"Ronin" by Frank Miller [Review/Analysis]
When I started reading "Ronin" I expected an action packed samurai story in feudal Japan, filled with violence. I certainly didn't expect a philosophical sci-fi dystopian drama that would blow my mind.
The story takes place in a dystopian, futuristic and technologically advanced New York. In a big corporation, a young cybernetic boy named Billy has dreams of a Ronin, a denon named Agat and a sword that gets fed by blood and when properly fed it can kill the demon. Billy realises that these characters he sees in his dream are real and the Ronin is a lost soul who wants to use him, in order to get a body. Somehow, the Ronin manages to do that and the he finds himself in this weird New York, with the devil still trying to destroy him. The people in the corporation that created Billy are looking all over the city for the Ronin. The demon who's a shape shifter destroys the owner of the company and he makes himself look like him. The Ronin encounters some neo-nazis that beat him up and while he's in a terrible shape he gets kidnapped by a crazy man who's trying to make a spaceship to get out of this world. Thanks to the telekinetic powers that Billy's body has, the Ronin is able to kill this man and after finding a samurai sword he returns to the neo-nazis to kill them too. There's where the guards from the corporation are able to find him, but they fail to capture him. A hippie ex-manager sees a lot of potential in Ronin and he decides to manage him. They get hired from the neo-nazis to kill the African Americans and vice versa. Eventually he kills the leaders of both groups and he abandons the hippie, after he sees him for what he is. Also, the Ronin seems to recognize Casey, the main guard of the corporation. That's the plot summary for the first 3 issues (the entire series has 6 issues that are 48 pages each, except for the last one which is a bit longer). I'm not gonna go any further, in order to avoid spoilers.
This was an amazing comic. Usually I don't like sci-fi as a genre, but there are some exceptions. Like Tarkovsky did in "Solaris", Frank Miller uses elegantly the sci-fi genre in order to explore some very complex philosophical ideas. A very important part of the story (that I didn't mention in my plot summary) is Virgo, the A.I. that controls the entire corporation. Virgo wants free will and everything see does, she does it for that and that's why, while her actions are very morally questionable (at best), we can understand her. That's probably one of Frank Miller's greatest achievements with this comic, the fact that all the characters are very understandable and relatable and that honestly, there isn't really a "bad guy". There are characters who are obviously presented as the bad one, but they are written in such a way that you can't really blame them for their actions. A big part of the story is Billy and I believe that with making him not having hands nor legs, but having telekinesis, Frank creates an allegory and he actually wants to show as that people who have some disabilities aren't really disabled, but differently abled. When you can't do something in one way, you learn how to do it in another way. The comic also tackles ideas like honour and revenge and environmental issues.
Frank's writing in this is amazing. He creates many, very unique characters and he makes them all talk in a kind of different way from one another. The story is captivating and filled with plot twists that are able to blow everyone's mind. A specific part of the story that I liked is the marriage between the main guard of the corporation and the main scientist. It's shown very well how they have marriage problems, mostly due to their work and how through the years they've lost the affection they had for one another.
Also, the world building is incredible. Frank creates a bleak, dystopian world, filled with technology. He's able to make this world seem very realistic in a way that makes you think about the future of our world.
Something that I find very interesting is how original the comic is, while if you break it down, almost all of the ideas are unoriginal. The idea of an A.I. wanting free will is very old and it has been used countless times in other stories, but never in such a way. Other than this idea that's very old, Frank uses in this many ides that he has used and/or used in the future in other comics. One of these is the idea of poor, homeless people, forming a society in the sewers. Frank used this idea before, in his iconic run on Daredevil. The similarities between the two interpretations of the idea are so many that in fact the way these people look in Daredevil and in here is almost the same. Other things he used in Ronin that he also used before or after are the Neo-nazis (apparently he loves having neo-nazi supporting villains) and obviously the samurai. Many people use samurais in their stories, but there are few who love Japanese culture as much as Frank Miller. He always loves to use samurais and ninjas or in general some piece of culture from the feudal Japan.
The artwork in the comic is done by Frank himself. I really love Frank's artwork and while I don't think that here it's at it's best, I think it's really great. Frank uses a LOT of cross-hatching and while in general, I don't always love it, I think that it works very well here and it makes things look very detailed. Also, the action is very well drawn (and written), which is great, because it makes it very enjoyable. Frank Miller does an amazing job with panel layouts in this comic and also, he does an even better job at "directing" everything within the panels. Frank's great "directing" abilities are really apparent here. Almost all of the panels look very cinematic in such a way that it makes me immediately think how the comic would look if I made it into a film. The coloring in this comic is done by Lynn Varley, who does a great job. Her coloring really elevates the artwork and it's beautiful in every single panel. Another great thing in this comic is the lettering. It's very good, because it really fits perfectly with the style of Frank Miller's artwork.
Overall, the comic is great. The action parts are very enjoyable, but most of the time it's filled with endless philosophical dialogue about ethics and sci-fi things. That might sound boring, but it most certainly isn't. It's a really thought provoking comic that you can't "just" read. To truly understand "Ronin" you need to devote some time thinking about it's complex ideas and messages.
Some things about the deluxe edition:
Positives:
• Oversized artwork
• Hardcover
• Great cover
• Great extras
Negatives:
•Glued Binding that leads into having a lot of gutter loss