Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Last Ronin #2: First to Fall (Spoiler-Free Review)

“The First to Fall” is not only the title of the latest issue of The Last Ronin but a glimpse of how the Ronin’s world came to be. The action hits the readers right off the bat and once again we are thrown into the fray at Mach speed with no warning, and the readers wouldn’t have it any other way. With the familiar zeal and drive the family spring into action to avenge the first to fall, but are they too late. 

As the story continues we get a more in-depth look at what April has been up to and how she is maintaining in the dystopian world as well as a continuation of the mental pain and suffering of the Ronin. The imagery is dark, haunting, and filled with emotion that immediately grabs a hold of you and refuses to let go. Eastman, Laird, and Waltz do a remarkable job at story-telling that you feel like this is a fireside chat and not a comic book.  The meticulous attention to detail with the dream sequences, flashbacks, and the current state of the Ronin are done with such vigor that I’m not sure another creative team could capture what needed to be captured to tell this story. The art team is itself a band of brothers on a mission to tell the Ronin’s story not with words but with intensively passionate visuals that, from pens, pencils, inks, and lettering, the pages could be blank and this would still be a fantastic story. The art and layout are just that good. 

The great thing about The Last Ronin is you get an authentic feeling of love and passion from everyone involved. If we as fans didn’t know any better we can easily say “I don’t see how they can top this issue.” Well, have no fear because if issues 3-5 keep in step with 1 and 2, we’ll be just fine. The Last Ronin #2 succeeds in every aspect of keeping in line with the TMNT mythos but stepping out of line just enough to bring a darkness that we haven’t seen. This drives fans crazy but this is what we crave in a TMNT story. Grit, determination, honor, and family are what we have come to love about the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and this is exactly the approach this creative team has taken. You can feel the love and excitement just like a kick to the gut.