Ronin

Exactly as advertised.

Like Alan Moore, Neil Gaiman, and Garth Ennis; when you hear the name Frank Miller the entire list of classic comic book tales comes to mind. From Daredevil, to Batman, down to Sin City and in the thick of the battle of 300; Miller has crafted classics with what seems like relative ease. Ronin is not only a change of pace for fans of Miller's more notable works, but it is also one of his finest. A disgraced and masterless samurai, a ronin, finds himself reborn in the lawless and oppressive world of 21st century New York, which has become a technological jungle. Also reborn is the demon Agat; whom the Ronin died fighting in an effort to avenge the death of his master. I don't want to say any more for fear of spoiling the story, but I will go as far as to say that Ronin packs in all the pulpy dialogue, conflicts, action, and artwork that anyone remotely familiar with Frank Miller would come to expect. If there's any real negative to Ronin, than it's the ending, which may leave some scratching their heads, and others wondering just what Miller was trying to really get across here. That aside, Ronin is an overlooked classic from the great Frank Miller, and if you're a fan who has never given this book a chance, you should definitely pick this up.

I have seen Ronin in the book store a million times. I always knew I would own it one day. It just needed to be the right time. I finally found my opening while I was deep into Miller's runs. I started with Daredevil, Wolverine, I had read Sin City, DK, DK2 and DKIII previously.What is there to say about Ronin? It's impressive. It's big. It's Miller. I love Miller's art. I think that needs to be established off the bat. It's not hyper consistent. But it is bold and unapologetic. Some panels make you think Frank sat their for hours with tiny little lines and it's amazing.The story is good. It's not overly complicated, but you need to really watch the art as you read the words. A lot happens visually and I think Frank really wanted that to be the star. I personally would love to see Frank's art receive some updated colors. I know that is probably a sin to say. I appreciate Lynn Varley. But I feel like sometimes we get blobs of color that don't enhance the pencils. I appreciate when color deepens artwork. That doesn't happen here. I almost feel like Ronin could be presented in a Sin City coloring style and achieve the same results.At the end of the day I am proud this is on my shelf. I really love the completeness of the story. I love seeing Frank flex his art and do what he wanted.4 out of 5. Not perfect, but I don't think it's intended to be.

I really couldn't believe how perfect this story fit together. DC has published some truly remarkable comics over the years however after reading RONIN I was thoroughly convinced that Frank Miller was one of the best comic book writers in history. Like Katsuhiro Otomo did with AKIRA, and like Alan Moore did with WATCHMEN, Frank Miller took influences from Europe and Japan and fused together a story that will remain in history as a landmark for not just Miller and DC comics, but for storytelling itself.Now I'll mention that some of the dialogue is a bit dated, seeing that it was written in the 80s. And the art is not the absolute best however it fits spotlessly with the environment of the comic. Its not that the art is bad, I enjoyed it for most of the book, it just gets a little sketchy at times. But that sketchiness in a way gave the book a more noir vibe.The story is important for its time as well. DC wasn't publishing a lot of stories that were this extreme. The content is definitely groundbreaking proving that comic books were not just about superheroes fighting super villains. They could have mature themes, and could be taken seriously. They could be experimental but still provide a thoughtful message.If you are a fan of Frank's work then there's no question about buying this book.

Ok, granted that the story is not at the level of The Dark Knight Returns, few comics are anyway whether written by Frank Miller or not, yet I found the story highly addictive and interesting from the very beggining, it develops brilliantly into a climax ending in which all the misteries encountered during the story get unveiled. For my liking, certainly better than Sin City.As for the drawing and painting... I think this comic is simply a masterpice, Frank and Lynn at their very best! Great reproduction of a post-apocaliptical NY, great characters, you just have to love how the Ronin evolves along the story, Casey's face and her untamable determination, Mr. Taggart/Agat duality and his crazy futuristic outfits resembling that of a Roman emperor, the flashbacks to medieval Japan are beatiful, etc, etc...I kind of think that Ronin was something of an experiment for Miller's drawings, he just wanted to see how far he could go and thought of a story to give some sense to it, and thus Ronin was Born, what may had been simply an experiment gone awry, became an excellent story and an even better drawing work worthy of being placed among the best.

Frank Miller is the closest thing to cubism in comics of his generation, and to me, this still stands as his best work, just in between Wolverine and Dark Night Returns.

What an amazing story - it's far-fetched, but self-mocking at the same time and manages to capture the cool-handed Japanese samurai mentality with out of this world futuristic ideas thrown into the mix.It's an easy and quick read, which I initially found disappointing, but ultimately seemed to be a result of the excellent elements (Story, setting, characters, plot, sci-fi) pushing the reader forward at light-speed.Artwork's fantastic, as are the concepts presented here.A personal favorite that I plan on re-visiting again as soon as possible.Thoroughly recommended.

I honestly don’t care what hypocritical critics of Frank Miller think of him nowadays, he is a legend in the comics industry, especially when it comes to Daredevil and Batman (ok, maybe with the exception of All-Star Batman & Robin). And his story about an ancient Japanese ronin facing off against his arch nemesis in a dystopian cyberpunk New York City is no exception. While I’m not big on Miller’s art, it’s very well-done for its time. And the writing is good. Highly recommended for fans of Frank Miller or even Japanese samurai-type of literature.Now would somebody with actual talent make a movie out of this already?

Damn!

Edizione in inglese con copertina flessibile, pagine molto sottili ma buona qualità della stampa, una bella prefazione e qualche materiale sul "making of" (poca roba in realtà) in postfazione, acquistato al prezzo "folle" di 7 euro credo sia uno dei migliori affari che io abbia mai fatto (considerando anche la lunghezza di oltre 300 pagine).Su questo fumetto probabilmente è stato già scritto molto, da amante dei comics (e di Frank Miller) non posso non constatare che quest'opera sia almeno a livello "mainstream" piuttosto sottovalutata, o quanto meno ingiustificatamente meno nota e citata rispetto ad altri capolavori dell'autore (Sin City o le storie di Devil e Batman per le quali è diventato giustamente famoso).Anche considerando la giovanissima età dell'autore all'epoca della pubblicazione (1983), stiamo parlando sicuramente di uno dei comics americani più importanti di sempre, se non altro per la commistione, a vari livelli, della materia grezza del fumetto di marca Marvel/DC statunitense con influenze orientali ed europee.Innanzitutto, devo dire che a fine lettura mi sono trovato ad aver fatto un'esperienza molto diversa da quello che mi aspettavo. Il segno della cultura (e del fumetto) giapponese è qui a mio parere poco più che una sfumatura, inoltre narrativamente parlando è un'opera molto "corale" e tutt'altro che incentrata solo sulle peripezie del protagonista. Evidente e probabilmente voluto e cercato invece il contatto con gli stilemi del fumetto autoriale di stampo europeo, non mi sarei mai aspettato ad esempio di trovare in Miller dei richiami tanto evidenti ad autori quali Moebius.Anche la trama, mi ha piacevolmente sorpreso, caratterizzata da una certa e crescente complessità, i temi trattati sono tutt'altro che banali, la narrazione è molto efficace con momenti caratterizzati da fitti dialoghi ad alternarsi a pagine quasi prive di testo dove tutta la narrazione è affidata alle immagini. Anche se in inglese ho trovato piuttosto scorrevole e piacevole la lettura, molto comprensibile tranne alcuni passaggi in cui alcuni personaggi utilizzano uno slang un po' più complicato.Sui tanto criticati disegni, che dire? Miller non è mai stato un mostro di tecnica nè particolarmente interessato all'inserimento di dettagli, e qui la sua propensione per l'effetto del segno, per la cura nella predisposizione della tavola, per l'immagine come supporto alla narrazione raggiungono livelli davvero alti. Personalmente non trovo piacevole in sè il suo modo di disegnare, però non posso negare che graficamente l'opera è non solo riuscita ma anche molto, molto potente. Guardata in quest'ottica, il fumetto è sicuramente un capolavoro che non è invecchiato affatto male anzi, conserva tutt'oggi molto elementi di curiosità.

A melhor fase das HQs não poderia deixara de ter Ronin de Frank Miller na lista. It's a must to read!

I still prefer Sin City but this is a great read if yu are a Frank Miller fan!