Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Last Ronin Hits Bestseller List
In 1987, Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird cooked up an interesting idea for a Ninja Turtles comic, The Last Ronin. For unknown reasons, however, they never got around to turning the script into a book. Decades later, IDW decided to resurrect the lost story and print it in the form of five trade-format volumes. The Last Ronin was concluded with #5 last April and more recently, IDW published the complete story in one hardcover volume.
And people want it! Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Last Ronin is one of the hottest selling titles IDW has had in quite a while. It’s on the New York Times bestseller list. They’re now predicting a complete sell-out of the initial 60,000 print run and have now ordered an additional 100,000 copies for the marketplace.
TMNT: The Last Ronin takes place in a dark alternate future where one solitary Turtle — the last of his kind — goes on a quest for vengeance against those who have taken his family and friends. The comic was laid out by Eastman and illustrated by artists Isaac and Esau Escorza and Ben Bishop.
“When Kevin first came to me with the idea of adapting his and Peter’s 1987 outline into what became The Last Ronin, I was pretty sure our story had the kind of evergreen legs necessary to be an extremely popular addition to the long-running and multi-faceted TMNT lore. But I never anticipated the immense sales and critical success it would generate,” says Tom Waltz, who was hired to embellish that outline. “Its popularity has already gone far above and beyond my initial expectations, and I count myself lucky to have been able to be a part of the amazing team that brought it all together for the many fans and retailers who have so quickly and consistently embraced the Ronin-verse. And the craziest thing of all is that we’re just getting started!”
The first printing of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Last Ronin has not completely sold out, but you’d better hurry if you don’t want to wait for the second printing to ship.
ChainsawMadonna
August 22, 2022 @ 3:05 pm
So is this as dark as the 1980s comic where they dismember and kill people? I thought the Turtles were kid friendly from the start but their comics origin is brutal.
kenooh macleod
August 22, 2022 @ 3:14 pm
It is one of the best recent Ninja turtles comics, so I’m not at bit surprised. In general, I liked it. I believe my expectations were a little bit too high. There are parts that I didn’t like However, it’s worth reading. I started subscribing the moment I read volume 1.
dongurisparking
August 22, 2022 @ 3:18 pm
Marvel and DC who?
2cyn
August 22, 2022 @ 3:20 pm
The Last Ronin is undoubtedly the comic book story that has to be turned into a motion picture. An incredible tale with similarities to the “Old Man Logan” plot. In my opinion, The Last Ronin’s conclusion is a masterpiece. Read this, especially if Michael Angelo is your favorite turtle!
Shadow001
August 22, 2022 @ 4:42 pm
Because they consistently produce high-quality works of art on par with this one, IDW will eventually triumph over DC and Marvel. It takes a lot of guts for the comic to decide to end the lives of some of its most adored characters. It is something that should be read, but I don’t want to reveal any more than that.