“I love history, and I put a lot of history in my stories,” says Stan Sakai.
So, if you tell him to take a prompt and do whatever he wants with it, you might end up in Japan, circa 1600, amongst the deaths of thousands of samurai and the arrival of four turtle spirits.
Written by Sakai and drawn by Bram Stoker Award-winning artist Soo Lee, “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The First Ronin,” starts with the Battle of Sekigahara and one lone survivor.
“It’s a turning point in Japanese history, with something like 40,000 samurai warriors dead in eight hours.”
The five-issue arc launches in March 2027 from IDW Comics and serves as a prequel to Ben Bishop and Tom Watlz’s “TMNT: The Last Ronin.”
However, this spiritual history of the turtles has one significant catch.
Stan Sakai at NYCC 2026
“These turtles are not mutants, they’re yōkai. Which [are] haunts, and monsters and creatures of Japanese mythology,” said Sakai.
Sakai said this story came into being when IDW approached him saying they’d found four turtle yōkai in Japanese mythology and he could ‘do whatever he wanted.”
That is a hell of a writing prompt.
“There’s a lot of surprises. I love Japanese mythology and there’s a lot of yōkai in the story, not just the turtles. Basically, it’s a yōkai war.”
Yōkai run the spectrum of intent in terms of spirits. And while some can be called upon for assistance, the assistance is not necessarily benevolent.
In the case of these yōkai, says Sakai, they are definitely more malevolent.
Sakai likens them to the most commonly known turtle yokai, the Kappa, who is feared for drowning the unsuspecting, but are also deft with medicine and bone healers.
“And they’re very noble. If a Kappa makes a promise to you, he’s honor-bound to follow through with it,” said Sakai.
With “First Ronin,” Sakai crafts lore for a storyline he’s been connected to for 40+ years.
“The turtles and Yusagi were created around the same time, in 1984, and I’ve had a relationship with Peter Laird and Kevin Eastman since then,” said Sakai. “I’m having a great time.”
Developing the “The First Ronin” story and its artwork has been a uniquely collaborative process between Sakai and Lee.
“Soo is wonderful to work with - our working relationship is very different than most artist-writer relationships because I’m also an artist, and the way I write is through thumbnails. I send her a thumbnail breakdown with the script on the side,” said Sakai.
Even though Sakai is crafting the story visually, he said he doesn’t want his process to hold back Lee’s creativity.
“She is welcome to change the composition, change the storytelling in whatever way she wants to. I don’t want to stifle her…I wanted to give her the creative freedom.”
These turtles won’t look like the teenage mutants that readers may be familiar with. However the yōkai will have characteristics that help them resemble the beloved pizza-craving testudines.
“One of them, he’s a leader, there’s one that’s very hot-headed and jumps to conclusions and in that way, their personalities do reflect the turtles that we all know.”
It’s a busy time for Sakai.
“I have to keep it straight - I’m working on the First Ronin and The Last Yojimbo at the same time,” says Sakai.
“The Last Yojimbo” is Tom Waltz and Ben Bishop’s approach to Sakai's “Usagi Yojimbo,” character, giving the samurai rabbit their “Last Ronin” treatment. And while Waltz and Bishop are spearheading the project, Sakai signs off on all aspects of the story. And he is delighted.
“I love to see other people’s interpretations of Usagi–they’re coming up with surprises and things I would never think of,” laughs Sakai.
While working between a “first” and a “last” storyline at the same time, the mindset stays in the present for Sakai, who is excited to share his work with an audience.
“I hope the readers will pick it up, give it a try and enjoy it.”
