Warning! Spoilers ahead for the TMNT’s Roninverse saga.
The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles franchise is returning to the world of The Last Ronin, the dystopian future that has become the modern high bar for the Turtles. Training Day is “an addendum” to The Last Ronin, according to co-writer Tom Waltz. The new series will follow Michelangelo during a harrowing 24-hour period as he fights for his life.
Entertainment Weekly shared an exclusive first look at The Last Ronin: Training Day, written by Turtles co-creator Kevin Eastman and Tom Waltz, with art by the Escorza brothers.
While it’s not The Last Ronin III, which is reportedly still coming, it’s a vital new chapter in the expanding Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Roninverse continuity.
TMNT Is Going Back To The Original “Last Ronin” Series With An “Addendum” Set Between Issues
The Last Ronin: Training Day, Written By Kevin Eastman & Tom Waltz; Art By The Escorza Brothers
The Last Ronin: Training Day isn’t exactly a prequel, because it’s set during the events of the gamechanging Last Ronin series. Author Tom Waltz explained the distinction, noting:
It’s kind of funny to call it a prequel because it sits between issues 3 and 4 of the original series…In a way, this is a love letter to fans, but it’s also, I would say, a conversation we’re having with fans because the Roninverse just continues to expand beyond anything we expected. So in legal terms, I guess I’d call Training Day an addendum.
In other words, it is the kind of story that the Roninverse’s creators didn’t think they’d get to tell when they conceived of the original miniseries.
The Last Ronin famously thrust readers into a world where Michelangelo is the last surviving Ninja Turtle. The loss of his brothers, along with the Foot Clan’s conquest of New York, turned him into a hardened vigilante. Yet The Last Ronin became the story of “Mikey” finding redemption, moving past his trauma, and establishing a new Turtle family.
The Last Ronin led to a highly anticipated sequel, Last Ronin II, which widened the scope of the story even further. Excitement is high for the third chapter in the Last Ronin trilogy, which is reportedly in development. Training Day is meant to tide readers over, and to keep filling in the gaps in the Roninverse mythology.
Michelangelo’s Story Didn’t End With “The Last Ronin”; Fans Still Want More Of The Last OG Turtle Standing
Training Day Drops This July From IDW Publishing
The Last Ronin ended with Michelangelo’s death, but it turned out to be just the start of an ongoing TMNT epic. There has already been a prequel, The Lost Years, exploring Michelangelo in the events leading up to the series. Training Day shows that there is still much more to the character’s story left to tell.
And, it will have some bearing on where the Roninverse goes next. As IDW Publishing Editor Jake Thomas put it:
As we’re building up to the big Arc 3, we felt like there needed to be something before that where we check in, remind readers where this came from, and what this means.
Which is to say, Training Day has big “flashback right before the climax” energy. Michelangelo may have ceded the focus to a new group of Turtle siblings at the end of The Last Ronin, but their story is still predicated on his.
It also shows that creators Kevin Eastman and Tom Waltz understand TMNT’s audience. Readers want to get to know the new Turtles more, but Michelangelo’s Last Ronin incarnation still merits more attention. Striking that balance is essential to the long-term future of the Roninverse, which is now arguably the centerpiece of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.
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Kevin Eastman, Peter Laird
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Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (1990)
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Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem
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Tales of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (TMNT) is a multi-media franchise that began with Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird’s comics in the 1980s. Throughout the years, their comic books expanded to movies, TV shows, video games, and toys. Most notably, the animated Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles ran for nearly a decade and has become a nostalgic staple of the ‘80s and ‘90s. Several other movies have featured the four anthropomorphic turtle brothers (Leonardo, Michelangelo, Donatello, and Raphael), including the trilogy of live-action films in the ‘90s and the more recent movies Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and its sequel Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows.