A Little Revenge As A Snack — Reviewing ‘TMNT: The Last Ronin – Lost Years’ #5

Prequels fit various categories. Generally, though, they are untold tales meant to inform or deepen a story that’s already told. A clear path from the end of that prequel to the start of the original story is one of the keys to such a story. How they got from A to C, stopping by B in the middle.

We see that complete circle within the pages of the final issue of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Last Ronin – Lost Years. Kevin Eastman, Tom Waltz, SL Gallant, Maria Keane, Ben Bishop, Luis Antonio Delgado, and Shawn Lee bring their second chapter to a solid ending.

In the original miniseries, we saw what happened to all the original Turtles and their allies, and why Michelangelo was back in New York seeking revenge. It all seemed clear and buttoned up about how he suffered and learned through the years. That’s not to say that there aren’t highlights in this issue, or that the story is bad in any way. It’s a fine story that informs much of what is to come it just also feels a bit unnecessary, like many prequels.

As is the case with too many things these days, I triggered a monkey’s paw regarding this series. How might you ask? Thanks for asking, I’ll tell you.

In previous reviews, I noted how the future Turtles bits, the new Turtles being trained by Casey Marie Jones and April O’Neil Jones, were far more interesting. Not that the past bits were bad, but they felt a bit unnecessary since it was about Mikey seeking revenge to learn that it was time to go home for bigger revenge.

I wished in the previous review that we could see more of the future Turtles. Oh, look at that, there goes the finger curling from the wish.

Announced at SDCC, we are indeed getting another chapter in this universe that will fully focus on the new Turtles and their mother/sensi. Because of that wish this issue turned out to be 95% just the past Mikey stuff with only a final stinger with the future Turtles. Clever clever paw there.

Since this is all past stuff, it’s basically all artistically Gallant, Keane, and Delgado’s show here. Just like the previous issues the work that Gallant and Keane deliver is very heavy and a bit rough in some spaces. It’s all there to help hammer home how dark and tough these lost years were. Plenty of emotion is clear on all the pages, as Mikey lets it all out along the way. Tons of fighting can be found in the past moments, and it flows because of the kinetic energy they are pumping into the work.

In the few future/present-day pages that Bishop gets, they feel lighter while also having the same emotional weight as the other pages. It’s a bit smoother overall with some of the emotions popping a bit more.

Delgado uses heavier and darker colors in the past segments, to keep that overall tone going mentioned above. There is less hope to be found here and we must feel it. Colors get peppier and a bit brighter in the future segments we get, even though the world isn’t all roses then either. These new Turtles though are the hope, the continuation of a dream, and Delgado reflects that in the color choices.

Across this series, and most of the others, Lee makes sure that voices feel unique and clear to us as we read. Every letter and word formed has power to it under his guidance, soaking up the emotional energy and tossing it right back at us. Plenty of little things are thrown in to keep voices separated from bubble shapes to colors and just visual flairs with the font.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Last Ronin – Lost Years #5 is now available from IDW Publishing.