Ronin


By Frank Miller with Lynn Varley (DC Comics)
ISBN: 978-0-930289-21-8

I always feel a bit daft reviewing stuff that everyone already knows about, but I’m constantly being reminded that even though somebody talks about the classics of our art-form it doesn’t mean they actually have read them. Moreover, the great thing about comics is that they’re meant to be re-experienced, over and over and over…

So here’s a quick look at Frank Miller’s breakthrough epic: a canny blending of East and West, ancient and futuristic, mythical and technological, all used to scrutinise the unchanging nature of human passion, readily available in a number of paperback versions and even as an Absolute Ronin edition, released in 2008…

Set mostly in a near future where society has irretrievably broken down, our story actually opens eight centuries ago in feudal Japan, where a beloved, noble lord and his youngest, most untried samurai are besieged by the forces of a terrible demon named Agat who wants the mystical sword the old daimyo protects.

Eventually the unrelenting attacks succeed and Lord Ozaki is compromised and murdered. Shamed at his failure and maimed by the shape-shifting demon, the samurai becomes a masterless warrior, a Ronin, forced to wander the Earth until he can regain his honour…

Meanwhile in the 21st century, New York City and indeed the entire planet are dying, destroyed by economic, industrial and societal abuse. However at the heart of the dystopian nightmare a small team of free-thinking and idealistic scientists are pioneering a scheme to save humanity from itself.

Technological wizard Peter McKenna has invented self-replicating “bio-circuitry” that feeds itself from the polluted earth to grow clean buildings and even new prosthetic limbs. His greatest achievement is the Aquarius complex, a self-staining habitat governed by a benevolent Artificial Intelligence dubbed Virgo. Peter’s wife Casey runs the security of the complex whilst their friend Taggart runs the corporation they jointly founded, selling their world saving tech – and message – to the rest of humanity.

The maternal Virgo is increasingly becoming the fourth member of the team: making autonomous decisions for the benefit of all. She works closely with Billy Challas, an extreme congenital quadriplegic with latent psionic abilities. His hidden mental abilities have enabled Virgo to make huge leaps in replacement limbs, but recently his dreams have been disturbed by visions of Ozaki, Agat and the Ronin. Virgo is troubled by how historically accurate the nightmares are…

In ancient Japan the Ronin has wandered for years continually defending the magic sword from Agat’s forces, until in one self-sacrificing final duel demon and hero are both killed by the eldritch blade…

When Virgo’s researches uncover the dream Katana in a junk shop eight centuries later she accidentally causes an explosion which decimates part of the Aquarius complex, releasing Agat into our world again. Mercifully the spirit of the Ronin simultaneously enters Billy, who uses his submerged mind-powers to reconfigure his deformed flesh into the form of the ancient warrior.

Lost, dazed and confused, the Ronin wanders through the horrific landscape of post-civilised New York amongst a debased and corrupted populace whilst the demon possesses the body of Taggart and begins to subvert the pacifist, redemptive mission of Aquarius.

Casey McKenna, as head of security, begins to dig (quite literally) into the problem and with Virgo’s help is able to track down Billy/Ronin, but rather than saving the lad she is terrifyingly drawn into his mystical confusion. Meanwhile, as “Taggart” retools the complex into a munitions super-factory, Peter McKenna begins unravelling the mystery and discovers that nothing is as it seems and that there are far more sinister threats than debased gang-mutants and ancient demonic creatures. The entire world is under imminent threat and the clock is ticking…

This tale was not well received when it initially launched: the heady mix of manga influences (particularly Kazuo Koike and Goseki Kojima’s stunning Lone Wolf and Cub saga which permeates and guides this tale like a ghostly grandfather), science fiction, social politics and supernatural ultra violence was clearly not what the superhero reading fans had expected. Although some of the thematic overtones remained this was clearly no continuation of Miller’s landmark Daredevil run for Marvel: those issues were returned to in successive DC epics The Dark Knight Returns and Batman: Year One.

However Ronin did effectively alter the comicbook marketplace forever, allowing the adult sensibilities that had flourished in Europe and Japan for decades to finally gain a solid foothold in the dogmatically juvenile American comics market. Of course it wasn’t alone, but with American Flagg! and a few precious others it was at the vanguard of the zeitgeist that put style and mature content above Fights, Tights and empty frights…

Oppressive, exhilarating and scarily mystifying, Ronin is a spectacular visual tour de force that reshaped what we read and how we read it. As a fan you have a divine obligation to see it for yourself…
© 1983, 1984, 1987 Frank Miller, Inc. All Rights Reserved.