Quick review:
The overall story was meh. There were a lot of characters that I just didn't give a fuck about. The story was overloaded with all of these new "Resistance" characters and a ton of characters from rivaling gangs. It kind of pays off in the finale, but that's not a good thing. It's actually my biggest problem with the story: it was a long drawn out boring story with not much excitement until the finale.
The finale was good. A lot of things (though not all) tied together. But it took months to get there. And after boring book after boring book, with each book delayed for weeks, when it was finally all tying together, I no longer cared.
During the first Last Ronin series, every issue was exciting. In each issue, there was an epic battle where we got to see how a major character died. Yes, like The Last Ronin II, the first series had new characters introduced, and there was a build up to a big finale, but it wasn't just that. Even The Lost Years had exciting things happen in each issue. Each issue of both The Last Ronin and The Lost Years sticks out to me, but I can't say the same for The Last Ronin II.
As I said in an earlier thread:
I don't hate it. It's okay.
It feels off. It's hard to articulate why.
I think it's because Tom Waltz slipped back into his "teen-rated" writing (in the style of his main IDW run) rather than the more mature-rated writing he pulled off with first iteration of The Last Ronin.
I think I felt that way because of the reasons I outlined above. The Last Ronin II didn't have the same level of action and excitement that I'd expect from something with the name "The Last Ronin." Yeah, there were small little fights and pockets of excitement which served as plot vehicles to help the new turtles discover their powers. But compared to Raphael single-handedly fighting dozens of Foot Clan ninjas before gloriously dying in a desperate attempt to kill Karai? Or Donatello sacrificing himself in vain to save Master Splinter (not before Splinter decapitates someone)? Yeah, it was a huge step down.
