A Sense of Doubt blog post #3680 - 200 Days, the Last Ronin, and a Comic Book Cover Gallery - Comic Book Sunday for 2503.16

A Sense of Doubt blog post #3680 - 200 Days, the Last Ronin, and a Comic Book Cover Gallery - Comic Book Sunday for 2503.16

It's been 200 days since my Dad died on August 28th 2024 at 13:40 or 1:40 p.m.

Acknowledging the days since presents the confusing nature of how the passage of time feels. It feels like no time has passed, it feels like hundreds of more days have passed, it feels like this is all surely wrong because he can't possibly be dead. I keep circling the drain of denial, trying to make sense of losing my last parent.

In contrast, when Mom died 3545 days ago in 2015, it came after 15 years of post-coma health struggles and crises. We knew we were on borrowed time the entire decade and a half. And when she received her diagnosis of Supra-Nuclear Bulbar Palsy, it was close to a year ahead of when it progressed and took her life. It was all hard, but maybe less difficult because it was all expected and because DAD was a constant. My Big Guy. He was still with us.

And Dad's death did not follow such a pattern. He expected to live longer. I expected for him to live longer. But Covid and the pneumonia, Long Haul symptoms, inactivity, death.

Coincidentally, I feel like my unending cold/flu/sinus symptoms could be walking pneumonia, though i am not doing nearly as much dog walking exercise as I should. And by not nearly as much, I mean none for well over a month. Or I might have long haul Covid, even though I have always tested negative.

Dad would listen to these health theories. He did a lot of listening the last few years as I talked to him on the phone. Just listening. He did not have much to say in return. An occasional question. Some sympathy.

I don't know how to process my Dad being dead, especially the fact that today marks 200 days since I sat next to him and held his hands as he took his final breaths. Part of my struggle to process is that I feel there's an expectation that I am supposed to process it. How can I do that? This just feels wrong. This no parents thing is not how things are supposed to be.

And so I turn to the things that bring me comfort as a panacea for all the grief that defies being sorted out, processed. Chief among those comforts is a comic books. Dad would appreciate this post about a recent graphic novel I purchased on impulse and read soon after as well as a gallery of gorgeous comic book art, mostly covers.

Dad introduced me to comic books among many other things. I wish I had asked more questions, learned more before he was gone.

Thanks, Big Guy.

Thanks is not enough.

Here's what I wrote on GOOD READS about The Last Ronin:

I bought this book as an impulse buy at the comic shop a few weeks ago. The cover alone attracted me.

I would not say that I am a huge TMNT fan, but I do appreciate the franchise and thought the movie and TV show were fun. I have only read a few of the comics, though. I did not know all the history and lore of the comics.

But since this is a conclusion to the entire story line (and maybe a restart? SPOILER!!) I had little trouble following what was going on and how it was ending the long running saga.

Great art, wonderful story. There are derivative elements that seem to want to be parody but aren't really, like the ninja clan being called the Foot, an obvious flip on the Marvel, Frank Miller invented "Hand" ninja clan.

That and some other heavily borrowed tropes aside, I loved it and my rating is a 9.7/10, which I felt deserved five stars in this system.

AND SOME MORE...(not on GOOD READS)

As readers, we do not know which of the four turtles survived the final conflict to be this "Last Ronin," unless you're a super-fan and know them by their mask colors. While we're waiting for the reveal of which turtle survived, the other three (presumably as ghosts which is later confirmed) talk to our hero about his Quixotic quest to single-handedly take down his adversaries in their giant fortress.

Once he fails, he's reunited with April, the scientist who mutated him and his three brothers, and though not her husband Casey but her daughter Casey Marie. Turns out the survivor is Michelangelo, Mikey, and we are given the back story of the final conflict that killed Raph and Leo as well as on a trip to Japan how Donnie and Master Splinter (the rat Sensei) met their ends. It was all good re-cap for those of us who are not super-fans. Before I read this volume, I could have told you the names of the turtles but no one else in the cast. I had completely forgotten April and Casey and the rat the creatures called Father, Master Splinter.

Now, no one longer a teenaged mutant, Michelangelo is an adult ninja mutant hellbent on completing the destiny set for him and his brothers in destroying their adversaries. Now, as the sole survivor, Mikey takes on the role of sensei to train Casey Marie, who has developed mutant powers transmitted from April in vitro from exposure for years to the turtles.

SPOILERS AHEAD!!

Of course, Michelangelo must die but not before leaving a legacy. (Sensing a theme here with my DAD content?) The legacy of the turtles will live on in Casey and April and possibly in four new turtles who may be mutated to be the new TMNT.

The final battle is epic and Michelangelo shows his mettle against a foe full of hubris and over-reliance on fancy armor.

I liked it, and I am not a huge TMNT fan as I have shared.

Following you will find various art from The Last Ronin and a cover gallery of mostly covers but all comic books (except for one movie poster or rather a "what if" move poster).

Thanks for tuning in.

Dad, I miss you.

COVER GALLERY

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- Bloggery committed by chris tower - 2503.16 - 13:40

- Days ago: MOM = 3545 days ago & DAD = 200 days ago

- New note - On 1807.06, I ceased daily transmission of my Hey Mom feature after three years of daily conversations. I post Hey Mom blog entries on special occasions. I post the days since ("Days Ago") count on my blog each day, and now I have a second count for Days since my Dad died on August 28, 2024. I am now in the same time zone as Google! So, when I post at 10:10 a.m. PDT to coincide with the time of Mom's death, I am now actually posting late, so it's really 1:10 p.m. EDT. But I will continue to use the time stamp of 10:10 a.m. to remember the time of her death and sometimes 13:40 EDT for the time of Dad's death. The blog entry numbering in the title has changed to reflect total Sense of Doubt posts since I began the blog on 0705.04, which include Hey Mom posts, Daily Bowie posts, and Sense of Doubt posts. Hey Mom posts will still be numbered sequentially. New Hey Mom posts will use the same format as all the other Hey Mom posts; all other posts will feature this format seen here.