TMNT family was split up for good. TMNT: The Last Ronin #2 is in stores on Wednesday.