Last Ronin ending

[AquaParade]

For the Big 2, that’s mostly true.

But there are a lot of comics with planned beginnings and endings, outside of them, of course. Stuff like Preacher, The Invisibles, Kill or be Killed, Seven to Eternity. Those are some of my favorite comics with actual endings.

I wouldn’t be surprised to see IDW tmnt get a definitive ending at some point. When sales dwindle, it will have deserved it, for maintaining such consistency over such a long period of time. Then maybe they can “reboot” after that or something. Not an end for the characters, but an end for that version of them.

This is why I don’t need everything to be canon all the time, like a lot of fellow readers. Let things die every once in a while.

[neatoman]

Yeah, it's mostly big publishers who steer the medium in the direction of indefinite storytelling, smaller publishers (especially when it comes to creator owned books) are less likely to do this. Granted, that could have more to do with lower sales and creator experiencing fatigue but it still isn't as big of a problem with smaller books. And of course Marvel and DC books don't really ever end, the shared universe concept practically begs for characters to keep popping up regardless of how many books get cancelled.

And it's not even a problem with just comic books. The James Bond movies kept getting made despite Eon running out of books to adapt by the fifteenth one, and they somehow made ten more (so far). Not to mention how Christopher Tolkien somehow managed to "edit the unfinished works of his father" into about twenty or so volumes.

It's just more noticeable with comics because:

1. They are published on a near monthly basis and can last decades on this schedule.
2. They're dirt cheap to make and thus always easy to justify.
3. When successful, they get side-books, effectively increasing the output.
4. Literally anyone will pick up the license if they think they can squeeze out some profit from it.

[AquaParade]

Speaking of comic continuity, I thought it was very clever of Jonathan Hickman to somewhat dissolve the notion of death in his recent X-Men comic run.

Since these are never-ending stories, like we are pointing out, characters are constantly being killed off and resurrected, essentially as a sales/story gimmick.

But Hickman said "Fine - any mutant who dies can be easily resurrected. Tension of death = deflated". Again, for comics, with the current state they are in, I found that to be a great move. From there, he leans into the implications of immortality. Also, preemptively putting his foot down on any "DEATH OF ____" gimmicks, which Marvel would have undoubtedly found a way to shove into his story.

Instead of fighting against the current, you lean into it, and you take advantage of it, if you can.

[neatoman]

I like how Slott explained how dead Supervillains keep showing up without explanation.
"Hobgoblin salvages their stuff and rents it out to random thugs who want the instant reputation that comes from being an impostor."
So simple yet so effective in solving continuity errors.

[Sumac]

IMO, ending is what makes a story.
I hate retards who say "journey is more important than an ending". This people completely miss the point of storytelling.

And I must admit ending stories is hard, because, you get attached to the characters you are writing, but at some point you must put a definite stop to them, otherwise you end up with a meaningless pile of noodles which go nowhere for no reason.

It is OK, if you're making a series, which doesn't have a continuity or consist of standalone stories, so each one can be viewed / read on its own. But if you make a continuous story, I feel, its still is supposed to adhere to BME (beginning - middle - end) rule. Otherwise, its just pile of nothing

[Filespit]

Overall I'm satisfied with The Last Ronin. It started really strong but got slightly weaker with each issue, but that does in no way mean it's bad. I feel the ending was expected, but it still felt a bit rushed. I would've like something more, don't know exactly what, but something.

Spoiler:

The epilogue is very exciting to me. Hopefully this means there's a completely new Turtle team coming, not some kind of cloning or recreation thing. Perhaps it's time for Bernini?

I've really enjoyed the excitement around the series and I believe it's been an important piece of the TMNT franchise.

Also I LOVED Ben Bishop's artwork. I sincerely hope he gets to do more TMNT stuff going forward.

[superstaff]

Originally Posted by Sumac

IMO, ending is what makes a story.
I hate retards who say "journey is more important than an ending". This people completely miss the point of storytelling.

Yeah, I also agree that endings are what make a story.

The ending is essentially the entire thesis of the story. It's where you receive the main message that the author is trying to convey. It's the viewer/reader's reward for making it to the end. It's the most important part of a story, with the beginning being second because the importance of the beginning is to draw the audience in from the get-go.

I think a very bad ending can ruin the entire story, too.

[Sumac]

Originally Posted by superstaff

Yeah, I also agree that endings are what make a story.

The ending is essentially the entire thesis of the story. It's where you receive the main message that the author is trying to convey. It's the viewer/reader's reward for making it to the end. It's the most important part of a story, with the beginning being second because the importance of the beginning is to draw the audience in from the get-go.

I think a very bad ending can ruin the entire story, too.

Indeed.
Which is why I hate "journey is a goal" mentality. Journey becomes worthless, if an ending is bad.

[superstaff]

Originally Posted by Sumac

Indeed.
Which is why I hate "journey is a goal" mentality. Journey becomes worthless, if an ending is bad.

Some people can forgive a bad ending if the journey is fun. And I guess sometimes that's enough. I personally feel that a bad ending can ruin the whole thing, especially if it's an ending that spits on what came before it.

[King Kahn]

Originally Posted by Allio

Spoiler:

Kind of a ethical question of what seemingly forcing mutation on those four turtles. What happens if they gain sentience and hate the freak that they were turned into

Nothing like that. She describes it like how in Static Shock how Richie gains his powers because he was around Virgil that was still emitting the chemicals that gave him his powers.

Basically April and Casey had been around radiated people that they essentially got a secondhand high.

yeah this is how I took it. Like radiation exposure, not through sex.

[King Kahn]

Originally Posted by Leo656

Both of those scenarios are infinitely more likely than me ever using Spoiler tags, or showing any respect whatsoever to the Spoiler-sensitive. That much I can say with great certainty.

especially in a thread called "Last Ronin Ending". If you come into a thread called that and don't expect to get spoiled....

[King Kahn]

Originally Posted by Andrew NDB

Spoiler:

Yeah, but Saki was literally blown up. As in, into little bits of bloody kibble and gore and bits of armor.

This Hiroto guy explodes but... doesn't? Like, at all? It reads very tame and neutered on the page, his exit there. No, I can't believe that's Eastman's vision for that at all and there was absolutely some compromise there with Nick, 100%.

I don't think it's ever been said in any universe that I'm aware of that the Turtles have radiation, or that the ooze is radioactive. People seem to assume that, but I've not seen anything that it is.

The ooze glows in the dark, akin to the old trope of radioactive materials glowing in the dark or making those exposed glow.

Also the ooze is supposed to be literally the same stuff that turned daredevil blind and gave him his powers. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Darede...mics_character)

It was radioactive waste that spilled on him, hence the ooze is radioactive.

But hey, if you want to keep that slashfic of turtle ****ing alive by all means live your best life man. lol

[Leo656]

Originally Posted by King Kahn

especially in a thread called "Last Ronin Ending". If you come into a thread called that and don't expect to get spoiled....

For the most part it just annoys me that "grown-ups' get SO bent about that stuff. It's like it'll literally "ruin" the entire experience if you know a tiny bit about what's going to happen in advance. These are the epitome of First-World Problems.

"God forbid I know how a movie or comic book ends, I totally can't get into it now." Well, then you're simple.

I wouldn't care at all if people didn't get all hyperbolic about it. "NO SPOILERS or it's permanent Block, not even joking." F*cking relax, man. I've never deliberately "ruined" anything for anyone but every time I encounter that sh*t I'm tempted, just out of pure spite. I demand that these people find out what Real Problems are and I'm forever tempted to f*ck their day in the ear just because they're annoying me.

Science also overwhelmingly establishes that people enjoy A Thing more when they know what they're getting no matter how many people insist that they want to be surprised; they're forever underwhelmed and end up complaining when they go into things cold (this comic being a case in point for many). My insistence that people face and accept Reality pushes me to make these people get with the program.

My politeness always wins out, but Lord it's hard sometimes.

[Ninjinister]

Originally Posted by AquaParade

Kevin was saying part of the reason he likes the oversized format is that you can fit this series alongside the original few oversized issues. I think he intends it to build off that original Mirage continuity, before carving it’s own path and ending up here.

I mean there's quite a bit that contradicts Mirage canon, Karai being Saki's daughter, for one.

[AquaParade]

Originally Posted by Ninjinister

I mean there's quite a bit that contradicts Mirage canon, Karai being Saki's daughter, for one.

Yeah, but that comes after the first few issues, in CaW.

[Leo656]

I know the horse has left the barn forever on Karai being Saki's daughter, or daughter-figure, to the point where even Eastman refers to her as such now, and maybe it actually works better that way (I guess it must, since it's become pretty much Hard Canon everywhere else outside of Mirage), but on some level it makes me annoyed. Simply because that absolutely wasn't the role she was created for and so making her that is a direct repudiation of the original version of the character.

I mean, I guess at least Kevin now wishes she'd been created as Shredder's daughter in the first place (not sure what Peter thinks, although he did approve it in 4Kids so I guess he's fine with it Sometimes). But... she wasn't.

I'unno. Maybe we should pretend that when Superboy Prime punched Time it just retconned it so Karai was Shredder's daughter in Mirage as well, just for simplicity's sake. At least one of the original creators clearly regrets not having come up with it first, and the other one is at the very least okay with it being the case Sometimes.

[AquaParade]

I like the idea of Karai being a character independent of Saki, but it does make sense to give him a daughter, given the themes of family & revenge, and I can see why Karai would be squeezed into that position.

[Sumac]

I dislike how from Shredder's equal, Karai has become his subordinate.

[superstaff]

This may sound odd but I feel like I agree with you both, AquaParade and Sumac.

On one hand, I do dislike that she went from a character that had her own agency, and was basically Shredder's equal, and has now become more of a subordinate (I was about to use lackey, but that's way too harsh, she's really not on the same level as, say, Bebop and Rocksteady).

But on the other hand, her being more of a daughter does go nicely with the themes of family (most of which were made or found, and not based on blood relations as much in the TMNT universe) and revenge. I think it depends on the writing whether it's done well or not. Some incarnations do better with it than others.

[Andrew NDB]

Originally Posted by AquaParade

I like the idea of Karai being a character independent of Saki, but it does make sense to give him a daughter, given the themes of family & revenge, and I can see why Karai would be squeezed into that position.

I don't. You want to give Saki a daughter? Great, here's Pimiko. Use her.

Originally Posted by Sumac

I dislike how from Shredder's equal, Karai has become his subordinate.

Arguably she was even his superior. Leader of Japan Foot > Leader of NY Foot.

I just don't understand how it isn't more upsetting to people, particularly women. You have this awesome character that is Saki's superior, a leader, even a mother... and then in everything else she needs to be Saki's wayward daughter? What?