A review by redhairedashreads
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Last Ronin - Lost Years by Kevin Eastman, Tom Waltz

dark emotional fast-paced

4.0

 
This is a prequel/ sequel to The Last Ronin story and jumps back and forth from the past by telling us what happened to Michaelangelo during his 20 years away from NY and the present with Casey Marie and April who are raising the new batch of turtles. 

After reading The Last Ronin, Michelangelo hinted that his 20 years away had not been pleasant but we finally got to see what actually happened. Mike’s journey was heartbreaking because he lost everyone and just leaves trying to find death but his mutation prevents it. We see him find a brief bit of peace before a warlord named Death Worm crashes into his life and he spends the next 20 years running into him on and off. 

Like The Last Ronin, this is a dark and violent story filled with death, imprisonment, cage matches, and a lot of trauma. We really see why Michaelangelo is so traumatized and suicidal by the time he gets to NY in the Last Ronin from this story. It was very heartbreaking but I am glad we are finally getting to know what happened during those 20 years away. 

In the present, we have Casey and April taking care of the four new turtles who are children and Casey is training them to be ninjas. I love that we have new turtles and that they are all unique. We also have two female turtles this time! Uno, Moja, Odyn, and Yi all were very fun characters and while they are still children, they had a lot of personality already and I can’t wait to see more of them in future stories. 

Overall, this was a great follow up to The Last Ronin. I really am glad we are getting more to this series and seeing what is happening to this version of NY. 

TW: suicidal ideation and suicide; death of family members and friends; imprisonment, cage fighting, death, gun violence, 

 
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