Ronin

This is better for the work it inspired (Samurai Jack, TMNT) than it is for itself.

I think the main problem Ronin has is layouts. The panels are simultaneously too dense and too empty - most of Ronin is long page-wide or page-long panels that keep your eye moving, but it's tiring because there's so many of them and not much happens in each individual panel. The extremely dense block layouts are hard to read and frequently confusing, making it hard to tell what direction you're supposed to be going in. This book was exhausting to read, not much fun, despite the strong premise. Flipping through after I finished it, I was confronted by basically a comic soup - no moment stands out, it's just a cluttered mess.

The pencil art included at the show more back of my edition is revealing - perhaps this would have been better presented in all black & white, because without the colors and inks the pencil drawings are very crisp and detailed and clear and easy to follow. The heavy inking and coloring style used in Ronin appears to have been obscuring details that would have helped. show less

When I first encountered comic books in the 70s, I thought they were garbage. The stories weren't worth the tissue paper they were printed on. But when I went to college, a roommate of mine told me that was no longer the case (more on that here). He used three graphic novels to make his case: Batman: The Dark Knight Returns, Watchmen, and Ronin.

Suffice it to say, I was convinced.

Having had a warm reunion with Watchmen, I decided to re-visit Ronin to see if still held up after all these years.

The artwork certainly isn't as good as I remember it. Most of the art strikes me as a rough draft or conceptual sketches meant to be passed on to the illustrator. I can see what imagery Miller was attempting to convey and the feelings he wanted to show more evoke, but the execution seemed amateurish.

And the color palette! Blech! Algae green and muddled browns. Scenes of the facility viewed from above reveal it to be an amorphous mass of greens ovals infecting the grey and brown straight lines of the city like a fungus.

However, I still enjoyed the story. We have a samurai who's lost his master (hence ronin) battling a demon in the distant past only to be carried into the future (the inspiration for Samurai Jack?). In the future, we have a limbless child (Billy) attempting to master telekinesis with the help of an AI (Virgo) with a grandmother complex. Both work for an advanced biotech company looking to resurrect Manhattan from severe degradation.

When the storylines converge, the tale hits its stride. All is not as it seems. Magic, technology, fantasy, identity: It all blurs. Caught up in the middle of it all are Peter and Casey, a couple who work at the facility. Peter is a research scientist responsible for most of the science behind the technology. Casey is head of security. Each tries to hold firm to reality despite what their eyes are telling them. When people start dying, they refuse the easy answers and dig deeper to find the truth.

Since I first read the story, I'd heard about Miller's negative view of Manhattan. To paraphrase, he felt that the city was overrun by degenerates. He projected the future Manhattan in Ronin to be filled with racists, criminals, and cannibalistic mutants. Life holds very little value. It makes me question why a biotech company would bother building a mammoth (and expensive) facility among such filth and decay. The corporate directors talked about revitalizing the city, but we never saw anyone outside of the company that wasn't a degenerate. So why bother? But such a viewpoint works perfectly for Batman, which Miller would write (but not illustrate) not long after this one. show less

This was pretty darn awesome. I had no idea what it was about before I started but I definitely liked the merging of the futuristic with the ancient. I loved the art when it came to backgrounds and huge scenes but thought the rest of it looked kinda crappy. Very retro stuff that reminds me of Mobius (Heavy Metal) but maybe Miller came first (didn't do my research - sorry super comic geeks). I'm very interested how they're going to adapt it for the movie.

It was a little too surreal at times and I got a little lost with some of the characters but it was definitely interesting and worth my time.

No didn't this Miller guy write something about Batman? Maybe I'll read that next. :)

I really wanted to like this, since I do enjoy most of Frank Miller's other work, but in the end, it just quite did not work for me. The premise of a feudal samurai transported to the future to confront his nemesis was an awesome one. The future dystopic setting was pretty good as well I thought, and the way the spirit of the ronin samurai taking over the limbless test subject was pretty good too. However, a lot of the plot is a pretty disjointed mess, and the art at times is extremely cluttered. The clutter at times did make it difficult to read at times. I am glad to have read it, since this is considered a classic, but I honestly do not think this is his best work when compared to his Batman graphic novels for instance. The graphic show more novel is definitely a product of the late 1980s given the style in the art.

Fans of Frank Miller's work may want to seek out his other works, especially the Batman works. Also, if you want something different, Miller's vision of Robocop is also a very good read. Fans of works like Akira and Aeon Flux (actually, Ronin reminded me a lot of the Aeon Flux) series from MTv)may find this work by Miller appealing as well. show less

I wanted to like this. The concept is fantastic. What would a true samurai do if thrust into the future on a solemn quest? The answer is much less satisfying then I hoped.

I know I read this when it first came out, but I literally have no memory of it, other than sitting in my buddy's living room, actually reading it.

This time, I had to actually force myself to keep picking it up and reading more. The art was good, at times. But it was also terribly confusing at times as well.

The less said about the overly-long, unnecessarily convoluted story the better.

Overall, this was just a big ol' heapin' helpin' of meh.

I have not read this book in years, but I recall enjoying it back in the day when it was released. I've enjoyed reading Frank Miller's work over the years and this was enjoyable enough and interesting to boot.