Summary
- Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Last Ronin II introduces a new crop of Ninja Turtles who are taking the spotlight in the Last Ronin universe.
- The new Turtles – Yi, Uno, Moja, and Odyn – were first introduced in The Last Ronin series and now have their own series in the Last Ronin sequel.
- The Last Ronin creative team, including Kevin Eastman, Tom Waltz, and Ben Bishop, discuss the creative process behind bringing the new Turtles to life and the potential for a story that spans the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles multiverse.
The Last Ronin universe within the wider Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles multiverse is expanding with Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Last Ronin II – Re-Evolution, only this time, there is a whole new crop of Ninja Turtles who are taking center stage following the tragic deaths of the original TMNT in the initial Last Ronin series.
The new Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles – Yi, Uno, Moja, and Odyn – made their debut in The Last Ronin as four infant turtles who had yet to be mutated being held in a terrarium. They weren’t properly introduced as the TMNT’s successors until Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Last Ronin – The Lost Years. Then, their story was explored even further in the subsequent The Lost Day Special. And now, these new Turtles will have their very own series in The Last Ronin sequel, a series that will be helmed by some of the members of the creative team behind the original Last Ronin: Kevin Eastman, Tom Waltz, and Ben Bishop.
At San Diego Comic-Con 2023, FilmmakerFocus had the chance to sit down with TMNT co-creator Kevin Eastman, co-writer Tom Waltz, and artist Ben Bishop to not only discuss The Last Ronin II, but also the creative process behind bringing these new Ninja Turtles to life, as well as the potential for a story that stretches beyond the ‘Roninverse’ and across the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles multiverse.
TMNT: The Last Ronin II Creative Team Talks New Series, & New Turtles
FilmmakerFocus: Big news, The Last Ronin sequel. Tell me about that. Tell me about it.
Kevin Eastman: One of the fantastic things in the most challenging things for a time when I was when we started adapting when we set out to adapt this 20 page idea that Pete [Laird] and I had back in 1987 into what would become all things Last Ronin, Last Ronin Universe was there was no intention at all for a sequel of any kind, even though the idea of having new turtles evolved very quickly because we fell in love with the ‘Roninverse’. But then when we finished we didn’t know how it would sell, and then it sold pretty well.
Tom Waltz: Yeah. I like to think so. Excited about the response. And like Kevin said, I think, you know, I work with Kevin for many years on the ongoing series side by side, but this was really where I became the Robin he became the Batman with the storytelling in it. There’s a reason Kevin Eastman is Kevin Eastman. And I got to witness it. No, it was fascinating. It was exciting.
It was, if anything, just his gut instincts on small ideas, and big ideas, and little things like, “Hey, rnrn”Why don’t we throw four little turtles in a terrarium at the end? And see how people react?” And talk about genius, right? And I thought, “Okay, that’d be cool, you know, nice little Easter egg.” And it’s just one more thing that has expanded this universe in ways I would have never expected. You know, I’m happy for it. But it’s certainly something that I think Kevin has a kind of foresight, that is fascinating to me, and not just story wise, but just, Kevin is one with his fans. And Kevin says ‘they’re going to react to this’, and they did.
Kevin Eastman: Well, that’s you know, just following up on that I was so thrilled to be Robin to his Batman on the ongoing series. He’s one of those few artists, one of the few artists/writers in our industry that’s written 100 issues in a row. He wrote and literally, you know, for 11 years, wrote 100 issues of the Turtles and they’re all brilliant. But it was just great watching the ideas evolve and spending this time mind-melding and creating this very unique TMNT IDW Universe because Tom, what I love the most about Tom is we think the same is that its story first, it’s got to be a great story. And it’s got to please us, because we write for ourselves, and then hopefully it will translate. So that was when we… when Tom jumped off the series in issue 100, and we jumped into all things ‘Last Ronin’. That was just a real hoot, because we get to shift gears and try something different and really blow it out creatively.
For Ben [Bishop] specifically, how did it feel to kind of craft your own TMNT with these new additions? And from an artistic standpoint, how did it feel just to create your own TMNT?
Ben Bishop: It was crazy. I mean, everything just kept getting better in my life. Kevin [Eastman] was like, “Hey, I need you on The Last Ronin.’”And I was like, “What?” “Hey, you’re going to kill all the Turtles”, I was like, “Okay’” and then the same day that I found out I was having a daughter I was on the phone with Kevin and telling him that, and he was like, “Well, I actually want you to design the new Turtles”, and I was like, “What the hell”. And then I found out we had action figures, and I was like, “Okay.”
I started drawing really quick. Kevin had some sketches, and again he piled on all these reference photos of different species of turtles because basically the agenda was to make them as different-looking as possible. Completely recognizable individually, even in their silhouettes and sizes and then later personalities of course, but I ended up drawing 12 different designs, the teenagers but also the baby versions of each which are really cool to see, like, what could have been; these are, like, the TMNT rejects or something. And they made their ways around, and everybody picked their 4, and it just so happened, like, most of us were overlapping in our favorite ones.
We knew we really had something. And just in general, I’m also like, you know, so grateful. And just seeing the response from the fan bases, because you never know with new stuff and a long-standing IP like the Turtles or something like that, if they’re going to accept it or hate it. And it seems like a lot of people are down to see what happens next with these guys in [The Last Ronin II].
Kevin Eastman: Ben definitely killed it in design. And the fan reaction has been wonderful. It’s been great.
Tom Waltz: I’m going to call out something specific that just actually came out this week was we did a book called The Lost Day Special, which was part of our kind of our ancillary series in between The Lost Years. And as excited as I was about Ben on The Last Ronin, I think Lost Day is some fantastic work. And I even think you… We tend to think a little longer sometimes. And so schedules get interesting. And so that kind of happened with this series, you know, and not as to the extreme of The Last Ronin, but it was running behind. So Kevin and I asked Ben, “You might need to go a little quicker to help us out”. And if anything, what Ben did – it seemed like you kind of changed your inking style up…
Ben Bishop: I did.
Tom Waltz: And I said, “this is amazing”.
Ben Bishop: Yeah, I’ve heard that from other people, which is really cool. Because all the while, you know, you’re stressing out like, “Oh my god, this is the worst thing ever, I can’t wait till it’s over”. And I ended up drawing my pages more at size. And so something happened with the lines. Something happened with the speed of having to do that and just cut out all the fluff. And I really do think it’s some of my best stuff, which is really cool. Because it’s a nice finale for Lost Years going right into ‘Ronin II’.
Kevin Eastman: Good warmup.
It’s so cool, because we see them come into their own in The Lost Years. And so, moving forward, what’s in store for these guys going into the sequel?
Kevin Eastman: Well, I think that’s the fun stuff. Tom is just a wonderful lyricist, I think of the dialogue. And now it’s, you know, we have pretty good ideas of what their personalities are. But now, until you actually start moving them through and have them interact and react to different scenarios and different scenes that we’ve written, that’s when you really start getting the feel for these characters. So that’s going to be fun.
Tom Waltz: Yeah, it’s going to sound cliche, and maybe corny, but this kind of answer I tend to give about the writing processes, I believe there’s a movie… and there’s the computer guy that gives the schematics to Robert De Niro to go rob the bank, and he says, “Where do you get all that you could build a bank with it”, and he says, “It’s just out there, man. It’s out there, and you gotta know how to grab it”. And I think that’s the same for everything, including writing. It’s already out there, and we just happen to, you know, this is my thing. There’s a radar I have and we can channel it.
I always say, “My dad’s a carpenter, he can see a piece of wood and turn it into a table. I would burn it, because I wouldn’t know what to do with it.” And so it’s one of those things that I just feel like, all this stuff is there, it exists, and that’s what I think adds to the success. And, it’s that it feels realistic, because to me, it does feel real when it comes through. And like Kevin said, it’s an evolving process. That’s one of the things that we’re almost at the seat of our pants writing sometimes. Because we feel like, wait, that’s not… we thought we’re gonna go here, but it’s gonna go here. And we have to follow them and let them lead us. And it’s always a fun ride, and it’s nice to do something, and it’s a surprise, even though you’re the one that plotted it.
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Is Building A Multiverse
Let’s dive into something exciting. In TMNT, we witness Armaggon, a new character who is tearing through time streams. Explosions are happening all around him. It feels like the setup for a mind-bending multiverse story. I might be going out on a limb here, but is there a chance for the new Turtles in The Last Ronin-verse to meet the original turtles from the ongoing continuity? Maybe even including Saturday Morning Adventures? It seems like Shredder’s acquisition of a reality-cutting sword could lead to a convergence of all these worlds. Is this a massive event in the making?
Tom Waltz: No, we were discussing at IDW the creation of a multiverse on the ongoing side. I have to give full credit to Sophie Campbell for that. She has been the mastermind behind bringing in Armaggon and expanding the universe. We have explored dimensions and multi-dimensions before. In the Armageddon Game, which I worked on, we had three dimensions: Dimension Z, Dimension X, and of course, the Turtles dimension.
But now, we are telling a story that might not have been as easily understood ten years ago. Thanks to the Marvel and DC movies, even casual fans now grasp the concept of a multiverse. They understand that a Ronin can exist alongside Cowabunga Dude from Saturday Morning Adventures. It’s all part of a bigger reality. While I can’t say there are specific plans for a crossover, I can tell you that we are incredibly excited about the multiverse.
It’s a fluid process. Sophie comes up with ideas like bringing in Armaggon, and we just run with it. Let me give you an example of how things can change: In Armageddon Game, I had no plan to include the Kuji-kiri. Sophie came up with the idea, and it worked so well that I altered my future plans to incorporate it. It’s always a collaborative and fun process. That’s what I love most about working on Turtles – it’s about family, both on and off the page.
Kevin Eastman: I think what sets us apart is that everyone on the team, including Tom and Sophie, leaves their egos at the door. If someone has a great idea, we embrace it and use it because it’s so much fun. It’s a fantastic feeling.
Something I’ve always wondered since The Last Ronin: is it a completely new timeline? Or does it eventually lead into the future of the original Mirage Studios’ TMNT?
Kevin Eastman: As Tom mentioned, we grew up reading Marvel and DC comics, which often featured multiverses. Even with the Turtles, Pete [Laird] and I always felt there were different universes – the cartoon universe, the original black and white universe, and the 1990 movie universe, which sort of bridged the gap between the two. So, we’ve always had these multiverses. But with The Last Ronin, we approached it as the final turtle story, harkening back to the Mirage universe. However, we also wanted it to be its own unique universe, like the Dark Knight. It’s not IDW or Mirage, but something new. That’s how it started, and it has evolved from there. It’s a very special timeline, and we’re excited to see where it takes us.
About Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Last Ronin II – Re-Evolution
Casey Marie Jones, the daughter of April O’Neil and Casey Jones who has studied and mastered the fighting styles and martial arts techniques of the original Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, will guide the next generation of Ninja Turtles – Yi, Uno, Moja, and Odyn – as they face a new, ultimate enemy!
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Last Ronin II – Re-Evolution #1 by IDW Publishing is available December 13, 2023.
