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89th out of 1,189 books
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Ronin
by
Frank Miller
Frank Miller wrote and illustrated this tale of a silent, unstoppable warrior from 13th-century Japan who is reborn into 21st-century New York City to do battle with his ancient demonic enemy.
Paperback, 302 pages
Published
March 1st 1995
by DC Comics
(first published 1987)
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This was absolutely fantastic, a mindbending, ecelectic mix of a Lone Wolf and Cub style Samurai epic, thrown in with a little bit of 2001: A Space Odyssey, with a pinch of demonic horror, just for good measure. All wrapped up in Frank Miller's first original outing, a story for which I find incredibly hard to believe I went this long without hearing any praise.
It follows a dishonored, masterless, 13th century Japanese warrior, a Ronin, who has failed his master in battle, leaving th...more
It follows a dishonored, masterless, 13th century Japanese warrior, a Ronin, who has failed his master in battle, leaving th...more
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This, my first time reading Frank Miller, is perhaps colored overmuch by the man's recent notoriety. Many of my favorite writers have revealed themselves as nutcases only after I had enjoyed their works (Orson Scott Card, Dan Simmons, and Larry Niven among them). But with Miller's new Holy Terror removing the ambiguity of 300's xenophobia, perhaps I'm unfairly turning my nose up at material my adolescent self would dig (Why I didn't click with this when I loved the first few volumes of Preacher ...more
I think I purchased this book either late in junior high or early in high school, but haven’t actually gotten around to reading it till now. I’m not sure why I waited so long to read it. I certainly remember flipping through the book a number of times; I even started and stopped reading it a number of times. I guess after 10 years of it sitting on a shelf I thought I should finally read it.
The best thing I like about this book is that it’s nearly impossible to sum it up with just one sent...more
The best thing I like about this book is that it’s nearly impossible to sum it up with just one sent...more
This is an often overlooked classic. It's difficult to emphasize how radical this book was when it appeared. Well before Miller did the Dark Knight returns, he realized, here, most of his well-known tropes---from the apocalyptic Nazi dominatrix to the CHUD to the samurai to the hero who is haunted by his past, to the point of incapacitation---and then driven to act by the evil in the world. If you read this after reading his other work, it's like a Rosetta stone to everything he made after...more
I am uncertain about my feelings for this book. I enjoyed it, and I didn't enjoy it. I suppose that would be what's called conflicted. I usually judge my enjoyment of books by how quickly I burn through them coupled with how easily or often I fall asleep reading something. This book is only 304 pages and I read it over the course of about 5 days. Too long, in my mind, so I started to wonder why.
The ideas I liked: the severely deranged and developmentally challenged telepathic/kinetic man fascina
This is an overlooked classic. It's difficult to emphasize how radical this book was when it appeared. Well before Miller did the Dark Knight returns, he realized, here, most of his well-known tropes---from the apocalyptic Nazi dominatrix to the CHUD to the samurai to the hero who is haunted by his past, to the point of incapacitation---and then driven to act by the evil in the world. If you read this after reading his other work, it's like a Rosetta stone to everything he made afterward.
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okay, so, i liked it.
i have to say that i dont think everyone would like this, though. it is almost a strange mix, blending samurai with sci-fi, but i thought it was entertaining enough. the art was pretty good--not miller's best, but still pretty good. obviously, he took a lot of influences from japanese manga in this, and you could tell that because DC was looking over his shoulder, her couldnt draw everything he wanted. and i think you know what i mean if you've seen any of his ot...more
i have to say that i dont think everyone would like this, though. it is almost a strange mix, blending samurai with sci-fi, but i thought it was entertaining enough. the art was pretty good--not miller's best, but still pretty good. obviously, he took a lot of influences from japanese manga in this, and you could tell that because DC was looking over his shoulder, her couldnt draw everything he wanted. and i think you know what i mean if you've seen any of his ot...more
The first Frank Miller book I've read. The fact that it happens to be early Miller wasn't intentional. I enjoyed the writing, but didn't love the art. The "bubbly" design and sickly coloring used for the bio-circuitry future was god-awful. The regular two-page spreads showing the growth of the Aquarius complex worked conceptually, but again the art wasn't great. Multi-page spreads need to be worth the extra real estate and these weren't; they were scribbly and ugly, but not in an inten...more
Seperti kebanyakan karya Frank Miller yang lain, graphic novel ini gelap dan sangat sinis. Di akhir cerita, ada sebuah twist yang cukup menarik, sehingga mengubah konsep dasar dari cerita ini. Kabarnya, film animasi Samurai Jack banyak terinspirasi dari graphic novel ini... pantas saja kemiripannya banyak terlihat.
Konsep biocircuitry sangat menarik. Di sebuah masa depan khayalan, Amerika sudah hancur dan satu-satunya tempat berlindung yang aman adalah di Aquarius. Sebuah benteng yang...more
Konsep biocircuitry sangat menarik. Di sebuah masa depan khayalan, Amerika sudah hancur dan satu-satunya tempat berlindung yang aman adalah di Aquarius. Sebuah benteng yang...more
Rajesh.amigos
rated it
Recommends it for:
Graphic Novel Fans, Frank Miller Fans
Shelves:
graphic-novels
I dont really know how to rate this book; but since it is such a great book I will give it a try :)
First of all, the reason why I dont rate this book as a must read; after reading it I felt cheated.
Ronin is not really a book the cover, name or even the reviews suggest. It has ALMOST nothing to do with Samurai, or to be precise Ronin.
To give it it's due credit; this is a fiendishly clever but twisted piece of Science Fiction.
It is not an easy book to read, ...more
First of all, the reason why I dont rate this book as a must read; after reading it I felt cheated.
Ronin is not really a book the cover, name or even the reviews suggest. It has ALMOST nothing to do with Samurai, or to be precise Ronin.
To give it it's due credit; this is a fiendishly clever but twisted piece of Science Fiction.
It is not an easy book to read, ...more
This is a very fun story, well-written and engaging -- but what really blew me away was the artwork. When drawing images of an imaginary future, people tend to pull from sterotypes in design, but Miller has created a new visual world, unlike any other. His interpretation of what a bio-mechanical city would look like is unique -- but also, simply the way he is using pen and ink to make the images on the pages is exhilarating.
A classic, often eclipsed by Frank Miller's more prominent work. First one of his books I ever read, before I was old enough to know who he was. Incredible artwork and an amazing story that is begging for the big screen treatment, like Kurosawa-meets-Blade Runner!
This is pretty much summed up as Samurai Jack for adults. Which is amazing when you really think about it. The beginning of this graphic novel starts out as a pretty standard story of a samurai who had the luck of failing his master. Before you know it, the excitement sets in and there is a heavy battle going on in every page. The words are written in a stream of conscious style with enough inner turmoil filling each page so that you're satiated until the very end. Certainly not for everyone, bu...more
Art wise not near the high levels of his seen in Sin City,The Dark Knight Returns,Daredevil,300.
a wonderfully bizarre blend of 'Yojimbo; 'Blade Runner' and the 'Matrix', written and drawn by frank miller, before he became FRANK MILLER!
Amazing art and story where frank was pushing the boundaries of what you could do with a comic book. Blew me away when I first read it, back in the dark ages, because there was nothing like it, and time and re-readings has done nothing to diminish it.
more than anything else that frank has does, Ronin is the one that gets frank on the genius ...more
Amazing art and story where frank was pushing the boundaries of what you could do with a comic book. Blew me away when I first read it, back in the dark ages, because there was nothing like it, and time and re-readings has done nothing to diminish it.
more than anything else that frank has does, Ronin is the one that gets frank on the genius ...more
I read that this is the precursor to The Dark Knight Returns, where Miller found his footing as a writing. It's got all the elements of Miller's writing and Lynn Varley's art - noir, violence, amazonian women, sharp lines and edges - that is familiar now from 300, Sin City, etc. Bewildering story, something about a 13th century ronin brought to a futurist 21st century post-apocalyptic NYC by a paraplegic telekenetic man-child. But who cares, it's good fun.
Just ok... I don't understand how some reviews are just dying over the art work. It looked as if a 12 year old drew it. Seriously. There were some decent scenes but that's about it. To compare this work to Sin City or DKR is just ludicrous. I hear they are making a movie of it which should be pretty cool. Just don't read this thinking you're gonna be nail biting it every page like Sin City or staring at amazing art like in DKR. Just good. Sketchy storyline.
Ronin has all the elements that grabbed my attention, sustained it and pleased. Excellent story telling and art work. One of the strongest temptations when telling any story in the future that involves robots is getting distracted by the technology and losing touch with the human components. Ronin never gave in to that temptation and remained solidly human through-out. This could make a great movie if the right director comes along.
Eh. Unlike Blue Monday I do know that I'm the target audience for a story about a Samurai warrior sent to a dystopian future to fight a demon written by Frank Miller but this didn't quite work for me, I liked it but I wanted to love it.
I'm a big Frank Miller Fan, I'm the kind of guy who can't wait to buy All Star Batman And Robin the two times a year it comes out (It's HILARIOUS, like John Waters wrote a comic book, c'mon!) and his art here is fantastically rough and dynamic. And I s...more
I'm a big Frank Miller Fan, I'm the kind of guy who can't wait to buy All Star Batman And Robin the two times a year it comes out (It's HILARIOUS, like John Waters wrote a comic book, c'mon!) and his art here is fantastically rough and dynamic. And I s...more
Opinion of this one is mixed with many people not thinking as highly of it as of Miller's other work (Sin City, The Dark Knight Returns, 300). I read this when I was young and reading mainly Daredevil and the X-Men. I was shocked by the tone and the "adultness" of it and still consider it a favorite. I read it again years later and still enjoyed it.
The art seems alien, which fits the themes and the subjects of the work, the title character is an oddity, and you're left wondering, at the end of it all, who really played what role in the course of it all. The characters are dynamic and unique, so much so that you are at a serious loss for what you believe is going to happen next, due to what you think you know about the characters,
What is really going on? I guarantee that you'll be at a serious loss for what it was that just ...more
What is really going on? I guarantee that you'll be at a serious loss for what it was that just ...more
The art is terribly ugly, but full of wonderful cinematic compositions and layouts. Gets better towards the end when he starts using solid blacks instead of the same lines on everything. The color doesn't help, too low contrast pastel stuff. The plot is pretty wack. Definitely worth looking at, though.
After Daredevil and Wolverine, but before The Dark Knight Returns, Batman: Year One and Sin City, there was Ronin!
Originally a six issue miniseries for DC, Ronin mixes a dark and ominous high tech future with mystical sensibilities in the tale of a masterless 13th century samurai reborn in this future, bound to battle his immortal enemy, the demon Agat, who slew his master.
Miller's storytelling is powerful and there are layers to the story as all is not always as it seems...more
Originally a six issue miniseries for DC, Ronin mixes a dark and ominous high tech future with mystical sensibilities in the tale of a masterless 13th century samurai reborn in this future, bound to battle his immortal enemy, the demon Agat, who slew his master.
Miller's storytelling is powerful and there are layers to the story as all is not always as it seems...more
The Book that inspired my pen name, lol... Bought this as individual issues when they first came out and was blown away by Miller's then-new style (an unlikely, but influential mix of Lone Wolf and Cub, and Moebius). If you haven't already, check this one out.
I am a huge fan of Frank Miller's works like Sin City and Batman but I must say I was disappointed with this one. The ending seemed predictable and the story was not all that interesting. The only thing that I really liked about this book was the art.
Not my favorite graphic novel. Dated and messy illustrations, and a byzantine, confusing story that doesn't really engage much. Probably historically significant in the evolution of the genre, but doesn't stand the test of time very well.
I'm not a big graphic-novel kinda guy, but I loved The Watchmen, and I like what I've seen of Frank Miller. This was his breakthrough work and it's interesting. Kind of a mess, if you ask me, and I'm not sure I really followed the storyline very well, but the technique and whatnot are compelling.
I'm looking forward to Batman: The Dark Knight Returns, up next...
I'm looking forward to Batman: The Dark Knight Returns, up next...
Halanhoffman
added it
Got me into reading comics. I'm not really into superheroes - but I really liked this mix of the future with a touch of a Japanese legend. And Miller's drawings, like his other work, are so theatrically dramatic.
I've heard that this was a good comic, but I didn't like it. I don't want to give any spoilers, but I liked the story in the beginning and not in the end. The art is horrible. I can accept the story, but not the art. I don't recommend this at all.
This may have been Frank's first foray outside of mainstream comic characters. I appreciate his obsession with another culture, but I found the artwork off putting and the story exceptionally boring.
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Frank Miller is an American writer, artist and film director best known for his film noir-style comic book stories. He is one of the most widely-recognized and popular creators in comics, and is one of the most influential comics creators of his generation. His most notable works include Sin City, The Dark Knight Returns, Batman Year One and 300.
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