When a graphic novel or comic series gets adapted to prose novel, it can be hit or miss, but with a series such as The Last Ronin I felt Erik Burnham would really have to screw this up to ruin what is outstanding source material. With The Last Ronin: A Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Novel, Burnham takes an outstanding story and expands the just right areas to give us one of comics greatest stories in the form of a novel.
Who is the Last Ronin? After decades away, a lone surviving Turtle returns to New York City with one mission: To avenge his family by killing the leader of the Foot Clan, Oroku Hiroto. But nothing about the city―battle-ravaged and ruled over by Hiroto with an iron fist―feels like home, and nothing about Ronin’s mission goes to plan.
With the help of old friends and new allies emerging in unexpected places, can Ronin finally get justice for those he lost? What terrible events destroyed his family in the first place?
Back in October 2020, Kevin Eastman, Peter Laird, Tom Waltz, the Escorza Brothers, Ben Bishop, and Luis Antonio Delgado gave us the beginning of what would be one of not only the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles best story arcs, but a top story arc in comic history. The creative team brought the turtles to a dark and mysterious place where loss and revenge take center stage. It was followed by a few other series, but nothing ever could hold a candle to what took place of five issues in the first volume. That is until now.
I can’t image Burnham took on this tough task of novelizing the incredible original series, but with his extensive background with the turtles my guess he knew he couldn’t pass up the opportunity. Taking what was set in motion by Eastman, Larid, and Waltz just laying it out on the typewriter wouldn’t have done the story justice, instead Burnham takes the story and add just enough to expand on the tale while also giving the story the time and attention it needed.
It can be a lot easier for us readers to go from prose novel to graphic novel adaptation as an artist now gives us a glimpse at what the characters in the novel appear to be. Doing the opposite gives us a chance to already know what they appear like and allows us to immerse ourselves back in the story. Typically the prose novel lacks the illustrations that makes a comic so great, however, with The Last Ronin: A Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Novel we at least we get original black-and-white illustrations from the Escorza Brothers to help merge these formats together.
The Last Ronin is a dark, bleak, and emotional tale that stands apart from most of the TMNT line over the years. This is all felt once again in the pages of The Last Ronin: A Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Novel. Somehow Burnham gives me a similar feeling to reading the original series all over again, but this time with a bit more.
Let’s take it a step further, not only was this story wonderful in prose format, but the audiobook narration by Robb Moreira takes it to another level. Not only to we get expanded stories, but now we get to be fully immersed in the world of The Last Ronin, what a time to be alive. This story is one that I believe everyone should read, so Burnham’s adaptation just opens up more avenues to experience such a tale.
The Last Ronin: A Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Novel takes an outstanding story and expands it in just the right places. Erik Burnham brings his years of TMNT knowledge and takes The Last Ronin to new wonderful places, this time into prose format.
The Last Ronin: A Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Novel is available at bookstores everywhere from Abrams. The audiobook, narrated by Moreira, is available via Libro.fm on October 6, 2026.
